Welcome to the second part of the series! In this part, I will be focusing on, you guessed it, giving birth in Denmark. I will also write a bit about what you should expect in your last few weeks of pregnancy as well as the first couple of days with the newest member of your family.
In the first part of the series, I focused on the pregnancy, so if you are at the beginning of that journey and haven’t read the first part, go ahead and read that. You’ll learn about everything you should expect from the health-care system during your pregnancy, about your rights, and about the stories of other amazing women who are either pregnant or have given birth here in Denmark.
In case you haven’t read the first part, my name is Andreea. I’m 27, originally from Romania, and I live in a small town in Northern Jutland with my family. I gave birth to my son, Kaj, at Viborg Hospital in June 2022, and I will share my experience from infertility to pregnancy to raising my baby in Denmark.
I hope this article prepares you to know what to expect from the health-care system in Denmark and empowers you to make the right choices for yourself.
PS: You will also read the stories of other amazing mamas who gave birth in Denmark.
The beginning of your barsel (parental leave)
You got through the pregnancy, and you are ready to meet your beautiful baby! YAY!
The last few weeks of your pregnancy will be spent on barsel. I will not go into detail about the parental leave rules in Denmark, but, briefly put, if you work in the private sector, you will have the right to (minimum, but often) 4 weeks of leave before your due date; if you work in the public sector, you will have the right to 6 or 8 weeks of leave, depending where you work.
Employers in Denmark are not obligated to pay for your leave. If you work for a company that does not provide paid leave, you will always have the right to paid leave from the government (meaning that your “paycheck” will come from the government – from Udbetaling Danmark, to be more precise – instead of your employer). This can, however, mean that your “paycheck” is significantly lower than your salary. Most companies that are under a collective agreement will offer full salary 4 weeks before the due date and 3-6 months after the baby is born (in this case, the rest of the months will be paid by Udbetaling Danmark).
More often than not, you will be on leave for the last four weeks before your due date. If your baby comes early, you “lose” some of the paid weeks (if your baby comes, for example, 1 week early, you “lose” 1 week of paid leave as it cannot be used after the baby is born). If your baby comes after the due date, you “gain” more paid leave (if your baby comes, for example, 1 week after your due date, you will have a total of 5 instead of 4 weeks of paid leave).
Story time
I work for a private international company that provided 4 weeks of paid leave before the due date. My baby was, however, ready a little before his due date; I went into labor at 37+6 weeks, and he came shortly after midnight at 38+0 weeks. This meant, of course, that I “lost” 2 weeks of paid leave, but once I saw his lovely little face, nothing else really mattered 🙂
Options, options, options
One thing that’s really important to know in Denmark is that everything is a choice. Well, most things.
You have lots of options for how you want to give birth, and generally, the pregnant woman’s wishes are really taken into consideration. Next, I will be walking you through the “general” options and types of birth experiences.
Overdue
While due dates are set at 40 weeks + 0 days, according to sundhed.dk, a normal birth will start on its own between 37 weeks + 0 days and 41 weeks + 6 days of pregnancy.
However, once you pass your due date, you will start having more frequent appointments with your midwife.
Induction is recommended when labor hasn’t naturally started by 41+5 weeks of pregnancy, so that the baby is born by 42+0 weeks of pregnancy. A midwife will make an assessment and give you a recommendation based on the results of the assessment. It is important to know that you always have the right to say no, but make sure to talk to your midwife and make an informed decision.
“Natural” or vaginal delivery
It is no secret that natural deliveries are praised in Denmark. Not because having a c-section makes you any less of a mother (because IT doesn’t), but doctors and midwives say that healing from a C-section is much harder and more painful than from a natural delivery, and that there are more chances for complications during a C-section than during a natural delivery.
During natural deliveries in Denmark, the babies are delivered with the help of midwives. A doctor will often only intervene in cases of complications (such as an emergency C-section). It’s important to note that you will most likely not give birth with the midwife you’ve been seeing during your pregnancy. In some cases, it could be a happy coincidence that the midwife you’ve been seeing has a shift at the hospital right when you have to give birth.
Previously, it has been possible to give birth with the midwife you’ve been seeing during your pregnancy, and some municipalities may still offer this option, but most will unfortunately not have the resources, as there is a “shortage” of health-care workers, including midwives.
So how long does it take?
In Denmark, most midwives will tell you that for your first baby, it takes a long time from when you go into labor until you push your baby out. In fact, according to sundhed.dk, the first stage of giving birth (meaning dilating to 10 cm but excluding the actual pushing) takes about 12 hours, but it can take up to 24 hours for first time moms. The pushing stage takes an additional 1–2 hours.
You will only be admitted to the hospital once you are 4 cm dilated. It is recommended that you call the hospital once your contractions are 4-5 minutes apart and last 60 seconds or more (for a minimum of 1 hour). You might want to consider calling just a little earlier if you live far away from the hospital.
Story time
My personal experience has been amazing. I often say that this birth has been like a reward for how long we tried to get pregnant.
I started having on & off lower back pain at 37+6 weeks of pregnancy – a random Wednesday around 17:00-18:00-ish. My husband and I have just been out, so we were enjoying some delicious Argentinian take-out while watching Netflix. After a good 10-15 minutes I started thinking “What if these are contractions?”. I’ve never had contractions before, so how am I supposed to know what it should feel like?
During the birth course the midwife showed us an app we could use to time the contractions, so we got the app and started monitoring them. Around 20:00 we called the hospital to ask for guidance and at this point they said we should wait a couple more hours and if the contractions intensify we should call again. They did, so we did. At this point the midwife at the hospital asked us to go there so they can assess if I’m in “real” labor. We live a bit far from the hospital so we got to the hospital around 23:30.
When we arrived at the hospital I was just about 3-3.5 cm dilated but knowing we live far away, they allowed us to stay in an “examination room” (not a birth room). The midwife said she will make another assessment in 2 hours because it usually takes 2 hours to dilate 1 cm. If I did, I would be moved to a birth room and if not, I would be sent home.
From here it gets pretty blurry as everything happened really fast. After the first examination I had several midwives and student midwives come in and check on me, to see if I needed anything. Around 01:00 the pain was VERY intense and I started screaming, asking them to get me an epidural ASAP (VERY important to note: I was extremely scared of having a needle in my back, so in my birth plan I made it clear that an epidural should only be an emergency situation). It wasn’t hard to tell that I was in a lot of pain, so they moved me to a birth room for an earlier assessment, and the midwife could see I was already around 7-8 cm. Guess what? It was too late for an epidural. Luckily though, I got laughing gas, which for me worked like a charm. Less than a minute after I got the mask on, I felt NOTHING. I was still aware of what was happening and I could answer when they asked me to tell my name and CPR (they already know it obviously, they just need to check that you are conscious enough to know as well), but I was in a very dreamy state and couldn’t feel any pain.
When we got to the pushing stage, I only had to push twice (definitely not for 1-2 hours as they say it’s common), and he was out at 02:37. He was immediately placed on my chest for skin-to-skin and after I got some recommended medication and a small cosmetic stitch, we were left alone for about 1 hour to relax. Then the midwife came back in to measure my baby and bring us food. We were allowed to stay in the birth room as long as we wanted as it wasn’t a busy night, and we left for the patient hotel at 05:30.
Pain relief
Each hospital may have different pain relief methods; some hospitals may be trialing new methods that they may offer you. You have the right to request or deny any pain relief method.
Here are some of the common pain relief methods that you will find in most hospitals (you should, however, check with your hospital beforehand, to make sure):
- Breathing exercises: midwives are experienced and will guide you with different breathing exercises that can help you with the pain.
- Warm pillows.
- Pool: Most hospitals in Denmark offer small pools that can help you with both pain relief and giving birth.
- Lattergas (laughing gas): it’s important to check if your hospital offers this (if you want to use it), but most hospitals in Denmark are equipped with laughing gas. The laughing gas comes through a mask, which you or your partner will have to hold on you so it covers your mouth and nose.
- Epidural anesthesia: an injection in your back that will temporarily numb part of your body.
- Acupuncture: There will often be at least one midwife at the hospital who has experience with acupuncture.
C-sections
As mentioned previously, C-sections aren’t exactly something you can choose without a good reason in Denmark. However, there are both planned and emergency C-sections.
According to sundhed.dk, in the last 10 years, 20–21% of births were C-section deliveries. Approximately half of these were planned, and the other half were emergency C-sections.
When can you plan a C-section?
- If the baby is in a transverse position (if the baby is not in a favorable position, midwives will attempt, if you agree, to turn the baby at 36 weeks of pregnancy, but this does not guarantee that the baby won’t turn back),
- If the placenta is “in the baby’s way,”
- If you previously had a C-section and a doctor has assessed that your uterus will not tolerate the contractions,
- If you have already had 2+ C-sections
- If you have an illness that prevents you from giving birth naturally,
- If (for a specific reason) the baby needs to come out long before the due date and induction is not yet possible,
- If the placenta doesn’t function properly
- If the baby has some malformation
- If you have a narrow pelvis and a big baby
- If you have malformations in the “birth path”
- If previous C-section has been performed length-wise on the uterus
When will you have an emergency C-section?
- If labor is not progressing,
- If the child’s position is not favorable
- If the child is suspected not getting enough oxygen
- If the placenta is no longer in place
- If you have severe pre-eclampsia
- If the placenta doesn’t function properly
- If use of vacuum extraction was unsuccessful
There are three degrees of emergency C-sections:
- 1st degree means that the mom’s and/or baby’s lives are in danger. There shouldn’t be more than 15 minutes between the moment the decision to have a C-section has been made and the moment the baby is out.
- 2nd degree means that mom and/or baby are in danger, but their lives are not in danger. There shouldn’t be more than 30 minutes between the moment the decision to have a C-section has been made and the moment the baby is out.
- 3rd degree means that the situation is unstable, but neither mom nor baby are in danger. There can be a delay of up to 1 hour from the moment the decision to have a C-section has been made until the baby is out.
You can read more about the degrees of emergency C-sections here. We were also told in Viborg that for 1st degree, mom gets full anesthesia and the partner cannot be in the surgery room. For 2nd and 3rd degree, mom gets local anesthesia in the back and the partner can stay in the surgery room during the procedure.
Story time
Emily from UK, Hvidovre hospital
Emily had a rough first birth in the UK, so she wished for an elective C-section. After an assessment, the doctor granted Emily a planned C-section. She says, “The C-section was really amazing. It was a calm process, and my partner got to be in the theater with me. Again, medically, it went super smooth. The team in the operating room was great (only females!) super friendly and calm. We were informed the entire time of what was happening, and after 30 minutes, we were wheeled out with our daughter to the recovery rooms.”
Furthermore, Emily mentioned that even though she had a C-section, her baby was with her the whole time, except for a couple of minutes while she was measured. She experienced skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding right after birth.
Home birth
In Denmark, you can choose to give birth at home (in most cases). Midwives may sometimes recommend otherwise, depending on your situation. According to sundhed.dk, 3.2% of all births in Denmark in 2021 were home births.
If you choose to give birth at home, you have the right to be helped by a midwife at home. Together with the midwife, you will decide (before the birth) when you should call. The midwife will stay with you through the whole birth experience and approximately 2 hours after the birth.
While equipment may differ from one region to another, the midwife will often be equipped with a pool, laughing gas, first aid equipment, sewing equipment in case you tear, medicine to prevent excess bleeding, equipment to help in case of bleeding, equipment for the baby in case of complications and more. You should, however, make sure you ask your midwife about what equipment you should expect her to have.
In case of emergencies during a home birth, you will be transported to a hospital.
NB! You have the right to change your mind if you chose a home birth and regret your decision. However, there may be “deadlines” for choosing a home birth, so if you think you might want a home birth, it’s a good idea to ask when you can latest announce them.
Story time
Nataly from Russia, Hvidovre hospital
Nataly gave birth to her first 2 babies in Russia, where she chose home births. 8 years ago she was about to give birth to her 3rd baby in Denmark, and she mentions that information about home births hasn’t been very accessible – not for English speakers at least. However, after talking to her midwife about it, her midwife was very supportive of her choice to give birth at home, considering she has done it twice before.
About 2 weeks after her due date, Nataly has been having contractions on&off, so she didn’t feel like it was time to call the midwife yet. However, things have progressed very fast, and her baby was out before she had the chance to even call the midwife. Luckily, a friend of hers (a midwife from Russia) was visiting, so Nataly had everything under control. After giving birth to her baby, Nataly finally had the chance to call her midwife, telling her she gave birth and that the baby was doing well. The midwife then arrived at Nataly’s home together with a student midwife about 2 hours after being called. They checked both Nataly and the baby to make sure everything looks fine and administered vitamin K.
A couple of days later, Nataly went to the hospital with the baby for some tests that couldn’t be done at home, such as the hearing test.
Nataly felt supported and respected throughout her pregnancy and she talks about both the pregnancy and the birth as a positive experience. Moreover, Nataly is a doula and a birth photographer, so she mentioned that she experiences better access to information in English today than 8 years ago.
The first couple of days after birth
What you will be offered after giving birth depends on the hospital, so if you have specific wishes, it’s best you check with the hospital and perhaps choose the hospital based on your preferences. As a general rule, you are offered 2 days of hospital admission after your birth. After your second (or more) birth, you are generally only offered to stay in the hospital for a few hours and then go home (in cases of uncomplicated births, of course). Sometimes, if you have an uncomplicated birth, you will also be offered the chance to go home a few hours after your first birth. Whether it’s your first birth or not, if you go home a few hours after giving birth, a midwife will offer to visit you home 2 days later to check if you are healing as you should.
If you stay at the hospital after giving birth, you will generally be offered to stay 2 days. How soon you are asked to leave the birth room, whether your partner can stay with you the first 2 days, whether you are alone in the room the first 2 days and whether you have to leave by a specific time depends very much on the hospital. If one or more of these things are important to you, make sure you investigate before choosing a hospital.
Story time
After giving birth, we stayed in the birth room for about 3 hours. We were mostly alone – midwives and nurses occasionally checked on us. 3 hours after giving birth, a midwife asked me if I was ready to move to the patient hotel or if I wanted to stay there longer. We were ready, so a member of the staff came and wheeled me out of the birth room, while my husband followed along carrying all our stuff.
We had our own room with our own bathroom. It was very important for me that my husband would stay with us those first 2 days. At Viborg hospital, you are guaranteed your own room, but your partner has to pay a symbolic fee of 140 dkk (at the time) pr. day. I had 24/7 support, nurses came to check on us every 3 hours if we didn’t call for them before. They helped me establish breastfeeding, and the whole experience was very positive. Before leaving, I was offered a final check up, which I accepted. They allowed us to stay for as long as we needed, so we didn’t have to empty the room by a certain time. I honestly cannot praise this hospital and the amazing staff enough 🙂
More birth stories – the good, the bad and the painful
Alina from Romania, Rigshospitalet
Alina had her first baby in Romania, and her second baby in Denmark. Alina describes her first birth in Romania as a rather negative experience – she was left to labour alone in the hospital room for 12 hours. After 12 hours and at 10 cm dilated, the doctors told her she’s too tired so they performed a C-section. They took her baby away and she first saw her baby the second day. When she was supposed to give birth in Denmark, she expected to be offered a C-section immediately, as she knew that she wouldn’t stand a chance to deliver naturally in Romania. To her surprise, she was “allowed” to deliver vaginally, and she talks about her experience in Denmark very positively. She liked the idea of having a midwife as opposed to a doctor, she liked that her partner could be with her during the birth and that she could “keep” her baby right after birth. She describes the atmosphere as a very relaxed one and the staff as very empathetic.
She did not, however, like that she wasn’t offered any vaginal tests for bacteria, something she expected based on her previous experience in Romania. She also mentioned that the nurses forgot to measure her baby at the hospital.
Gabriela from Bulgaria, Herlev hospital
Gabriela gave birth twice in Denmark – both times at Herlev hospital. For her first birth, Gabriela wished to give birth in water, but she forgot to mention that before actually having to give birth, so once she arrived at the hospital, she had to actually wait a little while they prepared a room with a pool. Gabriela talks very positively about her experience – she mentions that the staff was very sweet and the spoke to her in English the whole time. Unfortunately, she experienced severe tearing, so she was taken to a surgery room to be stitched after giving birth. The midwife that delivered her baby came with her to the surgery room and held her hand while she was stitched, which took 1 hour due to the severity of the tear.
Gabriela mentioned that she wasn’t told right away just how bad the tear was, but learned later in her health journal that it was a level 4 tear, which is supposed to be the most severe.
For her second birth, Gabriela was not allowed to give birth in a pool due to the previous tearing. She talks about this experience as a positive one as well. She felt supported by the staff at the hospital. Unfortunately she experienced the same kind of tearing again, so she had to stay at the hospital for 3 days after giving birth, even though this was her second birth. She would have hoped to go home right after giving birth, as she was excited for her older child to meet their new sibling.
She got a room alone with her husband for the 3 days hospital stay and she mentioned that anyone could freely visit them as there were no specific visitation hours. Gabriela describes the hospital as modern – mentioning that she could even order food from a tablet.
When she could finally leave the hospital, Gabriela received the phone number of the surgeon who performed the stitching, so she could call them directly, in case of complications (due to the severity of the tear). She was advised to have a C-section next, if she wishes to have more children.
Anonymous, Rigshospitalet
While many stories are positive, there are still negative experiences, and I believe they have to be told, otherwise we can never improve. Both mom and baby are okay, but this is a negative experience so keep that in mind, before you read on.
I hope this story will help you demand the things you are entitled to, but I also hope it doesn’t leave you forgetting all the other positive stories.
She writes: “I have researched extensively about my labour, and it should have been a perfect, textbook labour. My birth story is unfortunately one that still hurts me, psychologically and physically (I’m still receiving weekly tissue treatment at the hospital), 13 weeks on. In Denmark, you’re told to only go to the hospital when contractions are less than 3 min apart. The first half of my labour, where I laboured at home, progressed perfectly. I was in pain but calm and felt fully in control through use of breathing techniques. Contractions were 2 min apart and I was 5cm dilated when I reached the hospital. Unfortunately things started to spiral from there in large part due to the assigned midwife’s inexperience and brutish behaviour. The first thing she said was that by law she was not allowed to touch me, although massage is supposed to be a publicly offered form of pain relief. I had stated in my birth plan my wish for help to prevent tearing. The midwife said she would do so, only if I laboured on my back in stirrups. This was the first shock to me, while I was already in pain and labouring, since I had previously been told I could move around during labour and I very much felt the need to be on all fours instead. I had stated in my birth plan my wish for a natural labour supported by use of a bathtub and potentially morphine, pudental block and laughing gas. I was flatly denied the bath for no reason, even though it stood filled and ready. I had to beg for laughing gas. Because of the intense escalation in pain I experienced (I jumped from 5cm to 8cm within an hour, and then to 10cm in another hour), and the obvious lack of support from my midwife, I grabbed my partner for support during contractions, and the midwife told me that it was never cool to hurt other people. She then told my partner not to help me and that I needed to do things myself. Labour started to stall. I begged to be allowed on all fours on the floor, which the midwife allowed for two contractions. She then forced me to climb back into the bed and stirrups by myself, with the bed raised high. I have never felt so alone and afraid in my life. I felt like a caged animal. At 8cm, I had also felt downward pressure to push, and when I told the midwife this, she encouraged me to start pushing at 8cm. As a result, I was exhausted by the time I reached 10cm and was actually ready. Labour stalled completely, my baby’s heart rate started to drop and suddenly there were 3 doctors and multiple nurses and midwives in the room. He was extracted with a hard vacuum although I begged for a Caesarian. The vacuum has given him tensions in his neck until now. At the end of the birth the midwife apologised for being a bully
I hope that other international parents, especially first-time parents, will know their rights and advocate for themselves and their babies. The healthcare in Denmark only works if you and your child are completely pain and problem free, you’re lucky, or as I said, if you’re prepared to fight for yourselves”.
Leann from USA, Herlev hospital
Leann writes *-I gave birth at Herlev Hospital, which I would highly recommend. When we went for what turned out to be my last midwife appointment, she invited us to make a birth plan. My husband and I had a lot of really specific wishes based on our research, and to my surprise, most of them were standard procedures at the hospital, and those that were not would easily be accommodated without even a need for discussion (these included things like not getting an IV unless really necessary, having a water birth, delayed cord clamping, using rebozo, having a low-light, quiet environment, etc.)
-My daughter was born prematurely at 36 weeks, and the labor and birth happened so quickly that nothing went according to our meticulous plan! Still, the midwives were so calm and pleasant and cheery that it helped me and my husband remain calm as well. It was such a crazy day, but I was so comfortable in their care that it was peaceful and happy as well. As soon as they knew my daughter was okay, I got to have at least an hour uninterrupted with her.
-She had to stay in the neonatal ward for almost two weeks after her birth, and we both got to stay there with her in a private room the whole time. The whole staff there was fantastic. The nurses kindly guided us in how to care for our little one’s needs (we’re first time parents) and gradually handed over her care to us. They gave me excellent support for starting breastfeeding. It was the nicest hospital stay I could imagine, even as a very hospital-averse person. We eventually got to take our daughter home on “tilidt hjemmeophold” since we were trained to do everything she needed, and one of the nurses came to visit until she was totally released from hospital care. Overall, what could have been a scary and stressful experience was made so much easier by the care she received and the way everything was done.
– The one thing I could have wished for was a little more postpartum guidance for myself. From the time we arrived in the neonatal room, I was on my own with just a pamphlet of basic information and a number I could call for the first week if something was wrong. As a first-timer, I didn’t have the experience to know what is normal and what isn’t. But overall, I had a great – very happy and healthy – pregnancy and birth experience as an expat. I should also mention that from the first appointment I made it clear that I wanted to use English (we can get by with Danish, but I wanted to be absolutely sure to understand everything!) and that was always accommodated with understanding.”
