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The practice is still little known in Switzerland, but confidential childbirth can help avoid tragic situations.

F., 19, presents itself in consultation with stomach aches.The verdict is simple: it is pregnant.Shocked, she says she doesn't want a child and that no one should know what is happening to her.Her family would deny her.

Elle est tombée enceinte de son ex-partenaire, qui s’est montré violent à plusieurs reprises. Elle aimerait interrompre sa grossesse, mais elle en est déjà à la 27^e semaine, il est trop tard. Que faire?

"In such cases, there is the possibility of confidential delivery in Switzerland," explains Christine Sieber, project manager at the Swiss Sexual Health Foundation.Confidential childbirth allows a woman to give birth to her child in a protected framework.

"This means that the woman can give birth normally in a hospital and receive appropriate care, but that her personal data is processed in a confidential manner so that those around her learn nothing of this birth," explains Christine Sieber.

The mother then has six weeks to decide if she gives her baby by adoption or if she wants to keep it.Most of the time, women in this situation choose adoption.

A pseudonym instead of anonymity

"For a woman to choose to hide her pregnancy and give birth to her child in secret, the circumstances must be particularly difficult," notes Christine Sieber: violence at home, family threats, shame and fear.These women often live in precarious conditions, they have suffered violence on the part of their partner or their families or they are minor.

Abortion is impossible for religious or ethical reasons, or pregnancy is discovered too late, and it is no longer possible to interrupt it."It is important that these women receive support," insists Christine Sieber.According to a survey carried out by its foundation, 18 out of 26 cantons are currently proposing confidential childbirth, and others discuss the issue.

In a recently published study, Nicolette Seiterle, scientific collaborator with the organization of children placed and adopted in Switzerland (PACH), examined how Swiss hospitals manage confidential deliveries.

"Practices differ a lot, because confidential births have only been proposed for a few years and there is no uniform conception," she said.There is no national regulation, and that is why some hospitals have their own conduct codes.

This is for example the case of the Cantonal Hospital in Saint-Gall."The practice is regulated by a manual, so that we are always ready for confidential delivery, even if it rarely occurs," said spokesperson Philipp Lutz.

In Saint-Gall, there have only been three to five cases over the past ten years.“With us, confidential deliveries are taken care of by maternity, social workers and the service in charge of outings, which work in close collaboration.If necessary, the pregnant woman is assigned a pseudonym.We also ensure that his presence in the hospital is not revealed to third parties and that no document is sent to the house, "continues Philipp Lutz.

However, the birth and identity of the mother are declared to the civil status, as provided for in the obligation to declare.From a strict legal point of view, anonymous births are prohibited in Switzerland.

Baby boxes, available in several Swiss hospitals, and which allow you to abandon a baby anonymously, are in a gray area of law, because the mother does not reveal her identity.But they are nevertheless tolerated, because it is the interest of the child who prevails.They are used to prevent a newborn baby be abandoned anywhere, or even killed.

"But this also prevents the mother and the child from receiving medical and psychological care during pregnancy and during childbirth," notes Nicolette SEITERLE."In addition, if the child is adopted, confidential birth gives him the opportunity to seek his origins once major, as is his right," she said.

This point is extremely important, because adopted children are very often interested in the question of their identity."This is why confidential birth is the best alternative to the baby box," said Nicolette Seiterle.

In Switzerland, confidential deliveries remain rare.According to the survey of the Sexual Health Foundation, most of them take place in hospitals in Winterthour, Saint-Gall and the canton of Bern.Their number does not exceed two to three per year.

And we see that their number decreases in Switzerland, as in other European countries, "also because the stigma of illegitimate children has decreased sharply", specifies Nicolette Seiterle.Offering this possibility is nonetheless important, as Christine Sieber also points out: "This concerns the most vulnerable people in society, who are in an emergency situation".

Christine Sieber also notes that the possibility of giving birth confidentially is too little known.And it is always necessary, as shown in the sad example of a case that occurred in January from last year: a passer-by discovered a newborn in a waste collection point at the Bernese Oberland.The girl, in hypothermia, was in critical condition and the mother had given birth alone, surrounded by nature.

It was not until August this year that we found a newborn baby again in a baby box.Would that have happened otherwise if the mother had known that she could give birth in a confidential way?Christine Sieber cannot say it.But for her, one thing is clear: "confidential deliveries help prevent abandonment of children".

Other countries, other rights

Contrary to what is happening in Switzerland, anonymous childbirth is authorized in certain countries, such as France, Italy and Luxembourg.Others, such as Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary or Slovakia have legislated on certain ways of abandoning children by remaining anonymous.

In other European countries, such as Germany, Belgium, Poland or Russia, these practices (including babies) are rather tolerated, without being legal - as in Switzerland.Only a few European countries are resolutely against.This is particularly the case for Great Britain, Spain or Sweden.

But in Switzerland too, a need to act is felt."The mothers concerned - and if possible also the fathers - must be informed that there are different options after confidential delivery, for example an open or semi -open adoption, a placement of the child in a host family orIn a children's home, ”says Nicolette SEITERLE.

It is therefore fundamental to approach the question according to the two perspectives: that of the parents and that of the child.