Bourgoin-Jallieu (France) (AFP)

"We feel listened to": at the "First Hours in the World" (PHAM) birth house in Bourgoin-Jallieu (Isère), future parents who have chosen to give birth "naturally" without hospitalization do not hesitate to praise for his accompaniment from A to Z.

"The whole team listened to our feelings during the months of accompaniment and offered us informed choices, which is not always the case in a classic maternity," says Estelle, a young woman The 33-year-old who gave birth to his two children in this structure, one of eight in France since 2016.

Located on the ground floor of the Hospital Center of Bourgoin-Jallieu, this association of liberal midwives, supported by a group of parents, claims about twenty births each month since June 2016.

Three rooms spread over 100 m2, including two to give birth, welcome couples who have chosen to give birth to their child in a non-medical and epidural way.

Here we give birth "physiologically", says Melanie Feunteun, one of the midwives of this House who, like the other seven, does not host any pregnancy at risk.

In one of the two bedrooms, an inflatable pool was placed at the foot of the bed. Thick curtains obstruct daylight and plunge it into semi-darkness.

A birth stool and a suspension scarf are the only two other material elements that remind prospective parents that they are in a delivery room.

"There is no need for a natural birth," says Mathilde Revolon, a 28-year-old midwife, while pointing to a wooden cabinet containing medical equipment, used "in case of emergency" .

- "Neither hippie nor bobo" -

"We were looking for a more serene environment, here it is less the factory," says Chloe, 23, a future mother who came with her partner to discover the facilities.

Some couples sometimes come from far away, from France or abroad, to take advantage of these more widely developed structures, particularly in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany or Switzerland.

Each couple is followed in the first weeks of pregnancy by a pair of midwives. The accompaniment ends with the post-natal consultation, that is a month and a half after the birth of the child.

"They leave between two and six hours after birth," says Camille Berthier, one of the ten midwives of the association.

Practitioner for seven years in hospital, the young woman praises the "privileged link" that is created between the professional and the couple from the first months of the follow-up, where "everything must be done very quickly" in a classic maternity ward. a beginning of childbirth.

"Sometimes medical reasons force us to switch some patients on conventional follow-ups," she adds.

"Besides the cocoon aspect of the premises, my spouse and I were very reassured by the idea of ​​knowing the midwife who would help me give birth," says Charlotte, 33, a mother of two children, one of whom is born at PHAM.

Roselene Moreau, the doyenne of the midwives of the association, has seen several attempts to democratize these structures fail over the years, because of the "reluctance of the medical community". It is pleased with the success of the experiment, which offers "a satisfactory level of security", according to a report made public this Friday.

Only downside: the mode of remuneration of midwives, exceeding fees, is not always reimbursed and does not allow accessibility to all couples.

"Couples do not have the means and it's a shame.These structures also suffer a little bit of a hippie and bobo image", regrets Jerome, a father of three whose wife gave birth to her last child in center.

"This experience convinced me because it allowed me to appropriate the childbirth as much as my companion.I was much more involved than during a classical accompaniment," he says.

The experimentation phase will end on November 23, 2020.

© 2019 AFP