Being pregnant in Finland - experiences

Family life in Finland from kindergartens, child education, language schooling and everyday life. Share information and experiences. Network with other families.
Post Reply
StellaS
Posts: 49
Joined: Wed Apr 04, 2012 1:53 am

Re: Being pregnant in Finland - experiences

Post by StellaS » Wed Feb 24, 2016 10:13 pm

That's your chance to ask all the questions you have in mind, about the epidurals and everything. Where are you giving birth? I had a baby at Jorvi in Espoo a few weeks ago, and I had a very good experience.



Re: Being pregnant in Finland - experiences

Sponsor:

Finland Forum Ad-O-Matic
 

chickensexer
Posts: 1248
Joined: Sun Jan 15, 2006 8:50 pm

Re: Being pregnant in Finland - experiences

Post by chickensexer » Thu Feb 25, 2016 11:14 am

Congratulations Stella! :D :thumbsup:

Yes, Jorvi. Abd really, i'm way beyond my patience limit being told whether things will ne good or bad. I just want information. Straight answers to straight facts oriented questions. And not that many of them. How hard can that be? And given my experience so far i'm afraud that's my chance not to get abesthesia questions answered but that's ny chance to get another earful of endless "it's normal to have fears, but do not worry, things will be just fine". And pay 32,70€ for it.

Has anyone had such meeting, and can tell what REALLY duscussed there?

SilvineMtill
Posts: 9
Joined: Thu May 19, 2016 1:54 pm

Re: Being pregnant in Finland - experiences

Post by SilvineMtill » Mon May 23, 2016 3:08 pm

Hi and thank you for telling your experience! I am in week 31 now and thinking lots about the birth and how it will happen in case they do not speak English...

ewelelek
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Sep 30, 2016 1:58 pm

Re: Being pregnant in Finland - experiences

Post by ewelelek » Fri Sep 30, 2016 2:08 pm

I'm 21 week pregnant and so far I don't like the system here in Finland. Everytime I have some worries and questions, the answers are the same - "it's normal. Nothing to worry". I just had USG this week, and besides saying everythings look good I didn't receive any details or values. I had to ask for everything and some questions the doctor and the technican couldn't answer. I think, nowadys, with all the information we can get from the internet the nurses and doctors should say more than "everything's fine". She could not see the sex of the baby, so I guess she didn't check if everthings is fine with that organ.
I can not feel that the doctors and midwifes cares about a pregnant women at all. And all the time new people taking care of you and doing the measurments... I really would like to have one person that takes care of me, knows everything about me and I can trust her/him.

chickensexer
Posts: 1248
Joined: Sun Jan 15, 2006 8:50 pm

Re: Being pregnant in Finland - experiences

Post by chickensexer » Sat Oct 15, 2016 8:27 pm

ewelek, that was EXACTLY my feeling, too! I used to he very disappointed and frustrated about it, but gave it a lot of thought and then I saw that it makes sense here, even though doesn't feel nice.

Another thing, is that the actual baby delivery arrangement and is a whole different, separate system. My experience with midwives in Jorvi was wonderful. It seems that all 5 of them that worked with us on the day our girl was born half a year ago, and the doctor did speak English. And they were the loveliest bunch of people in the whole pregnancy-delivery-baby journey so far. :thumbsup:

expatnewbie
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed Feb 08, 2017 11:40 pm

Re: Being pregnant in Finland - experiences

Post by expatnewbie » Tue Feb 21, 2017 12:03 am

I am trying to conceive (2nd pregnancy) and it was really useful reading so many of your experiences. I am a bit anxious about being pregnant in another country and so far away from friends and family, but it is comforting to know that so many of you have had positive experiences.

Flossy1978
Posts: 1395
Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2007 3:38 pm

Re: Being pregnant in Finland - experiences

Post by Flossy1978 » Tue Mar 07, 2017 8:20 am

I don't understand the different people all the time thing. When I was pregnant there I had the same lady through all the Neuvola appointments. Yes, a different ultrasound person and at hospital different people. I didn't need to see the doctor during my pregnancy at all, so I just saw most the time the same Neuvola woman. How are you all getting different people all the time?

And sometimes in countries like America, Australia etc.... Too much information is too much. Pregnancy and giving birth is considered a natural thing in Finland. It isn't considered a medical condition. They don't like to panic there, like in other countries. No need to do be doing invasive unnecessary procedures etc. But if you do need them, then they are good at doing them. If they say everything is fine, then it is fine. No need to stress, if not needed.

AndraFlorea
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Mar 21, 2017 8:17 pm

Re: Being pregnant in Finland - experiences

Post by AndraFlorea » Tue Mar 21, 2017 8:20 pm

To whom it may concern,
My name is Alexandra Florea, I have been living in Finland for almost 2 years now. I came here from Romania to work as a veterinarian but also because as you might know Romania isn't one of the most fair or prosper countries to live in because of the high corruption and also one of Romania's biggest problems is the health system.
In July of last year I got pregnant, during my pregnancy I have followed the rules by the book, read all the articles, everything was done meticulously mostly because I pry myself as being a person who has to been in touch with most of the information that make me a better person and also a better doctor.
But I won't bore you with the details of my life because that's not the issue in hand now.
3 weeks before giving birth I was told at Neuvola that my son is a bit smaller than she would like and that she will talk to a doctor to have me checked up and sent for a ultrasound. I had the doctors appointment, she said it was fine and that Ido not need an ultrasound but I should take an X-ray because I come from Romania and there is a problem with tuberculosis. I stated that I would feel more calm if they would check with an ultrasound the health status of my child but she was once again more interested in the chest X-ray than the ultrasound emphasizing that there is just no need.
On March 7th at 22 pm I started having contractions, but because I didn't think that there was any need at that point to go to the hospital I downloaded an application which monitored my contractions and when they started to be more frequent than 5 minutes and lasted more than 1 minute I told my boyfriend that is time to go.
We arrived at Kanta-Hämeen hospital a little bit over 1 o'clock in the morning, I told the nurse that I'm in labour so she took me to the consult room where she put the fetal monitor and told me to wait for about 30 minutes. After the time passed she said she needs to do a pelvic exam so we went to another room where she performed the consult and told me that indeed I am in labour, I'm 1cm dilated and that my son is oriented towards the left side. I asked if that is ok and if we should do an ultrasound but she said that there is no need. So we went forward and put me in a delivery room, my boyfriend left for home at some point and I stood there over night.
The morning came, doctor Laura Rossi finally came to visit and told me that she will send me home because the baby isn't coming and that she will return later. After some time my right leg and hand started to swollen so I called the nurse who called the doctor. Doctor Lauri Pylvänäinen came in and told me that I am not going home because I am indeed in labour , they asked me about pain relief but I told them I can still handle it. Doctor Lauri Pylvänäinen did a vaginal check up and told me I am dilated 1cm still and i asked for pain killers because it started to hurt pretty bad. A nurse came and did an injection called Oxivir if I am not mistaking, I could not say for sure because in my medical records the day, 8th of March is missing, there is just nothing mentioned. The pain got worse and I started asking about ultrasound or C-section but the answer was always the same, ``No, there's no need ``. Sometime in the afternoon my boyfriend came from work and started asking for explinations, so doctor Lauri Pylvänäinen told him what they told me that there isn't just time for C-section and it isn't in Finland's health protocol to do them so because I was in pain again he told the nurse to give me another shot of that pain medicine,but not until my boyfriend asked what is the active substance and the doctor said ``I do not know ``.
The pain medicine didn't last too long so they tried another solution with a local anesthetic in my cervix. After they did the anesthesic I told them that my water had broke, they checked and the doctor left the room with the nurse. After some time nurse Eija Kankaanpää returned so we asked if I'm giving birth she said no because I am not dilated enough so we asked again if we should do an ultrasound to check if everything is alright and she said that the doctor said no then we came with the request again of having a c-section and she said that the doctor doesn't think is necessary so we asked ``what about the water that broke?``the answer was ``the doctor isn't sure that is amniotic fluid``so we asked to do the test for that but he didn't want to. I asked my boyfriend to go home because there was no need for him to stay there since nothing was happening. During the night I had several cervical anesthetics.
On the 9th around 11 in the morning a nurse came and informed me that they will come and draw some blood to check for CRP and that also I am not allowed to eat or drink in case we are doing a c-section. The results came back positive and they started me at some point on antibiotics (Cephalosporine and Metronidazole), they also started me on Syntocinon to ensure that the labour is moving forward and also doctor Antti Väyrynen came and placed an epidural catheter to relieve the pain.
Short time after that the room became full of people, doctor Laura Rossi came and told me that my sons heart is beating slower than it should and she has to do a vaginal resuscitation. They also put me on oxygen and mounted a urinary catheter in case they will do a c-section, placed a Ringer iv and stopped the Syntocinon. Dr. Laura Rossi told me that I am 4cm dilated. When they managed to get my son's heart beat at a normal level I asked the doctor if they would do a c-section and they said most probably yes and then everyone left the room. After some time doctor Nelly Sopanen came in with a nurse came and informed me that they will be putting a vaginal pulse meter to monitor my son's heartbeats better. She performed a pelvic exam and told me that I am 4cm dilated and implanted the monitor and informed me that they will not perform any c-section.
When my boyfriend came to the hospital he went to the doctor's office to ask what exactly had happened that day and doctor Nelly Sopanen requested that she needs to read the chart because she doesn't know my case, even if she was the one mounting the fetal monitor a few hours earlier. She excused herself and told him she will be right away. A nurse came back and told me that they will try again with Syntocinon and asked me to stay on my right side, I told them that I do not think it is safe because of the heartbeat problem my son had earlier and that there is something with staying on my right side because during pregnancy I couldn't sleep on that side because it would bother him, a fact that I told at Neuvola to the nurse and doctor. Soon after that my son's heartbeats became lower and they stopped the Syntocinon.The nurse performed a vaginal check and told me I am 6cm dilated. Doctor Nelly Sopanen came and excused herself for not being able to give me the attention needed because it was very busy in the other delivery rooms and she told us once again that she doesn't think that there is a need for a C-setion so we began to ask how long can we wait to give birth and she said as long as needed and also what are we going to do about the infection, it was more than obvious that she was impatient. And I asked her I don't mind the pain and waiting as long as I deliver my son alive. After that she said that they will take another CRP test and if it raises than she will perform the C-section. A time after that doctor Nelly Sopanen came back and did a vaginal exam and told me that I am 4cm dilated; me and my boyfriend told her that the nurse just did the control and said that I was 6cm dilated and she said `` Oh yes, what I meant was that she has 4cm to go`` and informed us that the CRP was higher than the last time and that she talked to her superviser who said that there is no need for a C-section during the night and it's better to do it in the morning when there is more staff. We started being very nervous and asked what if the doctor that comes in the morning won't agree with the C-section and she said that wasn't possible and that she wants to try one more time with the Syntocinon. She started the perfusion and in a couple of minutes my son's heartbeat started to decrease again so she came back and told us that we will perform the C-section that night. I asked that my boyfriend would be there in the operating room but they refused because in emergency C-sections other people are not allowed.
A little before 11 PM I was taken in the surgery room where Nelly Sopanen performed the C-section and delivered my son at 23:23. After the surgery she came and apologized because when she did the incision on the uterus she did a cut on my son's face from his nose near his ear.
After the surgery I was moved in another ward. On the 10th couldn't feel my right side so I couldn't walk, but on the 11th, about 8 hours after they removed my spinal catheter I was able to walk and resume activity. On that day doctor Johanna Henttonen came in my room to give me my pain killer receipt and talk to me about my C-section and when I will be able to have kids again. During the conversation she mentioned that she heard that during the C-section Nelly Sopanen noticed that my son was in an abnormal position, a fact that the missed out to tell us. As for having babies I told her that after this experience I will not be having anymore children. In her report she stated that I am a veterinarian and that I fully understand the medical and physiological terms and knowledge and giving the fact that I refuse on having babies she think that there should be a committee investigating what happened.
In conclusion I would like to say that all of this could have been avoided if they would've done the ultrasound as we requested since we got to the hospital and that my baby wouldn't have had his face cut if they did the c-section earlier, when my water broke.
Both me and my boyfriend are hard working people, who pay their taxes and came to Finland for a better life and what was supposed to be a wonderful experience left a bitter feeling and a thought that if I had gave birth in Romania, I guarantee that it wouldn't have happened. He has been living in Finland for 25 years and is also a veterinarian, so once again I emphasize that we fully understand what happened during those days.
On this note I ask you, have you ever stopped and wonder why in Finland the mortality rate went higher than the birth rate?
Also I would like to point out that after talking to several people about my case we discovered that is not the only one, but for some reason women prefer not to speak about it, but I don't find it fair.

Mizu1993
Posts: 80
Joined: Wed Feb 15, 2017 3:26 pm

Re: Being pregnant in Finland - experiences

Post by Mizu1993 » Mon Apr 24, 2017 3:07 pm

I am also pregnant from a Finn. Would be nice to find other people who are also pregnant and from another country. I am from Austria, but still don't live in Finland, though I try to move before my baby gets born

chickensexer
Posts: 1248
Joined: Sun Jan 15, 2006 8:50 pm

Re: Being pregnant in Finland - experiences

Post by chickensexer » Thu May 11, 2017 8:14 pm

AndraFlorea, what a terrible experience, my heart goes to you and your boyfriend... As for your little boy - what about him??? You didn't mention after his birth anything except the cut..

Hase5
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Aug 06, 2017 7:01 pm

Re: Being pregnant in Finland - experiences

Post by Hase5 » Sun Aug 06, 2017 7:29 pm

Hello,

I am pregnant in the 12th week, coming from Austria, but living now in Finland.

I am, just as i could read from many postings before, quite underwhelmed from the Finnish health system and their care for becoming mothers.

Since I made a home-test and found out i was pregnant, i have just been told to wait and not been given any requested appointments.

Finally after week 8 I was told by Neuvola, that I could get an appointment, but due to it is summer, the next available time would be only 3 weeks later. So I had my first appointment in week 10.

After being told to go for a blood test as quick as possible, due to being already so far in my pregnancy, I finally got this done. But now in the middle of my 12th week still waiting for an appointment for my first ultrasound( which should be done between week 11-13+6), to which i was told to receive an invitation from the hospital automatically. Well, this hasn't happened to far. So I wanted to ask other mother here living in the Espoo area. Did you received an invitation from the hospital for your first ultrasound automatically?

chickensexer
Posts: 1248
Joined: Sun Jan 15, 2006 8:50 pm

Re: Being pregnant in Finland - experiences

Post by chickensexer » Sun Sep 03, 2017 9:32 pm

IIRC, at the Neuvola appointment they gave me a phone number to call and book an Ultrasound time.

gigi55
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Jun 19, 2021 2:57 pm

Re: Being pregnant in Finland - experiences

Post by gigi55 » Sat Jun 19, 2021 3:08 pm

Seems like the sub is dead so I will post my experience giving birth in May 2020 in Oulu.
My daughter was born at 41+3 and I was at the hospital trying to induce since 40+6. While trying different medications to induce her heart rate dropped a few times and they sent me to the delivery room twice for monitoring and to see if a c-section was needed. Despite that, on the 3rd day I was sent home to rest and was asked to come back in the afternoon. I was only 2 cm dilated. They decided to give me oxytocin, baby's heart rate dropped again a few times, they broke my water and increased oxytocin. I asked for pain medication as contractions were getting very painful despite still not being dilated enough. I got the same medication I got the night before but for some reason, I felt I couldn't breathe. They gave me oxygen but the baby's heart rate dropped again and they moved us to the operation ward. Baby girl is fine now but it got really close. I read the report on my file and the waters were green and bloody when they broke them there. They told me they were green and when I asked at the time isn't this worrisome they replied it is normal for kids overdue to poop. Well, my daughter was born with poop on her head and was without oxygen for a few seconds. She is healthy now and I am grateful but I feel everything would have been smoother now and we could have bonded even more and breastfed immediately if the doctors paid attention to the warning signs and moved to a planned c-section while there was time.
As from other stories I have read here, the most important thing for the staff here seems to be to avoid c-section at all costs.
To add to the trauma as I gave birth at 2 am when apparently hospitals are short-staffed, my phone and personal items were left at the birth room. I woke up alone, disoriented, with the last thing remembering that they needed to get my baby out. I asked repeatedly how she was and was told she was just stressed from the birth. It took hours of me asking again and again to even talk to my partner and half a day to see my baby as there was not enough staff to either get me my personal things or take me to the NICU.
The doctor came the next day to tell me they din't know what happened and that they sent the placenta for a biopsy. The biopsy showed that the placenta got old and collapsed which was what I was afraid of and was worried about as I was already on the 42nd week as I had gestational diabetes which I managed via diet. The midwife I had the last day also came to visit. She called me 2 months later to ask me about my experience and she told me when she visited me the day I gave birth I asked her to leave. I don't remember that but I am sure I was angry. I know she cared and did what she could but these are the protocols they follow and they are overworked but yeah horrible experience.
Last edited by gigi55 on Sat Jun 19, 2021 3:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.


Post Reply