Hi there!

I bet you guys know that we can visit the hospitals and clinics to see if we want to give birth there..

Do you guys have any advice in good questions to ask the hospitals/clinics and advice on a good hospital in the zurich area?

I'm living in Mettmenstetten but now I have to move to Zurich ( in a way, on the other hand ), and I really don't know if I should stick with the doctor that I know here and have my baby in the Affoltern hospital or should look for a new one closer to home..

So:

Do you guys know what type of questions/concerns I should have when looking for a place to give birth?

Do any of you recommend/know Affoltern hospital?

What do you think I should do? Stick with having a baby here or look for an hospital closer to the new home (it would be a 20m car drive to Affoltern in the new home)


So sorry if I'm annoying with all the questions, but first time mom here!!

The search function is your friend. Good luck with your birth!

Honestly, 20 minutes isn't very long, so if you have reliable transportation (the car is always available along with someone to drive you), it should be no problem to stay with the same hospital. First labors are generally fairly long, so you'll almost certainly have time.

However, Zurich has good options as well, depending on what type of insurance you have as well as what you're most concerned with (neonatal care, the best chances for a natural birth, etc.)

I don't know anything about your current hospital, but can tell you about Unispital and Triemlispital in Zurich, if you're interested (or, as mentioned, there are threads discussing both of these and additional hospitals).

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I'm in the same boat, graca- am due in mid-August. We did the hospital rounds and have decided on Klinik am Park. I found the entire experience of deciding on them, from the first call where I asked a hundred stupid questions to the subsequent visit and chat with staff really reassuring. They also provide pre-natal classes in English which I will be attending soon.

This is not the voice of experience, but I'd strongly recommend them as worth investigating to see if they make you feel as reassured as they made me feel.

I.

That would be 2 min from my new house! I have to check it out, if not for the birth, definitely for the classes!!

Thank you!

Ok, I will admit, I'm new to the forum and haven't quite realised the power of the search function

Sorry..

swiss_in_training I have to say, I love your photo and your username!

Sure, no hard feelings I hope you find what you're looking for soon. By the way, does the "edit" button appear at the bottom of your posts yet? That way, you don't have to write a new post for every reply. Check out this EF thread for tons of info

Hi,

Just had my first baby 10 weeks ago at the Hirslanden Klinik Zurich and it was just fantastic. Didn't feel like a hospital, more like a hotel and we did not want to leave. I do have private insurance that meant my husband could sleep in the same room with me, which was great. The hospital really taught you everything; from breastfeeding to nappy changing to bathing etc - handy if the both of you are first time parents and don't have any family to call on in Switzerland.
The hospital advised me to come in as soon as my water broke and had a birthing suite ready that I stayed in for 20 hrs until after the birth! Once you leave the hospital, you also get a nappy bag filled with all sorts of goodies.
One downside though.... The hospital doesn't have a neo-natal unit, so you will be transferred if one is required.

ohhh I see I have a lot to learn


Thank you, that sounds like it was a wonderful experience, as it should be

I went to the Paracelsus in Richterswil, it's a 45 min drive from my house but my birthing experience was more important to me than having my Dr present, which isn't always a guarantee anyways.

The Paracelsus is big on natural births, much more so than any other hospital in Zurich. They are like a birthing house but should you need a PDA or an emergency C you don't need to be transferred.

If you have any questions regarding my experience feel free to send me a PM.

Yes - you might want to consider how close the nearest opertaing theatre is and where there is also a pediatrician on duty 24/7.

I wouldn't have made it to the private hospital around the lake - my daughter was fast. (40 minutes from me realising I was having contractions).

I'm in basic insurance, so I guess I can only give birth in public hospitals?

The Affoltern hospital is a bit antiquated, or so I heard.. I guess I will be giving birth in either Triemlispital or Unispital, but I read here Unispital to upgrade the room is very expensive, so I was wondering if you agree that Triemlispital is good? Or should I sprint for Uni?

I know there other threads, somehow it doesn't ever seem is enough

You can also go to a birth house on basic insurance. The one in Zürich city is Delphys www.delphys.ch. Everyone gets their own room and your husband can room in with you, but you have to have a straightforward pregnancy and want a virtually med-free birth. I had my first child there and had a very positive experience.

For a first birth, I wanted a hospital, and this ended up being a wise decision for me. Triemli was a good choice, since they do more "normal" births and Unispital is more focussed on high-risk births. Both have neonatal facilities and the capacity to do emergency cesarians (and the full range of pain management, which you may want, though they don't push you into using them). Also note that, although Triemli offers room-only upgrades (which are cheaper than the Uni option, which is only doctor+room), it depends on availability, so you're not guaranteed a private room.

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Hi,

They look interesting, but it's mandatory that pregnant lady's partner or another trusted person is present during the birth (source). If OP wants to give birth without anyone present, I guess it wouldn't work out there. But if OP wants someone there, it looks like a good place to go to.

Do they offer this for people without private or half-private insurance as well (OP claims she has basic insurance)? And what does it entail exactly? Does it only mean that you won't share the room with anyone else or is there extra non-doctoral care involved?

Basic insurance means that you must choose a public hospital unless you want to pay all costs out of pocket. In Zurich city, the options are Triemlispital, Unispital and Zollikerberg.

For Triemli:

Yes, or at least they did as of 2010 (when I did it). I have asked around through my pregnant/new mom friends and they apparently still, do-though they no longer advertise it on their website.

It is room only (one roommate + half-private, no roommates = private). No additional doctor care, though there will be more nurse care on these wards.

For Unispital:
These options include room and doctor, so a highly medical case could cost quite a bit.

Note that if anything goes wrong (as happened during two of my three deliveries), the Oberarzt/in will be there for you regardless of the type of insurance you have, and they do not charge for this. I've delivered at both hospitals and had a room full of doctors appear (and they're very cautious, so something going wrong doesn't mean an emergency-just something not going as they would ideally like).

The Unispital public ward has been very overbooked lately, which means that it is pretty hectic. However, it also means that you may get bumped to half-private (as happened to me and my roommate 6 weeks ago). We both had difficult births, so I'm not sure if that had anything to do with it.

Personally, I'd choose Triemli, as it has fewer high-risk cases and is a generally calmer place, unless you are high risk (as I was). However, either hospital will take excellent care of you I don't know Zollikerberg, but other threads have covered it and it seems to be well-liked.

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I'm going to call Triemli today and try to make an appointment

Either way I would like to thank you swiss_in_training and I hope everything is alright with all your kids and your having a great time being a mom!!

I'd love to know how much they charge for the upgrade if you're on basic insurance, so if you feel like sharing after the call, go ahead

Thanks graça-

And everything is fine with all three of the little ones. Being a mom is lovely-though sometimes tiring-and I'm sure you'll love it!

One piece of advice-if you take birth classes or read books that discuss a birth plan, do think about it and even write down what you'd like...then remember that it really is just one (or a few) days of your life and what matters is the baby that comes at the end.

Three births and none went as I imagined them. They weren't better or worse, really, just different, and being flexible (and keeping a sense of humor, if at all possible) was very helpful in adapting when I needed to.

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So I talked to Triemli hospital and it's 300CHF for me and my husband to sleep in a private bedroom (280 just for me).

The lady who talked to me (didn't get her name) was lovely, very helpful and very patient with me..

They told me that if you call on saturday you can go and visit, otherwise you should go to their website and see which tuesday of the month is open day visits! Also she told me that in a normal birth you can stay as long as you need (normally 3 days), unlike Unispital where I really felt you might get rushed out..

So.. I think I am about to choose my birth place!! So exciting!!

The brochure on the Unispital website says you can upgrade just the room with basic insurance. It is 570CHF/day for an upgrade into a double room and 1010CHF/day into a single room.

From 'Ratgeber Geburt', page 11:

http://www.geburtshilfe.usz.ch/Patie...oschueren.aspx

One addition to the differences between Unispital & Triemli from my own research: only in Unispital it is possible to get Nitrous Oxide (aka laughing gas) for pain relief during labour