Category Archives: Having kids in Sonderborg

Besøg Babyer: Babies Visiting Older People

While last at the sundhedsplejerske I saw an advert for ‘besøgbabyer’. This is where parents and their babies visit people in nursing homes with the aim of spreading some smiles. I had always wanted to do this so I contacted Dybbøl Plejecentre and Mølleparken Plejecenter to see if they were interested. And they were!

Organising the visits was very easy. An email or a phone call and within a few days a date and time were set. I invited others from mother group Sonderborg to join me and then we just turned up on the day.

The visits were very pleasant, low intensity visits, where we sat and talked, passed on our babies to the older people to hold (My little one spent a very pleasant hour sitting on a former dagplejemor’s arms without a single complaint from him!) and generally had a pleasant time.

Want to organise your own visit?

If you are interested in doing similar I would suggest you contact:

Dybbøl Plejecenter: Gitte on 27 90 01 86 or gelu@sonderborg.dk

Mølleparkens Plejecenter: Hanne on 27903920

Or just ring up to the plejecenter you are interested in as I did and I’m sure they will be all up for it!

Both Plejecenters were also very interested in having regular visits so if this interests you be sure to suggest it.

Image is Russell Harrison Photography and shared under CC-share-alike.

Where to go sledding in Sønderborg

I have been quite disappointed in the winters we have had in Sønderborg the last two years. This year our oldest kid is 3 years old so he does enjoy snow.

Until the end of February all we really had was a few days of melting snow – just enough to make a snowman that quickly buckled under the temperatures a few days later.

But now – finally – as spring is officially starting in Denmark we get a decent dose of winter.

Where to find good hills for sledding

I asked on the excellent Facebook group Aktiviteter i Sønderborg (For børn) for suggestions for where to go sledding and received a lot of suggestions so I have added them to a map of sledding hills in Sønderborg (Kælkebakker i Sønderborg).

Which spot is your favourite? We have only tried one of these spots but will try and make it to some of them close to us.

If your favourite spot is not listed do write a comment or send us an email to let us know and we’ll add it.

If you are not in Sønderborg check out the Kælkebakke Kortet some areas of Denmark are quite well covered.

Baby Activities in Sønderborg: An update

In 2015 we published a couple of posts regarding baby activities in Sønderborg. However end of 2017 a new addition arrived in our family so it is well worth seeing what has remained, what is new and what has changed.

Musical Activities

Babysalmesang is still a hit for me. These are sessions that happen in most churches in the Denmark (in Sønderborg they have it in both Christianskirken and Sct Marie Kirken, but also the smaller churches in smaller villages will offer this) aimed at babies at their parent. We sing, we move and we enjoy some musical time with our kids. It is not necessary that you are a member of the church (I am not Danish Protestant for one!) but if you don’t mind that the songs sung are religious it will all be good.

Besides Babysalmesang there is also Baby Rytmik at the music school. This is very similar to Babysalmesang, except that the song topic is not religious (and you need to pay, unlike babysalmesang).

The third musical activity is Baby Tju-Hej that happens in the libraries of Sonderborg Kommune. While the other activities are limited to a small number of parents (maximum 15), this is open to all kids up to 3 years old with no prior booking. It is more of a sing along performance rather than focussed parent-child time, but still highly enjoyable and we try to go to as many as we can.

From what I have seen these have not changed much from 2015.

Active Sessions

The active sessions available can be grouped into 2: Stimulastik/Baby Motorik and Baby Swimming. We had written more about Baby Swimming  in 2015 here and we are not aware of anything new. A friend has also told us that there are limited drop-in sessions at the warm water basin at the Nordals Idrætscenter on Mondays-Wednesdays so if a course is not for you you can try this out, especially if like us you have 2 kids you want to take.

With regards to Motorik sessions, the Stimulastik provider from 2015 has moved away from the area. Instead I am aware of 2 other providers in the area: Ergo-Liv and Massage by Friis. Both seem to offer a ‘course’ rather than open groups. Our son is still too young so have not experienced either. If you have do leave a comment about your experience. We plan to try one later in the year and will update you on the experience, though we haven’t decided on which.

Sessions for Parents/Creative Sessions

Sønderborghus has recently started sessions on the first Monday of the month. These sessions, called Baby Mandag, consist of a talk or activity for the parents, followed by a creative session for the parent+child. I wrote about our experience here.

So since 2015 it seems that the music sessions have remained, the active sessions have changed while parent/creative sessions have been added. Not bad for a town the size of Sonderborg!

Other than that a facebook group for mothers in Sønderborg that had been started in 2015 has been revived, so if you’re in town with a baby/young child in tow (or even none) you can check what we are up to on Mother Group Sonderborg.

Getting a Dagpleje Plads

In Sonderborg you have 2 options for daycare for toddlers: a dagplejemor (or childminder) or a nursery (vuggestue). We opted for a dagplejemor as Michael was very happy with his. At the moment we have been offered one but haven’t met her so I thought of writing about the process so far.

If I had to describe the process in two words it would be ‘It sucks’!

We were told to sign Benjamin up within a month of birth. And that we did. We were told to write any wishes on the online form. That we did. At just over a month from when he should start we hadn’t heard anything so I started by calling Pladsanvisning (the place that handles daycare offerings). They passed me on to the relevant person and this is the way that went (in Danish):

Me: I am calling about the dagpleje place for my son.

Dagpleje person: Ok. What his name

Me: (Giving details).

Dagpleje person: Oh yes. I see he is on the list. Does this mean he needs a place.

Me: Erm. Yes. Of course.

Dagpleje person: Hmmm OK. I will have to look into it. I will call you with the details end of this week, maybe start of next week.

End of next week comes. No call. So I call back the Monday after.

Dagpleje person: Ah yes I remember you. You need a place is that right?

Me: Erm. Yes. That’s why I called.

Dagpleje person: Hmm. I will look into it and get back to you by the end of the day.

End of day, no call. I call back on Tuesday

Dagpleje person: Ah yes. I know you need a place. I will look into it.

me: Erm. OK.

And that is where we are now. We have been offered a place 30 minutes walk away. We only have one car. Nothing closer we were told. Even if our wish was to have somewhere close.

What about the person we have requested (based on a recommendation from a neighbour)? Oh, that place is taken up we were told. I asked: But we have had her in our remarks section where we were told to include this for a long time’. “Oh yes I can see that” dagpleje person said, “oh well, the place she had available in January is no longer available”.

If I was starting over I would definitely not rely on the system to find an appropriate place. We followed the process just as we were supposed to, thinking that they would have an appropriate system for assigning places. But the system seems to be to assign a place when you call! Absolutely nothing seems to have been done before (besides us being on a list). So I would say ask your neighbours for recommendations, and get on the case of Pladsanvisning on the phone to assign you to that person.

Don’t do like us and trust the system. I know! I have lived here long enough. I should have known! And if you have no one in mind call anyways to make sure that your other requirements (like distance and location) are accommodated as much as possible.

Baby Activities in Sonderborg: Part 2

In August I wrote about some baby activities in the Sonderborg area. Now that I am getting close to the end of my parental leave, here is the promised second post about further activities.

Baby Stimulastik

As the title alludes to, stimulastik is a combination of stimulation of the baby senses with gymnastics. Occupational therapist Lotte Greve-Thomsen is the person behind this class offered either as an open group on Mondays at 9:45-10:45 or as a fixed group on Fridays.

1-65

We attended five Monday sessions so far. Each session starts with group exercises where the babies are moved up and down and left and right, stimulating the child’s sense of balance and orientation in space. This is followed by individual exercises at a number of stations set out around the room, such as different types of swings, a ball bath and other sensory items. The session then ends with group exercises to calm the children down.

At 90-105 DKK per session (depending on which payment solution you opt for), this was the most expensive class we attended. However, it is also probably the most different from the other (mostly) singing and music-oriented classes. It is also the class that the child potentially gets the most out of. The fact that you can pay as you go, however, means that you only pay for when you are there and can decide week by week.

Note: Since Lotte has moved away from Sonderborg, baby Stimulastik is now being offered by Line Lyneborg.

Baby Swimming

A while ago we wrote about baby swimming possibilities in the Sonderborg area. From these we ended up going to the class offered by Rinkenæs Swimming Club at the Gigthospital in Grasten. We went there as we were looking for somewhere with warm water and this was the first class that started.

As stated, there were 7 babies in the group. One new thing is taught in each session starting with floating on back and front at the first class, then proceeding to diving in different constellations. At 550 DKK (now 560 DKK) this is potentially the most expensive baby swimming class. However, our child really gained confidence in the water and went from being OK but concerned when in water prior to the course to very comfortable in water, splashing around happily. This also translated into happier bath times ;). So it was well worth it.

Baby Psalm Singing: Christianskirken

Before the summer holidays I went to baby psalm singing at Sct Marie Kirken. I enjoyed it so much that I thought of trying it again at Christianskirken. As with the other class it consists of mothers (mostly) and their babies, an organist, glockenspiels and cloths. However, there are also a number of differences.

The Baby psalm singing at Christianskirken is of a more mellow nature than that at Sct Marie Kirken. There is no talking between songs and we just follow what the organist and her two helpers do for 30 minutes. In contrast, at Sct Marie Kirken we sang and laughed and joked for 45 minutes. However, at Christianskirken we then get 1 hr afterwards with coffee and tea to talk and chat together, while at Sct Marie Kirken we brought our own drinks and had 15 minutes.

So the question would be: which would I pick? Well, first of all check which one has place as they are relatively similar. However, if you are spoiled for choice see what you are looking for most: something for the child? Then pick Sct Marie Kirken: Organist Pia has an amazing singing voice and the singing bit is longer. Somewhere where you as a parent can get some adult company? Then maybe pick Christianskirken: You get one hour of adult conversation here.

The picture in this post is used with permission from ErgoLeg.

Baby Activities in Sønderborg

Unless you have friends who have babies at similar times as you, parental leave can end up being a bit lonely. I have tried to keep myself busy by doing some baby classes. This has made sure that I got out of the house and met some other adults, while entertaining the little one without having to think too much myself. These are some of the baby activities I have tried and what I think about them

Babysalmesang – Sct Marie Kirke

Babysalmesang, literally baby psalm singing(!), seems to be a very popular baby activity, with most churches offering this possibility. I was a bit sceptical about this, but decide to try it out anyways (what I do in the name of research for this blog!). I first tried Christianskirken as it is closest, but the group was already full (word of warning: if interested don’t leave it till late to sign up as groups do get booked up), so the choice fell on Sct Marie Kirke.

Organist Pia leads the babysalmesang at Sct Marie Kirke. The class consisted of around 10 mothers and their babies meeting every Wednesday for an hour in the church. As the name implies what happens during that hour is that we sing psalms, but I was surprised to see that it was also so much more than that! Pia was always very organised. Equipped with a glockenspiel, rattles, bubbles, a piano, cloths and a swing (amongst others) we were kept constantly on the go (and babies entertained).

I was very impressed with this class, not least because it is all free! A new group is starting in September (as well as a group at Christianskirken that I will be checking out for yours truly) so if you are home with a baby I really do recommend trying to join one of these groups if you need the push to get out of the house. And no, don’t worry too much if you’re not Danish Protestant! I was made welcome with open arms. And if you do, say hi to Pia for me!

Babyrytmik – Sonderborg Musikskole

Babyrytmik is another baby music class, this time organised by the music school in Sonderborg. Again this was a one hour activity consisting of singing, movement and rattles. It was pretty similar to babysalmesang, with the main difference being the topic of the songs we were singing (church songs vs children’s popular songs)

Again this class was very well organised, and when I asked the teacher if he could share some Danish songs with me so I could learn them before class (Danish parents already knew them as grew up with them) he obliged very happily. However, when thinking that babysalmesang is all free, while this costs around 45 DKK, I started to doubt whether it was value for money.

Baby Tju-Hej – Sonderborg Bibliotek

This is another music/singing activity for children, this time happening at the library in Sonderborg (as well as other branches) around once a month for 30 minutes. Surprisingly, the library has no story-telling or similar activities for young children, though the songs used here have more of a story-telling nature and are more action-songs than at the other two activities. The selection of action songs is potentially as the event is aimed at children up to 3 years.

Unlike the other two activities, there is no limit here on group number, so this was by far the activity with most children (around 40 at a quick guess when I went), and both parents and ‘dagpleje’ mothers (childminders) bringing their charges to the event. This made the activity more of a show rather than a class, but was just as well organised. Again, there were rattles, soft toys, and this time a guitar.

Other Activities

There are, of course, other activities going on. We have already written about Baby Swimming. There is also part 2 to this post about our experience of this, together with the babysalmesang at Christianskirken and a Baby Stimulastik class I am also doing.

Baby Swimming

In Malta children mainly learn to swim by being chucked in the sea with flotation devices on a trip to the beach and they build from there, slowly removing flotation devices as they grow older (or at least this was the way it was done in my time!). In Denmark, however, baby swimming classes are a big thing.

There are a number of different possibilities in the Sonderborg area. Which you choose tends to depend on whether both parents plan to go into the water, time that suits you, as well as whether you prefer a warm or a regular temperature swimming pool. The providers themselves then put in limits on age and/or weight of the child. These are the options we have found:

Sonderborg Swimming Club

Classes in Humlehojhallen. There does not seem to be a set day/time, but they change every time a new group is opened. New groups are announced on the front page of the website. As the pool water is around 29 °C, they recommend that the child is at least 5-6 months old. It costs 400 DKK for 8 sessions (and one parent).

Nord-Als Swimming Club

Classes in the smaller basin at the NordAls Idrætcenter. Again the pool is a regular pool so the water is colder and, hence, preferably the child is a bit older. Costs 300 DKK for 3.5 months.

Rinkenæs Swimming Club

Classes offered at the Gigthospital in Gråsten. The water here is warmer so younger children are accepted, though a minimum weight of 6 kg is asked for. Classes are held on Sundays, with different groups starting every 25 minutes from 13:05 to 14:20. 8 sessions cost 550 DKK and only one parent is allowed in the water.

Baby Swimming at Tangshave (Nordborg)

As with the courses at the gigthospital in Gråsten, the water here is also warm. However, there is precious little information about this possibility online. We got to know about it through word of mouth and then calling the Nordals Idrætcenter. This is what we found:

The organiser is a guy called Søren Hansen. You can contact him on 28 96 97 30. Classes are held on Saturdays with 2 groups, one at 9:00-9:30 and the other 9:30-10:00. At the moment the classes are full, so there is a waiting list. New groups start when there are enough people. Sign up happens by sending an sms to Søren with the name. The price for 10 sessions is 400 DKK for one parent or 550 DKK for two parents.

 

Living with a Newborn in Sonderborg

A few days after giving birth I published a blog post about being pregnant in the Sonderborg area. But while being pregnant and giving birth is one experience, living with a newborn is a whole other experience!

Getting Home

We left the hospital 3 days after giving birth. Now, this is not normal as the basic expectation is that you stay in hospital for 24 hrs after birth, unless you require extra care (e.g. having had a C-section such as in my case). I feel a bit sad that not everyone gets the opportunity I got to stay in hospital for a couple of days and be supported in becoming a parent.

The care I got in hospital was excellent and I have not found that kind of support in the community as what I got from the nurses in terms of taking care of a baby but, especially, breastfeeding. I must admit that based on this decision I would not be too surprised if parents who would otherwise breastfeed give up when with a bit of support they could have successfully breastfed (if they wanted to, of course).

Leaving hospital was relatively painless. Once it was decided that I could leave (could get out of bed, had no fever etc) I was allowed to leave at my own pace. I am sure if I wanted to stay there too long I would have been moved on, but I was also looking forward to getting home and starting a new chapter.

Care in the community

Care in the community is, same as prenatal care, a two-pronged affair: support is mainly offered through your own sundhedsplejerske (health visitor). Your personal doctor is, however, also involved for medical checkups and vaccinations.

At first I was a bit confused as to what the sundhedsplejerske is. So let me set this straight: the sundhedsplejerske is not a nurse, or a doctor, or even any person who applies for the job. A sundhedsplejerske is a health care professional who has studied to become one (yes! there is a specific course for this, as facebook now constantly reminds me following me searching for more information!).

The sundhedsplejerske is assigned to you within days of giving birth and she contacts you herself in order to make arrangements for the first meeting, typically within the first week at your own home. During this meeting she will give you information leaflets on taking care of the baby, where to find further information if needed etc. She will also measure the baby and sees if you have any questions.

In my case the first sundhedsplejerske assigned was Danish-speaking who didn’t speak any English at all. Of course, good communication is very important as you often can get quite a lot of support from them. Luckily on asking to have someone else assigned who could speak some English this was quickly allowed and within 2 hrs of calling someone new was assigned. I have now also heard that you can also change your sundhedsplejerske if you do not click with the person assigned, so do make sure you feel comfortable with yours or else ask for a change. Nevertheless, I liked both the ones assigned to me (even if I couldn’t communicate perfectly with one of them).

What to do with a newborn?

So far I have been in work since the first day I moved to Sonderborg. So finding myself with whole days to fill did concern me! However, so far I have easily managed to fill my days with getting to grips with having a newborn, going to the shops for food, or going for walks along the water or to the forest (if you see me in town do say hi :D).

If you are interested, however, there are a number of other activities you can take part in that are not as ‘lonely’. First of all there are the ‘mother groups’ (mødregruppe) organised by the sundhedsplejerske, where they put you in a group with other mothers with whom you can go for walks, drop in for coffee, or go for lunch in town or anything else you want. So far, however, I have not been assigned a group as I have been told they are trying to organise an English-speaking group.

There are also other activities. The first I came across was babysalmesang (baby psalm singing). These meetings are, as the name might imply, organised by most of the churches in town. Now, I am not Danish Protestant (even though the churches organising these meetings are) but so far this doesn’t seem to be a problem. The group I am joining will start in April, so I cannot tell you much about what will happen, except that we will sing…psalms I guess? Do sign up early if interested, as there seems to be quite a demand and the groups get full relatively quickly.

Babysalmesang is probably OK for babies from newborn. For a bit older children there are also baby swimming classes. These are offered by different groups, including the Sonderborg swimming club (which recommends that the baby is 5-6 months old at the start). The classes are mainly to start getting the children used to the water. The music school also offers rhythym classes for babies. A new group will start in April.

Well, that is what I have found out about. Is there anything else baby-related I have missed?

Being Pregnant in the Sonderborg Area

Late last week the hejsonderborg family grew by one: a baby boy called Benjamin. When we found out that I was pregnant in May last year as is to be expected, I had a lot of questions about what parenthood would bring. But on top of that I also had a lot of questions about how the system works in Denmark. This is my experience of being pregnant in the Sonderborg area.

What to do first?

You have just found out that you are pregnant. Congratulations and do take some time to enjoy the news. But what next? Well, first off is an appointment at your own personal doctor. It would be useful if both you and your partner go to the doctor together, as the doctor will ask you about your medical history as well as family medical history, which you might not know so well. As with all other appointments from now on, you are also asked to give a urine sample.

One of the questions I was asked included whether I wanted an interpreter. I noted down that I speak English, but as far as I could see no special accommodations were made for this. This could be as with the people involved speaking English, and Michael translating for any missing words, there was no particular need for this.

During this first meeting you will also be given your ‘vandrejournal’, which is an envelope with papers that you need to take to every single pregnancy-related appointment from now on. Following from there you will then receive letters (normally in your e-boks) for your first scan and meeting your midwife. You also need to remember to schedule appointments with your doctor at around weeks 25 and 32.

How was the care?

Pregnancy in Denmark is a shared responsibility between your own doctor and the midwives. This means that you don’t have just one person looking after, but there are appointments with the 2 depending on what week you are in. This plan is outlined in a booklet you are given during the first meeting.

The first few weeks and months of your pregnancy are a bit lacking in appointments, especially if, like me, the first midwife appointment didn’t happen until midway through the second trimester, and before that the only appointments I had were one with my own doctor and the 12-week scan. For a first time mother this can feel very long with no guidance! It didn’t help that in my case both the person I see at my GP and my midwife changed. This meant that for a long time I never saw the same person twice.

Nevertheless, once the appointments settled into a routine I was very happy with the care I received. The people I met came across as helpful, competent and interested. I never felt rushed at an appointment and was always asked if I had any questions. If you need help outside of your appointments there is also an open consultation with midwives 3 days a week which is just drop in.

Birth and Parenthood Preparation Course

The midwife centre in Sonderborg offers a birth and parenthood preparation course. The course consists of 4-5 sessions on different themes covering topics including breastfeeding, pain relief, and taking care of the child. The course can be offered either as stand-alone sessions or in a ‘group’, where you take all sessions with the same people. We opted for the group sessions.

The sessions were overall very much in a ‘midwife speaks and we listen’ format, though we could (and did!) interrupt and ask questions at any point. As is to be expected, I found some sessions more informative than others e.g. I have not been around a lot of babies, so it was good to hear about how to take care of the child once home. I did often feel, however, that the end of the sessions was rushed as there was so much to say so e.g. I would have liked to have heard more about pain relief during birth over and above the 10 minutes we had. The last sessions of the group courses is a free session to ask questions.

You might be wondering about the language however! Unfortunately, the courses in Sonderborg are all in Danish. I did manage to follow what was being said with a combination of how much I understand, google translate on my phone and some translations from Michael. I did often ask questions in English however, and this did not seem to cause any problems (with the answer being in Danish).

Scans

The Danish system offers you 2 standard scans during your pregnancy unless there are complications: a 12-week scan to check how things are going, and a 20-week anomaly scan. Depending on where you come from this might sound very little e.g. in Malta people typically have a scan a month. If you are interested in more scans, however, there are a number of private places where you can get these done.

I did not get another scan done so there is no specific place I can recommend. However, most of the other people I spoke to mentioned a centre in Kolding, or going across the border to Flensburg. (UPDATE 2019): And we got an email from a new clinic that opened up a a ferry-ride away in Svendborg.

Is there any other Support?

As is to be expected, pregnancy brings with it other needs than other times of your life. In particular, pregnancy can take a toll on your body. If this is the case, do speak to your midwife and/or GP. Most midwives in the area seem to be able to offer you an acupuncture service for certain problems. I did not, however, make use of this.

What I did need, however, was a physiotherapist, due to problems with my hips/pelvic region rearing their head. Based on my experience I would recommend Alice Heilesen (though I didn’t try anyone else). I was very happy with the treatment I received and, best of all, she has a pregnancy table that allows you to lie on your stomach. Bliss, after not being able to do so for most of my pregnancy!

One of the other things to keep in mind is ‘babypakke’. These are free packages you can sign up to collect from a variety of baby shops and supermarkets. If you google ‘gratis babypakke’ you should find a number of them. I have found ones from BabySam, Rema 1000, Coop, Lidl and Matas. They normally contain things like nappies, cloths, a baby gro, shampoo, a small toy and similar.

What if I go Over my Due Date?

I hadn’t really thought about this, but, of course, I had to learn as I was overdue. First up you will be asked to call for an appointment at hospital at 41+0. At this appointment your blood pressure is checked and you are asked to give a urine sample. Then you will get a scan to check that everything is OK, and a CTG scan where they monitor the baby’s heartbeat and your contractions for 20 minutes. After this you will be offered a vaginal examination to check how dilated you are and a membrane sweep. The same will then be reoffered at 41+3.

If after all of this you still do not go into labour spontaneously you will then be offered an induction at around 41+5, where you are asked to be at hospital at 7:30 am. Do be aware that if the ward is very busy or someone calls in sick you will be the most likely to be bumped off and asked to come at a later day/time as happened to me. Luckily they called before I went to hospital so I just stayed home.

Giving Birth

Since October 2014 people from the Sonderborg area give birth in the hospital in Aabenraa. You should make use of the free tours of the maternity ward at some point during your pregnancy (currently on Tuesdays at 19:00 and Saturdays at 11:00) so that you know where to go and what to expect when the time arrives.

If you are giving birth spontaneously you need to call the hospital before your leave home. They will then decide if you should go in or stay home a bit longer (depending on how far you are). I did not get to experience this as I was induced.

For the induction I was asked to be at the hospital at a specific time. When I arrived I was checked similar to the previous hospital visits. When all was found to be OK I was given an enema (which I wasn’t expecting!) and then my waters were broken. After half an hour of waters breaking, when nothing significant had happened I was put on a syntocinon drip. From here things progressed (or didn’t progress!) till I ended up with a C-section.

Overall I was very happy with the midwives and doctors I had attending me during the birth. Everyone spoke English to some extent or another (mostly very well) and this made me feel safe. What was being done was also explained to me before it was done, which was very reassuring to me. Also, when I was in the ward seemed empty (I was the only person at some points) which meant that I felt that I got all the attention I needed. Not sure if this would have been the case if the place was much busier.

One thing to keep in mind is however the issue of pain relief. There really doesn’t seem to be much between paracetamol and spinal/epidural, especially if, like me, you are on constant monitoring. I found that sometimes I had to ask for specific things myself rather than them being offered overtly. Nevertheless, I felt that the midwives were very knowledgeable and completely open to bringing other midwives and doctors in for a second opinion and/or a discussion about how to proceed.

Following the Birth

If everything goes well with the birth the plan is that you go home within 24 hour from the birth. Due to my C-section I stayed in hospital for a bit longer. During this time Michael and I had our own room with a cot for the baby. The nurses here, again, were very friendly and knowledgeable. It was great being in a place where there are people to ask questions of and to help you out. I am not happy for the C-section but am really glad I got the extra time in hospital.

We left the hospital 3 days after the birth when everything was confirmed to be OK. I believe we could have stayed there a bit longer but we were ready to get home and get on with the rest of our lives.

Is there any information I missed out on, that would be useful for you? If so, leave a comment and I will try and cover it.