Moved here last year in fall. I’m scheduled to give birth at Aiiku hospital in Tokyo, husband chose this hospital because they are supposedly renowned for their international unit care. Everything was going good so far, the nurses are very kind and doctors have good communication and are pleasant to speak with. I made sure to address my concerns with the midwife like wanting my husband to be with me during labor (I heard some places don’t allow this, which is already shocking). And they assured me I would not be alone. Okay, cool. That’s good. I felt way less stressed out considering the hospital I went to before seemed hesitant to even offer an epidural to which I quickly transferred, the staff was also quite scary..
Moving forward, I only just found out a few weeks out from my due date that my husband isnt allowed to stay overnight after I give birth? I’m also required to stay a MINIMUM of 5 days in the hospital despite not being high risk or having any complications so far. Even though I felt like my concerns were addressed by my midwife, I’m so confused as to why they would leave something so important like that out. The idea of going through labor for the first time and then having to spend nights alone in a hospital with the baby and no emotional support sounds terrifying. Is there anyone here who has managed to work around these insane rules? I can speak okay japanese, but I’m still rather recent in moving here and adjusting to the differences. You’d think a place that advertises its accomodation to foreigners would be a little more progressive in that aspect, especially when my husband helps me interpret since I’m not as familiar with medical jargon than I am daily conversation, and most “bilingual” places are never truly bilingual.
Ending this with while I fully do believe the medical care system here is very optimized and efficient in a lot of ways that I appreciate, I feel very scared about the lack of support in some of these places. Please let me know if any of you have any experience with this, I’m very new to everything. 🙁
by slimyfishes