Birth in a Foreign Country

At first thought, giving birth in a foreign country might sound terrifying...everything is in a different language, medical practices can differ, facilities can be unfamiliar, etc., etc., etc.  Luckily for me, Austria has a very advanced medical system and because of the country's fantastic social system- it's all free.  Pregnant women are regarded very highly here, as the government wants to work towards stopping the population decline...hence=fabulous incentives for having children here!  Not only am i receiving a year of paid maternity leave,  Johannes gets 2 full months of paternity leave (which we're using to visit the US for 2 months this summer), and I am getting paid for 2 months before the due date. These 2 months are a time women are not allowed to work regardless of the job to assure the safety of mama and baby, and give the mom-to-be some much needed rest in preparation for her little one's arrival.

We finished our birthing class for couples a few weeks ago and feel a little better about knowing what to do when I actually go into labor.  We also toured our local hospital here in Wiener Neustadt as well as the hospital in Johannes' home town of Hartberg.  If all goes well, we'll be making the 45min drive to Hartberg as the hospital is very new with gorgeous facilities, they have less patients yet almost the same number of doctors and midwives, plus- Johannes' mom works there!

Hartberg Krankenhaus (Hospital)

A major difference between the US vs. Austrian systems is that in Austria, a woman is at the hospital for the birth (obviously), but then has multiple options to choose from:  A) go home the same day or next & be visited by a midwife at home for the next 5 days, B) stay at the hospital for 2-3 days after giving birth, and be visited at home for 2-3 days after, or the most common option- C) stay in hospital 4-5 days after birth before going home.  Most people we've talked to say that before birth you think you'll just want to go home as soon as possible, but many women choose the 4-5 day in-hospital option as you can rest uninterrupted, the midwives & breastfeeding specialists are there for you 24/7, you're well-fed without having to cook for yourself, and you attend post-natal exercise and baby info classes with the other mom's that just gave birth.  This will likely be the option I choose, as I think the additional week of 24/7 professional support with the new baby will make things much less stressful than if I were to be handed a newborn baby and sent home on our own after just one day!

Here are a few photos of the Hartberg hospital (directly from their website).

Birthing Pool Room 

Nursery

Birth Room with 'Roma Rad' 

They have many, many options for laboring women to try- which is more 'birthing center' style right within the hospital itself.  There is a normal hospital bed, a 'roma-rad' swing/chair thing, medicine/yoga balls, floor cushions, special birthing/labor chairs,  a birthing pool room with lights & aromatherapy, and more to choose from. The great thing is, you can switch from one thing to another, so I feel like this will pass time much better than laboring in bed for 12+hours!