kannon99

I had twins about a year ago. While the fat, etc may go away, all of that extra stretched out skin is pretty much there to stay.

Give her a break. She JUST had babies and there is a lot of adjustment. It's crazy enough to be worrying about taking care of twins than to be stressing out of her figure!

I'm hearing more and more hype about this from my neighbors in BangNa & Samut Prakan.

"Go stock up on food and water"

WDYT?

Hi kannon

I'm interested in these statistics and statements from BNH. Can you provide a link?

Cheers,

1) Their C-section rate it 90% last I checked.

2) They just stated that vaginal births are dangerous and to not promote them in their childbirth classes.

There are no links because they will not openly admit it. The World Health Organization says that C-section rates should be around 15%. Obviously they do not want women to know that they are nowhere near that standard. Because they would not give the C-section rate, another doula and I asked their labor and delivery staff. Not for the number, but by asking "how many births were in the birth unit last month?" "How many of those births were by C-section?" We did the math and it was 89% one month and 92% another month.

As for stating vaginal birth as dangerous, that comes directly from the woman who has been teaching childbirth classes. She was told that she should not be giving so much information on vaginal births since it's the more dangerous way to give birth. Shocking considering that all of the evidence/researched based information clearly does not show this.

Yes, the c-section rates are high due to mother preference, but the rates would still be low if women were not forced/persuaded into unnecessary ones for a variety of reasons. C-sections are great for specific circumstances, but not most. And of course as we all know, doctors make way more $$$ from doing surgery.

Ask your landlord to have one installed. BUilding is way cheaper. Or if you own, do it yourself. Lots of "how to" online.

A natural birth at BNH??? Hahahaha. Ok, now let me get back in my chair that I just fell out of.

1) Their C-section rate it 90% last I checked.

2) They just stated that vaginal births are dangerous and to not promote them in their childbirth classes.

If you want a natural birth - Run away. Fast.

VBAC friendly doctors are hard to come by here. The only doctors that I have found that support it are Dr. Sankiat at Samitivej Sukhumvit and Dr. Nopadol at Bumrumgrad.

Keep informed and stand your ground. Research shows VBACs to be safe 99%+ of the time.

So Dr. Paweree is the backup? That's great to know. We've used Buppha's services for 4 years and love her to death! She was so supportive of our homebirths and alternative medicine choices. I really don't want to have to go hunting to find a replacement. Sometimes it's difficult to find a Dr that is totally supportive of parents decisions and doesn't take the "i'm the doctor" route.

So, thanks for the heads up. (And that's distressing about Dr. Buppha!)

The general rule, is "One more layer". So whatever you would be comfortable in, add one more layer to the baby. Same goes for cold season.

We prefer just the regular rotating fans for newborns as AC dries out the air so much and irritates the sinuses.

As for portable A/C - have one we've never needed or used - brand new. Anyone want to buy it off from me?

No, it's Dr. Buppha. She's been gone since Dec and not back until May now I think. Dr. Kusuma is highly recommended as well. I know you asked for BNH tho, sorry!

Interested to see what others have to say. I have a hard time finding organics and trusting that they're truly organic. As for anything soy here, nothing is labeled GMO, so I'm picky about that too.

Whether you believe in Global Warming or not, we should still be good stewards of the earth.

I was so excited to see that the maids in our building were recycling EVERYTHING. I even asked them to show me what they recycle, so I can set aside and put in one bag for them. They see it as $$$$ but I see it differently. I save my friends recycables if they're just going to toss them. I use a plastic container and when I go to the food court, I ask them to put the food in my container instead.

Changing how I think, or any culture thinks, does not happen over night. It can take decades to change to a recycling society. "each one reach one" is my motto. One of my Thai neighbors swapped over to cloth diapers after seeing me use them so easily. No more disposables!!! Another is cleaning her house with no chemicals after seeing me do the same. (And let me tell you, my helper is NOT happy that we don't use Windex anymore!) Another is putting leftovers and drinks in jars instead of tupperwares/plastics/disposables after seeing how easily I have a stash of jars under the sink that can be used for anything.

Thank you for starting this discussion!

A friend of mine sedated her toddler. But as some sedatives do, one side affect is the opposite reaction.... HYPER-ACTIVITY. Basically her 3yr old bounced around the plane for the whole 20+hr trip. She said it was way worse than what it would've been if she'd done nothing at all.

I've done the flight from USA to here and never needed to sedate. As long as they have enough activities or new things to keep their interest it should be OK. No one seemed to mind us carefully walking up and down the aisles to keep them busy either.

i've got the same question for but for US citizenship and passport.

For US passport, you have to make an appointment with the US embassy. You usually have to wait about 6 weeks for the appointment (unless it's an extreme emergency). You have to bring both parents (or letter specified by them) and the child. Takes about 2 weeks for the processing.

that sounds stupid because my embassy is in Bangkok and I am in Koh Phangan. I thought it could be done by mail. I would rather not be traveling around Thailand with an infant. I hate how the US is so anti family.

Oh I know it, been there done that 3 times now. It's not just the passport though. It's also the "Consular Report of Birth Abroad" which is basically the US Birth Certificate. I'd call the Embassy and see what they can do for you. I wouldn't call it anti-family, they're doing what they're supposed to do rule-wise. BUT in my experience, it's definitely not very American services-friendly. Tiny waiting room, long lines, etc.

i've got the same question for but for US citizenship and passport.

For US passport, you have to make an appointment with the US embassy. You usually have to wait about 6 weeks for the appointment (unless it's an extreme emergency). You have to bring both parents (or letter specified by them) and the child. Takes about 2 weeks for the processing.

I know about her being a doula. It seemed that she was specifically criticizing Vejthani Hospital, and not giving information on alternative birth. I don't have a problem with birthing centres or home births. The comments made were specific to Vejthani.

In your first post you asked for more information about Vejthani, so I gave what information I knew. As for the "alternative" birth, I was giving examples of what many women want, are told they can have, and then are not given at the actual birth. So she wants and epidural, etc. that's fine. But if she wanted other options she may not get them. I am not anti-doctor or anti-hospital by any means. Not trying to convince you even changing hospitals or doctors. It's just good to ask all the right questions well before the labor.

We use mamy poko. Our son is 9 months now. We tried the pants once but they were either tight enough to leave marks on his skin or too loose so they can fall down. We tried huggies once too but the quality did not seem to match mamy poko.

I've done both disposable and cloth nappies. I'm a fan of cloth nappies. BUT when I have to go with disposables, I found MamiPoko to be very expensive and cause rashes. The cheaper BabyLove brand has been much better. I have never used the pants kind for crawling babies. The regular nappies should be just fine and definitely result in way fewer blowout out the back!

at Vejthani they took loads of pictures of my newborn[and i mean straight after the birth,still sticky ]

they actually took 105 pics! then they gave me a cd and some pics already printed up. if i was to have another little un,i would have it at Vejthani,without a doubt,would move from here[south] just so i could have it there!

Thanks a lot for helping. Me and my wife really like Vejthani Hospital. And I have permission to get pictures of our baby when he/she is born. But my better half has let me know, under no circumstances, that any pictures of her privacy (you know what I mean) is forbidden. I wouldn't be stupid enough to argue with her (I wasn't planning on that kind of video or pictures anyways).

As all husbands already know, if mamma's not happy nobodies happy.

Thanks to all here I really appreciate the input,

Darrell "GunnyD"

You've learnt a great deal more than nursing.

I work with birthing mothers quite a bit. I do NOT like Vejthani. My main complaint is that the mothers want to labor off of the bed. Every time they try, the nurses give up a HUGE fight about it. Thai nurses are not trained in active birth practices. And many of the mothers also want to give birth without pushing on their backs. Again, the doctors do not want to honor that. I know of plenty of totally unnecessary episotomies as well. Do your homework!

HI I also want natural delivery but I am afraid to do it at home it is not most pleasant place for me since I am just a guest of my mom's what are my options??? I am now looked at in Bumrungrad where I delivered my first baby but with second one I really want it to be as soft and natural as it can be for me and my baby.

I've heard from a couple of sources that Samitivej is the best you'll find in Bangkok - for closest to a natural birth. So worth looking at I think, to see what you feel. When are you due?

EDD is on 1st of april and the problem is that I don't know who is the doctor to do this because last time I went to Samitivej I visited 2 ob/gyn and none of them had a natural delivery not once in their practice !!! that was really strange for me... so if I will go there again I want to see the doctor who actually does this at least 30% of the time... Natural Active labor....my Bum doctor is going to be very surprised when I'll tell him I want to switch hospitals! But I really want it to be different this time ( better )

You obviously got the wrong doctors The top 3 for natural delivery are Yaowalak, Sankiat, and Nissarat. Message me your # and I can give you more info

What books have influenced the way you raise your kids?

I came across "Unconditional Parenting" by Alfie Kohn at Asia books and find it very interesting. He blasts the reward/punishment conditioning that many parents use. It has been an eye-opener. He has a website mostly devoted to education.

But 'coming across' a good book is pretty inefficient.

What books, articles, or web-sites have you found helpful? Anything specific to expat, mixed-parentage or bilingual kids?

I have found that any books by Dr. Sears are good. Mothering.com & forums are good as well. Good information for "gentle discipline", "parenting as partners", etc.

Smart Medicine for a Healthier Child

I really like this one!!! Not parenting so much as sound medical advice from a broad spectrum (homeopathy to conventional medicine)

Doesn't Bambi do baby sales? I only recall hearing that somewhere but if one of our other members can confirm then that would probably be the best option for 2nd hand decent baby stuff.

Congratualtions on the news & I am sure you will be fine, no one I know can afford to have kids but you always manage somehow cause babies don't know when stuff isn't new or the latest model

They have a bring and buy sale in March. Not sure where just yet as place of venue is changing soon. http://www.bambiweb.org/

My twins were just born in July. I found that there isn't as much as you think you need. We've done well with just extra diapers and clothes. A double stroller. 2 swings, 2 bouncy seats. A twin-size breastfeeding pillow.

Can anybody recommend a midwife or doula in the Pattaya/Rayong area?

I'd really like to hear from anyone over here that has taken a more natural approach to birth in Thailand, as in homebirth preferably, rather than hospital. What was your experience and did you use a midwife? How did you then sort out things like birth registration? And all the other things that haven't crossed my mind yet

There are no midwives or doulas (for hospital birth) that I know of in your area. I'm a doula in BKK. I'll message you my phone #. 3 of 4 of my children have been born at home in Thailand. Birth registration is no problem at all.

Obviously not many people are familiar with homebirth today. According to many research studies: for a low-risk woman (attended by a trained midwife) it is safer to birth at home than in the hospital. Oh, and most hospitals in Thailand have a 60%+ C-section rate when the WHO says it should 15% or less.

Meconium aspiration is more likely in a vaginal birth and even then it's very rare. More likely it's fluid in the lungs, which is common with C-section babies... no vaginal squeezing during the birth to get the fluid out.

Is your wife breastfeeding? Have they helped her with that?

What kind of freebies is the hospital giving you when you leave as in samples? I'm always curious to see what hospitals are really advertising!

Anyway, congrats, and all to you and your wife!

Seems two of her sisters had the same problem, triangular pelvic inlet, something about angles, and big babies. I told my wife, maybe both your sisters and you are being told the most commonl used lie that leads to a c-section? That left her wondering...

It sounds like he is talking about an android shaped pelvis which is not as common. The gynecoid is most commen. Android pelvii can mean that the head may not drop as low until much later in labor. As the head decends, those bones can move. It is not as easy of a birth, but still much better than the alternative C-sec. As for big babies, that's the most common reason for babies born by c-sec this day and most of those end up way smaller than predicted.

My Thai wife has recently given up work at Thai Life insurance to have our first born and is now keen to meet other new mothers with baby's of around 3 months old. We have looked at gymboree and other mother and baby groups but each time we have enquired we have been advised that she would be the only one in the class (not a great way to meet new friends for mother or son!!).

Does anyone have any ideas?

Have you checked out BAMBI? http://www.bambiweb.org/playgroups.php There are quite a few Thai moms at these.