Moving To Geneva!

[Bellabaz]

Hello,

We will be moving to Geneva in June. DP will work at CERN. So if any of you are in that area and can give us any resources for finding housing or any tips you found useful when you moved there, I would really appreciate it. Also I will need a mid-wife who speaks English and if possible a doula. We will have a homebirth and I am due in late August. So if anyone has recommendations please pass them on.

Also we will have insurance through his work, so how does the system work there? Will I be assigned a doctor (it works like this in Italy) or can I choose? Any recommendations?

Anyone else at CERN who can give us some inside scoop on how things work there?

TIA

[Bella Luna]

Hi,

I don't live in Switzerland, but my husband is Swiss. His family all live in the Basel and Zuerich areas, so unfortunately I don't have any personal recommendations.

However, on the Swiss midwives' website, I see that there is a group in Geneva that offers home births and has some midwives who speak English. Here is the contact information:

Arcade sages-femmes/ Sages-femmes à domicile,
85, Bd. Carl-Vogt, 1205 Genève

Tel [phone]
Fax [phone]
[e-mail]
www.arcade-sages-femmes.ch

Hope that helps!

[cajunmommy]

I just moved to Basel 7 months pregnant. Ok the system is rather complicated because insurance is not provided through employment. For us we first lived with our in-laws near Zurich, but we knew we wanted to move to Basel. Here is where we had problems because you must be registered in the city in which you will live which requires a lease contract. We registered using dh's brother's address in Basel stadt, but ended up living in Basel city. I went a month without seeing a doctor. I am now at the university hospital here which is a teaching hospital so I will not have the same mid-wife or doctor. I am ok with that though as everyone is really nice at the hospital. Most everyone I have come into contact with spoke English so that should not be a problem.

When we first planned on moving here, I was determined to set up a relationship with a mid-wife and doctor. As things progressed, I just kinda let go and accepted that I would be taken care of and I felt much better. The hospitals here are very natural birth friendly and the care I have received has been excellent. Good Luck in beautiful Geneva! Dh's family is from that area and I love it there. Let me know if you have anymore questions.

[Bellabaz]

Thank you both for the info. I had come across the midwife site before and bookmarked it so I will look at it in more detail in the coming weeks. Our insurance situation is a bit different in that we will have it through dp's employer or they are taking out some fee for it none the less. We also have to get married too because I imagine to sign a housing contract I would need to be a legal resident, right? I am glad the system is supportive of natural birthing and we are planning a homebirth which I have been told is not a problem in Geneva. Anyway, if I think of more questions I will ask. Thanks again.

[cajunmommy]

I realized after I reread your post that insurance would be through employment. Sorry and lucky for you. I am not sure about the housing contract, but you may have some issues with immigration which was very easy compared to what dh had to do to come to the US.