Many friends and acquaintances I know are actually pretty skeptical about giving birth in Jakarta due to the lack of medical know-hows and emergency infrastructure locally. Hubby G and I decided to deliver in Jakarta after much consideration. (You may want to read about it here: Deciding To Give Birth in Singapore or Jakarta)
Couple of blog readers have been asking me about my childbirth experience in Jakarta and hubby G is also constantly pestering me to record the birth experience so that we won't forget in the future.(Birth amnesia is real~~ I am starting to forget details of my delivery with my first child) And also, for the sake of anyone like myself who's frantically trying to research about delivering in Jakarta; for those who has tried googling for e.g 'delivering in Jakarta', 'giving birth in Jakarta', 'experience childbirth Jakarta', 'natural birth jakarta', 'expat giving birth Jakarta', etc and yet got not much information in return, I'd try my best to be as detailed as possible so that it can help you.
Gynaecologist Shortlisted: Dr Gozali (Medistra) and Dr Azen Salim (Pondok Indah).
P.s: I've tried couple other famous gynaes. You may want to read it here: Finding a Gynae/Obstetrician in Jakarta.
Hospital and Gynae Chosen: Pondok Indah Hospital with Dr Azen Salim
Hospital Room Chosen: Private Delivery Suite and VVIP suite
Method of Delivery: Natural Without Epidural
First Time/Subsequent birth: Second child
No. of weeks before labour started: 40 weeks and 5days
Labour Time: 2 hours (inclusive 30minutes pushing)
Episiotomy: Yes.
No. of Days in Hospital: 3days, 2 nights
Some Additional Info- Delivery of First Child
Hospital and Gynae: Mount Elizabeth Hospital Singapore with Dr Kowa
Hospital Room Chosen: Private Delivery room and VIP suite
Method of Delivery: Natural Without Epidural, Induction via Pitocin due to water breaking before contractions.
No. of weeks before labour started: 38 weeks and 2days
Labour Time: 15 hours (Inclusive 2 hours pushing)
Episiotomy: Yes.
No. of Days in Hospital: 3days, 2 nights
Finally 38 weeks.
My gynae, Dr Azen forecasted that I would be due this week since I had my first at 38plus weeks and the second child is usually earlier than the first. No braxton hicks or whatsoever. Gynae said I will deliver by end of the week.
39 weeks.
I am still pregnant. Still no braxton hicks or any labour signs despite my zealous attempts to induce the labour (eating spicy, walking alot, bumpy rides, lovemaking, watching thrillers, squats, etc). That is when I started to suspect something strange. There's usually two dates of edd in the scans, the edd based on foetus growth is on 14th Aug while the edd based on last menstrual cycle is 9th sept. How could the difference be so big? After digging up all my scan sheets, I discovered that the hospital has recorded my last menstrual cycle wrongly hence the second edd date is also wrong. I told Dr Azen this and well he wasn't very surprised with the mistake and gave me the assurance that he can gauge it himself based on the scans so the edd calculations didn't matter. Gynae said again I will deliver within the next few days.
40.5 weeks. 18th Aug, 3pm.
Still nothing. I went for my weekly check, and Dr Azen told me that I was having strong contractions. Oh really? I couldn't feel anything. I got tested on the CST machine for contractions, and true enough I was having very strong contractions; not a regular interval though. I was amazed because I couldn't feel anything. Dr Azen said labour will start anytime soon. By then, I was not as convinced with the forecast.
- D DAY - (aka Delivery Day..no pun intended..)
19th Aug, 3am.
I woke up with an urge to go to the toilet. I made multiple trips and felt like I was gonna poop but there's always nothing. I crept back to bed each time, afraid to wake hubby G, who had an important meeting the next day.
19th Aug, 5am.
I begin to wonder how is it possible to constantly feel like taking a dump for the past two hours but with no produce (lol!). I started to feel suspicious and taking note of the frequency I feel the 'tummyache'. Hmm..every 5minutes...labour? What if it's a false alarm? Hubby has an early morning meeting, should I wake him up? Okay maybe I should..just in case.
19th Aug, 6.30am.
We arrived at Pondok Indah Hospital with hubby G's work clothes and stuff just in case it's a false alarm. The nurse checked my dilation in the shared delivery room. It's 3cm. I asked them what's the chances of me delivering today.
" Maybe." Great....
19th Aug, 7am.
They decided to check the intervals of my contractions. And I was having regular contractions at a 3 minutes interval, they called Dr Azen to come to the hospital. Meanwhile I asked to move to the private Delivery Suite.
The sales rep, a male by the way, of the hospital suddenly popped into the delivery room with a set of forms for us to fill; which hubby G and I thought it's quite inappropriate given that 1. I am dressed in a hospital gown with nothing underneath 2. I am in labor? Hubby G briskly filled up the forms, as I was starting to feel much pain and he wanted to attend to me.
19th Aug, 7.15am.
Dr Azen came in and checked my dilation again. I am at 5cm and he said he will get ready for my delivery immediately.
19th Aug, 7.30am.
I was now sprawled on the hospital bed, with three midwives surrounding me and Dr Azen at my foot waiting for me to push. I had each of my leg held up by each midwife (unlike in Singapore where your leg is held by the leg rest) and felt awkward as each midwife held my leg at different height and angle. I was also kinda at a loss of what to do as the midwives were not giving any instructions?
Hubby G began counting, asking me to breathe and push with each exhale that last at a count of 10. And I followed his instructions as the gynae excitedly asked me to continue the pushing. Maybe hubby G was a doula in his pastlife. Amongst my pain and contractions, I can't help but think.. "Tell me what are the midwives for again?"
19th Aug, 8.05am.
Dr Azen informed me that he was going to perform a slight episiotomy on me as baby was having a cord around her neck so she was kinda stuck half way in the birth canal. I appreciated him letting me know before doing the episiotomy as he knew I was aiming not to have one. With a snip and a final push, my baby girl was born.
Unlike in Singapore, where everything is computerised and printed; the tags are handwritten in the hospital. Minutes after delivery, the midwives placed the tag around my wrist and the baby's wrist for identification purposes. Still overwhelmed with ecstasy and grogginess from the delivery, I checked the tag and spotted that they got the birth of date wrong.. 20th August..was written instead of 19th August. Quite amazing that it wasn't midnight and they could get the date wrong, but well it's not a matter of life or death right? tsk..tsk..
----
-THE AFTERMATH-
After the delivery, the nurses left us with the baby; I was supposed to nurse the baby for 2 hours before they took the baby away for a check. This was different from Singapore where the nurses would perform the APGAR test and check for height and weight immediately after skin-to-skin contact. After taking the baby away for 2 hours where they 'heated' the baby as I was told that my baby's body temperature was below the optimal temperature... they finally returned me baby Ana however no test nor checks( at least the ones I expected) were done yet. Finally at about 3pm which was 8 hours after delivery, they finally took the baby for the APGAR test as well as height and weight.
No BCG shot given throughout the entire hospital stay; unlike Singapore, BCG shot in Indonesia is only given to infants after 1 month old. Neither was the hearing test for infants compulsory in Indonesia. The hospital only check for Jaundice on the check-out day unlike Singapore which test for it on the first day.
We also had baby Ana to room-in with us throughout our entire stay in the hospital as hubby G and I were insecure about putting her in the nursery. Reason being- When hubby G followed baby Ana and the nurse(much to her chagrin) to the nursery for a nappy change and the poor infants were all crying hysterically inside, nobody was really bothered or tending to them. We wouldn't want our baby to be in such a stressful environment during the first moments of her life... In Singapore, the nursery in Mount Elizabeth was clean, neat and infants were either attended to or sleeping peacefully. We felt secure and assured enough to leave our baby with the nurses in Singapore.
Perhaps because we were non-Bahasa speaking expats so the nurses avoided coming to our suite more than necessary..unlike in Singapore where the nurses checked on the new mother every hour; so on the positive side, one can really rest more. However it also made us question the 'VVIP' (yes double V) treatment and if we were merely just paying extra for the size of the room rather than service.
Maybe I was being too picky but I found the hospital food to be really bad...despite being extensive and very neatly presented. I ate takeouts while I was in the hospital. Please understand that I hadn't been eating well for the 9 months that I was pregnant due to hyperemesis gravidarum so my first few post-pregnancy meals should be a treat right?
- CONCLUSION-
Overall, we thought that the entire experience delivering in Jakarta wasn't bad however we felt we would probably felt otherwise if this were our first baby and had no prior experience delivering naturally; it would have probably be quite terrifying for us. The midwives in Singapore were really good as compared to here, they really guide the mother through the whole delivering process and the nurses were also very attentive to the mother's needs and postnatal care afterwards which I found lacking here. Again, thank goodness it's not my first delivery so I was not as afraid.
I would recommend first time moms who do not need to worry about logistic issues or moms with a more complicated pregnancy (for e.g: baby is breeched, etc) to go to Singapore for the delivery. However for non-first time moms with smooth natural delivery for previous births, I feel it will be okay to deliver in Jakarta.
The other thing to consider is that paperwork and citizenship application for expats is such a chore. As the system in Indonesia is still very backward and manual, it takes many unnecessary steps to get the citizenship, passport, kitas(visa), etc. One cannot do all three concurrently so you can imagine the timeframe and hassle.
------
Wow this is yet another lengthy post!!!
Hope all these details would have gave you a better idea on delivering in Jakarta :) Meanwhile do feel free to drop me a note if you have any more questions.
Couple of blog readers have been asking me about my childbirth experience in Jakarta and hubby G is also constantly pestering me to record the birth experience so that we won't forget in the future.(Birth amnesia is real~~ I am starting to forget details of my delivery with my first child) And also, for the sake of anyone like myself who's frantically trying to research about delivering in Jakarta; for those who has tried googling for e.g 'delivering in Jakarta', 'giving birth in Jakarta', 'experience childbirth Jakarta', 'natural birth jakarta', 'expat giving birth Jakarta', etc and yet got not much information in return, I'd try my best to be as detailed as possible so that it can help you.
My Experience on Giving Birth in Jakarta
Hospital Shortlisted: Medistra Hospital and Pondok Indah HospitalGynaecologist Shortlisted: Dr Gozali (Medistra) and Dr Azen Salim (Pondok Indah).
P.s: I've tried couple other famous gynaes. You may want to read it here: Finding a Gynae/Obstetrician in Jakarta.
Hospital and Gynae Chosen: Pondok Indah Hospital with Dr Azen Salim
Hospital Room Chosen: Private Delivery Suite and VVIP suite
Method of Delivery: Natural Without Epidural
First Time/Subsequent birth: Second child
No. of weeks before labour started: 40 weeks and 5days
Labour Time: 2 hours (inclusive 30minutes pushing)
Episiotomy: Yes.
No. of Days in Hospital: 3days, 2 nights
Some Additional Info- Delivery of First Child
Hospital and Gynae: Mount Elizabeth Hospital Singapore with Dr Kowa
Hospital Room Chosen: Private Delivery room and VIP suite
Method of Delivery: Natural Without Epidural, Induction via Pitocin due to water breaking before contractions.
No. of weeks before labour started: 38 weeks and 2days
Labour Time: 15 hours (Inclusive 2 hours pushing)
Episiotomy: Yes.
No. of Days in Hospital: 3days, 2 nights
Birth Story- Delivery of Anastasia in Jakarta
 |
| Anastasia, 3.5kg via natural delivery in Jakarta. |
My gynae, Dr Azen forecasted that I would be due this week since I had my first at 38plus weeks and the second child is usually earlier than the first. No braxton hicks or whatsoever. Gynae said I will deliver by end of the week.
39 weeks.
I am still pregnant. Still no braxton hicks or any labour signs despite my zealous attempts to induce the labour (eating spicy, walking alot, bumpy rides, lovemaking, watching thrillers, squats, etc). That is when I started to suspect something strange. There's usually two dates of edd in the scans, the edd based on foetus growth is on 14th Aug while the edd based on last menstrual cycle is 9th sept. How could the difference be so big? After digging up all my scan sheets, I discovered that the hospital has recorded my last menstrual cycle wrongly hence the second edd date is also wrong. I told Dr Azen this and well he wasn't very surprised with the mistake and gave me the assurance that he can gauge it himself based on the scans so the edd calculations didn't matter. Gynae said again I will deliver within the next few days.
40.5 weeks. 18th Aug, 3pm.
Still nothing. I went for my weekly check, and Dr Azen told me that I was having strong contractions. Oh really? I couldn't feel anything. I got tested on the CST machine for contractions, and true enough I was having very strong contractions; not a regular interval though. I was amazed because I couldn't feel anything. Dr Azen said labour will start anytime soon. By then, I was not as convinced with the forecast.
- D DAY - (aka Delivery Day..no pun intended..)
19th Aug, 3am.
I woke up with an urge to go to the toilet. I made multiple trips and felt like I was gonna poop but there's always nothing. I crept back to bed each time, afraid to wake hubby G, who had an important meeting the next day.
19th Aug, 5am.
I begin to wonder how is it possible to constantly feel like taking a dump for the past two hours but with no produce (lol!). I started to feel suspicious and taking note of the frequency I feel the 'tummyache'. Hmm..every 5minutes...labour? What if it's a false alarm? Hubby has an early morning meeting, should I wake him up? Okay maybe I should..just in case.
19th Aug, 6.30am.
We arrived at Pondok Indah Hospital with hubby G's work clothes and stuff just in case it's a false alarm. The nurse checked my dilation in the shared delivery room. It's 3cm. I asked them what's the chances of me delivering today.
" Maybe." Great....
19th Aug, 7am.
They decided to check the intervals of my contractions. And I was having regular contractions at a 3 minutes interval, they called Dr Azen to come to the hospital. Meanwhile I asked to move to the private Delivery Suite.
The sales rep, a male by the way, of the hospital suddenly popped into the delivery room with a set of forms for us to fill; which hubby G and I thought it's quite inappropriate given that 1. I am dressed in a hospital gown with nothing underneath 2. I am in labor? Hubby G briskly filled up the forms, as I was starting to feel much pain and he wanted to attend to me.
19th Aug, 7.15am.
Dr Azen came in and checked my dilation again. I am at 5cm and he said he will get ready for my delivery immediately.
19th Aug, 7.30am.
I was now sprawled on the hospital bed, with three midwives surrounding me and Dr Azen at my foot waiting for me to push. I had each of my leg held up by each midwife (unlike in Singapore where your leg is held by the leg rest) and felt awkward as each midwife held my leg at different height and angle. I was also kinda at a loss of what to do as the midwives were not giving any instructions?
Hubby G began counting, asking me to breathe and push with each exhale that last at a count of 10. And I followed his instructions as the gynae excitedly asked me to continue the pushing. Maybe hubby G was a doula in his pastlife. Amongst my pain and contractions, I can't help but think.. "Tell me what are the midwives for again?"
19th Aug, 8.05am.
Dr Azen informed me that he was going to perform a slight episiotomy on me as baby was having a cord around her neck so she was kinda stuck half way in the birth canal. I appreciated him letting me know before doing the episiotomy as he knew I was aiming not to have one. With a snip and a final push, my baby girl was born.
 |
| Right after delivery. Relieved and delighted at the same time. |
Unlike in Singapore, where everything is computerised and printed; the tags are handwritten in the hospital. Minutes after delivery, the midwives placed the tag around my wrist and the baby's wrist for identification purposes. Still overwhelmed with ecstasy and grogginess from the delivery, I checked the tag and spotted that they got the birth of date wrong.. 20th August..was written instead of 19th August. Quite amazing that it wasn't midnight and they could get the date wrong, but well it's not a matter of life or death right? tsk..tsk..
----
-THE AFTERMATH-
After the delivery, the nurses left us with the baby; I was supposed to nurse the baby for 2 hours before they took the baby away for a check. This was different from Singapore where the nurses would perform the APGAR test and check for height and weight immediately after skin-to-skin contact. After taking the baby away for 2 hours where they 'heated' the baby as I was told that my baby's body temperature was below the optimal temperature... they finally returned me baby Ana however no test nor checks( at least the ones I expected) were done yet. Finally at about 3pm which was 8 hours after delivery, they finally took the baby for the APGAR test as well as height and weight.
No BCG shot given throughout the entire hospital stay; unlike Singapore, BCG shot in Indonesia is only given to infants after 1 month old. Neither was the hearing test for infants compulsory in Indonesia. The hospital only check for Jaundice on the check-out day unlike Singapore which test for it on the first day.
We also had baby Ana to room-in with us throughout our entire stay in the hospital as hubby G and I were insecure about putting her in the nursery. Reason being- When hubby G followed baby Ana and the nurse(much to her chagrin) to the nursery for a nappy change and the poor infants were all crying hysterically inside, nobody was really bothered or tending to them. We wouldn't want our baby to be in such a stressful environment during the first moments of her life... In Singapore, the nursery in Mount Elizabeth was clean, neat and infants were either attended to or sleeping peacefully. We felt secure and assured enough to leave our baby with the nurses in Singapore.
Perhaps because we were non-Bahasa speaking expats so the nurses avoided coming to our suite more than necessary..unlike in Singapore where the nurses checked on the new mother every hour; so on the positive side, one can really rest more. However it also made us question the 'VVIP' (yes double V) treatment and if we were merely just paying extra for the size of the room rather than service.
Maybe I was being too picky but I found the hospital food to be really bad...despite being extensive and very neatly presented. I ate takeouts while I was in the hospital. Please understand that I hadn't been eating well for the 9 months that I was pregnant due to hyperemesis gravidarum so my first few post-pregnancy meals should be a treat right?
- CONCLUSION-
Overall, we thought that the entire experience delivering in Jakarta wasn't bad however we felt we would probably felt otherwise if this were our first baby and had no prior experience delivering naturally; it would have probably be quite terrifying for us. The midwives in Singapore were really good as compared to here, they really guide the mother through the whole delivering process and the nurses were also very attentive to the mother's needs and postnatal care afterwards which I found lacking here. Again, thank goodness it's not my first delivery so I was not as afraid.
I would recommend first time moms who do not need to worry about logistic issues or moms with a more complicated pregnancy (for e.g: baby is breeched, etc) to go to Singapore for the delivery. However for non-first time moms with smooth natural delivery for previous births, I feel it will be okay to deliver in Jakarta.
The other thing to consider is that paperwork and citizenship application for expats is such a chore. As the system in Indonesia is still very backward and manual, it takes many unnecessary steps to get the citizenship, passport, kitas(visa), etc. One cannot do all three concurrently so you can imagine the timeframe and hassle.
------
Wow this is yet another lengthy post!!!
Hope all these details would have gave you a better idea on delivering in Jakarta :) Meanwhile do feel free to drop me a note if you have any more questions.
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