Comprehensive pregnancy care and family support for refugees.
Who we are
Refugee Midwifery Service Austria (RMSA) is a non-profit organisation founded and operated by experienced midwives to provide comprehensive pregnancy care and support for young families with refugee or migration backgrounds. Our service is free of charge, medically qualified, culturally respectful and multi-lingual.
How we help
Comprehensive care
Medically qualified health checks, support groups and more – full pre and post-natal care for refugees and their newborns.
Comprehensive resources
Information and advice on all topics relating to pregnancy and child birth. We also provide medical documentation for easy integration with the Austrian health system..
FREE
Services, resources, care, time, advice, support groups, everything is free of charge for refugees and their babies.
Culturally respectful
We are sensitive to all religious and cultural practices relating to being pregnant and giving birth.
Multi-lingual
Services and resources are available in in English, German, Arabic, Kurdish, Turkish, Farsi, Somali, and Russian.
Strictly confidential
Your privacy is respected from the moment you contact us.
For expecting mothers, by women
Founded and operated by women.
Our midwifery service
Medically qualified. Trustworthy. Multilingual.
What is the Midwifery Service?
The RMSA Midwifery Service is a free program for pregnant women and young mothers. Our experienced midwives provide care during pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period – medically qualified, culturally sensitive, and individually tailored.
Peer-Power Approach: Trained midwives and interpreters ensure trustworthy and culturally sensitive care in the mother’s own language.
Our services
Check-ups according to the Austrian Mother-Child Passport
Postpartum care including breastfeeding support
Birth support by doulas
Workshops and self-help groups on women’s health
Counseling on the Austrian healthcare system
Referral to specialists for specific questions
Multilingual support (Arabic, Somali, Farsi, French, English, German, Russian)
For whom?
For pregnant women or mothers with refugee or migration backgrounds, as well as families facing language or structural barriers. Specialist services, midwives, or social workers may also refer families to us.
Contact Midwifery Service:
Carmen Urban
067652177222, tirol@rmsa.help
Our family support program
Understanding. Trust. Connection.
What is family support?
The Family Support Program is a another free service by RMSA. It is aimed at women and their families – from pregnancy until the child’s third birthday. During this sensitive stage of life, we want to provide orientation, build trust, and prevent social isolation.
Peer-power approach: Our family supporters often share the same language and cultural background as the families they accompany. Through their own experiences of arriving in Austria, they can provide practical help, build trust, and ease access to important services.
Our services
Home visits and support during pregnancy and after birth
Assistance with authorities and medical appointments
Help with accessing healthcare and social services
Support with everyday questions – e.g., filling out childcare applications
Culturally sensitive counseling in the mother’s language
Referrals to specialist services as needed
- Support for up to 1 year
For whom?
For pregnant women or parents with children up to 3 years old who speak Arabic, Kurdish, Farsi, Turkish, or Somali.
Also for counseling centers, midwives, doctors, or social services who wish to refer families.
In cooperation with
Funded by donations as well as the State of Tyrol and the City of Innsbruck.
Family support video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vDuHraqNIA
Contact family support:
Rachelle Miner
0660 3430861
You can help
We need your support to make a difference. If you are able to contribute in any of the following ways, please contact your nearest branch today!
Midwives
We need your help to provide comprehensive care and resources to women in vulnerable situations.
Translators
We need English or German speakers who can speak Russian, Farsi, Somali or Arabic to help ensure clear communication and foster cultural understanding between midwives and refugees.
Written translation
To help us provide resources in native languages for speakers of English, German, Arabic, Farsi, Somali, Kurdish and Russian.
Administrative Support
To spearhead regional branches on and offline and coordinate midwives, translators and resources.
Donors
To provide financial assistance and resources for this much needed service for expecting mothers with refugee backgrounds.
IBAN: AT59 2050 3033 0210 9263
BIC: SPIHAT22XXX
Public Advocacy
To increase our visibility, strengthen our outreach, and encourage donations.
Doctors
We welcome collaboration with doctors who can support us with their expertise, prenatal check-ups, and medical donations.
Online supporters
Don't have the time, skills or resources to help? Simply sharing our service with your friends and family on social media is a huge help!
Contact us
You can find our regional branches or contact our national office at:
tirol@RMSA.help or +43 680 211 2964
Tyrol
Sarah Bestle
Bienerstraße 22/4
6020 Innsbruck
Tel. 0043 680 211 2964
Email tirol@RMSA.help
Upper Austria
Mojdeh Redjaian-Kaltenbach
Lifehaus-Strasse 15
4111 Walding
Tel. 0043 650 375 1255
Email mojdeh.redjaian@gmx.net
RMSA Vorstand
Sarah Bestle
Vorstandsmitglied: Obfrau,
Bienerstraße 22/4, 6020 Innsbruck
0043 680 2112964
heb.s.bestle@gmail.com
www.sarahbestle.at
Midwife since 2012, currently working independently as a private midwife. I provide prenatal check-ups and counseling, childbirth preparation courses, home births, postpartum care, and recovery courses.
How do you support refugee women?
Chairwoman of RMSA.
Founder of RMSA in January 2016.
Established a structure for midwifery care for refugee women in Innsbruck.
Counseling pregnant migrant women and mothers at Leopoldstraße 33a/Innsbruck.
Conducting workshops on women’s health, sexuality, family planning, childbirth preparation, and female genital mutilation (FGM).
Hosting the international women’s celebration “40 Days After Birth.”
Lecturer at FH-Gesundheit, Bachelor of Midwifery since 2017.
Presentation together with Johanna Sengschmid of RMSA and “Women Health Team Hamburg” at the Obstetrics in Dialogue Congress in Mannheim, March 2017.
Summer 2020: Initiated a study on “Obstetric and Gynecological Care in Austria from the Perspective of Somali Women. A qualitative study on social and medical care considering FGM.”
Winter semester 2020: Lecturer at the Gender Medicine lecture series on the topic: “FGM – Women’s Perspectives.”
Why are you committed to RMSA?
When many refugees arrived in Austria in 2015–2016, many were pregnant women and mothers with young children.
I wanted to contribute in solidarity and began offering my midwifery services in refugee shelters in and around Innsbruck. This soon became the “Midwifery Service for Refugees” – the origin of RMSA. A core idea was to network midwives to support each other in the specific challenges of refugee care.
Fortunately, and to my deep gratitude, Johanna Sengschmid immediately joined as my enthusiastic deputy and has since been an essential partner with foresight and many valuable skills.
As a midwife, it is especially important to me to empower women and support them in their self-determination. Placing women and their (unborn) children at the center and giving them a safe space can greatly benefit their health.
I have a deep interest in other cultures and ways of life. Despite differences, intercultural exchange reveals many commonalities. Creating solidarity among women is especially important to me. This sense of connection inspires me deeply and gives me strength in my own life.
Johanna Sengschmid
Vorstandsmitglied: Stellvertretende Obfrau,
Döblergasse 2/41 b, 1070 Wien
0043 664 6108323
j.sengschmid@gmx.at
www.wirhebammenvonnussdorf.at/johanna
www.diekraftinmir.at
Midwife since 1982, currently working independently as a private midwife for postpartum care.
How do you support refugee women?
Deputy Chairwoman of RMSA.
Volunteered from 2015 in refugee shelters: Zollamtsstraße (1030 Vienna), Lindengasse (1070), Schottenfeldgasse, Blindengasse (1080) – for pregnancy and postpartum care.
Member of the round table “Flight and Women’s Health – Sexual and Reproductive Health” of the Women’s Health Program Vienna, meeting four times a year.
Member of the FGM Expert Advisory Board – Vienna Women’s Health Program.
Representative of ÖHG at the BMGF workshop “Sexual and Reproductive Health of Migrant Women in Medical Contexts.”
Co-creator of the ÖHG brochure “Obstetric Terms in Arabic and Farsi.”
Author introducing RMSA in the Journal of Pediatrics & Pädologie, Austrian Journal for Child and Adolescent Medicine, October 2018.
Participant and presenter for RMSA at the 11th Annual Conference of Political Pediatrics “Welcome? Medical Care for Refugee Children,” November 2017.
Author in the Austrian Children’s League report “Medical, therapeutic, and pedagogical standards for working with children and adolescents with refugee backgrounds” (Nov. 2016).
Presentation with Sarah Bestle (RMSA) and “Women Health Team Hamburg” at the Obstetrics in Dialogue Congress in Mannheim, March 2017.
Why are you committed to RMSA?
I was very pleased when Sarah Bestle, as founder of RMSA, reached out to me in Vienna in 2016.
The year 2015 was deeply formative, and networking on the topic of women, pregnancy, and children in flight was especially important for midwives.
It is a very personal matter for me – my parents were refugees from the Sudetenland in 1946 – to support families on their journey.
The exchange with midwife colleagues and refugee families is particularly meaningful to me – their incredible stories and destinies enrich my perspective and broaden my understanding of obstetrics.
Johanna Barton
Vorstandsmitglied: Schriftführerin,
Kaiserjägerstraße 32, 6020 Innsbruck
0043 676 9436874
doula@loewenherzin.at
www.loewenherzin.at
Sociology studies.
Mother of two children.
Completed doula training in 2018.
Since 2020 self-employed as a doula, offering emotional support before, during, and after birth.
How do you support refugee women?
Secretary of RMSA
Association Administration at RMSA 2021–2022
Accompanying women with refugee backgrounds as a doula for RMSA.
Since 2016, voluntary mentor for an unaccompanied minor refugee through the project “Ertebat” of the Asylum Platform – For Human Rights.
Why are you committed to RMSA?
I came to RMSA through Sarah Bestle, who cared for me as a midwife. When I was ready to work again, she invited me to join the association. I was deeply moved by the situation of refugees and, out of a desire to help actively, took on a mentorship for a young refugee in 2016. Together with my family, I supported him in daily life and shared leisure activities. This gave me insight into the lives of refugees, deepening my admiration for how expectant mothers and families master their fate.
As a doula, I accompany women by providing emotional support and continuously creating a sense of safety during childbirth. Especially women who, for example due to experiences of flight, have been hurt in their integrity and have difficulty trusting others, deserve sensitive support. I am happy to stand by their side.
Mojdeh Redjaian-Kaltenbach, BSc, LL.M.
RMSA-Vertreterin Oberösterreich
Lifehaus-Straße 15
4111 Walding
0043 650 37 51 255
mojdeh.redjaian@gmx.net
www.unglaublichweiblich.at
Private midwife in Linz, Urfahr, and surrounding areas with additional qualifications in pregnancy yoga, breastfeeding, and infant nutrition counseling.
How do you support refugee women?
As an experienced midwife, I have been accompanying women with passion and mindfulness through pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period for many years.
It is particularly important to me to support each woman individually – on equal footing and with trust in the natural processes of the body.
In addition to my work at the Konventhospital der Barmherzigen Brüder and my midwifery practice at the Gesundheitszentrum am Berg, I volunteer for RMSA.
As representative for Upper Austria, I am committed to providing refugee women with a safe, supportive, and culturally sensitive space.
Why are you committed to RMSA?
I am convinced that every woman has the right to respectful, competent, and warm-hearted care – regardless of origin, language, or circumstances. Through my work with RMSA, I want to help ensure that refugee women also receive this support.
In every encounter, I bring my medical knowledge, my experience as a midwife, and my intercultural understanding.
In addition to classical midwifery, I offer childbirth preparation, pregnancy yoga, and breastfeeding and nutrition counseling – all with the aim of empowering women in their self-determination and strength.
Rachelle Miner,MA
Vorstandsmitglied: Kassaführerin,
Leitung Familienbegleitung
Planötzenhofstraße 39, 6020 Innsbruck
0043 660 3430861
tirol@rmsa.help
Social Worker (BA)
Master’s Degree in Human Rights and Democratization
Certified Dance and Movement Educator
Nutrition Consultant
Yoga Teacher
Certified Mental Trainer
Yoga Therapist (in training)
How do you support refugee women?
Since 2018, association administration and project coordination at RMSA.
Family supporter at RMSA.
2015–2017: Integration consultant at the Diakonie Refugee Service.
2019: Volunteering as a medical interpreter and yoga teacher in Lesbos, Greece.
2009–2012: Streetwork with unaccompanied minor refugees in Innsbruck.
2009–2011: Voluntary support of refugee families in Innsbruck.
Why are you committed to RMSA?
A human being is a human being. A woman is a woman. Regardless of origin or life story. In my work with refugees, I have always tried to focus on what unites rather than what divides. When common ground is strengthened, walls come down. Why am I committed to RMSA? To experience more of those precious moments when human connection is so strong that it no longer matters whether one speaks the same language or understands each other’s culture. For me, the meaning of this work is to celebrate the true beauty of womanhood – in all its diverse facets – together.