Help for a friend in Europe

[mandy122901]

I would greatly appreciate any and all help for my friend who is currently living in Bucharest, Romania. She may already be on this list ;o). She tried for a natural birth with her first and after days with a posterior labor, she had a c/s. She desperately wants a VBAC with her second; however, she cannot seem to find any care providers over there. She is not yet pregnant, but looking to TTC very soon. She would like to have a homebirth, but would like to know that there is a quality hospital/OB nearby for backup in case of emergency. I can understand this fear as I needed the reassurance of a backup plan for my HBAC and I am trying to help her in any way I can. The OBs and hospitals in Bucharest don't have good reputations considering the c/s rate is something like 80%! VBACs are not even an option there. She would even be willing to travel to another European country if necessary. Any and all information and help would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you so much!!!

Mandy

[ewe+lamb]

Where is she actually from? she may want to consider going home for the birth of her next baby - I know a lot of women who do that when they can't find what they want. If not she could consider going to Germany, somewhere where finding a homebirth midwife for her situation is perfectly acceptable or to the UK who are really encouraging women to birth at home - the National Childbirth Trust comes to mind, in fact maybe find a 'Baby-Friendly' Hospital would be the best bet for her, it's a UNICEF initiative that is becoming more and more popular throughout the world - I gave birth in one in the UK and it was a really good experience in comparison to the birth I had here in France - but anyway that's a whole other thread, she may need to check out insurance etc although being in the EU should be basically ok as long as she has the equivalent to an E111 (don't know if that's changed since I used it), however here in france it is advised that you have a private insurance to make up for the difference between the standard french health care and the actual cost of the birth (or any hospital stay for that matter). Maybe there is a LLL group where she may find out some more information about birthing in Romania, although I'm not sure if there is a group, maybe contacting the nearest group to her would be worthwhile I'm sure this isn't the first time this has come up and she may need to plough the way for other mothers! Hope this can give you a few ideas to begin with.

[MittensKittens]

I am in Serbia, and we have a great homebirth midwife (yes, just one!) who might be willing to travel. I used her for my first birth. She might also have contacts in Romania, I'll ask. Feel free to PM me if needed.

[Olma]

Does she speak/read Romanian? There is a romanian website and message board about all things children related, she might find some answers there:

www.desprecopii.com
http://forum.desprecopii.com/forum/search.asp?mode=DoIt

Bucharest is a very congested city and in the unfortunate event she might need a hospital transfer from a home birth she might not get to the hospital in time-- personally I wouldn't take that chance. Not to mention the poor state of many ER's/hospitals..
Her best bet would be to arm herself with knowledge about VBACs and search high and low for a doctor/practice that would allow her the birth of her choice and if she doesn't find it in Romania, then search the neighboring countries.
I will come back if I have more ideas for her. In the meantime, good luck to her TTC and finding a doctor.

[mandy122901]

Thank you so much for the info and ideas. My friend is actually from the States. She has considered coming back to the States; however, she is fearful that somehow her husband would miss the birth. So....she is really looking into things over in Europe. I am going to pass this information on to her. It is great to hear that you had a positive experience in the UK. How difficult was it for you (or anyone else that you know) to plan the logistics of traveling to give birth? It just seems that the countries that have better birthing climates are quite some distance from Romania.

Thank you again for the help!
Mandy

Originally Posted by ewe+lamb

Where is she actually from? she may want to consider going home for the birth of her next baby - I know a lot of women who do that when they can't find what they want. If not she could consider going to Germany, somewhere where finding a homebirth midwife for her situation is perfectly acceptable or to the UK who are really encouraging women to birth at home - the National Childbirth Trust comes to mind, in fact maybe find a 'Baby-Friendly' Hospital would be the best bet for her, it's a UNICEF initiative that is becoming more and more popular throughout the world - I gave birth in one in the UK and it was a really good experience in comparison to the birth I had here in France - but anyway that's a whole other thread, she may need to check out insurance etc although being in the EU should be basically ok as long as she has the equivalent to an E111 (don't know if that's changed since I used it), however here in france it is advised that you have a private insurance to make up for the difference between the standard french health care and the actual cost of the birth (or any hospital stay for that matter). Maybe there is a LLL group where she may find out some more information about birthing in Romania, although I'm not sure if there is a group, maybe contacting the nearest group to her would be worthwhile I'm sure this isn't the first time this has come up and she may need to plough the way for other mothers! Hope this can give you a few ideas to begin with.

[mandy122901]

I just PM'ed you

Originally Posted by MittensKittens

I am in Serbia, and we have a great homebirth midwife (yes, just one!) who might be willing to travel. I used her for my first birth. She might also have contacts in Romania, I'll ask. Feel free to PM me if needed.

[mandy122901]

Thank you so much for the information. I didn't even consider the fact that she might not make it to a hospital in a timely manner. Unfortunately, she does not speak Romanian and I don't think there is any English on this board.

Thanks again!
Mandy

Originally Posted by Olma

Does she speak/read Romanian? There is a romanian website and message board about all things children related, she might find some answers there:

www.desprecopii.com
http://forum.desprecopii.com/forum/search.asp?mode=DoIt

Bucharest is a very congested city and in the unfortunate event she might need a hospital transfer from a home birth she might not get to the hospital in time-- personally I wouldn't take that chance. Not to mention the poor state of many ER's/hospitals..
Her best bet would be to arm herself with knowledge about VBACs and search high and low for a doctor/practice that would allow her the birth of her choice and if she doesn't find it in Romania, then search the neighboring countries.
I will come back if I have more ideas for her. In the meantime, good luck to her TTC and finding a doctor.

[Olma]

I did some asking around and a friend of a friend works in the medical field in Bucharest. I could ask for a list of referals for OB/Gyns willing to try a VBAC, PM if you'd like me go ahead. My friend also suggested that Hungary (Szeget) or Germany might be good places to look for a doctor/midwife/birth center. Szeget is about 10 hours drive from Bucharest, and Germany a bit further away, but still a manageable drive.
HTH!

[ewe+lamb]

Well, I travelled and stayed with my parents so was there for 2 weeks before the birth and dh joined when things were starting - although there is the possibility that he may miss the event, there is always that possibility even if you're in the next room. The other thing she needs to look into if giving birth in a different country is getting the birth registered, going to an American Embassy etc to get passports and all that sort of thing - that was a REALLY expensive outing for us!

[MittensKittens]

Update

I spoke to the midwife. She would be willing to travel and has done so before, but in case of a transfer your friend would be on her own, since she has no connections to people in hospitals at all in Romania. So if your friend wants to consider that, I will give you her telephone number/email.