Pregnancy in Buenos Aires

[bittystarr]

My husband and I will be moving to BA in January...a mere six weeks before our bebé is scheduled to arrive. The timing is a bit off, but we don't really have an alternative.

Am I crazy for thinking that we can secure a non-cesarean birthing option at 34 weeks?

I have read reviews of Hospital Aleman, and information about particular doctors.

But what I hope this forum might shed some light on is whether the bureaucracy and rigamarole in Argentina is such that we will find ourselves in a true bind upon our arrival. Does it seem appropriate and feasible to set up a plan for care in advance; do the hospitals and doctors allow this? I expect that much payment is on a cash system, so if we are able to get a pregnancy insurance plan through Hospital Aleman, how can we pay before we arrive? We will not be arriving in BA with private insurance.

Many thanks for any and all feedback.

 

[MizzMarr]

I don't think you're crazy (though I don't envy your position), but you may have trouble depending on the doctor and the plan that you end up with.

Personally I'm not acquainted with Hospital Aleman or the doctors who work with them. I'm 37 weeks pregnant now and went with OSDE as a medical plan because it's the best in the city. As far as I know, sometimes a medical plan will accept you on late if you are willing to pay the back months to cover the duration of your pregnancy. I'm not sure if you're willing to do that, nor how much an out of pocket birth costs here (I'd imagine at least $6000 pesos). I pay my OSDE bills over the phone with a credit card, so imagine you'd be able to do the same with them or with any other plan that has "pago telefonico".

The OB team I'm working with (Drs. Gustavo and Maximiliano Katz) are very natural birth oriented, and I'm very happy with them. In my birthing class there were several women who switched over from other OB's in their last several weeks in order to try to have a natural birth. However, I don't know that they accept cash payments (maybe?), and know that they don't work with the Aleman plan. The facility that they use is also progressive and one of the nicest and most modern in the city (Los Arcos).

I would recommend calling around (I hope your Spanish is decent, otherwise you'll have a very difficult time) and seeing what various plans/doctors say. Here are a couple of articles on "Parto Humanizado"
http://www.partohumanizado.com.ar/
http://www.proyectomama.com.ar/html/parto_humanizado.html in Argentina that mentions likeminded doctors and may be a good resource to start your research. A lot of doctors here are c-section happy, so be careful. As to taking you on that late in your pregnancy, I would think that most good doctors would want to make sure that your labor and delivery goes as smoothly as possible and won't turn you down just because you're not here yet. It's a good thing you're doing this several months in advance!

Best of luck!! Let me know if you have any other questions and I'll be happy to try and answer.

 

[CarverFan]

I would totally avoid having your baby here. 100% unless you want a cesarian. If you don't pop before 41 weeks they insist on csection. PM me if you want me to elaborate, your pm system isn't set up.
Also, you have to select a name off the official list or go through weeks of hell.

 

[MizzMarr]

I would totally avoid having your baby here. 100% unless you want a cesarian. If you don't pop before 41 weeks they insist on csection. PM me if you want me to elaborate, your pm system isn't set up.
Also, you have to select a name off the official list or go through weeks of hell.

Just to add my two cents (and everybody's experience is different), if you go over 41 weeks here (and I think that's up to 41 weeks and 6 days, not 40 weeks and 6 days) they *induce*, but that doesn't necessarily mean they automatically go for a c-section. Unfortunately induction is a slippery slope to the c-section, but I know my doctors avoid the C whenever possible unless it's necessary or being asked for....

True about the name thing. My partner and I are conceding the name we realllly want because it's not on the list and will change it legally back in the States. The name list is fairly extensive, though, and there are ways to get the name added (but agree that unless it's a pretty common, known or family name that the process is a headache, which is why we're avoiding it ourselves as we can't afford a big delay).

 

[CarverFan]

Oh, what a shame, MizzMarr! You could try to persuade the registro, they sometimes listen, esp. if it's a family name or if they think you won't stay long here, they might not mind...they bent the rules for me first time but not second.
The name list's not great, neither of my kids' names were on and they were relatives names and pretty dull.

 

[MizzMarr]

Oh, what a shame, MizzMarr! You could try to persuade the registro, they sometimes listen, esp. if it's a family name or if they think you won't stay long here, they might not mind...they bent the rules for me first time but not second.
The name list's not great, neither of my kids' names were on and they were relatives names and pretty dull.

I know it's a shame (and a pain!), but thankfully the concession really isn't that bad--it's basically the one name broken into two parts but still spelled the same, and since they let you choose up to three names we can still choose a middle name too. When we get back to the States we'll combine the first two names to ditch the extra space.

I actually have already spoken to the registro civil about the name (both in person and a couple of times on the phone), and from what they tell me there's still a big risk of losing time and getting a "no" from whomever makes the final decisions. The name we want is not a "real" name unfortunately so providing the proof they need would be a bit of a stretch (it only occurs "in the real world" aside from a couple of anomalous people as a character profile in a role playing game and role playing literature, ha! no relative name here, oh well).

Since we're leaving Argentina si o si towards the end of January we really can't afford to lose a month to the bureaucratic process!

 

[bebero]

I would totally avoid having your baby here. 100% unless you want a cesarian. If you don't pop before 41 weeks they insist on csection. PM me if you want me to elaborate, your pm system isn't set up.
Also, you have to select a name off the official list or go through weeks of hell.

don't let them scare you!
you can totally find a doctor that won't make you go for a c-section and there are plenty of babies born here with english names.
really.

 

[CarverFan]

Hey, I'm not trying to scare but I wanted a natural birth and have had two sections instead, the second with a parto humanizado doctor. In UK, I would probs have avoided both. If I ever have a 3rd, I will never have it here!! The best thing to do if you have no choice about having the baby here, is to lie about your LMP so they don't stress you about your due date.

 

[CarverFan]

Btw, if anyone wants a TENS maternity relief machine, pm me...I have one I never used (tested only).

 

[MizzMarr]

CarverFan, can I ask who your (parto humanizado) doctor was?

I also agree about lying about your LMP, particularly if you're sure when you ovulate. I lied about mine because I KNOW I ovulated on CD19, and that they would have marked me at CD14 (standard) and I'd have lost nearly a week of gestation time!