I recently met with one of the mid-wives who works at the bithing center near Nyon (maison de naissance La Grange Rouge) and they do offer water birth, if you want, although I didn't ask how much experience she had delivering babies in the water. But it is an option, and it looks like your only one, for anyone in Geneva wanting a water birth.

BTW I am astounded at those c-section rates, those are very high! I think the US has about a 30% rate, too, though.

[quote=oneoverbeta;138411]
I was also advised by the midwife at La Tour that if you truly want a natural birth, opting for a home birth with a midwife in attendance is the best way to go in Geneva (the French part of Switzerland is much less natural-birth friendly than the German part). This is almost a must if you want birth in water, as none of the hospitals will allow this (the birthing house near Nyon may, I didn't inquire there as my insurance doesn't cover it).
/quote]

I think that you found a very good and wise midwife at La Tour. It is actually very rare to hear someone speak so openly about it.

Many women have had babies around me in the past few years and I found that those that usually end up having a Caesarean are: those that are terrified of childbirth, those that 'prefer not to know anything' because it brings bad luck, those that choose to trust that their doctors will take care of it and those that think that all that pain and squeezing can harm themselves and stress their baby.

I had two 'natural' births at Generale Beaulieu and both time I had to fight to get them. It is tout a fait possible, but most of it is swimming upstream as you get few (if any) allies in the hospital establishment. To put it bluntly, they all wait for any sign of weakness on your side to wheel you off to the operating theatre. But it is not because there is something intrinsically wrong with women's bodies that hospital Caesarean rates are so high -- it is because many women don't believe that they can pull it off and medical professionals (midwives included) prefer to perform medical procedures to deliver babies rather than support mothers to deliver their babies themselves.

I think I should shut up now, else this could become counterproductive

Not sure if the mother is allowed to have nitrous oxide everywhere, but I believe the father can always have as much as he likes.

Just to add to that, our midwife told us that having the baby naturally helps to squash out any fluid in the baby's lungs which helps prevent them having so-called "wet lungs".

Yes all that pushing is bloody hard work but I managed it and I'm a class A weakling with a tendency to give up on anything which gets a wee bit tough.

That is very true, I had elective sections (for medical reasons; I'm not too posh too push) & my second had problems after birth due to the fluid retained in his stomach & lungs.

Just to get this right there is no difference between epidural and spinal anaesthesia. There is a common misconception that there is... An epidural for natural childbirth will use a different analgesic cocktail to that required for a section but it will be a simple change of drugs and not a new procedure. The cocktail for childbirth while removing pain does not remove muscle control thus allowing the mother to press while not feeling pain. It also has the benefit of relaxing vaginal muscles which often go into spasm thus making for an easier birth.

Richard, I agree that epidural is spinal anaestesia, but I have to disagree with you on your other points: first of all, there is nothing natural about epidurals, so (strictly speaking) birth under an epidural would be called vaginal but not natural birth.

Also, in theory, yes, the anaesthesia should relax your muscles and ease the birth. But clinical studies actually show that epidurals slow labour and therefore increase the risk of Caesarean for slow progress.

I am sure that most women who had to undergo Caesarean will tell you that it is not fun, it is actually a major surgery after which the recovery period can be long and is always accompanied by an amount of pain. With natual childbirth the pain dissapears as soon as the baby is born because it was not caused by an injury. The recovery period is also usually very short.

As I said before, there is no such thing as free lunch and no miracle delivery from the pain of childbirth. And even if there were miracles, epidural anaesthesia is not one of them.

Close enough to a miracle for me!

Those two chaps in green scrubs worked their miracle with me. Pain and suffering one minute then 10 minutes later complete relief and smiles all round.

Hi,

I am 28 weeks now, just moved to Geneva from London and looking for a doctor here for giving birth in mid-June to our first baby. We are pretty much decided on Beaulie, but not sure how to find-select the doctor having left my English doctor in London. One of the names I was given was Eric Antonelli who you also recommended. Do you have first hand experience with him or just heard?

And a general question to all members, any recommendations on doctor and why?

I would like somebody who is very-experienced but also flexible and open-minded and would let me stand or squad if I wanted to. (having heard stories of some very strict doctors who completely control the birth and make you only lay)

Thank you in advance for any tips.
T

Antonelli was subtituting for my doctor (Lahlou) for a while when she was on maternity leave. I am quite confident that he is an excellent surgeon. Many women want to have a doctor who will detect if something goes wrong and provide best possible care and I would certainly recommend him fully to anyone needing that kind of reassurance.

However, if you want a doctor that supports natural birth, then Geneva is not the easiest place. Basically, gynecologists are trained to be surgeons and consequently the word 'cut' easily comes to their minds. They do not necessarily know much about or support fully natural birth. In my experience, Lahlou was more relaxed while Antonelli was keen on scientific evidence and presenting all kinds of possible scenarios I did not really want to know about. But this is my very personal experience, the bottom line is that I would fully trust him if I had experienced any problems in pregnancy.

Nice to go through your post.
Well...we use epidurals for a good pain relief....
well..will depend on the stage of labour when you present...
just book early so that we could talk about a smooth delivery...
cheers..
dr med. dkk MD MS
Insel, Bern

Thank you so much for your quick answer. It was very helpful I will take your advice. I think I trust him too (eventhough only met one time). Yes I heard about the opinions about natural birth here, I never had any operation before so the word "cut " is not one of my favourites or something I am familiar with it, but I guess I will just have to go with it and see. Many thanks again and have a good day. (by the way what age is your baby or child now?)
T

I have two: one aged 3, another 16 months.

If you want to avoid unnecessary medical procedures, learn as much as possible about them so that you can competently negotiate with doctors and midwivews (yes, in private hospitals you have a certain margin of negotiation -- at least about IV, squatting, continuous monitoring etc).

Good luck, enjoy the rest of your pregnancy and your baby's birth and let me know if you have any other questions.

Have an epidural; not only is there no pain, but the baby is born in peace and calm.

My experience of no-meds came from the "lovely" woman in the birthing room next to mine. She went the "natural route" and was screaming bloody murder well before the birth, so the team at the hospital slowed down my contractions, so as to "stop that ****ing racket" (my love for my doc increased 10X's at that point) next door.

When it came my time- it was lovely... no pain, very calm and everyone was happy.

I just don't see the point in suffering. I was born in the 60's (cringe) and my mother had an epidural and always said "your birth was wonderful" and I am able to say the same to my daughter!

That's so true.

Given that every woman is different and every birth is different, as I have said in an earlier post, an epidural suited me perfectly. I had tried every position under the sun (sitting, squatting, lying, trying to balance on a ridiculous beach ball, having a warm bath) but if I hadn't had the epidural the muscles involved in the whole birth-thing were so cramped there would have been no alternative but to have a C-section. This was something I wanted to avoid because I know the recovery time is longer and I am a whinger at the best of times.

An epidural relaxed all the muscles and basically took the pressure off me worrying about pain and C-sections and whatnot, and allowed me to proceed with a fantastically smooth birth.

Don't let anyone pooh-pooh any method of pain relief (or no pain relief, for that matter). Choose whatever suits you; at the end of the day you are the one going to go through with the birth, not the person doing the pooh-poohing.

Well said!

I would like to add something- childbirth is an overwelming experience, and it should be enjoyed. If you want to go natural, think about maybe doing it for a second child when you have a little experience with what is happening.

...and to add to that: remember - nobody gives you pain relief against the effects of sleepless nights, smelly nappies, tantrums, faddy eating, etc, etc., so you might as well take what you can get when you can.

I had my baby girl via C-section, it was either that or an induction at 38 weeks (Baby had to come out pronto) and cos I know the stats of how many inductions end up in a c-section anyway, I chose "the easy way out". Just for the record, I had all good intentions of natural childbirth (with all the pain relief bells and whistles), I went to all my birthing classes.

We plan to have number 2 in CH straight away, and I want to know if once you have already had a c-section, will they alow you to have the next one natural?

I believe that both births (Natural & c-section) have pro's and con's.... at the end of the day, they both suck but the result is amazing, and at that point you dont care how it came out so long as it came out (My pregnancy lasted what felt like 9 years)! But I really would like the option of going natural next time.

I am not advocating c-section's but just put my 2 cents in, the recovery after a c-section is only as difficult as you alow it to be, I was told to get up and walk straight ASAP, it was the best advice, I got up about 7 or 8 hours later and was walking no probs, didnt even take any pain killers once I got home... and I dont do pain, I can honestly say the only onconvenience was a it was a little unconfortable getting in and out of bed.

A woman goes to her doctor. She say "I'm a little worried about the pain doctor. How much will childbirth hurt?"

The doctor answered, "Well, that varies from woman to woman and pregnancy to pregnancy and besides, it's difficult to describe pain."
"I know, but can't you give me some idea?" she asks.

"Grab your upper lip and pull it out a little..."
"Like this?"
"A little more..."
"Like this?"
"No. A little more..."
"Like this?"
"Yes. Does that hurt?"
"A little bit."
"Now stretch it over your head!"