Swiss Birth Stories

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Ashley shares her remarkable journey through IVF, international moves, and a picture perfect birth which she was encouraged to share. Her story demonstrates how resilience, support networks, and finding peace in unexpected circumstances can create beautiful pregnancy and birth experiences despite complex logistics.

• Started trying to conceive naturally before turning to IVF after a year
• Completed two rounds of IVF with traditional Chinese medicine support
• First son conceived during second fresh IVF cycle
• Moved internationally while five months pregnant when husband took job in England
• Gave birth standing up at Bethesda Hospital in Basel with doula support
• Her first birth was "exceptional" and "picture perfect" according to her, her midwife and doula and she was encouraged to share this story
• Moved to England with two-month-old baby to begin new chapter as family of three
• Underwent three failed embryo transfers during COVID summer
• Successfully conceived second child through complex coordination between Switzerland and England
• Second birth more challenging due to baby's position, requiring an epidural
• Navigated postpartum periods with family support while managing international transitions
• Made conscious decision about remaining embryos, hoping to help another family
• Emphasizes importance of community support throughout fertility and birth journeys

If you're going through infertility or birth preparation and would like to connect, Ashley is available to support others on similar journeys. Reach out through the contact details below.

As a people professional, coach and educated psychologist, Ashley uses a solution and strengths-focused approach based in positive psychology to support working parents and anyone confronted with fertility issues. Find her on LinkedIn to learn more: https://lnkd.in/eU22zWtH'

• https://www.kinderwunsch.ch/ - comprehensive fertility resource in Switzerland, particularly this page
• https://fertilitynetworkuk.org/ - UK based
• https://resolve.org/ - US based
• https://fertilitysupport.org.au/ - Australian based
• link for working professionals in CH: https://familyforward.ch/en/#available-resources
• https://www.fertility.ch/en/

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Discover more great podcasts at SwissCast.Network

The SwissCast Podcast Network is here to amplify the diverse voices and unique stories of Switzerland—all in English. Whether you're a Swiss local fluent in English, an expat, or simply curious about Swiss culture, SwissCast offers engaging content that speaks directly to you.

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The ultimate plan-maker meets the ultimate plan-changer: motherhood. Rosanna's journey reveals what happens when our carefully crafted expectations collide with the unpredictable reality of bringing life into the world. Rosanna shares her powerful journey through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum, revealing how she learned to flow when her carefully made plans took unexpected turns. Her birth took place at the Zollikerberg Birth Centre and Spital Zollikerberg.

• Originally from Italy and living in Switzerland for 10 years
• Works as an HR manager, motherhood coach and co-owns a yoga and meditation studio
• Experienced unexpected challenges during conception despite having meticulously planned timing
• Enjoyed a peaceful pregnancy but struggled with the fear of birth in the final weeks
• Went nearly two weeks over her estimated due date and tried everything to naturally induce labor
• Planned for a birth centre delivery but ended up transferring to the hospital
• Found unexpected peace and surrender during birth despite it not matching her original plan
• Faced significant breastfeeding challenges that weren't properly diagnosed for EIGHT months, once she found the right lactation consultant
• Advocating for more comprehensive preparation around breastfeeding and postpartum
• Still breastfeeding her daughter at 10 months after persevering through extreme difficulties
• Discovered that motherhood, despite its challenges, brings daily moments of connection and joy that make it all worthwhile

Subscribe for more Swiss Birth Stories, Write a review, and share this podcast to help more parents in Switzerland and beyond find the show.

@swissbirthstories

@lilybeezurich

@juliathedoula.ch

www.juliathedoula.ch

www.lilybee.ch

www.swissbirthstories.com

• Elevate website www.elevate-studio.ch instagram: @elevate_studio_zurich
• http://onerisingsoul.com Her private website is where Rossana focuses on 1:1 coaching for mothers instagram: @coachingmothers
• Hypnobirthing course: Julia the Doula
• Meal deliery: Mamasmeals Switzerland
• Lactation Consultant: https://milkandmotherhood.com/
• The Zollikerberg Hospital: https://spitalzollikerberg.ch/en/specialist-areas/obstetrics
• And the Zollikerberg Birth center: https://geburtshaus-zollikerberg.ch/en/ and Delphys birth centre https://www.delphys.ch

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Discover more great podcasts at SwissCast.Network

The SwissCast Podcast Network is here to amplify the diverse voices and unique stories of Switzerland—all in English. Whether you're a Swiss local fluent in English, an expat, or simply curious about Swiss culture, SwissCast offers engaging content that speaks directly to you.

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Delia shares her four powerful home birth stories that began when she was a young midwife trainee who discovered her pregnancy at 26 weeks. From catching each baby in her own hands to navigating birth as a young student, her stories exemplify trusting intuition and creating empowered experiences.

• Serendipitously discovering Ina May Gaskin's "Spiritual Midwifery" as a midwifery student and how that awakened her trust in physiological birth
• Working in the hospital during pregnancy as a trainee midwife and witnessing interventions that reinforced her desire for homebirth
• Experiencing pain-free birth by focusing on breath, trust and staying in the flow during labor and how this experience is possible for everyone
• Facing and moving through fear before and during birth
• Catching all her babies in her own hands
• Breastfeeding successfully despite being told by her family that she wouldn't be able to nurse
• Using instinctive knowledge during her second birth when she asked for a passionate kiss to relax her body
• Trusting her intuition
• Breaking away from her family's birth culture where all births were cesareans and breastfeeding wasn't practiced

Subscribe for more Swiss Birth Stories, Write a review, and share this podcast to help more parents in Switzerland and beyond find the show.

@swissbirthstories

@lilybeezurich

@juliathedoula.ch

www.juliathedoula.ch

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www.swissbirthstories.com

Her website with detailed birth stories, information on her birth preparation coaching, home birth and more (in German, if you want to reach out in English, send her an email):

https://www.deliabaechler.com/

Instagram: @genussgeburt

Tiktok: @genussgeburt

Delia's book: GEBURT - SCHMERZFREI UND ENTSPANNT

https://geburtschmerzfreiundentspannt.com/

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Click here to share your story and be our next guest!

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All Swiss Birth Stories Episodes

Mentioned in this episode:

Discover more great podcasts at SwissCast.Network

The SwissCast Podcast Network is here to amplify the diverse voices and unique stories of Switzerland—all in English. Whether you're a Swiss local fluent in English, an expat, or simply curious about Swiss culture, SwissCast offers engaging content that speaks directly to you.

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All Swiss Birth Stories Episodes

Mihaela shares her empowering breech birth story, defying medical expectations through tenacity and informed decision-making to deliver her daughter naturally at Hirslanden Clinic in Aarau, Switzerland.

• First-time mother determined to have a natural birth despite baby being in breech position
• Used hypnobirthing techniques to prepare mentally and emotionally with her partner
• Faced significant pressure from medical professionals to have a scheduled cesarean birth
• Found a supportive doctor willing to support natural breech birth after changing providers multiple times
• Experienced a surprisingly fast six-hour labor despite being a first-time mom with a breech baby
• Baby was born naturally with her hand up alongside her face in the breech position
• Learned from an acupuncturist that "breech babies usually stay like that because they want to be close to the mom's heart"
• Advocates for women to be drivers of their birth experience through education and preparation
• Describes the birth as transformative and empowering, creating a new birth legacy for her daughter
• Emphasizes the importance of finding the right care provider who respects informed choice

Never give up and try to find the best place for you to give birth on your terms and never on others' terms.

Subscribe for more Swiss Birth Stories, Write a review, and share this podcast to help more parents in Switzerland and beyond find the show.

@swissbirthstories

@lilybeezurich

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1. Julia’s hypnobirthing course (www.happydayhypnobirthing.ch) and Katharine Graves’s resources (book, instagram, free resources on her website - https://www.kghypnobirthing.com/hypnobirthing-free-resources)
2. Herr Wenhua Zhang from TCM Stadelhofen (Zurich): expert at breech accupuncture and moxibustion
3. Dr. Müller Astrid - The Webster Technique ( chiropractic method recommended by spinning babies for pelvic alignment during pregnancy and breech positioning )
4. Susann Brun - Hebamme services (from Delphys Geburtshaus in Zurich) and her course of birth preparation through swimming exercises and water
5. Hirslanden Klinik Aarau https://www.hirslanden.ch/de/hirslanden-klinik-aarau/
6. The most important one: Dr med W. Stadlmayr- Geburt und Familie Aarau ( as you can see the reviews are incredible) https://g.co/kgs/H6TgcPF

Mentioned in this episode:

Discover more great podcasts at SwissCast.Network

The SwissCast Podcast Network is here to amplify the diverse voices and unique stories of Switzerland—all in English. Whether you're a Swiss local fluent in English, an expat, or simply curious about Swiss culture, SwissCast offers engaging content that speaks directly to you.

SwissCast Network

Send us Fan Mail

Join us on Patreon

or

Support the show

Please connect with us:

Click here to share your story and be our next guest!

Check out Julia's upcoming courses

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Lilybee's store with pregnancy, birth and postpartum essentials

All Swiss Birth Stories Episodes

Ellie shares her journey of giving birth twice at the University Hospital in Zurich, exploring both the emotional challenges of pregnancy and the profound differences between her two birth experiences. Through her story, she highlights the importance of advocating for yourself during labor and recognizing that babies arrive with their own unique personalities from day one.

There are a few gorgeous moments in this podcast where you can hear her little one snuggling in for a feed. We kept these moments in as it is simply real and true to the experience of interviewing Elli, which was a total delight.

• Moving to Switzerland shortly before starting a family
• Experiencing physically easy pregnancies while struggling with the psychological aspects
• Being induced 9-10 days past estimated due date for both pregnancies
• First birth involving an epidural and the "cascade of interventions"
• Second birth progressing to intense, unmedicated labor within hours
• Advocating against an episiotomy during second birth without prior consent
• Insights on the Swiss postpartum care system
• Realizing her two children had completely different personalities from birth, and learning how to parent such different children
• The valuable midwife advice: "If it works for you, then it's okay"
• Finding perspective with her second child that everything is just a phase

Instagram:

@Karrie_Locher

@dr.maehughes

@Badassmotherbirther

Podcast Recommendations

• Informed pregnancy podcast and informed pregnancy plus (to watch birth movies)
• The Birth Hour
• Evidence Based Birth
• Makes Milk with Emma Pickett

Subscribe for more Swiss Birth Stories, Write a review, and share this podcast to help more parents in Switzerland and beyond find the show.

@swissbirthstories

@lilybeezurich

@juliathedoula.ch

www.juliathedoula.ch

www.lilybee.ch

www.swissbirthstories.com

Mentioned in this episode:

Discover more great podcasts at SwissCast.Network

The SwissCast Podcast Network is here to amplify the diverse voices and unique stories of Switzerland—all in English. Whether you're a Swiss local fluent in English, an expat, or simply curious about Swiss culture, SwissCast offers engaging content that speaks directly to you.

SwissCast Network

Send us Fan Mail

Join us on Patreon

or

Support the show

Please connect with us:

Click here to share your story and be our next guest!

Check out Julia's upcoming courses

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Lilybee's store with pregnancy, birth and postpartum essentials

All Swiss Birth Stories Episodes

Mona, mother to three "little female dragons" - now aged 21, 16, and 7, shares her journey of three planned cesarean births in Bethesda and Kantonsp. Mona's uterus is uniquely shaped, which prevented her babies from turning naturally into the optimal birthing position. She shares how the path to planned cesarean birth did not change anything about her mothering and how they were positive experiences.

• Initially disappointed about needing a cesarean for her first birth after picturing and preparing for a natural delivery, having to process this shift in preparation
• Advocating for immediate skin-to-skin contact with her children after discovering it wasn't automatic with cesarean birth
• Appreciating the predictability and faster recovery of planned cesarean births
• Experiencing labor contractions after she went into spontaneous labour for the first time when her third daughter decided to arrive a day before her scheduled cesarean
• Receiving excellent postpartum support from Switzerland's postpartum midwife and family services systems
• Breastfeeding all three daughters for two years
• Dealing with her partner's gender disappointment and subsequent experiencing depression after her second birth and seeking professional help
• Finding her most precious moments in the quiet hospital time alone with each newborn

Subscribe for more Swiss Birth Stories, Write a review, and share this podcast to help more parents in Switzerland and beyond find the show.

@swissbirthstories

@lilybeezurich

@juliathedoula.ch

www.juliathedoula.ch

www.lilybee.ch

www.swissbirthstories.com

Mentioned in this episode:

Discover more great podcasts at SwissCast.Network

The SwissCast Podcast Network is here to amplify the diverse voices and unique stories of Switzerland—all in English. Whether you're a Swiss local fluent in English, an expat, or simply curious about Swiss culture, SwissCast offers engaging content that speaks directly to you.

SwissCast Network

Send us Fan Mail

Join us on Patreon

or

Support the show

Please connect with us:

Click here to share your story and be our next guest!

Check out Julia's upcoming courses

Check out Christine's doula services

Lilybee's store with pregnancy, birth and postpartum essentials

All Swiss Birth Stories Episodes

Dipal shares her powerful birth experiences in India and Switzerland, highlighting cultural differences between healthcare systems while navigating a bilateral clubfoot diagnosis during her second pregnancy. Through both births, she demonstrates how preparation, knowledge, and supportive care providers created empowering experiences despite differing approaches to maternal autonomy and birth practices.

• First birth in Bangalore, India where episiotomies are routine, fathers are not there for the birth and birth plans are uncommon
• Finding a doctor who supported her in having the birth she wanted
• Using preparation, visualization, breathing techniques, and knowledge to prepare for labor
• Husband's active involvement breaking from Indian tradition where men aren't typically present during birth and infancy
• Bilateral clubfoot diagnosis at 16 weeks during second pregnancy in Switzerland
• Swiss healthcare providers demonstrating respect for patient autonomy and body autonomy
• Different communication styles between Indian doctors (personal, accessible via WhatsApp) and Swiss doctors (more formal but respectful)
• Successful treatment journey for bilateral clubfoot after birth
• Finding strength in supportive healthcare providers who used humor and encouragement during labor
• Managing postpartum with limited family support in a new country

Subscribe for more Swiss Birth Stories, Write a review, and share this podcast to help more parents in Switzerland and beyond find the show.

@swissbirthstories

@lilybeezurich

@juliathedoula.ch

www.juliathedoula.ch

www.lilybee.ch

www.swissbirthstories.com

You can visit her informative blog and social media here:

www.dipalsblog.wordpress.com

https://www.instagram.com/dipalpatel18/

Mentioned in this episode:

Discover more great podcasts at SwissCast.Network

The SwissCast Podcast Network is here to amplify the diverse voices and unique stories of Switzerland—all in English. Whether you're a Swiss local fluent in English, an expat, or simply curious about Swiss culture, SwissCast offers engaging content that speaks directly to you.

SwissCast Network