Childbirth in Japan

[griller 9]

Has anyone had any kids born in Japan? I'd be interested to know about your experiences.

 

Are many Japanese guys present when the little ones arrive?

[gamera 0]

Yep, when someone got babies we present something.

Diapers, money, clothes, babybaggy etc etc.

Especially my parents recommended me to present some "yellow" stuff (towels, toys whatever ) to put just besides the babies to avoid "Ohdan" which is brought when

bilirubin in the blood of the babies increases.

No scientific reasons, I think it's just a tradition or a legend.

[ncorrenti 0]

I don't know about Japan but childbirth as a whole just sounds f***ing scary.

 

Is your wife/gf having a baby?

[woywoy 0]

Gamera, I think you misinterpreted griller's question. He wanted to know whether Japanese fathers are at the hospitals with their wife then they have babies ...

[griller 9]

Yes nicole it seems grilleress is expecting.

 

And you are right NPM.

 

Thanks!

[gamera 0]

Oops sorry.

griller asked "Are....present.?" not "Do....presnt.?"

[Ocean11 0]

Don't take a book into the hospital with you if you go.

[fjef 0]

I have had 2 kids born here. My oldest is now 13 and things have changed a little bit but the whole experience was really stressful because I was not expected to be part of the process - especially the birthing part.

 

The second time around was still not what I would have liked but at least I had some experience by then.

 

The doctor did tell us I could be present at the birth - but that was before he got our money. I don't think he believed that I would actually be there when the time came.

 

Its a long story - but now that my wife has spent a lot of time in Canada over the last 14 years, she now understands what I was upset about during the whole process (both times).

 

She just advised a friend of ours in a similar situation to have her baby in Canada - but every couple's situation is different and there are lots of people who have had good experiences in Japan - do your homework and you should be OK.

[misorano 1]

I've experienced 4 c-sections from the comfort of the waiting room. Mrs. Misorano, (god bless her little heart) handled all the birthing parts with the aid of an epidural. No way in hell was I going to watch and operation where the cut my wife's belly open and haul out another little Misorano. The wanted me to come and check the placenta, but being the delegating type I am, my sister in-law got shoved into the room faster than you can say umbilical cord.

 

First I saw of the little ones was nice and clean and without trauma.

That being said, my wife has over 36 hours of labor before the did the c-section with the first one.

 

From what I've heard most younger Doc (i.e under 40) have no prob with the dad being present at the birth.

 

Bit early for this, but when the water breaks, it really breaks. Fill a small rice paddy.

[indosnm 0]

I've been through 2 and no probs here.

I was allowed in the room during the birth. ( before I was up in my wife's room reading a book/ watching a dvd)

The mid wife kept asking me to leave the room while she examined my wife?? Not like I've ever seen her parts, I mean, how'd she end up this way?

Only thing I wasn't allowed to do was stand in front of her to see the baby pop out. Frankliy, that suited me to a tee as I don't want to see it that way. ( I want good memories, the snip is bad enough!)

I was lucky both times as my wife gave birth within the hour ( even quicker for our first) I saw some dad's still the next day on the marathon labor shift..

 

The family involvement thing here is really low key.

I went to the hospital only once for each child to see the ultra sound. The doctors were friendly and explained everything in english too. but i couldn't help feeling alittle ja-ma.

In OZ they are taking mothers, grandma's, god mothers.fathers, friends into the ultra sounds.. sounds like major overkill to me.

[NoFakie 45]

In a place like Nagoya, there will be lots of clinics with vastly different policies, so shop around till you find one you're happy with. Ask other people with kids too.

 

We had our kid in inaka, but I was right in the thick of the action. I touched my daughters head while she was still inside and held my missus throughout. The baby was placed immediately onto my wifes chest without being taken away and wiped/dressed. It might be a bit much if you're squeamish, but it all felt very natural to us. The clinic we chose follows the UNICEF breastfeeding program, and gave us loads of great advice about that too. They also do water births, so we (she) might try that next time.

 

The doc gave my wife an incision (episiotomy) but did ask first and got her consent. Whether right or wrong, its a very common procedure worldwide. To be honest, my missus hadn't done any massages that can prevent such cuts being necessary. As for C sections, they're twice as common in the UK than in Japan. Aside from PND, a newly recognized condition in the UK is "birth trauma", where giving birth in hospital is so stressful as to cause psychological damage.

 

http://www.birthtraumaassociation.org.uk/

 

Giving birth in other Western countries might be better, but a good clinic in Japan beats the standard deal in the UK hands down.

 

As a general rule, if you'd like to be there for the birth I would say avoid big general hospitals and go for a smaller maternity clinic who are more flexible.

[kintaro 0]

My Kyrgyzstan friend was in the delivery room with his wife at the time of birth and he told me the doc's thought it was odd. But on a side note, he also said the medical treatment was at a much higher level than he could recieve in Krygyzstan.

[sakebomb 0]

We were lucky, the hospital we went to was great. Super friendly, supportive and let everyone get involved. I was able to be present when little sakebomb was delivered and she was passed straight from womb to wife.

 

To be honest the place was like a resort...wish I could have stayed there!

[indosnm 0]

My wife had our boys in a small well known Maternity hospital.

Many of these throughout Japan have much better facilities than in Australia hospitals (said by my mother who runs one in OZ) and from a mothers point of view, 7 days in hospital to rest before going home is much better than the 2-3 days in OZ.

 

Griller, most you should check the prices too. and if they come with a private or shared room.

We got a private room and a well know place for cheaper than shared rooms in public places.

[Ocean11 0]

The doctor who delivered our boy in a small clinic was clearly drunk (it was 1 am on Boxing Day). He declared our son to be healthy girl and tied a nice 'debeso'. However, the nurses were all sober and very competent, and it all went well (apart from my failure to acknowledge the totally miraculous aspects of birth throughout, and indeed, to show an interest in a book of all things. 8 years on, I'm still not forgiven).

 

I can't imagine how anything would be done much better in the UK.

[soubriquet 0]

Nothing specific to Japan, but don't try to turn childbirth into something complicated and magical. It is stressful and hazardous for mother and child.

 

No1 son was delivered with a fevered pulse, and no breathing. The midwife switched into emergency mode. A nurse came in with a resuscitation trolley, and the paediatrition arrived on the run. I had to stand and watch my baby not-breathe for four minutes as they fed a tube into his nose and trachea, and turn on the ventilator. One of the two worst experiences of my life, it still cuts me to this day.

 

Make sure the delivery unit is properly equipped and staffed.

[gamera 0]

I'm sure that was the longest 4 minutes in your life, Soubriquet.

[Ocean11 0]

Many people make the mistake of thinking that a 'midwife' must be a married woman because of her job title. But in fact, the job title comes from the old English 'mid wif' or 'with the wife', and indeed, the role was in the past sometimes fulfilled by a man (who never encouraged the 'wife' to imagine she was taking part in a miracle. Ahem).

 

More fascinating etymology here.

 

I'm very grateful to my mother in law for showing us how to talk to a newborn. We whispered to it for fear of disturbing its formidable composure, but she bounced it about and talked in a loud voice, mamipulating its limbs with abandon, making the thing smile. Rather ridiculously with hindsight, this came as a revelation. Soon I was singing him Waltzing Matilda and playing him Muddy Waters.

[dale#1 1]

 Quote:

Don't take a book into the hospital with you if you go.

O11 - how come?

[slow 0]

My sister gave birth to a boy in California and she chose painless delivery. I don't think it's common in Japan, probably Japanese doctors don't have enough skills or knowledge of painless delivery. I'm wondering if Japanese women with foreign husband tend to choose painless delivery or still choose natural delivery.

[soubriquet 0]

Well girls, I recommend that when the obstetrician offers you the choice between a painful or a painless delivery, choose the latter.

 

By "painless delivery", do you mean having an epidural, slow? If so, there are no great mysteries there.

[ncorrenti 0]

My sister had an epidural with her first child and it had absolutely no effect whatsoever - I hear this is quite common.

[soubriquet 0]

The epidural worked for my ex-wife. She and the baby were very stressed after about 6 hours of fruitless labour, because she wasn't dilating. She was pretty whacked too. She had earlier firmly said that she did not want an epidural, but I made the decision to ask for one. Afterwards she was able to relax, and gave birth less than an hour later.

 

In retrospect, I think the labour could have been managed better, but these things happen in real time. This is a murky area, because there are a lot of feminist critics who regard the medical profession as interventionist and mechanistic, and of usurping wimmins rights. My response to that is How about asking the baby what it would like?

 

This is what he looked like a day after extrusion. Now he's blowing me off the mountain.

 

All babies seem to look like Winston Churchill, for some reason.

[ncorrenti 0]

Wow, he had quite a head of hair!

[indosnm 0]

My wife chose the epiD for obvious reasons but she was lucky due to the shortness of her labour. Alot of epi's don't work because they aren't done at the right time. Ouch, imagine thinking you are going to have a painless birth and then find that the shiat doesn't work... I am glad I am a man!