For International Women & Mothers
Pregnant in Germany.Far from home.
English-speaking support for birth in Germany, far from home.
7 min read · Last updated September 2026 · Written and reviewed by Emma, Birth & Mother
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You Are Not Alone
Are you feeling lost in translation?
Your appointments are in German. Your midwife (Hebamme) uses terms you find yourself looking up afterwards. And the people who would normally walk through this with you, your mother, your sister, your closest friends, are in another country.
You may be doing more of this alone than you expected, and in a language that still doesn't feel fully familiar. If that's where you are, you're in the right place.
I grew up in Wales and gave birth in Germany, far from my family, while I was still learning the language. I know what it feels like to leave an appointment and realise that I didn't fully understand what had just been discussed.
That experience is why I created Birth & Mother: a place where the journey through pregnancy, birth, the Wochenbett, and early motherhood is laid out clearly in English, so you don't have to piece it all together on your own.
What's Different
What surprises international families about birth in Germany
The German maternity system can be excellent, frustrating, confusing, or all three at once. The way care is organised may be very different from what you're used to, whether home is India, the UK, the US, or somewhere else entirely. And trying to figure it out in another language can make everything feel harder. These are some of the things that international families often find surprising.
The language, and your right to understand
Knowing the shape of the conversation in advance can help you feel more prepared and confident. Explore the Guides section for clear explanations, practical information, and glossary terms designed to help international families navigate maternity care in Germany with more confidence.
Understanding your maternity care team
Pregnancy and birth care in Germany involves different professionals, each with their own role. Knowing who does what can help you feel more prepared and confident as you navigate the system.
- Midwife (Hebamme): Your midwife can support you through pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period (Wochenbett). Midwives provide much of the routine care around pregnancy and recovery after birth, and a doctor may not conduct a birth without calling a midwife in, except in certain emergencies. Many families also receive home visits from their midwife after birth.
- Gynaecologist (Frauenärztin/Frauenarzt): Your gynaecologist usually provides medical care during pregnancy, including check-ups, scans, and monitoring your health and your baby's wellbeing.
- Obstetrician (Geburtshelfer/in): An obstetrician is a doctor specialising in pregnancy, birth, and complications. You may meet one during your pregnancy or birth, particularly if additional medical support is needed.
- Doula: A doula offers continuous emotional, informational, and practical support through pregnancy, birth, and early parenthood. A doula does not replace medical care or the role of a midwife, but can be an additional source of support for you and your family.
The postpartum period (Wochenbett) is taken seriously
In Germany, the weeks after birth are recognised as an important time for recovery, bonding, and adjustment. Postpartum care from a midwife (Hebamme) is covered by health insurance, with home visits available to support you and your baby after birth.
Depending on your individual needs, your midwife may visit you up to 16 times during the first 12 weeks after birth, with additional support possible in certain circumstances. These visits can include support with feeding, newborn care, your physical recovery, emotional wellbeing, and the many questions that come with becoming a parent.
Germany also offers Rückbildung (postnatal recovery courses), which support your body's recovery after pregnancy and birth. These courses are often covered by health insurance and form an important part of postpartum care.
For many international families, this focus on the weeks after birth is a welcome surprise, but it is something worth understanding and planning for before your baby arrives.
The paperwork is its own language
From the Mutterpass you carry throughout pregnancy to registering your baby's birth, applying for Elterngeld, and arranging Kindergeld, there are many practical steps to understand when having a baby in Germany.
For international families, this can feel like a lot to navigate: unfamiliar words, forms, and processes, often without the support network you may have had at home. But with clear guidance, it becomes much easier to understand and plan for.
In the Birth & Mother Guides, you'll find a comprehensive overview of the paperwork you may need to complete during pregnancy and after your baby arrives, helping you feel more prepared for each step along the way.
A personal note
When I was pregnant with my second daughter here in Germany, I would often leave appointments holding more questions than answers. I made decisions before I felt ready, and the language around me did not yet feel like my own.
I remember the quiet of those days. Wanting to understand, wanting to be understood. Slowly finding my footing.
That is where this work began.
I am a doula. I support women through pregnancy, birth, and the early days after. I am not here to take over decisions. I am here to stay close while you make them. To help slow things down when they move too fast. To translate not just the language, but what is really being said, so you feel clear about what is happening.
If English is the language you feel safest in, I would love to support you.
Not by telling you how to give birth, but by staying beside you while you prepare to do it your own way.
This can mean joining you at appointments. Or helping you write the questions you want to ask. Making sense of options as they arrive, or simply being beside you when things feel uncertain. It can also mean being present after the baby comes, when everything is new.
Much of this work need not happen in person. I support many families across Germany by video call, in the weeks before birth and in the weeks after.
You do not have to be in Potsdam to feel cared for.
You do not need to arrive with a clear idea of what you need.
If you would like, you can simply write to me. We can begin with a conversation about where you are right now, and see together what feels right.
with love, Emma
Care in Your Language
Finding people who speak your language
The single hardest practical thing is finding care in English. A few ways in that genuinely work:
- Ask your health insurer (Krankenkasse) for English-speaking midwives and practices. Many run a midwife-matching service.
- Local expat and parent groups are gold for first-hand recommendations.
- When you tour a hospital or go to an information evening (Infoabend), ask directly whether English-speaking midwives are on the team.
- Start your midwife search the week you get a positive test. Demand is high, and the best are booked early.
The full how-to on finding and keeping a midwife lives in the Guides.
Building a Village
How to build a village when your own is far away
German maternity care is generous, but it quietly assumes a village nearby, the mother, aunts, and friends who would normally step in. International families often do not have that within reach. The good news is that the village can be built.
A postpartum midwife visits you at home in the early weeks. A trained postpartum and household helper (Mütterpflege) can be part-covered by your insurer in certain situations. A meal chain among friends, a doula, an online circle of women in the same season: these are how people do it, and none of it is a luxury. It is how the early weeks become gentle rather than survival.
How to set up support for the weeks after birth is laid out in the Guides.
Where to begin
Finding your way with Birth & Mother
If this is the first time you have landed here, Birth & Mother is a small home for English-speaking families having a baby in Germany. There are a few places to begin, and you are welcome to wander.
The Guides
The complete English-language guide to pregnancy, birth, and the weeks after in Germany, in one place.
Doula Care
One person alongside you through pregnancy, birth, and the weeks after, in English.
The Community
Open groups on Telegram and gatherings in Potsdam and Berlin, women going through it alongside you.
Guide Me
If you are not sure which of these you need, answer a few questions about where you are and it will point you to the rest.
And if you would like to talk any of it through first, there is a one-to-one orientation.
From the Journal
Emma's own account
The Birth & Mother Journal is where Emma writes about pregnancy, birth, and the weeks after in Germany from her own experience, in plain English. She started it because there was so little written honestly about any of it for international families.
Birth Without Your Village
On what it means to become a mother far from the people who would usually hold you.
Navigating the German Birth System
A practical overview of how the German maternity system works, written for women coming from elsewhere.
The Fourth Trimester in Germany
What postpartum recovery looks like in Germany, and how to make the most of what the postpartum tradition offers.
Read along
The whole of Birth in Germany is here to read. Leave your email for regular letters from the Journal, and you will be first to read whatever Emma writes next.
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Come and say hello
Whatever brings you to Birth & Mother
Plenty of families arrive here having just realised the system runs differently from the one they grew up with. Whether you have a question about how something works, or you want to talk through what support could look like in English, write to me.
If what you need sits outside what a doula can offer, I will point you to whoever can actually help.