Home Birth in South of France

[ElleC]

Hello!

My husband and I have just relocated to Nice, France and will be here until the fall of 2013. I anticipate TTC and having our first child within the next 1-2 years, but am absolutely terrified to do so until I know for a fact that I can find access to a natural birth (preferably at home). None of the research I've done has turned up much, except to say that malpractice insurance will not cover midwives performing home births. (Oh, and that fathers are not routinely allowed in during the delivery.)

1. Does anyone have experience with a home &/or natural birth in the area? We are a 30-40 minute drive from Italy, and if anyone is well-versed in the EU reimbursement policies and could tell me whether delivering there instead would be a covered expense with my EHIC (European Health Insurance Card)?

2. Another reason for my strong inclination toward home birth is to avoid any hospital battles over taking home my placenta. I hear that in some areas, birthing in any position other than on one's back is not allowed, so I can't even begin to imagine the ruckus I'd cause trying to take home a placenta! Any thoughts or experience on that?

Thanks for all of your help and advice. If I can get just a little reprieve from worrying about this, it will be priceless!

[IsaFrench]

here's a list of midwives (sage-femmes libérales) in Nice
http://www.ordre-sages-femmes.fr/bas...eponselibe.php

I'll pm you about specifics gleaned in other forums

I'm not in Nice but in the other end of the PACA region .... things are getting better overall (my oldest is 11) but it pays to "shop around" and find out which places does what type of births (in case your midwife decides at the end of the pregnancy or during labor that your case is not going to be within her scope -it happened with my second birth) so that you have a back up hospital.

last I heard there were still a few midwives doing homebirth, you just need to inquire when you ring them "bonjour madame, est-ce que vous faites les accouchements à domicile ?"

a friend of mine gave birth last month and was able to birth sitting on a birthing stool in her choosen hospital, with a small stand alone mirror nearby so that she could see her progress (she did mention to me afterwards that the staff was giving weird looks to her boyfriend at first , thinking it was him who wanted to have a mirror where she decided to put it .... but that was not the case so they all relaxed and let her do what she wanted ...)

I shouldn't think that it would be so hard to reclaim the placenta .... maybe not a french tradition but then the south of France has such a large anglo-saxon population living permanently that surely you cannot be the first mother who makes that request ( + I know of a french mom who asked for hers ... and that was more than 10 years ago)

what you need to find out is where are the local LLL meetings taking place, of course during the meeting, standart procedure means that it's not done to talk about which midwife one liked best etc ... but then there's the drink and snack time afterwards, when it's no longer official LLL meeting time and when you can ask mothers who they gave birth with and if/why they liked their midwife etc .... that 's a great way to get up to date information

or else try to find out from the expat crowd if there are any regular 0-3 years old playdates in english organised locally to you & where you can find moms who might well have given birth locally and can pass on tips ....

[IsaFrench]

I don't seem to be able to send you a PM

try to send me one if you want
I have two names to suggest

[chocolatefish]

there's a bit of info on my thread below but it is quite Lyon-centric. http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=970977

I would definitely recommend getting in touch with english speaking mothers when you get a bit settled - they will know all the local hospitals and be able to direct you to any that are more inclined to natural birth.

[Franci]

Hi, I live in Monaco. There is a doula, english speaking in Nice, if you PM me, I can give you her info.

[AC.NICE]

Hi,
I am so happy to see your post and I hope that you have found some useful information since you wrote.
I just moved to Nice with my husband and 18 mth old. I'm also pregnant, 18 weeks.
My daughter was born at home and I can't imagine doing it another way. I've been disappointed to learn that this is not normal in France, but quite the contrary! I've found that it is difficult to find midwives that do home births, and there is no easy, open network to follow. I have contacted one midwife that does homebirths, but I won't be able to know if she can take me until she returns from vacation next week.
I feel very alone in this process (though my husband is very supportive), because there aren't the resources I'm used to.
I would love to know if you have found any more information.
Thanks so much for any help and advice!