During pregnancy there are a lot of important decisions to be made and one of the confusing ones can be choosing a midwife (Hebamme). Back when I was pregnant with my first son, I was told so many stories by so many mums about when I should and shouldn't find a midwife, what the different types of midwives do and it all got a bit jumbled. Pregnancy brain and an overload of information can do that to you! So here I will try and break down the information in to a clear portions for you to help you in your quest to find a midwife
What is the difference between a Hebamme & a Beleghebamme?
Hebamme (Midwife)
Beleghebamme (Attending Midwife)
The type of midwife you have depends on the type of birth you wish to have. Here are the details:
Homebirth
For a homebirth you need to find a midwife who is available for these type of births. Homebirth midwives work as Beleghebammen as they will do your check ups pre-labour, they will support you during your labour at home and also will look after you in the period post-partum. You will have to pay an 'on call' fee for this type of midwife.
Hospital Birth
Some hospitals have midwives specifically assigned to them and others allow freelancing midwives to come with you to the hospital for your labour. You can either ask the midwife you are calling for an appointment whether she is able to come with you to the hospital of your choice, or you could call the hospital directly and ask. For most hospitals you can choose to either have your own attending midwife (Beleghebamme) or you will have your own midwife for pre and post-labour checkups but will be assigned the midwife(s) on duty during your labour in hospital.
Geburtshaus Birth
Birthing houses (Geburtshäuser) are run by midwives and so when choosing a birth house, one of the midwives working there will become your midwife and will act as a Beleghebamme for you being with you for pre,during and post-labour care. You will have to pay an 'on call' fee for this type of midwife.
How to find a midwife
There are ways of finding a midwife that are available to you, here are some I recommend...
Also, see my post on Doulas, for extra support during pregnancy and beyond
Useful German words related to this post
Hebamme - Midwife
Beleghebamme - Attending midwife
Geburt - Birth
Krankenhaus - Hospital
Geburtshaus - Birthing House
Hausgeburt - Home birth
Krankenkasse - Health Insurance
Frauenarzt - Gynaecologist
Letter to Techniker Krankenkasse example
YOUR NAME
YOUR ADDRESS
Versichertennummer: YOUR INSURANCE NUMBER
Techniker Krankenkasse
Bundesallee 87
12161 Berlin
Betreff: Rufbereitschaftspauschale Erstattung
Sehr geehrte Frau, Herrn,
Hiermit schicke ich Ihnen die Rechnung meiner Beleghebamme bei der Geburt von YOUR CHILD'S NAME am YOUR CHILD'S D.O.B. Bitte können Sie die Rufbereitschaftspauschale erstatten an meiner Konto.
Inhaber: YOUR ACCOUNT NAME Konto: YOUR ACCOUNT NUMBER BLZ: YOUR ACCOUNT BLZ Bank: YOUR BANK NAME
Mit freundlichem Grüßen
YOUR SIGNATURE
YOUR NAME
Hebamme (Midwife)
- Check ups leading up to birth
- Check ups post-partum
- Paid for by the health insurance (Krankenkasse)
Beleghebamme (Attending Midwife)
- Check ups leading up to birth
- Support during labour
- Check ups post-partum
- Beleghebammen must be paid for privately and the cost seems to vary a little. To give you an idea of how much roughly, I paid €350for mine. The cost for the Beleghebamme is paying for them guaranteeing being with you during labour.
The type of midwife you have depends on the type of birth you wish to have. Here are the details:
Homebirth
For a homebirth you need to find a midwife who is available for these type of births. Homebirth midwives work as Beleghebammen as they will do your check ups pre-labour, they will support you during your labour at home and also will look after you in the period post-partum. You will have to pay an 'on call' fee for this type of midwife.
Hospital Birth
Some hospitals have midwives specifically assigned to them and others allow freelancing midwives to come with you to the hospital for your labour. You can either ask the midwife you are calling for an appointment whether she is able to come with you to the hospital of your choice, or you could call the hospital directly and ask. For most hospitals you can choose to either have your own attending midwife (Beleghebamme) or you will have your own midwife for pre and post-labour checkups but will be assigned the midwife(s) on duty during your labour in hospital.
Geburtshaus Birth
Birthing houses (Geburtshäuser) are run by midwives and so when choosing a birth house, one of the midwives working there will become your midwife and will act as a Beleghebamme for you being with you for pre,during and post-labour care. You will have to pay an 'on call' fee for this type of midwife.
How to find a midwife
There are ways of finding a midwife that are available to you, here are some I recommend...
- Ask around for recommendations. You can write on some of the English speaking online forums such as
- ExpatBabies Facebook Forum (this is a closed group that you must join first before you can post a question) - - Hebammenvermittlung Berlin (this is a group on Facebook that you must join before being able to post. You are welcome to join the group, which is filled with midwives working in Berlin, to enquire about availability.)
- - Toytown Germany Family Life Forum There are already lots of recommendations on there if you do a search, otherwise you can ask again in case there are any new recommendations about.
- You could go to some of the meetups for mums and expectant mums in Berlin and ask other women face to face such as
- Mums & Bumps a weekly Friday meetup at various venues across the city. Make sure to scroll down to the bottom of the page to see the latest post on there (the top one is from 2007). - For those with a basic level of German, you can search for a midwife by searching for the 'Hebammenliste' and make sure to add the year you are currently in as the list gets updated yearly. With this online list you can search specific to what area you are based in, what services you need from the midwife (for example one that specifies in homebirths (Hausgeburt)) and you can also search by what further languages they speak (Fremdsprachen).
- An alternative is you could call a hospital you have in mind (or look on their website) and see if they have a midwife available for you who is available to take on your care.
- If you want a Beleghebamme (who will also support you during the labour) then you should search for this midwife early in your pregnancy. Beleghebammen accept less clients in order to make sure they can be on call for your labour & so book up early, especially when you are looking for one that speaks English.
- When meeting with a midwife, bring your Mutterpass and health insurance card (Krankenkassekarte) with you for every meeting.
Also, see my post on Doulas, for extra support during pregnancy and beyond
Useful German words related to this post
Hebamme - Midwife
Beleghebamme - Attending midwife
Geburt - Birth
Krankenhaus - Hospital
Geburtshaus - Birthing House
Hausgeburt - Home birth
Krankenkasse - Health Insurance
Frauenarzt - Gynaecologist
Letter to Techniker Krankenkasse example
YOUR NAME
YOUR ADDRESS
Versichertennummer: YOUR INSURANCE NUMBER
Techniker Krankenkasse
Bundesallee 87
12161 Berlin
Betreff: Rufbereitschaftspauschale Erstattung
Sehr geehrte Frau, Herrn,
Hiermit schicke ich Ihnen die Rechnung meiner Beleghebamme bei der Geburt von YOUR CHILD'S NAME am YOUR CHILD'S D.O.B. Bitte können Sie die Rufbereitschaftspauschale erstatten an meiner Konto.
Inhaber: YOUR ACCOUNT NAME Konto: YOUR ACCOUNT NUMBER BLZ: YOUR ACCOUNT BLZ Bank: YOUR BANK NAME
Mit freundlichem Grüßen
YOUR SIGNATURE
YOUR NAME