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What is your experience about giving birth in Poland? [12]
I have 5 children. 3 in the states and 2 in Poland. Each was in a different hospital. I think I can compare the two countries, but as someone mentioned, each hospital is different.
My first in Poland was in 1994 and in Warsaw at the Institute of Mother and Child. It was when the dad being there was a "new thing" and very few hospitals allowed it. My husband was there for it. I had a midwife in a big room with what felt like a constant stream of people coming through. I did not like the fact that it was a teaching hospital and thus, each patient is a case...no privacy. As to the birth itself...
I spoke almost no Polish ("tak," "nie," "woda" were my three words at the time as we hadn't been here long and I wasn't learning very fast). I had been shown the hospital with a doctor who was supposedly going to be there when I gave birth (I was under the understanding they were going to call him.) When I did go in (about 10 pm), he said he wasn't coming in because he had a cold. ?? So, I had the midwife, who looked about 18 years old....OK...maybe 20. She was fine. She knew a few words of English like "push". We did okay.
They have a low intervention policy here, and I LIKED the fact that I wasn't wired to a bunch of monitors and such which just made me nervous in the states. I liked the fact that they told me to go take showers and spray the hot water on my uterus area during a contraction in order to help me relax. I REALLY liked that and it was much nicer than lying in a bed hurting.
I didn't like the fact that they told me after I'd been at the hospital for a couple or three hours that they were going to maybe give me something to speed up the process. I would have objected vehemently to that! it seemed more about them wanting me to get it over with than anything like monitoring or a need to hurry it up. My 2nd daughter was finally born about 2 am. No problems. over 8 lbs.
I didn't like the fact that they showed me a double room where I would be but then put me in a room with 6 women, with absolutely NO privacy curtain around the bed and a steady stream of husbands visiting and doctors (did I mention that it was a teaching hospital?)--As much privacy as being in the middle of Jerozolimskie! (that's how it felt!) Everyone can see as they examine the woman across the way. Very bad. I was SO glad to go home. I begged to go after 2 days of boredom. I really wanted to go. There was nothing to do except lie there. There was no tv in the room. I did not know I was supposed to bring my own water, juice, diapers, food, etc. Why would I think that? The food was completely inadequate for a new mom. They used cloth diapers. They kept the baby in a nursery til feeding time. But I can't complain. My only expectations were that I would be in a double room and I was in a room with 6 and of course, I expected privacy curtains! I was so ready to go home!
Oh yeah...when the doctor looked at me and told me..."see you next year".. I couldn't believe it. Two days after birth is NOT the time to talk to a new mom about another baby.
The admittance to the hospital felt like it came out of yesteryear. They had this big book of newsprint where they asked everything from my name to how old I was when I had my first period!!! (??? that was a new on me--had delivered 3 in the states and not had that one asked me ever). Cost at that time...about $230. For that I was grateful. The experience was not one of warm fuzzies. I felt very alone and the hospital was ugly, the experience was not "nice." However, it was not "awful" either. (My other deliveries in the states were more homey and the food was much better and the nurses came more often to check on me, etc.)
Scroll ahead 3 years. 5th child. 2nd in Poland.
I gave birth to him in Otwock. Noone spoke English there, but by this time I could speak some Polish. I also came prepared with something to do (some sewing and books), drinks, juices, and my husband brought in food. Once again, I liked the fact that they let me walk around during the time of labor. That was wonderful. In fact, the whole time, they let me walk around, get showers like in Warsaw, etc. I liked that and it helped with the pain of contractions. My husband was allowed to be there.
They signed me in a big book not unlike the one in Warsaw (this is in 1997)...I'd not seen a single computer entry yet.... It was a big book about the size of a huge registrar with paper like newsprint. I had a doctor who was on call. He came in for the actual birth. The actual birth was terribly "open"...a number of women could have been in there giving birth at the same time on a different slab. Thankfully noone else was there. I was SO thankful. I really didn't want to hear anyone else as there was nothing separating their slab/table from mine except a few pieces of equipment and maybe a szafa or two. Otherwise...no problems about delivery. No complaints because there was no one else wandering around I would not want other people wandering around hearing me while I was giving birth! They really need to work on the privacy and dignity aspect.
I missed obiad (delivered around obiad time and they didn't save it for me) and so was very hungry for kolacja since I had missed breakfast due to labor. Kolacja was completely insufficient for a new, nursing mom and one who is lactose intolerant (and one who can't stand warm milk and doesn't like white cheese!--I'm not even a picky eater, but it was one piece of thin white bread with some butter or margarine, and a slab of white cheese, and a thin slice of almost ham...) My husband brought in food. The food was really, really bad. Nothing "tasted" good. The hot chocolate was watery and not very chocolately and the food just completely inadequate. They used cloth diapers which they twisted somehow on the baby--they weren't soft and they didn't use pins. I thought it was pretty clever, but they didn't show me how to do it and I felt pretty stupid when I had to ask the nurse how to diaper my (5th) child!
They did not change our babies very often...they kept them in the nursery or beside our beds..whichever we preferred. I was in a room with 6 ladies and felt like the grandma. I was the only one having my 2nd child or more. I was 35--the rest were about 20. No privacy curtains around the beds.
I felt like the care was adequate, but only "just". I won't complain. The cost was 42 zl. for 2 days. Once again, I begged to be let out as I just wanted to go home! The nurse came once afterwards, but I didn't like that. I didn't want them visiting me at home since I didn't feel like it was any of their business what our home was like or where we lived.
Overall, my experiences were okay. The costs were CHEAP compared to the states. Once I realized that my expectations needed to be drastically lowered, I was okay. Delivery was not a "pleasant experience"...no special meals for the new couple, no homey delivery room, no nurses who really cared about you personally, etc. (at least I didn't feel that way) The level of care was sufficient. My children were born without problems, so I'm thankful. I felt like the cleanliness in the hospitals was sufficient, but without my contacts, I can't see super well, so maybe that was part of it. The hospital in Otwock was woefully ugly and in need of a paint job, etc. If I were to give them a grade, I'd say that the hospital in Warsaw in 1994 was a B and the one in Otwock was a C. However, because I knew Polish and had lower expectations, my experience was better in Otwock than in Warsaw.
If there is anything you want to know specifically, I'd be glad to answer. My children are now 13 and 10, so these experiences may be "out of date" by now. Everything is probably a bit spruced up and updated. Maybe they even have computers when the pregnant moms register into the hospitals now! ???
Personally, I liked the lack of gizmos and monitors, etc. I felt like I was more like in a birthing center in the states. Low tech stuff. But for me, it was fine.
