My doctor delivers babies at Perinatal in Laranjeiras. About a month before my due date, we went for a tour.
We did not get to see the delivery rooms, but rather were shown all varieties of suites available to us for after the birth. We ended up going with a basic one, as we weren't expecting many visitors and as long as it was a private room with somewhere for Mr. DRL to sleep (he had his own bed), we were happy!
During the tour, the woman kept telling us how much nicer the facilities at Perinatal in Barra were, it was newer, etc. I found this odd!
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Fast forward to delivery day...
My water broke at midnight on a Friday. By 2 am we arrived at the hospital, where I was admitted, and went for an ultrasound right away. My doctor had already arrived and her team was on their way (I had three ob/gyn's + a private anaesthesiologist at all times... yes all 20 hours!). So it's important to note - you bring your own "team" into Perinatal - doctors, etc. Nurses are hospital staff, but the doctors are basically your doctor's staff. And you pay them directly and everything.
One of her assisting doctors commented on the size of my belly in Portuguese. I am not sure if she knew I understood or not! I let her know I did... haha.
All privacy ended the moment I stepped into the hospital. Mr. DRL and I were shown to our room where we could store our things and change. The nurse stayed in my room with me to ensure I got into my gown okay, and then a bunch of questions ensued (religion, all kinds of things. I have a theory that Perinatal does all sorts of surveys and sells their results to research companies... read further for more!)...
About an hour later (I was not very dilated at this point!) we were taken down to labour and delivery. I was not allowed to walk, was put on a stretcher. I found this hilarious, considering that I was bonked into walls no less than four times on the way down, and that my doctor had me pace the halls for HOURS after arriving there. But anyway.
I won't go into a ton of detail about the next several hours (20 hour long process in all), but here are some key points that I am told were unique experiences for me that I would not have experienced in North America:
- The biggest of course is the amount of personal attention. To have an entire team of doctors there solely for the birth of our baby was overwhelming. Everyone was great!
- Our pediatrician attended the birth.
- Our delivery room was quite pretty - and large, with a private bathroom with a jacuzzi tub. Unfortunately since my water had broken I was not allowed to use the jacuzzi tub!
- The entire 20 hours, I was only offered one small glass of juice, and was told I wasn't allowed anything else. Not even ice chips which you hear about all the time. Not that I wanted ice chips, mind you...
- The epidural and episiotomy are pretty standard here. If you don't want either, it will be difficult finding a doc who will go without.
- Apparently all of my doc's colleagues could not understand why I would want to still have a vaginal birth after so many hours... luckily my doc did!
- I started pushing when I was 8 cm dilated.
- When pushing, one of the three docs was by my side, putting his weight on my stomach to try and push the baby out.
- I can't describe how overwhelmingly positive everyone was, and the energy in the room when Canadoca was born was just awesome. We were all cracking jokes until about the 3rd push from the end, and despite the fact that the doctors had been there for almost an entire DAY, they were all in incredible spirits.
- My doctor and her team suggested that Mr. DRL and I put on seminars for Brazilians called "How to Behave During Childbirth" - apparently at the slightest amount of pain, most of her patients beg for a c-section. They were impressed with our patience (and I don't consider myself to be very patient...) I loved the compliments - and they continued to my post-natal appointments when the receptionist greeted me by saying: "I hear you are a warrior!" Back home a woman who had less than 24 hours labour with an epidural would never be referred to as such....
- Despite being assured many times before the delivery that I would be immediately handed my baby and given time with her, this was not the case. She was handed to the doctor for a quick exam, then I got her for about 5 minutes, then we were apart for nearly an hour. There were no complications at the time of birth or anything. If I were to do it over, I would have my husband be more insistent on this point with the doc's. But all ended well!
- The lactation consultants in the hospital were not very encouraging when it came to breastfeeding. I am told this is the opposite of how it works back home! They were very overbearing, physically, with me, and I ended up kicking them out of my room several times as I found them to be rude. (They would come into the room, not even speak to me but rather just start manhandling me immediately. This even occurred the first time that I held my baby back in the room!) Their response to my rejection of their methods was to basically say that if I was going to have any trouble breastfeeding, I should go get a bottle (they even sent Mr. DRL to a drugstore to buy an item they wrote down - turned out to be a bottle). This sort of goes with my point above about tolerating pain - it seems as though when confronted with the slightest amount of difficulty, the typical solution for patients here is to somehow get around it (c-section, bottle feeding, etc.) I would like to note that I didn't have any unique difficulty getting started breastfeeding, but getting a latch was certainly an adjustment - which is entirely typical! Just like anywhere in the world, we need to take charge of our own health and go into these situations as educated as possible, to make our own decisions where we can.
- I don't think I would have commented on this but for the fact that I was told that the food was so amazing at Perinatal - I didn't find this to be the case. After being in labour for 20 hours and not allowed to eat, I was brought a plate of coldcuts and some crackers. NOT KIDDING. I found this incredible considering how bad cold cuts are for a person... I didn't eat it and they commented on that, and by the day we were checking out they sent over a nutritionist to talk to me about what I would prefer they serve me (I had one meal left to have there by that point).
- After the baby was born, there were a variety of services available to us such as signage for our door, manicure/pedicure, face makeup, videos, photos, etc. etc.
- The bathtub for Canadoca's first bath was the coolest ever:
Overall the hospital experience was great and a lot better than what we'd have back home from the sounds of things. Having privacy was so nice. Knowing that our doctor would be there every step of the way was so reassuring. Having the continuity of the same pediatrician since birth is also awesome. We would have another baby in Brazil for sure if we could!
** A note to expectant moms in Rio - if you are considering having an elective c-section in Rio, ask your doctor about Casa de Saude - Hospital Sao Jose. It is a very nice facility. **
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