Are University hospitals better? Birthing in BA, Cordoba, Salta?

[twainhearn]

My wife and I are having our bebe next March in "Argetntina. We love BA. But, we think we would prefer an apartment in a smaller city or town with good access to medicines. Because the weather will still be nice, we are considering having the bebe somewhere other than BA.

Where would be good in the South?

My main lingering question is do people have opinions on access to good health care within University systems?

How could we find good doctor contacts in advance? We have been recommended by some locals that Cordoba is our best bet? How does Cordoba sound to those who have spent time there? Would we be able to find a short-term apartment sublet in smaller cities 'on the fly?'

THANKS!!

I hope this is an off the wall enough question to get some good opinions.
Thanks to all you all who are reading and respondinghere, great site!

 

[sergio]

My main lingering question is do people have opinions on access to good health care within University systems?

WHAT does this mean? The best hospitals are in BA and all are private. The general opinion seems to be that the University of Buenos Aires is the best medical school. It's private. I don't know what hospital the university is associated with, if any I guess it would be a public hospital which you don't want.

Recommendations come from good doctors. You need to establish a relationship with a very good GP who can help you. In general if you go to a top clinic (private hospital) the doctors will be good. Unlike the US you can not judge by degree. UBA graduates a LOT of doctors but the degree is not necessarily an indicator of competence. The clinic the doctor works in says much more.

 

[syngirl]

I'm assuming what OP is referring to are teaching hospitals like we have in USA / Canada -- ie institutes that take residents from specific universities and that often are those hospitals which receive the broadest variety of cases and complications so that residents receive a good base of training.

As far as i know here in Argentina med students do their rotations in public facilities -- there are some very good ones here btw. But after graduation drs often work within private system because they really can make more money doing so.

I'd be wary about having your baby in anything but a larger city -- the hospitals even outside of the GBA region are not necessarily equipped with the latest technology and more importantly the neonatology centres may not be up to par. Cordoba city probably has decent facilities but outside you're really looking at rural hospitals. Not sure what hospitals in Bariloche might be like -- one of the users of this board, i believe username Nicole Ramirez, lives there so she could probably inform better.

The most important thing is to find a good OB and have the baby at a hospital with an excellent neonatology department.

Having recently had my own baby I'll be honest, it won't matter whether you're in BA or outside, when the baby comes you're going to be too exhausted to do much for the first month or so anyway. And BA in the summer is super quiet anyway, so it's a nice time of year to be here.

Oh which reminds me -- another strike against having baby in a less than top facility -- you may not have air conditioning -- might be fine for baby but horrible for you and you won't want windows open because of mosquitoes etc. even in private hospitals you have problems with this -- friends even had theirst at La Trinidad in the winter and the heat didn't work...

We had ours at Sanatorio Anchorena, a CFK project, and had great facilities though the puericultora (lactation counselling) sucked and i eventually paid for an expert to visit me at home.

BA or outside BA all you'll be doing much of is hanging out at home or nearby, esp if breastfeeding and it's your first since you have to feed every 2-3 hrs at first and it takes awhile to get comfortable and most first time mums don't want to be doing it in public at least at the beginning. It's the most awkward thing and until you feel like you've got it down you really don't feel like trying to do it with an audience.

Salta is north by the way and i wouldn't go there to have baby personally. I'd have the baby in BA and then at 6 or 8 weeks go elsewhere. Bafore that you've got so many follow ups with OBGYN and pediatrician you feel like you're at doctor or hearing test or vaccines or civil registry or embassy etc alll the effing time.

speaking of not being able to get much done, this entire mesage has been typed one handed with a 10 week old wriggler on my lap.

 

[voyagingknoxvillian]

The best public hospital in Cordoba is Hospital Nacional Clinicas, in Barrio Alberdi. I have been there for a ruptured ear drum, and although adequate for minor situations, I don't know if I would want to have a child there. Definitely no air conditioner.

Do you an obra social? I can ask about some recommended OBGYNs in Cordoba if you are moving here. Many of the private hospitals (Sanatorio Allende, Clinica Privada, Clinica Romagosa) are quite modern.

While not BA, Cordoba is a densely developed 1.5 million people and doesn't feel like a small town at all. The small towns in the Sierras are a ZOO in Jan and Feb. and would make commuting to Cordoba for doctors appointments (by bus?) a real bitch.

 

[voyagingknoxvillian]

Another thing to consider is getting your baby's birth certificate or what have you from your country of origin. Cordoba does not have a consulate from the United States. No idea what nations do have consulates here. I assume that you would have to travel to BA to do this paperwork.

 

[TheJag]

WHAT does this mean? The best hospitals are in BA and all are private. The general opinion seems to be that the University of Buenos Aires is the best medical school. It's private.

No UBA while probably the best medical school is not private. That being said medical schools and hospitals are two entirely different type of entities.

 

[dnussw]

I've been living in a Los Antiguos, Santa Cruz, pop. 4,500, for the past four years. In the past year two of my very good friends had babies here. One of the pros to having a baby in a smaller city is that you receive much more personalized care from your obstetrician. And there is much LESS standing in lines!!!

While I do not recommend that you come here to have your baby (since the commute to the hospital where they send most of the mothers is 3.5 hours), I will say that there are some good options for you in the south. Have you considered Bariloche? I'm sure that they have private clinics there with very high standards. I quick search online came up with the Instituto Materno Infantil.

If not, have you considered something smaller? For example, Viedma is a beautiful small city. It's very green and the Rio Negro runs through it. And of course there is lots of fresh fruit! More important: it has an airport with direct flights to Bs As. I know for sure that the Hopital Artemides Zatti has high standards. My husband had his tonsils out there when he was little.

Hope this helps.

 

[citygirl]

To the OP - are you here already? Are you already covered with health insurance? Which one? If not, will you be utilizing a public hospital?

 

[sergio]

No UBA while probably the best medical school is not private. That being said medical schools and hospitals are two entirely different type of entities.

Yes, you are right. I meant to say NOT private. The best hospitals are private but the best medical school is considered to be UBA (though the Italian Hospital medical school is also very good I am told)

 

[DontMindMe]

Recommendations come from good doctors. You need to establish a relationship with a very good GP who can help you. In general if you go to a top clinic (private hospital) the doctors will be good. Unlike the US you can not judge by degree. UBA graduates a LOT of doctors but the degree is not necessarily an indicator of competence. The clinic the doctor works in says much more.

YES YES YES. Learned this myself the hard way after dealing with a variety of medical issues in the past year. Had some pretty bad experiences in private doctors' offices that I thought would be great since I saw the UBA degree hanging on the wall. Don't just pick a doctor's name from the long list in your health insurance booklet (assuming you have health insurance). Clinics are your best bet if you can't get a rec from someone. Doctors associated with clinics seem to be held to pretty high standards.

The Clínica Bazterrica, for example, has several committees that ensure adherence to international norms, etc. http://www.bazterrica.com.ar/profesionales.htm

Most of the clinics in Cap Fed have more than one branch, sometimes in the burbs. If you look, maybe you could find something like that in provincia.