Having a Baby in Switzerland

Women in Switzerland have the best facilities, obstetricians and maternity care providers to offer quality service from prenatal stages to delivery.

The costs may be high but with international health insurance, expat women find expenses much easier to cope with.

There are generally three options for giving birth in this country. One is through a system called accouchement ambulatoire, which is usual in major city hospitals. An obstetrician facilitates birth in a hospital and the mother is allowed to go home in a matter of hours as long as there are no complications.

Another place where a mother can deliver is a maison de la naissance where the setting is more luxurious and less clinical and births are facilitated by midwives. A third option is to have the birth at home with a midwife. At home, a midwife attends to mother and child regularly within the first ten days after the delivery. After delivery, a mother may have a midwife, private obstetrician or GP check on her and her baby at home.

The cost is generally high but the country's obligatory health insurance system offers considerable assistance as it covers basic birth costs. Most expat women, however, take out international health insurance for a more comfortable experience.

Babies born in Switzerland are not automatically granted Swiss citizenship unless they are a natural or adopted child of a woman who is a Swiss national or married to one.