Hello, friends! Yesterday, I went to the hospital for an
appointment with my OB-GYN. I caught a glimpse of my baby boy thanks to an
ultrasound scan and discovered that he is continuing to grow well. Hooray!
While I was waiting to see the doctor, I started to think
about the differences between maternity care here in Singapore, where my son
will be born, and in the United States, where my daughter was born.
And, I thought you might be interested in some of the differences:
1- Location. In the United States, my OB-GYN's office was
located miles from the hospital. In Singapore, my doctor's office is located in
the same hospital that I will be delivering my baby. The labor ward
is just an elevator ride away! I love that fact, because it has given my husband and
me a chance to get familiar with the hospital's location, how to get around
the building and where to grab food and other necessities (like fashion
magazines!) on the big-delivery day. J
2- Pharmacy convenience. In the United States, my doctor
would hand me a prescription and then I would drive to a store with a
pharmacy inside to fill the prescription. In Singapore, the doctor's office is
on the same floor as the pharmacy. I literally step out of my doctor's
office and grab a seat while the nurse hands my prescription over to the
pharmacy. Minutes later, I have my medicine and vitamins in hand and I'm on my
way home!
3- Flex your math muscles! In the United States, I get my
weight and the baby's weight in pounds. Height measurements are in inches
and feet. And, liquid doses of medicine - for example - are prescribed by
the tablespoon. It's a measurement system that I am used to and therefore
can grasp rather
quickly. Thanks to the metric system in Singapore, my weight
and the baby's weight are in kilograms. Height measurements are in
centimeters. And, liquid doses of medicine are prescribed by the milliliter. So each
time I go to the doctor's office in Singapore, I have to convert the
measurements. Talk about an exercise in math skills! Admittedly, when the nurse
weighs me each week, I DO NOT convert my weight to pounds from kilograms. Believe
me, my weight in kilograms has a nicer ring to it. "I am only 70
kilograms this week?" I happily and naively say to the nurse. "How
wonderful!" J
4- Scans, pokes and prods. In the United States, I dreaded
most doctor's appointments. I often got poked with needles or checked to
see if I was dilated. Ultrasounds were performed at certain points in the
pregnancy, but not often. In Singapore, I feel the maternity care is less
invasive. I've
only had my blood drawn and tested once. My OB-GYN also
doesn't check me down there each week, if you know what I mean. That's because,
I get an ultrasound at each appointment. And instead of dilation, the doctors here
measure the length of the cervix during the scan. I don't know about you, but I much
prefer an ultrasound and a sneak peak of my baby at each appointment.
5- Attitude and approach. I had a miscarriage in the United
States a couple months before getting pregnant again with this baby. I had two
OB-GYNs in the U.S. - one in Atlanta and one in Monterey, Calif., - tell me
that there was nothing they could do to prevent another miscarriage if I got pregnant again. And, I
would have to experience three miscarriages before they performed tests to
determine what caused the losses. In Singapore, the first words out of my
doctor's mouth after telling him I was pregnant following a miscarriage
were "Let's do everything in our power to prevent you from having another
miscarriage." And he has been true to his word. He immediately wanted to
perform a scan to check on the baby, prescribed me a hormone to help
strengthen the uterus and put me on moderated bed rest for the first trimester. Since
then, he has continued to take a "cautious" approach with me
and my pregnancy. This particular difference could very well boil down to a
difference between individual doctors versus maternity care as a whole. But, I
truly believe that I made it this far in this complicated pregnancy (I'm
currently 32 weeks pregnant), because of my Singaporean doctor's cautious attitude and approach.
Have you ever been pregnant overseas? What are some of the
differences you noticed in terms of medical care?
Cheers,
Kristina
6 comments:
Great post! I was also surprised by how much more convenient pregnancy & delivery overseas was. Far better than when I was in Texas. Didn't have to wait forever for dr. appointments, less drawing blood, more ultrasounds, more considerate & patient caregivers. The biggest difference was having a midwive for delivery. The dr was there for the delivery, but midwive pretty much did everything. The result was a far better delivery! So happy and excited for you! Sounds like you are very good hands. =)
So informative!! I've always wondered how different things can be in various countries, etc with military health care. Thanks for sharing :)
Singapore sounds kinda similar to the Netherlands, where my son was born. I'd never been pregnant in Australia (or the states) so didn't have my own personal experiences to compare it to, but just saw how different it was to friends & family back home. Holland had a hands off approach. It's assumed you'll home birth, unless you say otherwise. You will never see an ob-gyn, only a midwife - unless you are deemed a 'medical' pregnancy (which I eventually was at about 38 weeks). They don't do a lot of testing - no testing for gestational diabetes and no checks of dilation or anything like that. Pain relief during labor is also rarely offered...
The biggest difference though between my home country & Holland is that the Dutch after birth care is pretty darn amazing. You get your own personal baby nurse in your home for 8hrs a day for the first 8 days. They wash, they clean, they cook, they teach you how to look after baby, how to BF, they give the parents a naptime. It is the most excellent system and best of all - it doesn't cost a cent :) Whereas in Australia you are sent home after 3 days (max) and there is no follow up care unless you take yourself into the dr (usually at 6 weeks).
Sounds like the care in Singapore is awesome - that's great! I was wondering what it would be like there, a friend of ours from France lives there and is due with their first in April. I hope the rest of your pregnancy is a smooth journey!
I have only ever had a baby in Hawaii, so I don't know how my experience compares to maternity care overseas and to those experiencing "civilian" maternity care. I started to wonder though, because even though I am experiencing the majority of my maternity care in Hawaii for this pregnancy, I will be 28 weeks when we move to Oklahoma, although I will still be in the military care system. But I also experienced similar things as you. Everything is in the hospital I deliver at, from the doctor visits, pharmacy, and labs. I have only had to give blood twice, one of which was optional for genetic testing. I wish that I got to see my baby more for ultrasounds, lol, but I am not experiencing a special pregnancy. I did like how they will give you ultrasounds whenever you are having problems. I had to go to the ER for this pregnancy for food poisoning and for my last pregnancy for a respiratory infection and both times they checked on the baby with an ultrasounds. Apparently that is not common in places that are not military hospitals because they have to bill your insurance company for it. I am very happy that you are being treated with more care than if you had been in the states. I had to do a colposcopy for an abnormal pap smear and they were very caring when things showed up that were not supposed to be there. Fortunately, nothing major is happening and I hope you too have an uneventful pregnancy and delivery.
Both of my kids were born at an Italian hospital-the first was not planned, the second was. I could go on and on about the labors and delivery! In short, everything seemed very old-fashioned. I was lucky enough to have a private room. The postpartum care was so strange to me! (Although I have no American births to compare to.) I was only allowed out of bed to go to the bathroom and that was IT. So I ended up with sponge baths (strangest thing ever!) and being waited on-I got pretty bored! When they dismissed me, there was no car seat check or wheelchair out of the hospital, we just walked out.
With my second, I was followed by the Italian doctor for the majority of my pregnancy. My appointments were on Friday evenings. All the expectant mothers showed up at the office and there never really seemed to be any sort of order as to who got to go first. I had an ultrasound at every appointment in my third trimester. They also did a lot of pre-labor blood work and some sort of heart test. Modesty was never really a concern-so I learned not to expect a sheet or cover up for anything. Made things interesting with a doctor, nurses, husband and the interpreter all in the room!
Nicole
My youngest sister was born overseas--I know my Mom made one change--she didn't get an epidural because she didn't trust the doctors there as much as US doctors for finicky procedures like that! It's awesome that you are having a good experience with doctors that aren't from your culture!
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