What's it's like to give birth in Austria.
Hello, I'm back again after a very long pause. I took time off, for one very special reason... a baby girl! I had her in January and now that she is almost three months old. I thought it would be good to get back into this blog. So let's talk about giving birth in Austria!
Some things that I've learned about what it's like here. Please keep in mind, this is information from 2020-2021.
- You have free visits to the OB-GYN (obstetrician-gynecologist) that include ultrasounds. You get a few free ultrasounds over the pregnancy and also regular check ups. If you want an ultrasound every time, you would need to pay more. If you don't pay for a private OB-GYN, you might have a quick visit, so it's good to write down your questions in advance.
- You get a Mutter Kind Pass (Mother Child Passport) that helps you keep track of your baby's health over the early years. The book is given to you by the OB-GYN and it starts getting filled out during the pregnancy. This book helps you keep track of your progress during pregnancy and also after for your child.
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| This is given to all mothers. |
- You get a vaccination (Impfungen) mini booklet. This comes in the Mutter Kind Pass and will help you keep track of your child's vaccinations. There is a schedule of vaccines that your child goes through with the children's doctor. Most vaccinations are also covered by Austria.
- You can get free midwife (Hebamme) support during pregnancy and for the first few weeks of life. This is something that is mentioned in the Mutter Kind Pass and you have a free consultation that you need to make sure to do within a certain time frame of your pregnancy. You can find a midwife through a list of providers at https://tirol.hebammen.at/. I was able to find one that spoke with me in English. Because of Corona, she wasn't able to come to the hospital during the labor, but for every week in the first month, she came over to visit our home (still free, paid for by the government) to make sure the baby is growing well and to offer any help in taking care of her. I asked her about diaper changes, how to hold her, what to do when she's crying, etc.
- You need to register with the hospital you will have your child in. Innsbruck Hospital (Tirol-Kliniken) was the easiest choice for us because it's close by, and also has great Neo-natal support if anything goes wrong. On their hospital birth website you can look at the rooms where you give birth and also gives you a lot of other helpful information like what to bring and the support you can get.
- You have a room to yourself during the birth (and my husband was able to stay with a mask). The hospital had 4 birthing rooms and 2 of them have the possibility for a water birth. So during the birth, I had a room to walk around in and move. The midwives, nurses and doctor would come in at various times to assist and my husband was able to stay the whole time with a mask. I didn't need to wear a mask in the labor room after they gave me a Corona test.
- You can hold your baby directly after the birth for an hour (maybe more). After the labor, I was able to directly have my baby on my bare chest. Her umbilical cord was even cut while she was on my chest and I was stitched up as well (surprisingly not as painful as you would expect). Then my husband and I were left in order to enjoy her peacefully together. It was something that I really wanted and was so grateful to have. We decided not to take video or too many pictures so we could just be in the moment with her.
- The hospital birth is free. Being from the United States, you hear these stories of new parents going into debt because of hospital visits. I was shocked when I found out this is not how it is here. We had a normal birth, but our little girl needed to go to intensive care after. She recovered and was able to be released after a week. While she was there, I was given a room in the hospital (like a hotel room) where I could be close by so I could breastfeed her, the nurses would call me when she was hungry in the night. Once she was well enough to go out of intensive care, she and I were moved into a room together for after-care where we stayed for the rest of the week. Again, it was like a hotel room where she was monitored and I could call for help as many times as needed for whatever help I needed from a midwife including questions, and they were so friendly and helpful. How much did all this cost? We paid for nothing, it's all part of the Austrian system.
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| My FREE aftercare hospital room. |
- There are many services that are available to you. In the Mutter Kind Pass there is additional information that is given about the services that are available to you as a parent like numbers to call for help, counseling, baby courses, midwife services, etc. Here is one link that informs you about mother counseling: https://www.tirol.gv.at/gesundheit-vorsorge/mutter-eltern-beratung/.
So that's about it! I could share a lot more, but I think that's what I've got for the main points. Below are some words that I learned in this process. The exercise below will use them.
|
German word |
Plural |
English Word |
|
das Baby |
die Babys |
baby |
|
der Beckenboden |
die Beckenböden |
pelvic floor |
|
der Frauenartz |
die Frauenärtze |
OBGYN |
|
die Geburt |
die Geburten |
birth |
|
das Geburtsdatum |
die Geburtsdaten |
birthdate |
|
die Hebamme |
die Hebammen |
midwife |
|
der Kaiserschnitt |
die Kaiserschnitte |
cesarean section |
|
das Krankenhaus |
die Krankenhäuser |
hospital |
|
der Kreißsaal |
die Kreißsäle |
birthing room |
|
die natürliche Geburt |
|
natural birth |
|
der Ultraschall |
die Ultraschälle |
ultrasound |
|
voraussichtliches Geburtsdatum |
|
expected date of birth |
|
die Wehe |
die Wehen |
contractions |
German Exercise for the Week:
Übung für Baby Worte (Level: A2)
Here are some fill in the blank words related to pregnancy and birth. The words are based off the ones translated above and as always, the answers are also provided on the second page.
