CO-PRESIDENT
We are a group of midwives who support and facilitate home births in and around Geneva, and have been doing so for a few years. Since 2022 we regularly come together as part of our Quality Committe meetings.
We became a registered association in April 2023 in order to enable us to become more structured, to communicate more effectively with families and to develop collaborations with professionals and health institutions.
Elisabeth Lathuille Ferjani
If childbirth is a human and archaic adventure, the process itself is a true initiatory journey. Elisabeth offers to accompany you (you, your partner, and the baby) in all dimensions of your being. With nearly 18 years of experience in home births, the path of evolution can follow multiple facets according to your needs (physical - emotional release - affirmation - opening the heart to full consciousness - perinatal hypnosis - vibratory singing). I also include prenatal intuitive massage and postnatal baby massage. I look forward to meeting you!
Nathalie Donnez
The subject of childbirth became my passion even before I became a midwife! So, it was only natural that I turned to supporting home births as soon as I received my diploma in 2015. I offer consultations at my office at the Centre A Corps in Plan-les-Ouates or at home. During comprehensive monitoring and according to the needs of the couples, I can offer yoga, rebozo, and hypnobirthing. I speak English, Spanish, and Russian.
Marie FREUER
Contact :
+41 78 832 39 76
marie.freuer@gmail.com
En tant qu’ainée d’une famille de 5 filles, je me suis construite en tant que femme avec la sororité comme pilier fondamental de ma vie. C’est en découvrant le positionnement et l’accompagnement des sages-femmes, que cette vocation a pleinement éclos. La naissance de mon premier fils m’a donné le courage de réorienter ma carrière, puis la naissance de mon deuxième fils a consolidé ma détermination à suivre cette voie.
La grossesse est un moment de transcendance, où confiance, bien-être et intimité sont nécessaires à cette famille grandissante. Aussi bien en tant que sage-femme au sein de divers établissements hospitaliers tels que les HUG, qu’en tant que sage-femme à domicile, ma philosophie de soin repose sur le respect de l’unicité de chaque femme.
Françoise Frossard
Always amazed by the mystery of life, it was only natural for me to pursue midwifery studies in Brussels, where I obtained my diploma in 2010. I then began my career in the region of Lyon, working in the delivery room and postpartum unit. After a year, I decided to engage in humanitarian work and became responsible for a small maternity ward within a dispensary in Yaoundé, Cameroon, for a year. This year was extraordinarily intense in terms of midwifery, cultural experiences, and personal growth. From 2012 to 2018, I took on interim and replacement contracts across France and also in Switzerland, in Yverdon and Lausanne. In 2013, I became a mother for the first time, and in 2016, I obtained an interuniversity degree (DIU) in gynaecological and obstetrical ultrasound.
In 2018, we returned to Geneva. In 2019, providence led me to meet Nathalie Donnez, whose assistant I became in September 2020. I worked with her as a second midwife until the arrival of my fourth baby (at home!) in November 2021. Since then, I have had to pause being on call, but I continue to work to support mothers and fathers in welcoming their children. Thus, being a midwife, for me, is about smiling at life!
Giulia GAIFAMI
After discovering my passion through my midwifery studies in Italy, I experienced the continuity of care and autonomy of English midwives in London, where I worked for five years. Supporting families during pregnancy, birth in birth centres or at home, and postpartum care made me appreciate the value of a personalized approach. This has become the essence of my everyday profession as an independent midwife, first in France and now in Switzerland. I wholeheartedly support home births with both heart and hands as a second midwife!
Nathalie Luisoni
I am of Franco-Beninese origin. Having spent my youth in Africa and lived for a few years in Central America, I have been living in Geneva for many years where I studied the profession of midwifery with passion. The four years of work at the HUG maternity ward allowed me to acquire solid training, and I have been working independently for the past 23 years.
I am deeply convinced of the natural power of women to give birth and breastfeed their children. To fully meet the needs and expectations of future mothers, I have supplemented my midwifery training with additional specific training in the obstetrical field, breastfeeding, restrictive tongue-ties, child sleep, and acupuncture.
To discuss or book midwifery care please contact the individual midwife of your choice (contact details are provided in the individual profiles), stating your due date and the town where you live.
For all other enquiries regarding the association, please fill out the following online form:
The motivation behind choosing a home birth are varied and personal. The intimacy and feeling of security are favoured, enabling the choice of those present on D Day. Medical research shows that 70-80% of pregnant women are considered low risk at labour onset, and that the majority of births occur well without any medical interventions (WHO, 1996). Home birth with a midwife is a safe choice for women in good health.
The usual conditions for planning a home birth are as followed : you live less than half an hour from a maternity ward, the pregnancy is physiological, with only one baby, in cephalic position (head down). The precise eligibility criteria for a home birth were defined in May 2025 by the Swiss Federation of Midwives. Within this framework, the limits may vary depending on the midwife. It is important to talk to your midwife during prenatal consultations to agree on the birth plan and the conditions for home birth.
The midwife will bring her equipment to support and monitor the labor, and to be able to deal with any possible emergency she will be helped by a colleague who joins her at the end of the labor.
About 85% of planned home births actually end at home. Our transfer rates to labour wards are equivalent to federal FSSF statistics (more detailed statistices in 2016, p.29) or French statistics. It is higher for first babies (primiparous) compared to second or subsequent pregnancies. The majority of intrapartum transfers are due to maternal exhaustion following non-progression of labor, prolonged rupture of membranes and stained liquor. Urgent transfers with ambulance are rare (less than 1%).
We offer comprehensive monitoring: the same midwife follows the couple during the prenatal period, childbirth, and postpartum. Scientific evidence shows that continuity of carer improves obstetric and neonatal outcomes and increases women's satisfaction. Continuity of carer allows you and the midwife to get to know each other, to build a relationship of trust, and thus to provide as much as possible personalised care tailored to your needs on the big day. It is best to contact your midwife as early as possible in pregnancy in order to have time to prepare for labour and with, and ideally so that the midwife can ensure holistic antenatal care.
Your midwife will be on call for your labour and birth 24/7 for a period of potentially 5 weeks, between 37 and 42 weeks of gestation. During labour, as the birth approaches, she will be joined by a colleague who comes to assist her. In the event of the occasional absence of your midwife (pre informed holidays, training) she will offer a replacement colleague to cover the on-call in agreement with yourselves.
After the birth, midwives will stay for a minimum of 2 hours, or more depending on the couple’s request. Regular postpartum visits by the midwife are then provided during the first 2 months, followed by further breastfeeding consultations.
7 antenatal consultations - either at the midwife’s clinic or at home
Antenatal examinations including 2-3 ultrasound scans
Home birth attended by 2 midwives
16 postnatal visits for a 1st baby
10 visits for a subsequent baby
3 breastfeeding consultations to be taken anytime until the end of your breastfeeding journey
Meeting with Canadian buffet for all families we have accompanied for a birth during the year or that will give birth with us soon!
Our midwife guided us towards the most gentle birth for my son. After a traumatic birth experience with my daughter, I wanted to completely rethink my approach. Step by step, she restored my confidence and helped us listen to our baby, forming a strong team with my partner. It was a magical birth where I reconciled with the experience of childbirth.
[...] What an experience you offered me, my guide, my angel. Your presence was so discreet, assured, and reassuring, full of confidence in me and in life, with just the right restraint and just the right encouragement. I don't think I will ever be able to thank you enough for allowing me to bring my child into the world myself...
We will never be able to thank these two amazing midwives enough; without them, we could not have experienced this magical moment at home. We were completely respected, and nothing was imposed on us. In short, as I have been telling everyone who asks: this birth could not have gone better in a natural way.
Whether you are parents, a midwife or other, we need your support!
Subscription amount: CHF 30.
Your donation can be made to the association’s account as follows:
Naitre chez soi, Route de Saint-Julien 176, 1228 Plan-les-Ouates,
IBAN : CH07 0900 0000 1627 6640 8
© Copyright 2023 I Mentions légales I Conception graphique : Anaïs Vaillant I Developpement : Blue Geneva I Photographies : Hermine et Lhumen
