What is the best hospital to give birth in Berlin?
If you’re searching for the best hospital to give birth in Berlin, it may feel like a maze. With 17 different options of hospitals and maternity wards, Berlin certainly offers a wide variety of birth places if you’re looking for this type of birth. In this article, we’ve gathered our factual knowledge of the hospital birth options and correlated it with our clients’ and colleagues’ experiences from the last 5 years to give you the ultimate top list.
Foreword
In our consultations, we deal with international families that come with their own ideas of where is best to give birth. Let’s start by debunking a few misconceptions about giving birth in a hospital in Berlin:
- In Germany your gynecologist will not come with you to the hospital to give birth so you don’t have to go to their hospital of choice
- There is no catchment area of the hospital you should go to depending on where you live so you are free to pick and choose the hospital that suits you best
- There is no such thing as better „private clinics“ versus worse „public hospitals“ like in some other countries. Hospitals in Germany are owned and managed by a wide variety of organisations: the public health system for sure, private companies, but also non-profit organisations or foundations (like the Red Cross, Caritas, Johannestift Diakonie etc). Some clinics called themselves „private“ because they only take privately-insured patients though, none of the hospitals below fall under this category. However, if you’re a private patient you may be entitled to special (sleep in a private room after birth or be able to see the „Chefarzt“ – the head of the department).
Disclaimer: the list you are about to read gathers publicly available information about the hospitals and subjective reports from our clients and colleagues (doulas, relocation agents, nannies etc). It can in no way substitute to your own research of the best place for you. It is no guarantee on the outcome of your birth. Whilst we firmly believe there is no bad place to give birth in Berlin, we have regularly had some positive feedback about the places we list here. If you have had a negative experience at one of the hospitals mentioned below or a positive one at a hospital we do not list here, please do come forward and let us know, we’re always looking to improve this list with the most up-to-date information. This list is not meant to invalidate your experience, whichever it was, but to help expecting parents in their choices.
Why? The August-Viktoria-Klinikum (AVK for those in the know) staff is repeatedly quoted as „so lovely“ by my clients and colleagues alike. They were also one of the first clinics to accept doulas in the labour rooms and open family rooms again after Covid.
No time to read through it all and want some tailored advice?
Why? Havelhöhe offers mothers the possibility to naturally give birth where other places might recommend a c-section, for example giving birth to twins or to a baby in breach position.
Why? The Charité offers pre-birth consultations on an array of risk pregnancies: gestational diabetes, breach birth, multiple birth, pre-eclampsia, addiction, psychosomatic conditions etc. You can also access the consultations in the pregnancy and decide to give birth somewhere else though.
Why? St Joseph offers a level 1 neo-natal intensive care unit (NICU) coupled with pediatricians specialized in infant surgery and infant neurology. It also offers a unique rooming-in opportunity so that parents of babies in the NICU can stay 24/7 in the hospital with the baby if needed.
Why? Vivantes Friedrichshain is one of the very few hospitals to offer an English-speaking information evening and none of our English-speaking clients ever had an issue communicating with the team there.
Why? Above and beyond the classic epidural, Vivantes Friedrichshain offers aromatherapy, acupuncture, laughing gas, homeopathy etc. You also have the possibility of giving birth in various positions, in water, or on a birthing stool.
Why? Thanks to the limited number of births they accept, the hospital rarely goes beyond their capacity, meaning the staff has more time for you. Westend has English-speaking staff, a small maternity ward but also a very efficient NICU. Make sure you register early enough though as you need to register on pregnancy week 12!
See, there are pro and cons to every hospital. And of course, they all offer a little bit of everything on top of what we highlighted here. Now how do you choose between all these options? Our pregnancy organisation consultation can help you sort through your thoughts and make sure you pick the right place and most importantly that you do everything required to get a spot there. We will also discuss a wide range of topics which you probably have no idea of yet but we’ll take you where you are and get started from there.
Schedule your pregnancy organisation consultation today and get on the right track for a smooth journey to parenthood in Berlin!