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Lisa's resources are below this description

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 impossible choices. Lisa and her Swiss husband look at IVF realities, adoption barriers, and the heartbreak of more loss, then choose donor egg IVF. But because egg donation is illegal in Switzerland (a topic discussed in the episodes), they travel to a Greek fertility clinic and learn the logistics and emotions of cross-border care, donor screening, anonymity, and what it means to build a family this way.

The first transfer works, but pregnancy still brings health anxiety, intense symptoms, and the lingering fear that good news can disappear.

Then comes birth. Lisa shares her fears of childbirth, why she planned a hospital birth in Kantonspital Winterthur with doula support, how an induction is recommended after late-pregnancy measurements, and what it’s like to move through a long, brutal labour when pain relief doesn’t fully touch the intensity.

We also unpack the cascade of interventions, vacuum-assisted delivery, brief newborn oxygen support, retained placenta surgery, a severe postpartum haemorrhage, and the months of triple feeding and guilt that follow. It’s a raw, honest story about resilience, anger, tenderness, all so generously shared by the honest and candid conversation with Lisa.

If this conversation helps you, please subscribe, share it with someone who needs it, and leave a rating and review so more parents and parents to be in Switzerland can find these stories.

Here are Lisa's resources:

Fertility specialist in Zurich: https://www.kinderwunsch-zuerich.ch/

Lisa's clinic in Greece where was matched with her egg donor: https://www.newlife-ivf.co.uk/

Christine was Lisa's doula: www.lilybee.ch

Lisa can be contacted here for connecting about issues like balanced translocation, fertility assistance, donor eggs: lisa.schwander712@gmail.com

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Giulia's resources are below.

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 by preparation, hypnobirthing tools, and the belief that staying open to Plan B matters. What follows is a powerful Swiss birth story about patience, endurance, and the strange mix of grief and gratitude that can sit side by side when labour stretches past 24 hours and a very difficult postpartum diagnosis of Hirschsprung's Disease.

We talk through monitoring post due-date and induction choices, including acupuncture, a castor oil cocktail, and the moment an unexplained bleed changes things. Giulia shares what helped her cope during intense contractions, why the birth pool felt like relief, and how it felt to keep trying position after position while dilation and descent stayed stubbornly slow. When exhaustion takes over, she chooses an epidural, and eventually a caesarean section becomes the safest next step. The care and steadiness of the midwives becomes a central part of how she remembers a tough birth with warmth. Her incredibly willingness to truly "try it all" (and then some!) is such a powerful part of this story.

Then, nine days postpartum, everything shifts. Feeding struggles and poor weight gain turn into an emergency visit, NICU separation, and a rare diagnosis: Hirschsprung disease, a gastrointestinal condition that blocks the colon. Giulia walks us through pumping and visiting daily, learning colon flushes at home, and waiting months for major corrective surgery. We also zoom out to the postpartum realities people don’t warn you about, from C-section recovery and breastfeeding pressure to freelance work, childcare costs, and finding a village in Zurich.

If this story resonates, subscribe to Swiss Birth Stories, share it with a parent who needs hope, and leave a rating or review so more families can find these honest conversations. What part of Giulia's journey did you relate to most?

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Kateryna's resources are below this description

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. From a low fluid scare and a breech presentation to a successful ECV (a procedure to turn the baby before it is born) followed by a rare bleeding complication, she takes us inside the decisions that turned anxiety into agency and pressure into preference.

We move through practical strategies for navigating late-pregnancy curveballs: how she assessed induction recommendations with a clear head, what respectful monitoring sounds like, and where to find breech-friendly care in Switzerland. Kateryna’s first home birth unfolded with movement, hypnobirthing, and water; her second arrived in a sunlit pool in under a minute after a forest walk and mindful positioning.

Her approach was never “home at all costs.” Hospitals were registered, transfer plans ready, and informed consent constant- proof that safety and softness can coexist when parents are trusted.

Postpartum is where her philosophy crystallizes. The first time, she rushed back to life and paid for it with prolonged bleeding and discomfort. The second, she committed to forty days of rest, clear boundaries, and targeted support, including a rented therapeutic laser for nipple healing and a lotus birth that demanded slow, attentive care. The result: steadier breastfeeding, deeper sleep, and a remarkably calm baby. We also talk about changing doctors at 38 weeks, the red flags that signal misalignment, and the green lights that say you’ve found your team.

If you’re weighing home birth, facing breech, or just craving a gentler postpartum, this story offers concrete tools and uncommon peace. Listen, share with a friend who needs a confidence boost, and subscribe for more Swiss birth stories and expert insights. Your review helps more parents find evidence-based, heart-forward care.

Kateryna's resources:

- Hebammen https://www.instagram.com/haerzchlopfae_hebamme?igsh=MzM5ZTE5YjB2aThz

- Doctor to turn breech baby https://frauenarzt-genesis.ch/dr-el-idrissi/

- Doctor to give birth vaginaly with breech https://www.hirslanden.ch/de/corporate/aerzte/3/dr-med-werner-stadlmayr.html

Postpartum midwife https://diehebammenpraxis.ch/

Rent laser https://www.wochenbett-huber.ch/

Yoni steaming and recovery massage https://www.christine-ehling.com/

Photos https://w

Support the show

Please connect with us! See below for how to contact and interact with us:

To share your story: https://www.happydayhypnobirthing.ch/swiss-birth-stories

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www.swissbirthstories.com

www.juliathedoula.ch

www.lilybee.ch

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@juliathedoula.ch

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Emily's resources and contact info are below this description :

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 Spital Uster that swung from serene to urgent in minutes.

We talk about the moment her waters broke, why a 36-week conversation about pain relief changed everything, and how a calm, epidural-supported labour turned into a rapid forceps delivery that brought her son safely earthside.

The harder chapter began after birth. With a tailbone injury, stitches, and a very large newborn, Emily couldn’t sit, lift, or walk without pain. Bonding looked different. Her husband took the nights and nappies; her Italian family moved in, filling the home with meals, care, and the steady wisdom of a great-grandmother in her 90s. Together, they built a real village.

Emily shares how accepting help became both a psychological hurdle and a lifeline, and how strength training tailored for PCOS helped rebuild her body and confidence.

Threaded through it all is a theme that challenges modern myths of control: faith alongside science, surrender alongside planning, and the radical idea that a baby’s life is valuable before it achieves anything at all. If you’re navigating fertility uncertainty, planning an induction, weighing pain relief options in Switzerland, or bracing for the variations of postpartum recovery, Emily’s story offers practical insights and a grounded reminder that community is medicine.

If this conversation moved you, subscribe, leave a quick review, and share it with someone else. Your support helps more parents find these stories and feel less alone.

Emily's resources:

Dr. Emily Reeves

Certified Psychologist

Time for Peace Psychology Practice (Uster)

www.timeforpeace.ch

Her personal trainer:

Justina: https://justinatraining.com/

Support the show

Please connect with us! See below for how to contact and interact with us:

To share your story: https://www.happydayhypnobirthing.ch/swiss-birth-stories

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Ana's resources are under this description.

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: nausea between contractions, a walking epidural that brought crucial rest, and the moment where language clarity changed care.

As pushing stretched on, meconium and decelerations raised the stakes. The team considered a surgical birth before using a kiwi vacuum to help her daughter arrive safely.

Those first minutes were fleeting; NICU monitoring separated mother and baby, while Anna faced a retained placenta and an operation under general anesthesia. She wakes to the ache of a ventilated throat and a surge of doubt, then rebuilds confidence with compassionate midwives, pumping support, and steady skin-to-skin. Milk starts slow, then arrives in force at home, just as day-three hormones crash and cluster feeding rewrites the night.

We talk practical truths and tender ones: why clear communication matters in a second language, how boundaries around visitors protect recovery, and what pelvic floor rehab can do for strength, continence, and a gradual return to running. Anna’s reflections land with weight—becoming a mother as a chance to redefine identity and model courage for her daughter. If you’re expecting, supporting a birth, or processing your own story, this conversation offers grounded guidance, emotional honesty, and a reminder that resilience grows in the grey areas.

If this story resonates, follow Swiss Birth Stories, subscribe for more real-world birth insights, and leave a review to help others find us. Share this episode with someone who needs a compassionate, unvarnished look at birth and the postpartum journey.

Ana's resources:

Rückbildung & Yoga kurs: https://www.hebammenpraxis-zuerich.ch/standorte

Trainer pre/postpartum: https://www.sportzonezuerich.ch/

Support the show

Please connect with us! See below for how to contact and interact with us:

To share your story: https://www.happydayhypnobirthing.ch/swiss-birth-stories

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Diana's resources are below this description:

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 instinct and inspirational courage.

We start with the ease of her first birth and the rare gift of a newborn who slept long stretches from night one. Then the scene changes: a surprise second pregnancy collides with early COVID restrictions, shifting hospital rules, and the logistics of caring for a toddler while working from a small apartment. Diana shares how she chose her care team and hospital based on continuity, NICU proximity, and realistic worst‑case planning- decisions that brought steadiness when everything else felt uncertain.

The heart of the story is the taxi birth itself: contractions that spike in minutes, a neighbour (in his late 40s and childless) turned improvised birth partner, a driver with his own special birth story, and Diana putting a hand down to catch her own baby and arriving back in her body and senses at the perfect time.

Once home, relief meets a new challenge as her newborn is monitored for gastrointestinal issues and her toddler battles salmonella. We talk about the hidden demands of postpartum in a pandemic, how a strict feeding schedule surprisingly boosted milk supply, and the emotional work of integrating a fast, intense birth.

With a trauma‑informed midwife, Diana reframes the experience: intensity can still be healthy, and instinct under pressure is real strength. Along the way, we celebrate the unlikely bond with the taxi driver, the family rituals that keep the amazing story alive, and the deep connection that grew between two closely spaced siblings.

If you love real birth stories, practical perinatal insights, and honest talk about resilience, you’ll feel right at home. Subscribe, leave a review to support the show, and share this episode with someone who needs a reminder that calm can live inside chaos.

Support the show

Please connect with us! See below for how to contact and interact with us:

To share your story: https://www.happydayhypnobirthing.ch/swiss-birth-stories

All episodes:

https://swissbirthstories.buzzsprout.com

Our websites:

www.swissbirthstories.com

www.juliathedoula.ch

www.lilybee.ch

Instagram:

@swissbirthstories

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@lilybeezurich

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Sara is a researcher and doula in Zurich, her own website and her resources are below this description.

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 epidural that failed, and later, in Zurich, having to forgo her goal of giving birth at Delphy's Birth House, for an induced hospital water birth at Triempli Stadtspital.

We walk through the real contrasts in maternity care. Denmark’s midwife-led approach offered continuity and calm, with minimal medicalisation. Switzerland provided more monitoring, options, and risk framing. Both helped in different ways, but the decisive factor was how supported Sarah felt. After a tough recovery the first time, including a third-degree tear and weeks of painful feeding before a tongue tie was found, she dove into preparation for her second: a birth house plan, a doula by her side, and tools like hypnobirthing, sophrology, breath counts, and a TENS unit. When her waters likely released and the clock started, she transferred to hospital and advocated clearly: no oral misoprostol, start with a midwife’s brew, then use a reversible oxytocin drip. An “angel midwife” kept the space safe. The oxytocin built, she stayed in rhythm, and the team filled a birth pool. With calm coaching to slow crowning, she birthed her son gently with no tearing.

Sara's Resources:
Why and how to use the TENS machine

Blog post on TENS

Epi-no device, to train and stretch the perineum, to prevent tears (a good alternative is perineal massage):

Favorite international birth stories podcasts:

- https://australianbirthstories.com/

- https://www.thepositivebirthstorypodcast.com/

hypnobirthing listening track and meditation/timer app for labor:

Favorite and super knowledgeable IBCLC lactation consultants (in CH/IT/DK - all offer online consultations in EN)

Fitness and pregnancy/birth wisdom

Surprisingly true and favorite reads: 1 2

Sara's own doula website: www.ri-nascere.ch

Support the show

Please connect with us! See below for how to contact and interact with us:

To share your story: https://www.happydayhypnobirthing.ch/swiss-birth-stories

All episodes:

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Our websites:

www.swissbirthstories.com

www.juliathedoula.ch

www.lilybee.ch

Instagram:

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@lilybeezurich

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Andrea's resources are below this description.

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 during the height of pandemic restrictions. With her partner sent home and information scarce, recovery stretched into a week in hospital and months of fatigue, anxiety, rage, and insomnia. Therapy named postpartum depression. Bloodwork finally revealed Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, connecting dots and restoring stability with the right medication.

The second time, Andrea did more than hope; she prepared. Counselling helped process trauma. A clear plan flagged her prior PPH, requested the delivery suite, and lined up colostrum in case of separation. Her partner trained to advocate. Friends handled the midnight drive. Rest, snacks, an acupressure comb, and warm water carried her through. In the quiet between surges, she felt her son’s head, waited, and delivered him into her arms in a peaceful water birth. He surprised everyone at nearly 4.5 kilos, and the placenta followed smoothly out of the tub, with a blissful first latch to seal the moment.

We talk about birth trauma in Switzerland, trauma-informed care, postpartum mental health, thyroid health after birth, building a real support network, and why postpartum rest is part of recovery, not a luxury. Andrea’s story is a reminder that healing doesn’t erase what happened; it gives you a new chapter to hold it with care.

Loved this story? Subscribe, leave a review to help more parents find us, and share this episode with someone who needs a hopeful path back to birth.

Andrea's resources:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51290494-why-did-no-one-tell-me-this - a book I found at the local Orell Füssli and was very glad I read! My husband even referred to it while I was in labour.

https://www.youtube.com/c/BridgetTeyler - the one and only YouTube channel I used during pregnancy and postpartum.

https://www.thenakeddoula.com/ - I found her visuals to be striking and memorable. The flashcards helped my husband and I prepare for the birth, and I also made my birth plan using her visuals.

https://www.born-together.com/ - counselling with Francesca helped me process the trauma of my first birth story and prepare for the birth of my second child, which turned out to be a truly healing experience. We also had one couples counselling session.

https://www.thewavecomb.co.uk/ - I used the wave comb and water to help me have an unmedicated birthing experience and feel in control.

podcast: The Great Birth Rebellion (we love this one too)

Support the show

Please connect with us! See below for how to contact and interact with us:

To share your story: https://www.happydayhypnobirthing.ch/swiss-birth-stories

All episodes:

https://swissbirthstories.buzzsprout.com

Our websites:

www.swissbirthstories.com

www.juliathedoula.ch

www.lilybee.ch

Instagram:

@swissbirthstories

@juliathedoula.ch

@lilybeezurich

Tiktok:

@swissbirthstories