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Question regarding Childbirth in Medellin

Hi Everyone. Quick question about childbirthing in Medellin. My fiancee and I are to become parents in a matter of weeks. It turns out that most hospitals around here have a "policy" of not allowing fathers to participate in the birth of their child. This is a problem for me because I think this is an important part of my developing relationship with my son and my fiancee, not to mention that this is something that's been embraced by the medical community in the U.S. going back more than a quarter century. Alas we are in Colombia. That being the case, I was wondering if any of yous out there who have gone through childbirths in Medellin and who wanted to have both the mother and father of the baby participate in the birth, were able to find hospitals willing to accomodate this sort of thing. So far the best we've got are a "possible" thumbs up from the Clinica Bolivariana and Clinica Las Vegas, but any tips would be much appreciated.

By august on Aug 21, 2009, 10:08 in Friendly Talkzone.

Paisa/Calena/Luver says on Aug 21, 2009, 10:10:

Look for a midwife and have it in your bathtub.

"PAY ATTENTION! I wonder if that person knows that when we push the FUNNY button, its because we are reading something outrageous, trying to be cynical, derogatory, sarcastic and/or obnoxious!"

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verricheri says on Aug 21, 2009, 10:17:

Hi August
I actually work in this arena...I work with this doctor in Bogota preparing women and their partners for natural childbirth, often in their own homes:
http://www.procrearcolombia.com/
This guy (mauricio espinosa) is wonderful and I'm sure he could help you out, even though you are in Medellin...he is prepared to travel and doesnt charge a fortune.
I live in Bucaramanga and am actually planning on having my next child in Bogota just because I cant find the support I want here for natural birth.
However, if you're not looking specifically for natural birth (usually 99% of private hospital births are with epidural and 60% c-section) and just want to be close to your partner, call the doctors local to you and ask them if you are able to be with your fiance - many clinics allow it. Are you the foreigner? Just asking as if its your fiance whos the foreigner, they will allow you in the whole time to translate.
Also check about shifts....one doctor gave my sister in law the "thumbs up" to have me present at the birth and on the day it was another doctor and she had to have the baby alone. Check with each doctor as well as the clinic.

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verricheri says on Aug 21, 2009, 10:23:

I'd like to ad....if you are not there in the moment of the birth, you will be with your partner and your baby very very shortly afterwards and a bond is not given by attending a birth, that is something you are already developing and will continue for the rest of your life.
PM me if you would like any more info about the natural birthing aspect.

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cstew47 says on Aug 21, 2009, 10:55:

They wouldn't let me in for the birth. I was extremely upset since I witnessed the birth of my two older sons in the US. My understanding is that some of the private hospitals will allow it, but, they are more exoensive. Best to continue checking.

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fullpopfreddy says on Aug 21, 2009, 13:00:

" Possible thumbs up " I don't think so. My wife and I just had our beautiful baby girl last month. I guess, it comes down to who your ob/gyn, and where he/she practices. Our doctor was fantastic ! Needless to say, we were very happy. We were hoping for a natural childbirth, but after 7 hrs of labor, we went for the C-section. Now, back to your question. We had our daughter in Clinica El Rosario El Tesoro. It is a brand new hospital, up the street from El Tesoro. The service was phenomenal. Literally, every 15 minutes, there a nurse attending to my wife and our baby. The facilities were first rate, that is for sure. Yes, I did participate, through out the birthing process, from start to finish. Videos and photos galore. I know, 2 other hospitals, that will let you participate in the birthing process as well. You mentioned, one of them already - Clinica Las Vegas, Clinica Las Americas. We inspected all 3, and we went for Clinica El Rosario El Tesoro. All three hospitals, is where our ob/gyn practices.

Let me know, if you are still in need of a OB/GYN referral in Medellin and in Bogota. We have both, as my wife and I, split our time in both cities.

Regards,

Freddy

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dwmte7 says on Aug 21, 2009, 13:02:

go to clinica prado in prado, down town. they have this 'feature' it's a very quiet hospital and a nice staff.
d

patriarch

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august says on Aug 21, 2009, 14:31:

dwmte7, unfortunately we were going to go for Clinica Prado in the first place and that's where we first learned about this policy of not allowing dads to participate. We were told that under no conditions are dads allowed to participate there.

freddy, thanks for the tips. I'm still trying to figure out the maze of insurance down here, which seems to affect which clinics we can go to. My fiancee has Coomeva EPS. Although it's not a tops plan, supposedly we can squeeze our way into Clinica Las Vegas. I wonder if it'd be the same with Clinica El Rosario El Tesoro. We'll have to check.

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tabla says on Aug 21, 2009, 23:32:

My girlfriend is having a baby in November in Gomez Plata, a delightful pueblo 2 1/2 hours by bus north of Medellin. She told me it was normal (though not common) for the father to attend the birth, so I assumed I could do so. In view of the comments here, seems I had better check with the hospital. I particularly want to be there in order to know the exact time of birth. I am interested in an Indian system of astrology which I have found to be unbelievably accurate. It is affected by minor errors in birth time. My girlfriend does not even know her birth YEAR!!!

I also write for the archive.

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dwmte7 says on Aug 22, 2009, 07:10:

this is a test of my memory, tabla, but wasn't 'brighu' the brighu (sp) samhita the cannon on astrological studies in india, sometime back in the writing of the vedas. my younger years were laden with such studies, but now, old, i can only draw on memory.
douglas

patriarch

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tabla says on Aug 22, 2009, 09:04:

Not sure, dw, I only know the name Jyotish.

I also write for the archive.

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dwmte7 says on Aug 22, 2009, 09:29:

rings no bells........but thanks.

apparently, this "brighu" like most of the early hindu sages, dove so deep into astrology....or should i say brought it down from heaven, and penned every possible horoscope. now that's sayin something.....your's, mine, the cat's and the lizard. maybe even mom's and dads. je je

patriarch

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tabla says on Aug 22, 2009, 11:04:

Oh is that the palm leaves story?

I also write for the archive.

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dwmte7 says on Aug 22, 2009, 12:26:

stumped me on that one, tabla.....what's the palm leaves story?

patriarch

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tabla says on Aug 22, 2009, 15:55:

There are a few places in India where you go and they fetch "your" ancient palm leaf with all your stuff (predictions etc, not sure). They have them all stored, all are ancient. Not sure how it works.

I have some good first hand experiences of personal friends from visiting jyotishis in India. There is one man who asks you to write your questions and place in an envelope, then he answers them without opening it!

I also write for the archive.

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dwmte7 says on Aug 22, 2009, 21:50:

have to hand it to india.....it's very far out. i saw a magician in india, in poona in '69, set up on a polo field, a very poor man who's props were nothing more than painted pieces of cardboad..like five of them about 3ft sq--play a flute and a rope went up in the air, and then he climed it. then, on the grass of the polo field, this man, had his young assistants place the 5 pieces of painted cardboard over and around him like a box.......then they pushed it, the pieces all collapsed like a house of cards and, no magician. amazing. both feats. it's not like he had a hook in the sky or the brits let him dig a hole in their polo field. truly amazing. india!

patriarch

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tabla says on Aug 22, 2009, 23:50:

Oh I just found a link about the palm leaves:

http://astrology.indianetzone.com/1/nadi_shastra.htm

I also write for the archive.

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tabla says on Aug 23, 2009, 00:01:

And one more:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadi_astrology

I think that's enough about astrology in this thread about childbirth! Apologies.

I also write for the archive.

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dwmte7 says on Aug 23, 2009, 05:18:

i suppose you noted that 'brigu' was one of the 'seven sages' who brought this knowledge into being. (first link)

thread divergence is not a new wheel here on pbh.....in fact, it's written in the leaves...je je

and you noted that you wanted difinitive certainty as to the time of birth, for clarity and accuracy of the reading. well time keeping now beats the shit outta time keeping several thousand years ago...they looked up in the sky at the position of the sun. so i think you're gonna be safe with your noting of the hour.
d

patriarch

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tabla says on Aug 23, 2009, 07:51:

Not sure about that dw. My mother said I was born at 6:30 am but the jyotishis adjusted my birth time to 6:12 am based on the dates of important events in my life. Also some ancient instruments were very accurate. They also followed a naming convention, which I suspect was to enable birth times to be remembered. I used it to name my daughter. It's one thing to have an accurate timepiece, it's another to use it. I reckon the doctors write down the time of birth about half an hour later, when it's all over. That's in countries where it's recorded at all.

I also write for the archive.

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