Germany?

[Saphira]

Thanks morri, me too. There's a plumber here now after 7PM. We had no idea he was coming and A was in the bath so it was awkward. Turns out there was a major pipe burst that affected most of the building and there's also flooding in the basement. So much has gone wrong since we moved in it's outrageous.

 

[SarahDiener]

Move again? *sigh*

 

[Saphira]

Not sure if any of your los have pacifiers BUT had to share this adorable monster themed paci I found at Rossmann! They're new and limited edish.

 

[SarahDiener]

Cute
We're not going to get any more I think. Unless we have to. At some point I want her to sleep without it :/ but too many other things going on, and next wonder weeks is soon! GRRR

 

[morri]

wonder weeks dont really happen here xD, butt then there are those who apparently stick to them and those who dont haha. lo goes wihtout dummy .

 

[Piperette]

Ladies, who have given birth in Germany, can you tell me a bit more about it? I have only given birth in the UK before and whilst I don't need any info on the actual birth giving , I'd like to know about the processes etc involved here when going to hospital to give birth. What happened when you went into labour?

Looking forward to your response.

 

[SarahDiener]

Ladies, who have given birth in Germany, can you tell me a bit more about it? I have only given birth in the UK before and whilst I don't need any info on the actual birth giving , I'd like to know about the processes etc involved here when going to hospital to give birth. What happened when you went into labour?

Looking forward to your response.

Be prepared that there is no Gas and Air! You can turn up in not very strong labour and they wont send you away. You can wait it out in the maternity ward. Mostly Midwife driven I think, but most hospitals dont allow your own midwife to come. You can find them that do, and you can find midwives AT hospitals that will treat you before and after. You can sign up before hand if you want, there is no need, but we did. Do you have a midwife and gyno?

 

[Saphira]

Ladies, who have given birth in Germany, can you tell me a bit more about it? I have only given birth in the UK before and whilst I don't need any info on the actual birth giving , I'd like to know about the processes etc involved here when going to hospital to give birth. What happened when you went into labour?

Looking forward to your response.

I chose to give birth at a frauenklinik because my gyno delivers babies there and I prefer a familiar face, and most importantly I trust him! A few months before my girls were due I met with a midwife who works there to ask questions and so we could get to know each other a bit too.

So, the day of the births..

My firstborn was an induced labor. I had an appt. in the morning with my gyno and was told to head straight to the frauenklinik for induction. My husband took care of checking me in and the paperwork and my midwife was notified. In the meantime I was getting checked by a doctor and she was prepping me for induction (inserted IV and asked health related questions). I got the gel inserted by another midwife then my midwife came and hooked me up to get some fluids from the IV. I was shaking and totally freaked out so it was meant to give me strength and hydration from my understanding. Then they sent my husband and me downstairs to the room I'd be staying in to wait for the gel to work. It was working.. too quickly. I was already in so much pain so we headed back up and they had me go in the CTG. Then we went in the room I'd give birth in and when I was fully dialated my gyno was there and a pediatrician was waiting in the room to check lo out shortly after birth. After she was checked we were wheeled into another room to try to BF and then I was wheeled down to the room I'd stay overnight in. I had a shared room but decided after a couple nights that I wanted a private room. That costs extra but it's worth it to me.

With my secondborn it was a lot more laidback. I had an appt. in the morning and had a feeling things were progressing. Sure enough, regular contractions were being read in the CTG and my gyno told me today is the day. I was told I could head home until contractions were getting closer and we did. Headed to the frauenklinik when they got stronger and I was immediately taken to the room I'd give birth in. My midwife was notified and I was hooked up to the CTG. IV inserted, fluids given and health questions answered.. pretty much the same procedure as with my first labor!

If you have any specific questions feel free to ask away. It's still pretty fresh in my memory!

Oh, yeah I hear a lot about "gas and air" on this forum but I have no idea what it is. It was never offered to me and I don't even think it's offered at all here. The only pain relief I was offered was an epidural. Not sure if other places offer anything else.

 

[Piperette]

Argh, I was worried about the G&A, but the MW told me she thinks that they now do G&A at my local hospital. I better get that confirmed though.

I have a gyno and a MW, but I don't think the MW delivers at the local hospital. The good thing with the local hospital is that it is literally 10 minutes max. in the car from our home, which I would prefer to be close to my 1st son.

What pain relief options were available/did you use? How long did you have to stay in hospital after the birth? I know that varies depending on what type of birth it was and on mum and baby, but I think in the UK it is pretty common to be able to leave the next day as long as all is well and there are no complications. I enjoyed being able to leave the day after giving birth and just be at home as a family.

I am sure I will have more questions as I go along.

 

[Saphira]

The first time I could have left the hospital the next morning after getting the okay from my gyno but my daughter had to stay 48hrs. because of a high infection risk (sac was torn and leaking for an unknown period of time). I stayed 3 nights with her.

The second time I was told I could leave in the night if all is okay (4-6hrs. after birth with epidural the doctor said) but we ended up spending the night because 1) she was born with a brokencollar bone and they wanted an x-ray and to let me know how to care for it the next day and 2) she was a big baby and they wanted to measure her blood sugar every few hrs. So we stayed the night and were allowed to leave the next afternoon after some begging from me really.

I found the nurses especially to be a bit pushy about staying. I also was in a big rush to get home both times because I can't sleep or relax at all in the hospital plus the second time I missed my daughter so much. I made sure to let them know the second time that I WANT TO LEAVE. I was told it'd be easier if I stayed another day because of a heel prick test they do on the 3rd day of life I believe it is but instead I said we'd stop by the hospital for that and so we did. Better than staying another night just for a minute procedure.

 

[Piperette]

I remember my family being quite shocked when they heard that we were allowed to leave the next day. I was delighted though as like you said, Saphira, you just cannot relax in that environment. Plus OH was there with me all the time then whereas in the hospital he was only allowed to stay certain times.

How about visiting times for dad's then? I understand that getting lots of visitors is not great with newborns, but I felt that at the hospital we were dad's were a bit excluded.

 

[Saphira]

Where I was, visiting was okay all day but by 8PM in a shared room visitors, including dads, have to get going. I really didn't like that! :/ I'm sure most hospitals have the same kind of hours but you'd have to check with yours to be sure. Go for a private room if you can! So much better plus dads can stay.

 

[morri]

At our hospital dads could come and go anytime they wanted.
Also you can leave either directly after or stay as long as needed I stayed longer because i had a cesaerean. Also 3 days is good because they do the u2 on the 3rd day xD

 

[Saphira]

The U2 can also be done by your los pediatrician. The girls' pediatrician came to our apartment over the weekend to do the U2. Either that or make an appt. soon after baby's born. For the heel prick test we were allowed to go to the hospital I delivered at (pediatrician can also do it but mine couldn't do it in time). Just adding in case you'd prefer not to stay 3 days. At the hospital I was at they were all big on staying at least the 3 days until the U2 is done for convenience but I wasn't having it!

 

[SarahDiener]

They made DH leave at 6am in the morning, when it was open to visitors from 7am... WTF???? They put me in the only shared room, so he couldnt stay. Otherwise he supposedly could have. I REALLY hated my hospital stay (stayed 4 days).

 

[Saphira]

I thought I was the only one who felt that way! The lady sharing the room with me was shocked I wanted to leave "so soon". She'd already been there for over a week and was loving it apparently. I just didn't get it!

 

[SarahDiener]

I was all alone, had no idea what I was doing, no one offered me painkillers and I could hardly sit, the food was TERRIBLE, inedible sometimes, and some other nights they actually RAN OUT!!! I shared a room with a woman who had phone calls at 2am in the freaking morning!!!!

 

[Saphira]

My 3 nights spent the first time were horrible too. I hysterically cried to random nurses that I wanted my husband to be able to stay with me. I cried and couldn't stop. They probably thought I'd completely lost it. No one helped me to BF longer than a minute if they could even spare a minute and the 2nd lady who stayed in the room with me was annoyed when my lo started to cry so I went into the nursery area to try to BF in front of every other woman and nurses coming in and out.. BLAH. I really wished we'd gotten a private room from the start. And that the lactation consultant wasn't away for the week with no replacement. Sigh. Oh well, most important is that the girls were born healthy but I do wish the first days were a bit nicer.

 

[morri]

i think it is just hormones making you feel bad, some jhospitals like mine also have some semi hotel function where you have a room off ward which is more hotel like and they serve food there but otherwise youve got your privacy and can have hubby and kids sleep there as well

 

[SarahDiener]

Yep!!!Sounds EXACTLY like mine!!! I had a nightmare with BFing, and No one would help me, except to plonk her on with a bad latch and leave me to it! I should have left, my midwife helped me, and eventually we had no problems, but I had like a nightmare 2 weeks, and then 6 months of issues (got dramatically better at 4 months, but we still had a milk allergy no one believed me we did, so I kept drinking milk...). My friend was in a hospital in Paris, she said it was like staying in a 5 star hotel!