Korean Job Discussion Forums

[koreahospital]

hi all
I am scheduled for a c-section on friday.

My questions are......

1. How many days in korea do they keep in hospital. ( sorry forgot to ask that today with ob/gyn.

2. Is there anything special to take care at hospital in korea?

Any advice or suggestions welcomed.

Thanks

[roknroll]

Just a thought: Ever think of phoning the specialist?

[Wisconsinite]

If I were pregnant and about to give birth by C-section there is no way I would be on Dave's asking medical questions. These are questions you ask your OB/GYN. If you forget, you go back or call.

[Ya-ta Boy]

My neighbors just had their baby. When I ran into the husband he said his wife would be in for 'about a week'. I have no idea if that is standard or not.

Besides the usual stuff you'd take to a hospital, I'd suggest taking some earplugs. Hospital rooms can be kind of noisy here. Four or five other patients, their live-in family, visitors and the ever-present TV...as I said, noisy.

Good luck and congratulations.

[SHANE02]

Once you are out of recovery, you can get your own room for as long as you like. Just remember to bring enough cash, you will pay at the end and the price is per day.

You should call the hospital as someone said.

[Himself]

Congratulations and good luck with the birth!!!

I had a c-section down in Daegu 9 months ago and it was a pretty good experience overall. Unlike the US, they don't just kick you out after a big surgery like that (after 3 days, I think)...in Korea, you stay in recovery for 5 nights and 6 days.

I suggest getting your own private room because you are going to need all the peace you can get while recuperating. Trust me on this one! Also, if your husband wants to stay the night with you, which I would also suggest, he can sleep comfortably in the room (depending on the type of room either in his own bed or on the sofa).

Also, take your own toilet paper and pads to the hospital. They don't provide either.

Good luck again!!! It's such a blessing to have a little one.

[Illysook]

speaking of pads, is there a brand here that is similar to the Always brand pads back in the U.S. They have the dri-weave and just the right thickness. I've yet to find pads here that weren't super thin and flimsy feeling...even the overnight ones. They are huge, but wafer thin...kinda like the worlds worst diaper.

[moosehead]

[Zaria32]

Although I'm decades too old to have had a C-section in Korea, I was in a Korean hospital for 12 days, and pretty sick...I actually enjoyed being in a room with two other women, both of whom were Korean. None of us spoke the other's language...somehow we communicated.

My roommates were extremelly helpful, helped with communication with the nurses (who spoke no English) although I did fine on my own with the doctors, because they all speak at least some English. We ordered food in a lot, they sent their family members out to shop for me (toothbrush,
slippers etc) and being in a room with these Korean women was entirely a bonus.

[sobriquet]

Do women in Korea get the babies whipped out by C-section as well?

All my friends married to Thais with kids had their babies cut out.

Suppose it's suitable for Korea, bali-bali and all that.

[bassexpander]

Yes, they do. Very common here. My wife plans to do that (she's not even pregnant yet). I thought that was weird, so I asked my mom about it. She said it's a good idea if the baby is bi-racial with a westerner.

Koreans have lots of C-sections.

There happens to be a podcast on my website: Giving birth in Korea , which may be of interest to the OP. See www.themidnightrunner.com

[sobriquet]

[Himself]

I had a c-section only because I had to. Otherwise, it is a lot more dangerous than some people like to let on. For example, the number of women dying giving birth is increasing because the number of c-sections is increasing. Now, I am not going to lie...when I was in the bed having those labor pains (the epidural was useless), I was pretty relieved that I was going to have a c-section and not feel a thing.

[Illysook]

I had most of a nursing degree before I changed my major...I couldn't take the life and death critical care scene and the industrialization of something called "care," but I did finish the mother-infant part of the program.

One should avoid having a c-section if possible. It is major surgery. Also, the vaginal tissue is made to be stretchy. Tears can be avoided if the doctor or midwife knows what he or she is doing. The old-fashioned episiotomy is another way to go.

Still, there is a lot of mythology surrounding the "size" of the female vagina and how it is affected by childbirth. It's all b.s. Those walls can stretch out there and then they can also collapse back. After all, a baby's head is pretty big, and tampons are pretty small, so if the mythologies held true, then no one who was a mother would be able to use a tampon.