International Bumpies
dulcemariamar1
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Do you like the prenatal care
dulcemariamar1
member
in your host country? Anything that you find or think is different from your home country?
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Re: Do you like the prenatal care
I had an awful OB with DD, but that was just her personality. I switched at 33w to an awesome one.
What I love about Germany is the combination of OB/MW care and that's it's absolutely normal to have a MW. She also comes for several weeks after the birth to check on you and LO and answer any questions you have (mine pulled my c/s stitches 10 days PP while I laid on my couch). I also like that there isn't such a push for c/s like there seems to be in the US. I don't know what the c/s rate is, but at the hospital I deliver at, VBACs are the norm after a c/s. They only do a RCS (after 1 previous c/s) if it's medically indicated. I like that I don't have to fight for the right to try a VBAC.
BFP1: DD1 born April 2011 at 34w1d via unplanned c/s due to HELLP, DVT 1 week PP
BFP3: DD2 born Feb 2013 at 38w4d via unplanned RCS due to uterine dehiscence
Fecking glad I didn't have the twins in China! We weren't on an expat package there and it would have been a local hospital delivery for me! Gack!
I have been using both the public and private systems here but in the end I think I will give birth in a public hospital.
If I give birth in a private, my doctor will be the one attending my birth. However, the C/S rate is a lot higher in the private and I think this has to do with you are working around the doctor's timetable.
In the public, the MWs are the ones who do L&D unless they need to call in a doctor if they feel you need a C/S or if something is really wrong with baby and/or Mom. Since the MWs work on shifts, there is really no rush for the Mom to deliver during a certain amount of time. Plus, I feel that public hospital have better resources for Mom and Baby.
I could be wrong but this is what I have seen/heard from people.
I pretty much agree with your assessment of the Spanish system. I only went private because of the particular program I found (but you know all this already!). I think going through the public is great as the best hospitals in Madrid are all public anyway.
In Spain I had a very hard time navigating the two systems and a very stressful time figuring out where I woud deliver. Long story, but at 34/35 weeks I still wasn't set on where I would give birth..it was a mess.
I have found the German system much easier to navigate for the type of birth I would like. I love going to an OB for the regular pregnancy stuff and having a midwife who will also see me for prenatal aches and pains as well as come to my house afterward to help my recovery. I think it's a pretty great system. The midwife I found is also available to be my midwife for the birth if I "reserve" her so I am doing that as well. I already know where I'll be delivering and have found two care providers (the OB and midwife) who speak English and I feel very comfortble with. So different from my experience in Spain
My favorite difference is that here you can go to any doctor that accepts public insurance and see them instead of needing a referral to a specific doctor like I had in Spain. I know in Madrid you can switch doctors now if you aren't comfortable with the one you get (a new development) but it seemed like a lot of work to switch...this just seems simpler!
Yeah, I can't fault the uk either. Esp when m had her kidney issues diagnosed. The only things I would change are private rooms rather than wards after delivery, and. I would have liked to have some internal exams in the weeks leading up to my edd just to know...
Yeah, I still have to choose a public hospital that I want to give birth in. For now, I am doing all the appointments at a hospital that is like a 5 minute walk from my house. The care there has been really good but they dont have the resources that other hospitals have and they believe more in interventions than in other places.
Did you see a midwife here in Spain? Here, I see an OB at the hospital but every few weeks I go to my local health center and the MWs check the baby HB and my vital signs and to answer any questions that I have. The only problem is that they dont go to your house after you give birth. I would love that to happen. I have been taking birth/mom prep classes with the public and they have been great if not long. They are like 8 weeks from 5:15 to 8:30.
That is great that you get to use the same MW for L&D. Here, is just luck.
How long are you guys planning on staying KL?
Wow. Your life sounds really fun.
What?!? I have heard off some odd things, but that is just outright ridiculous.
I?m in Mallorca and am going private. Only because when we moved here in 1999 we didn?t speak Spanish and by taking out private health insurance we had access to English speaking dr?s. The public healthcare is very good here so Ive nothing against it.
With DS I had great prenatal care with a lovely dr.
But, I didn?t know - as I hadnt planned for it or done any research - that with a csection only the medical staff were allowed in the OR. I only found out as i was being wheeled down that DH cldnt come with me and it really upset me.
I did know that it is kind of expected for family to help with your care when you are in hospital, but I didn?t realise to what extent we wld be left alone while I was in labour. It was really scary to go thru those night time hours alone especially as DH and I were first timers.
Also there was no skin to skin after DS was delivered which was disspointing to say the least. I was shown him briefly, then he was taken up to DH for a quick kiss and that was it. They didnt bring him back to us for over 6hrs.
I asked for help with breastfeeding, but no one came to help till day 3. I?m guessing again that the staff expect family . ie the new mother?s mother, to help with that kind of thing. No such luck with us.
So the care after DS was born left alot to be desired, but the hospital itself was lovely. We had an en suite private room, DH had his own bed, and three lovely meals a day. We were there for 5 nights, 4 days.
I?m going to be trying a different hospital this time round, in the hope that things are a little better.
Heh! At least we know where we'll be in the long term, right? I've kind of gotten to the point where I don't care what we do with the next few years because after they're over we'll just be moving back to Switzerland for the long haul anyway.
I am in Cambodia so I was suspicious of what the care available would be. I have been seeing an expat OBGYN from Russia but getting my ultrasounds from a local OBGYN. Actually, I like the local doctor much better and I was really surprised by the modern equipment here. What I haven't liked is waiting about an hour for each appointment (show up for a 4 pm appointment, don't get seen until 5).
I will not be delivering here. I will go to Bangkok.