Quick referenceQuestions for your chosenbirth space
4 min read · Last updated August 2026 · A take-with-you checklist from Birth & Mother
On this page
Before you go
Every birth space will show you round
Where to give birth is one of the first big decisions of a pregnancy, and you do not have to make it from a website. A hospital or birth house will show you the rooms, at a tour or an information evening (Infoabend) for expecting parents, and a midwife who attends home births will sit down with you. Going to see a place is normal, expected, and the surest way to know how it feels.
What is harder is knowing what to ask once you are standing there, often in a language that is not your own, with a great deal to take in at once. So this is a short list, and it is sorted by who can answer it. The first three sets are about the place itself, and whoever is showing you round can answer every one of them. The last set is about you rather than the building, and those are for your booking appointment (Anmeldung) or a conversation with your own midwife. You can visit and register at more than one while you decide: you are choosing them as much as they are accepting you.
How to use this
Read through before you go and mark the few that matter most to you. You will not ask all of them, and you do not need to. Every question carries the German underneath, so you can say it out loud or simply point at the page, and notice how it feels to be answered as much as what the answer is.
Open the antenatal booklet01
The room, and how you can be in it
What you can see and try out on a tour, and the policies that shape how the hours will actually feel.
- What is in the room: a bath or birth pool, a bed, space to stay upright? And could I give birth in the water?Was gibt es im Raum: eine Wanne oder ein Geburtsbecken, ein Bett, Platz zum Aufrechtsein? Und könnte ich im Wasser gebären?
- Can I move around freely and find my own positions in labour?Kann ich mich frei bewegen und in der Geburt meine eigenen Positionen finden?
- Can I eat and drink while I labour?Darf ich während der Geburt essen und trinken?
- Can we keep the room calm, bring our own things (music, a pillow), and take photos?Können wir den Raum ruhig halten, eigene Dinge mitbringen (Musik, ein Kissen) und fotografieren?
02
How they care during the birth
Staffing, pain relief, monitoring, and what happens if things change. This is the heart of a tour.
- Will one midwife stay with me as the shifts change, and how many births does one midwife look after at a time?Bleibt eine Hebamme bei mir, auch wenn die Schicht wechselt, und wie viele Geburten betreut eine Hebamme gleichzeitig?
- Are there English-speaking midwives, and might one be there when I give birth?Gibt es englischsprachige Hebammen, und ist vielleicht eine dabei, wenn ich gebäre?
- Can my partner, or my doula, stay with me the whole time, including for a caesarean?Darf mein Partner oder meine Doula die ganze Zeit bei mir bleiben, auch bei einem Kaiserschnitt?
- What can help with the pain, from warm water and movement to an epidural (PDA)?Was kann bei den Schmerzen helfen, von warmem Wasser und Bewegung bis zur PDA?
- How is the baby monitored: now and then, or continuously (CTG)?Wie wird das Baby überwacht: ab und zu, oder durchgehend (CTG)?
- Before anything is done, will you explain it and ask me first?Bevor etwas gemacht wird, erklären Sie es mir und fragen Sie mich zuerst?
- If a caesarean becomes the safest way, can it still be gentle: my partner beside me, my baby on my chest?Wenn ein Kaiserschnitt der sicherste Weg wird, kann er trotzdem sanft sein: mein Partner an meiner Seite, mein Baby auf meiner Brust?
03
Once your baby is here
The first hours, the first days, and the arrangements for everyone who wants to meet your baby.
- Right after birth, is there unhurried time together, skin to skin, and can the cord finish pulsing before it is clamped?Gibt es direkt nach der Geburt ungestörte Zeit zu zweit, Haut an Haut, und kann die Nabelschnur auspulsieren, bevor abgenabelt wird?
- Is there a children's clinic with neonatal care (Kinderklinik mit Neonatologie) here, and if my baby needs extra help, can we stay together?Gibt es hier eine Kinderklinik mit Neonatologie, und wenn mein Baby zusätzliche Betreuung braucht, können wir zusammenbleiben?
- Is there help with feeding right from the first hours?Gibt es schon in den ersten Stunden Unterstützung beim Füttern?
- Can my partner stay overnight, is there a family room (Familienzimmer), and when can visitors and siblings come?Kann mein Partner über Nacht bleiben, gibt es ein Familienzimmer, und wann dürfen Besuch und Geschwister kommen?
- If all is well, can we go home early (an outpatient birth, ambulante Geburt)?Wenn alles gut ist, können wir früh nach Hause (ambulante Geburt)?
04
For your midwife, or your booking appointment
The few that are about you rather than the place. A tour is the wrong moment for these; a booking appointment (Anmeldung) or your own midwife is the right one.
- If I write a birth plan, will you read it and keep it with my notes?Wenn ich einen Geburtsplan schreibe, lesen Sie ihn und legen ihn zu meinen Unterlagen?
- Given how my pregnancy has gone so far, is there anything you would want me to know about giving birth here?So wie meine Schwangerschaft bisher verlaufen ist, gibt es etwas, das ich über eine Geburt hier wissen sollte?
- If I am hoping for a vaginal birth after a caesarean (VBAC), how would that be supported?Wenn ich mir eine vaginale Geburt nach Kaiserschnitt (VBAC) wünsche, wie wird das hier unterstützt?
- If I needed to be transferred during the birth, where would that be, and how far?Falls ich während der Geburt verlegt werden müsste, wohin, und wie weit ist das?
There are no wrong questions here, so choose the few that matter to you. And trust your intuition: when you are choosing, how a place feels often tells you as much as what is said.
A gentle note
These are conversation starters, not a test, and not a ranking of one birth space against another. Whether a setting suits your pregnancy is something your midwife (Hebamme) and the team there will talk through openly with you.
Go deeper
Choosing where to give birth
For how the three settings differ, and how to weigh them, read the full guide. And if you would like a second pair of hands on the visits, that is exactly what a doula is for.
Three that go together
Where to give birth
Three ways to meet the same decision: understand it, ask about it, and see it close to home.
- The decisionWhere to Give BirthThe three settings, how they differ, and how to weigh them.
- What to askQuestions for Your Birth SpaceA bilingual checklist to take to a tour or booking appointment.you're reading this
- Near PotsdamBirth Spaces in PotsdamA side-by-side look at the three local birth spaces.