Prenatal Courses

It's hard enough to move to a new country, but it's another story when you move to a foreign country while you are pregnant.  Thankfully....Germans have babies too!  And surprisingly so do many other expats, many of which speak English.  Therefore, finding a prenatal prep course given in English was not that difficult.

We are very lucky, as one of the courses we found is not even a block from our flat in our great neighborhood filled with kids, trees, and parks.  Familien GesunheitsZentrum, www.fgzn.de, offers several different course, but most importantly for us they offer a prenatal course in English.  At first I was worried that the course would all be about breathing & relaxing during birth and since I know that I must have a Cesarean that would not be helpful for me.  However, when I called the instructor, Gabriele, she reassured me that the course covers more information and so I enrolled us in the seven week course.

The class meets once a week and is very informative.  Gabriele is a wealth of information and such a peaceful soul.  I am so glad that our paths have crossed and to have such a kind person offering you help and guidance during such a transitional time is comforting.  Now we have tons of information on having a baby in Germany and the differences between German practices verses other countries.  The class is populated by couples from all over the world and at different stages in their pregnancies.  A great experience so far!

One of the biggest differences about German healthcare is that generally practitioners are more knowledgeable and accepting of holistic medicines, which is awesome.  Also, for pregnancy & birth, the focus is relaxation not just breathing, although breathing is plays a big role in relaxation.  So far, I like the differences that I've noticed in German health care & insurance.

Now we just have to tour a couple of the hospitals - there are many in Frankfurt - and decide where we want to have the baby.  So much information and so many decisions.  Not to mention, all the necessities that we must purchase before the baby arrives.  There are so many products and options out there it makes my head spin.  So I've decided on a process of elimination to evaluate if we really need something - I just think about carrying it up our five flights of stairs!