I Gave Birth At San Ramon Hospital In Costa Rica As Tourist

by: Robelyn M. Yambao

A Guide On Delivering A Baby In A Public Hospital

Hola!
I finally gave birth to a beautiful baby girl here in San Ramon Alajuela Costa Rica. My experience was really different from my first born. But, the experience I had with the public health care here in Costa Rica was amazing!
The people here in Costa Rica are so friendly and helpful. They also have a good service in their public health care. They do take care of the babies and children through their system by providing health support for both parents and kids.
If you followed my writing about my Pre-natal here, you know how they treated me in my doctor's visits. Today, I'm gonna share my experience in their public hospital.

My Big Day

Last December 15 at night time, I experienced little bit bleeding and suffered with Braxton Hicks. When I tried to observe the time interval of the pain, it wasn't consistent. The pain was just disappeared until I fell asleep. In my research online, that was a sign of a real labor coming soon. The next morning, I never felt any pain not until in the afternoon. It started at 1 p.m. when I felt the pain in my tummy. I thought that was only a continuation of a Braxton Hicks but when I jotted down the time interval, I was so sure that it was already a real labor. I waited at home until 5 p.m. because I didn't want to go to hospital if I was not sure of my real labor, not until I reached the 10 minute interval and I was not comfortable anymore at home with the pain. At exactly 6 p.m., we arrived at San Ramon Hospital.

In The Hospital

We went straight to the emergency entrance. My husband got the wheel chair for me and took me to the attendant who was waiting inside. She asked my Pre-Natal Card for identification and encode the info in her computer while another nurse took my blood pressure.
After she printed my record, she accompanied us to nearby room where other patients were also waiting for doctor consultation. she told us to wait for my name call. We waited for few minutes, after the 3rd person was called, It was my turn to see the doctor. We went inside the room to meet the doctor assigned that night. He asked me personal questions about my pain and my records. While I was relaying my info and the pain I felt when I was at home including the bleeding, he was also encoding my info in his computer. He asked me to lie down, so he can check me through his fingers. Then, he told me that the baby was coming out anytime. He gave us the papers and told us to go to the secretary so they can send me to the labor room. The checking took only for few minutes.
At the secretary, she asked me to show my passport and the Pre-natal card along with the papers given by the doctor. They also told me to change my clothes with their hospital gown. When I was ready, they instructed my husband to wait in the lobby because children are not allowed in the hospital (we took our 3-year old daughter with us). The attendant pushed my wheel chair going to the labor room instead of my husband. 
At the labor room, there were 3-4 attendants inside. I put my bag aside and lie down in bed while I was in pain. They checked my bp and put a dextrose on me. They also put something in my tummy like an apparatus wrap around my belly connected to a machine. While I was in pain, they were busy talking to each other and attending other patients who were also in labor or getting ready for CS. Mostly, Ticas prefer CS than normal delivery as what I've observed maybe they couldn't handle the pain in giving birth. 
Anyway, I was on labor for about 1 and half hours. Around 8.30 p.m. I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl through a normal delivery. After cleaning me and giving me stitches, they gave my baby back and pushed my bed outside the room. The attendant asked me if I wanted to drink tea or water. They were so attentive and thoughtful. Outside the room, they gave me and my baby a time together. Then, a few minutes later my husband and 3-year old daughter showed up. They gave him consideration to see me and our new born baby. After our moment together as a family, they took me to recovery room where there were 4 beds in a room. I was the 3rd patient in the said room. My family went home and instructed my husband to come back on visiting hours.
The doctor assigned to me was always checking me to ask my condition or know how I was feeling. She instructed me what to do for the next 6 hours. 
At 3 a.m., a nurse gave me a bath. The next morning, they instructed me to walk around. They also gave good meals and unlimited drinks for breast feeding. The hospital is really clean. They always clean it and change the bedding everyday. They gave us new clothes/gown everyday and gave things for baby's bath. Baby's clothes and blankets were provided. If you need adult or baby's diapers, just ask and they will provide. The visiting hours started at 10 a.m. my husband visited me without our 3-year old daughter because they don't allow children inside.
The second day was my releasing day. They prepared the child's birth certificate and the child's Carnet (Baby's monthly health record book). My baby and I had a good health record so, they released us without any problem. There were two other patients released aside from me, so we went out together with the attendant assigned to us. We went back to the secretary's office to change our gown with our own clothes. Then, the attendant accompanied us in the registration record outside the hospital to submit our hospital records. After they encode the info they instructed us to go and gave an okay thumbs up. 
My husband and I together with our new daughter were so happy going back home. The experience I had was extremely amazing, it was truly a God's blessing to us. No hospitalization bill, totally free.

If you find it interesting and helpful, please share to others.

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