Swiss Birth Stories

Send us Fan Mail Her pregnancy is “textbook” until a routine late-pregnancy check reveals high blood pressure and protein in urine , and suddenly every day feels like a decision point. We’re joined by Kaitlin, an American-Swiss mother living in Zurich, who walks us through severe preeclampsia monitoring, a surprise ICP diagnosis after relentless itching, and how quickly things can escalate when yo...

Send us Fan Mail Born on a tiny river boat in Colombia during a tropical storm, Valentina grows up across continents and later lands in Switzerland working in maternal health and gender equity. Then pregnancy hits and theory becomes real. Hyperemesis gravidarum leaves her sick for months, and she learns how quickly a system can turn “protocol” into pressure when a mother is exhausted and vulnerabl...

Send us Fan Mail What an episode. When Lisa is told again and again that her recurring miscarriages are “just bad luck,” she knows that's not it. She follows her intuition, pushes for deeper testing, and finally gets an answer. Lisa has a balanced chromosomal translocation, a rare genetic rearrangement that makes naturally conceived pregnancies far more likely to end. That diagnosis forces impossi...

Send us Fan Mail Wow, what a story. You will want to stick around for the postpartum discussion and her incredibly brilliant moment which left not a dry eye on the recording that day. A birth plan can be thoughtful, informed, and deeply held and still get rewritten in real time. Guilia came into labour hoping for a low-intervention, midwife-led experience at Triemli Hospital in Zurich, supported b...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when a healthcare system’s “just in case” meets a mother’s calm, clear questioning: “what’s actually happening right now?”, "How is my baby doing?" Originally from Ukraine, we meet Kateryna to explore her five-year fertility journey , her two planned home births in the Zurich area, and the tightrope walk between hospital protocol, fact-finding and personal autonomy. F...

Send us Fan Mail After five years of trying, Emily and her husband's fertility journey ends not with another treatment cycle, but with an act of surrender and faith. And then, a positive test surprises them two weeks later! Emily, a UK–Italian psychologist living in Uster, ZH, invites us into her honest, layered journey through PCOS, infertility, a late breech pregnancy , and an induction at Spita...

Send us Fan Mail A clear plan helps, but the real story begins when birth asks you to adapt. Anna joins us from Zurich to share how she chose motherhood on her own terms, navigated a heart-shaped uterus without panic, and prepared through hypnobirthing, swimming, yoga, and an English antenatal class at Triemli Stadtspital in Zurich city. What follows is a vivid, vulnerable account of labour: nause...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when labour quickly goes from quiet to unstoppable and the only “birth room” around has four doors and a meter running? We sit down with Diana, a Brazilian living in Zurich , to relive two unforgettable births: a swift, positive first delivery at Spital Zollikerberg in Zurich and a second that arrives in a taxi during rush hour - no midwives, no doctors, no time, just...

Send us Fan Mail Sara is a researcher and doula in Zurich. What if the difference between a hard birth and a healing one was a few well-chosen words, a handful of choices and a team that truly listened? Sarah’s story spans two countries and two radically different experiences where she found her rhythm, her voice, and her power. Her first, an induction in Denmark marked by pressure toward an epidu...

Send us Fan Mail A birth can change your life. Two births can change your map. Andrea, a teacher and author living in Lenzburg , opens up about a first labour that moved faster than anyone expected, a cramped exam room at Hirslanden Aargau standing in for a delivery suite, and the cascade that followed: retained placenta, agonising uterine compression, a major postpartum hemorrhage, and surgery du...

Send us Fan Mail Plans rarely survive contact with labour, and that’s exactly where this story shines. We sit down with Ladina , a Swiss parent who grew up in the US and Brazil, to trace two very different births at Triemli Stadtspital in Zurich—one long and medically complex, the next fast and grounded in simple tools and trust. We start with the first pregnancy and a nerve-wracking NIPT delay ov...

Send us Fan Mail This episode is a must listen for every pregnancy. Henar's story of finding answers, self-advocacy, hard work and tenacity, as well as leaning in when things went differently than planned holds lessons for everyone embarking on pregnancy and birth in Switzerland. What happens when modern diabetes tech collides with decades‑old pregnancy protocols ? We sit down with Henar, a Spain‑...

Send us Fan Mail Joanna is a small business owner living in Glarus with her family. She owns Moon and June, a non-alcoholic apertif made in Switzerland. A decade can change everything. Joanna went from a fast-paced banking career and a midwife-led hospital birth in Poland to a slow, deliberate, deeply supported home water birth in the Swiss mountains—finding a new kind of confidence along the way....

Send us Fan Mail Maggie Wyss, PhD , is a researcher, writer, and international health expert exploring the intersection of gender, health, and society. Her work is centered on how women navigate complex decisions, particularly in pregnancy, birth, and motherhood. What if a twin cesarean could feel calm, connected, and even a little spiritual? We sit down with Maggie, a mom of three, to trace a ful...

Send us Fan Mail If you’re craving a nuanced, practical take on birth, breastfeeding, and entrepreneurship/work- light on dogma, big on real-life problem-solving then this is the story for you. A long labour, a late epidural, and then the hardest part hits after birth: every latch feels like fire. When Kristina finally asks to stop, one midwife shames her - and another walks in with calm, options,...

Send us Fan Mail Josefina is a certified pre- and post-natal yoga teacher and a pregnancy and postpartum corrective exercise specialist (PCES) living in Appenzell, Switzerland. The plan sounded elegant: move to Zurich, open a textile shop in August, welcome a baby in October. Then preeclampsia arrived without warning, and Josefina’s son was born at 29 weeks—840 grams of fierce life, t ucked inside...

Send us Fan Mail A wrong email address reshaped an entire birth story. We sat down with a scientist‑mum, Gülkiz, whose path wound from Berlin’s buzz to Zurich’s quiet trails, through months of trying to conceive, a surprise double‑line at dawn , and a chance discovery of a birth house (Geburtshaus Zollikerberg, in the Zurich, Switzerland area) that aligned with her values. What followed was a swif...

Send us Fan Mail The journey to motherhood transforms us in ways we never expect. For Johanna , an Australian expat living in Switzerland, what began as a dream-come-true pregnancy turned into a birth story filled with unexpected twists – from her water breaking in the bath to a husband who wouldn't answer his phone (and was immediately presumed dead), a taxi driver who got lost en route to the ho...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when careful preparation meets the unpredictable reality of childbirth? Marie , an American yoga and fitness instructor living in Switzerland, takes us on her journey from visualization to adaptation as she welcomes her daughter at Spital Lachen in Canton Schwyz. Marie's story begins with perfect timing. A five-week yoga teacher training in Bali while her Swiss husban...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when your carefully planned birth center delivery takes an unexpected turn? Danielle's journey from New York to Switzerland , and from birth house to hospital and back again, offers powerful lessons in resilience, informed decision-making, and finding peace when birth plans change. Moving to Switzerland while pregnant after a long-distance relationship with her Swiss...

Send us Fan Mail When an ultrasound technician uttered the words "his neck is sick" during a routine 12-week scan, Sonia's world tilted on its axis. What should have been a joyful glimpse at her second baby instead launched her family into a medical odyssey that would test their resilience, challenge their beliefs, and ultimately change the landscape of treatment for an incurable disease. Sonia's...

Send us Fan Mail Clare shares her story of giving birth to her second child in Switzerland after moving from the UK, highlighting the differences between birth systems and the beauty of sibling relationships. Her marathon 67-hour labor culminated in a water birth at Hôpital de Morges after her initial birthing center plans changed. Moved to Switzerland 20 years ago with husband and 7-week-old son...

Send us Fan Mail Simone shares her remarkable journey of giving birth to her two sons in two different countries (the Netherlands and Switzerland), revealing how cultural and systemic differences profoundly shape the birth experience beyond just the physical process. Born and raised in Amsterdam before relocating to Switzerland with her family First pregnancy transformed from planned birth center...

Send us Fan Mail Veronica shares her journey of giving birth in the midwifery led program at Stadtspital Triemli in Zurich, including a "dream birth" and a surgical repair of a third-degree tear caused by her baby's "saluting hand" position during delivery. Through her story, we explore how careful preparation, a positive mindset, and strong support systems helped her navigate both the beautiful a...

Send us Fan Mail Agata , mother of five children, shares her experiences of pregnancy and giving birth at Hirslanden Hospital in Zurich with remarkable honesty, self-awareness, and optimism. Originally from Russia, Agata met her German husband in the UK before settling in Zurich in 2011 Always wanted a large family- had her first three children in less than three years, followed by her fourth and...