Looking For Midwife / Doula / Birth Attendant / Translator For Birth

[skeetaboat]

Anyone had experience hiring a Doula or Midwife in Thailand to assist with giving birth in a Thai hospital? Any ideas on how or where to find one and approximate costs?

I'm due to give birth in May, and will be having the baby in a Thai hospital. My Thai is ok but I'd like to hire a birth attendant, midwife or doula who is fluent in English so that we know what's happening at all times. My husband and I are both Australian. Looking for other people's experiences.

Thanks in advance!

Skeet

[leisurely]

As I said before nad will say againl, the best source of info for birthing in Thailand is the BAMBI group. Bangkok Mothers and Babies (how that makes Bambi is beyond me ). They are a fount of information and have useful boards that you can buy stuff from and make requests on.

Good luck, your life is going to change beyond your wildest imagining.

[skeetaboat]

As I said before nad will say againl, the best source of info for birthing in Thailand is the BAMBI group. Bangkok Mothers and Babies (how that makes Bambi is beyond me ). They are a fount of information and have useful boards that you can buy stuff from and make requests on.

Good luck, your life is going to change beyond your wildest imagining.

Thx leisurely - I'm having trouble accessing the bambi website, I can get a cached version up but the 'contact us' link doesn't work. I found two contact email addresses for BAMBI (thai and english) on another website but both emails bounced back - have you got a contact email address for them - or phone no?

[leisurely]

Skeetabot,have sent you an email using the service provided. If and when you reply, could you please put a recognisable subject in the topic box or I'll delete it. I get so much spam.........

BAMBI is not just one person, it is a collective or group of women interested in maternal health, children and the issues around that.

[sylvafern]

Are you already in Thailand or are you coming at a later date? The norm here is to have obstetricians and I think you'll find that any OB at a hospital you're likely to visit will speak English. Not just at the top hospitals, but the less well known hospitals too (not sure about government hospitals). I started maternity care at the hospital local to where I live as I did not want to travel into town for every appointment and the doctor spoke excellent English.

When I had my baby at Samitevej (Sukhumvit) I was visited in hospital by a lady called Karen who is a farang midwife based at Samitevej. Before that she was at Bumrungrad. This was 2 years ago so I'm not sure if she's still there, but you could try contacting the hospital and finding out.

[skeetaboat]

Are you already in Thailand or are you coming at a later date? The norm here is to have obstetricians and I think you'll find that any OB at a hospital you're likely to visit will speak English. Not just at the top hospitals, but the less well known hospitals too (not sure about government hospitals). I started maternity care at the hospital local to where I live as I did not want to travel into town for every appointment and the doctor spoke excellent English.

When I had my baby at Samitevej (Sukhumvit) I was visited in hospital by a lady called Karen who is a farang midwife based at Samitevej. Before that she was at Bumrungrad. This was 2 years ago so I'm not sure if she's still there, but you could try contacting the hospital and finding out.

I'm already living in Thailand and attending ANC at the Mother and Child Hospital (government hospital) in Chiang Mai. We can manage between the nurses and Ob's English and our own Thai language skills to understand the majority of what's going on and the information being given, but we want to be able to understand fully for the birth, which is why we're looking for an English speaking birth attendant or translator. What was the cost of your farang midwife? I'm on a local salary, can't afford a private hospital and am happy with the care at the M&C hospital, just want to be able to communicate properly and clearly during the birth.

[sylvafern]

She wasn't actually my midwife ... she just came round visiting the farang patients in the hospital to check everything was ok and if there was anything I didn't understand - before that visit I didn't even know midwives existed in Thailand. She worked for Samitevej hospital so I'm not sure if she would be able to do private patients. Maybe you could still try contacing the hospital and getting hold of her as she might be able to answer your question on how to find one.

[rosaria2578]

Hi,

Karen is still at Samitivej. Also, there is also Kate from www.doulababy.com - that is who we are using - we like her a lot. If you check out the site for a ilates place called "the core" - they list some good people to consult with as well: http://www.pilatesthailand.com/htmlEN/Instructors.htm

I am stuck trying to decide where to have a cesarean (samitivej where i have been gong, or BNH...i have had problems) - if anybody has advice on either place please let me know