"Because it matters how we are born"

We are four midwives from the Appenzellerland region and have been working gratuitously for almost two years, with a lot of passion and commitment, to build a birthplace in the city of St.Gallen.

We bring with us a wealth of specialist knowledge and experience and have outgrown ourselves during the construction phase. We are no longer just midwives, but also architects, homepagers, directors, copywriters and business planners. And yes, in the meantime even Instagrammer and Facebookers, who would have thought?

We want to offer prospective parents in the region an alternative to a hospital birth and thus create genuine freedom of choice regarding the place of birth. Neither in the canton of St.Gallen, nor in Thurgau or in both Appenzells is there a suitable offer with a stationary childbed. The area covered is large and there is a need to be able to give birth in a natural, non-clinical environment. This is also shown by the rising number of the now over twenty well-occupied birth centres in Switzerland. With our crowdfunding on the Raiffeisen platform "lokalhelden" (local heroes), we were able to collect over CHF 120,000 for inventory.

Since the introduction of the new hospital financing in 2012, birth centers have also been service providers under the Health Insurance Act. All services, from pregnancy monitoring to birth, stay and childbed care, are financed by the obligatory health insurance fund. For the women, there are no additional costs compared to a hospital birth, which makes the birth centre competitive.

We have found the perfect location in Lindenpark, in the immediate vicinity of the Kantonsspital, in a central yet quiet location. The birth house is spread over two floors with a total of 320m2. Two birthing rooms, a class room, a treatment room, an office, a lounge with kitchen and five comfortable family rooms for the first days after the birth are available for the families.

Investors wanted!

Numerous milestones have already been reached. From the idea to the foundation of the company, from the submission of the operating permit and the associated inclusion on the hospital list to discussions with the health departments of various cantons in the surrounding area - we are approaching the opening step by step. We are currently in the process of securing financing. The donations from Crowdfunding alone are of course not enough for the development and survival of the first business year. In contrast to other start-ups, we have relatively high personnel costs right from the start, as we have to be operational 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. So we are dependent on help and look for investors who support our project with a financial start-up aid.

What is special about a birth house? Why do we need a birth house?

Pregnancy, childbirth,  puerperium and breastfeeding are natural life processes that strengthen the mother, the child and the family. We midwives support and accompany these processes in this sense - with a lot of expertise, experience and heart.

In the St. Gallen birth house, we accompany expecting parents holistically and personally. In concrete terms this means: from the positive pregnancy test to the birth, from the puerperium to the end of the breastfeeding period.

In the pregnancy controls every couple gets to know us midwives. In discussions, we learn more about the individual ideas, expectations and wishes that the expecting parents bring with them.

Each birth is unique, powerful and formative. We accompany the expecting parents with a lot of empathy in a familiar, secure atmosphere. The one-to-one care of the midwives results in optimal conditions for a natural and undisturbed birth process. Accompanied by an experienced midwife, women and their partners should experience safety and security and experience the birth of their child in a self-determined way. Through our reserved and low-invasive obstetrics, we make a lasting contribution to the health of mother and child. The safety of mother and child always comes first.

After the birth the wonderful time of amazement and getting to know each other begins. It is a very special time - the first hours and days with the new life are often full of emotions. In the birth house St.Gallen we approach it with a lot of peace and quiet. In the family room you have a lot of privacy with the new addition to the family.

 Of course, the new fathers can also stay overnight in the birthplace. If a birth in the birth house is not possible, women or couples can still spend the puerperium in one of our family rooms after a hospital birth. As in the hospital, the health insurance companies cover the costs of the childbirth stay in the birth house of woman and child. The couple pays the hotel costs for the partner themselves. If desired, we can continue with the other postpartum care at home in the city of St.Gallen.

Our offer is rounded off by various courses on parenthood.

We are already looking forward to the opening in spring 2019 and to welcoming the first children from the birth house. But there's still a lot to do until then, so let's do it.



Carina Piatti, Aline Imthurn, Sabine Kurz und Mirjam Kelemen/Founders
Nov 2018