Japanese, or an American Hospital for delivery?
Hey y'all, I'm Hilly. I post over on MN when I do post. We are stationed overseas right now, and while I still have a while to think about it, I am so stuck in the middle. Either option has pros and cons and neither would be "bad" But, I'm getting a head of myself. The situation:
Our base doesn't have a Naval Hospital, we only have a clinic and get sent to either Okinawa, Hawaii, or Yokosuka for more serious things that they can't take care of here. We're expecting No. 2 in September, and will need to decide at some point if I'll have the baby in a local hospital in town, with a Japanese Doctor, or travel with DD and hopefully H a few weeks ahead of time and spend time at a different base ( with a Chili's!! ) and deliver in a USNH.
Japanese Hospital Pros:
- Close by, no traveling. Stay at Home until baby time.
- Easier with DD, we have a great support system here even with out family. These people are amazing.
Cons:
-Apparently the Doctor speaks very little, and doesn't prefer to speak English.
- Very assembly line, in and out.
- I am afraid if there were any complications, I wouldn't be able to communicate properly with the nurses, and what ever Doctor was there if the english speaking Doc wasn't on call. The communication is my biggest scare/ reason I don't want to go.
-They like to keep you there for a long time.
USNH Yokosuka, Pros:
- The lodging and Train tickets are free. Even if my mom was able to come, she could stay in the lodging area for free.
-There's a greater ability to communicate what I need / want, obvi. But I just think I would feel more comfortable there.
- In the three weeks before my due date that I'm required to be up there, we could travel to Tokyo, and enjoy the bigger area.
Cons:
-if H was to be guaranteed to be there when I went into labor, ( the whole time we were there) he would have to take three weeks of leave, which he will have, but it will be sad for him to spend it waiting around, and not three weeks with me, DD, and the new baby.
- The traveling and spending potentially nearly a month away from our home, DD's friends/ playgroups.
So, please ladies, tell me what you would do if you were in my shoes. TIA!
Re: Japanese, or an American Hospital for delivery?
This is my first LO so I can't speak for what to do for your D, but I am going up to Yoko. I'll most likely be in the Stork's Nest waiting when/if you arrive. I'm just 11 weeks today.
I was told by someone who delivered out in town that her husband was not allowed to be in the room. I'm not sure if that's true for all of the Japanese hospitals but that plus the difference in medical care made me decide to make the trip to Yokosuka. DH probably won't be there from the beginning of when I'm there, but we're keeping our fingers crossed that he'll be able to leave his ship and be there for the birth.
One of my friends just delivered, they said he was allowed, but there was a specific hours for visiting, like he was supposed to leave at 8 and not expected to stay the night... but there was a bed in the room? It was weird. Where are you stationed? If this was my first baby, or if I had any complications, I would go up to Yokosuka, no questions.
Sasebo. You?
We are stationed in Okinawa and I delivered at the Naval Hospital. Every dr. except 1 was American, and I had 1 Japanese nurse who spoke English, otherwise the nursing staff was American. I had a good experience with the healthcare staff, but there is only 1 lactation consultant on the island, so that was a drawback since we had breastfeeding issues. Other than that, if you need to come to Okinawa, the Naval Hospital on Lester is a good facility!