During a trip to Germany in 1993 I had a unique opportunity to visit a German
MD who specializes in natural health care, particularly classical homeopathy.
Doctor L. was then a young obstetrician/gynecologist working at a teaching
hospital in a small city close to Cologne. She had previously spent two years in
Toronto, working and training at Sick Kid’s Hospital. During this time she had
also studied with Dr. Andre Saine, my homeopathy professor, who connected us.
Dr. L. was very impressive; not only was she an ob/gyn as well as a classical
homeopath, she was also in charge of a program for biological cancer therapy
at the hospital. Natural therapies were completely integrated with conventional
medicine in this facility.

She invited me to spend a day with her, but asked me not to disclose my true
identity as a naturopathic doctor and instead pretend to be a medical doctor
visiting from Canada instead, ‘just in case’.
Little did we know then what ‘just in case’ was going to mean…

Homeopathy during pregnancy, labour and delivery
I naturally agreed and we started to see patients. Everyone was treated with
homeopathy and I found her very accomplished. Our first patient, let’s call her
Mrs. S., was nine months pregnant and a few days overdue, but after receiving
a homeopathic remedy from Dr. L. promptly went into labour. I was getting my
hopes up to actually observe my first birth!

Doctor L. worked on the maternity ward and this hospital also had a midwifery
school attached to it, so there were numerous births a day, all handled with
minimal intervention if possible.

Alas, my hopes were almost dashed when, by the end of Dr. L’s shift at 9 pm,
Mrs. S. still had not delivered. So I asked if it would be possible for me to stay
anyway, and Dr. L. generously made arrangements with the Chief of Staff to let
me stay.

All the time I felt like a bit of an imposter of course, but nevertheless unable to
resist the temptation!

Well, I almost gave it away when Mrs. S. received an epidural at 1:30 am.
The birthing room, not unlike a regular bedroom, was crowded with several
midwives and midwifery students, nurses, a doctor, Mrs. S’s husband and - little
me. By this time Mrs. S. had been in labour for at least 12 hours and was tired
and ready for an epidural.

The effects of epidurals on the innocent
Of course I had heard of those kinds of things before, but had never actually
seen one done. The doctor arrived wheeling a tray with assorted equipment,
including the largest hypodermic needle I had ever seen in my life. I swear the
thing was ten inches long! He then asked Mrs. S. to bend forward and tried to
maneuver the tip of this monstrosity into her spine. Having some difficulty he
asked: “Mrs. S., you have a back made of steel, you must be doing a lot of
sports,“ to which the patient replied that, yes, indeed, she was skiing a lot.
That’s the last I heard of that conversation. The next time I opened my eyes I
was flat on the floor in the hospital room with several concerned faces peering at
me from above!

As you already guessed, Dr. Zimmermann, the wimpy medical doctor from
Canada, had fainted at the sight of a needle!
Luckily, Mrs. S’s husband caught me as I went down. Then he fainted, too!
As I hadn’t eaten all day, I blamed it on hypoglycemia to save face and was duly
revived with some orange juice and cookies by the helpful staff, who also let me
lie down for a while in another room.

But I just couldn’t leave it alone and asked the staff to get me when the baby
was ready to come.

The big C
About an hour later, a midwife came and told me that things were not going so
well with Mrs. S. and that she was going to have – a Caesarian section. Did I
want to watch??

Well, after a few seconds of mental deliberation, I agreed of course. Everyone
changed into surgical gear; I didn’t have a clue and put the mask on upside
down. One of the nurses corrected the mistake and the surgeon joked about
people passing out from the sight of needles. They had me stay at the side of
the scene and a chair ready, just in case. But this time I was okay, I got to
observe an entire Caesarian section up close, it was amazing! And I hoped I
would never need one!

During this night about eight other women had their babies on the ward and I
got to observe one other natural birth, as well as actually assist a woman in
premature labour with homeopathy, since the resident homeopath was off duty.
What an experience!

Acceptance of biological therapies in Germany
In Germany, biological therapies are becoming more and more accepted and
almost mainstream, so to speak. As a matter of fact, homeopathy is being
taught to all medical students in university and chairs for integrated
“Naturopathic” medical programs have been established at several major
medical schools.

There are whole hospitals in Germany devoted to treating people with
biological methods – a few years earlier I had visited a 200 bed hospital specializing
in integrated natural therapies for cancer patients. They used everything from
macrobiotic cooking to light and psychotherapy, as well as botanical and
homeopathic medicine.

A recent survey of medical doctors in Germany revealed that the majority are
using some natural remedies in their practices. The German government had
also pledged 10 million marks at the time (1993) to fund research projects on
the efficacy of natural therapies to put them on firmer scientific ground.
If only our medical system in Canada was as progressive. At the time of my visit
in Germany, midwives were not even regulated, never mind any doctors using
homeopathy in hospitals. And of course in our naturoapthic training we did not have access to hospitals or observe births, although that would have been most interesting and helpful also.
Well, it is only a matter of time, as homeopathy and
other natural therapies are increasingly becoming recognized as safe,
effective and cost-efficient.