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Post by frankiepants on Apr 9, 2012 10:09:48 GMT 1
Hi, my husband and I live in Makarska, just found out I am pregnant with second baby I'm a little concerned about having it in the Split hospital....does anyone have any experiences of this? We may even look at the private hospital in Zagreb, Podobnik, anyone have any experiences with this one? Any info or advice would be appreciated!
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Post by totalcroatia on Apr 9, 2012 19:47:57 GMT 1
Firstly, congratulations and best of luck.
Have a look at Rijeka which is where we had our two - it has a very good reputation, and the staff are great. They also do water births.
cheers Paul
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Post by frankiepants on Apr 10, 2012 14:12:53 GMT 1
Great thanks for that....I had heard from someone else it is good up there too
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Post by Carol on Apr 10, 2012 15:55:20 GMT 1
Split has a new maternity hospital (opened in 2008 - or something like that). I heard horror stories about the old one but the new one was supposed to be much, much better.
Where was your first baby born?
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Post by gmh on Apr 10, 2012 18:57:09 GMT 1
I've heard bad things about the private one in Zagreb, both in the press and from my wifes cousin who paid a fortune to give birth there and the moment there was a complication, they had to call an ambulance to send the baby to a proper hospital, where he stayed until he went home. Waste of money. My wife had our son in Vinogradksa hospital in Zagreb, and I thought they did a good job. Not that I had anything to compare it too.
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Post by aliceuberalles on Apr 29, 2012 19:03:59 GMT 1
I recommend the maternity hospital in Split. It opened in 2011--I had my baby there a month after it opened. It's brand new and very high-tech. I was told that it is the busiest maternity hospital in Europe. That said, we hired a private doctor (who is also the head of hospital) because I needed to have a Caesarian-section and I wanted the best possible care. I also heard horror stories (stillbirths, deaths, injuries) so I was very, very nervous. The surgeon and his team was extremely professional and caring. The nurses and other staff, on the other hand, were what you call typical Croatian employees. LOL
The best thing about the hospital is that it is UNICEF-trained. That means babies sleep with the mother in the same room and breast-feeding is encouraged. The food is terrible, but that's not surprising. You have to bring your own supplies. If you want something, it's best to ask for it directly and assertively because those nurses seem to be in a perpetual bad mood. If someone smokes (and they do), tell her to stop. They like to keep you for a long time, so if you want to leave earlier, it's a big deal to get permission. All in all, the experience was good, certainly the best out of all the people I know.
I had my first baby in Los Angeles and the hospital was like a five-star hotel (flat screen tv, private room, valet parking!), so this is obviously not a fair comparison. It was a lot better than I expected though. Please feel free to PM me if you want the doctor's contact information.
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Post by lostintheselo on Apr 29, 2012 23:21:05 GMT 1
I think the most important thing in making your decision is to decide what kind of birth you want. I am also expecting a little one in September. This is my second baby. I was here in Croatia while pregnant with my first also. I was terrified about the idea of giving birth here. I did a lot of research. I talked to women who have given birth here (Split) both in the old hospital and the new. I talked to my doctor here. I read forums online. My husband and I also went to the class at Split hospital for couples who had husbands or other partners who wanted to be present at the birth. At the class there were various doctors and nurses who confirmed all the things I had been hearing and solidified my decision to return to the U.S., specifically to Los Angeles, to give birth.
As aliceuberalles mentioned above, the new Split hospital is very modern and appears high tech. My main concern with it was the treatment of the staff towards patients. I had heard horror stories of rough nurses ignoring your requests and you pretty much having to fight to get anything done your way. My big thing is that I wanted to have options and not be told I have to do something or cannot have something for no solid reason. An example, the option to have an epidural was high up on my list. At the hospital in Split you will not have the option to ask for an epidural and have it given to you. The medical staff decides if you "need" it and will deny you if you ask them for one if they think you do not need it. The head of anesthesiology confirmed this during a conversation we had.
Another concern I had was lack of privacy. I had heard of labor rooms where there are multiple beds and no privacy curtains between beds. Basically, just a bunch of women in a room laboring. At a certain point they transfer you to the birthing room where you continue to labor. The birthing rooms are set up on a perimeter with the nurses station in the middle so that they can see what is going on in each room. In other words, they too are not very private although you are in a room to yourself. A friend who very recently had a baby there said she could easily hear other women screaming in pain.
Yet another concern I had was the culture of not having a partner with you while you labor. The ability to have your husband or other person with you is a relatively new concept in Split. My husband and I had to take that class in order for him to be able to be with me with having the baby. I later came to find out that he would not be allowed to be with me the whole time I was in the hospital, as he would in a hospital in the U.S., but rather would get called in at some point soon before it was time for me to push.
There are other routine policies that the hospital practices that I do not agree with but I think it would be best if you private message me if you are interested as they might be too graphic for this forum.
So basically for me it was important to have a birth that I would have input in as to my wishes, caring personnel who I would not have to fight with, and my husband with me the whole time. Since I knew I was not going to be able to get that at Split I decided to go back to my hometown Los Angeles to have my first. It was the best decision for me. I will be doing the same for my second. I did consider the private hospital in Zagreb but by the time I had to make a final decision I still did not have enough information on it. The information on their website sounds promising though-privacy, partner with you, birth driven by your wishes, epidural if you want it, etc. Other issues that contributed to my decision to give birth in L.A. was that I was due in January and did not want to deal with a Croatia winter and a newborn, we were living with the inlaws in a tiny apartment, and I didn't want to deal with the hassle of paperwork at the embassy to get the baby U.S. citizenship.
Please do private message me-I'd love to talk more about this subject with you and about living in Dalmatia in general. Aliceuberalles-how were you able to hire a private doctor? I talked to my doctor here and she said it was not possible. Maybe it was different for you since you needed a c-section? Also, which hospital were you at in L.A.? I'm trying to decide on a doctor/hospital. Are you from L.A.? message me! I'd love to talk.
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Post by Carol on Apr 30, 2012 8:12:34 GMT 1
When i think about it, most of the stories I heard about the old hospital related to the attitude of the staff and generally the culture. Interestingly most women seemed to want their mother, not their husband, with them when giving birth. The old hospital separated the mother and baby which IMO would deprive you of one of the best experiences you will have in your life. However, the new hospital was said to allow mother and child to stay together, which surely must help enormously with bonding.
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Post by lostintheselo on Apr 30, 2012 9:04:11 GMT 1
Carol, Yes, the new hospital does allow the baby to be in the room with the mother, which is a huge improvement. There are two women to a post-partum room.
Another thing I forgot to mention-visiting hours are very limited. It is just one hour per day in the late afternoon. That applies to everyone, new fathers included. While I would not like to have tons of people camped out in my room all day, I think their policy is too restrictive. Of course, if you are rich or famous, like Severina who recently had a baby there, then the policy does not apply and you can have people visit you whenever you like.
The post-partum rooms also do not have privacy curtains between patients. Those curtains are commonplace in American hospitals, so if that is something that you are used to and expect then be aware that they do not exist in Split.
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Post by frankiepants on May 11, 2012 19:41:10 GMT 1
Hey thanks for all the great info! I had my first baby in New Zealand and it was really good....similar to LA by the sounds of it. One of my main concerns is that my Croatian language is pretty bad so going to Split may be interesting especially as I would be there on my own, with my husband only being able to visit one hour per day....which is crazy! I would be treated as a complete foreigner and i am not sure if this is a good thing. Podobnik in Zagreb is still looking like an option, its just working out the logisitics of when to go etc. I have about 5 months to work it all out!
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danni
New Member
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Post by danni on Jun 28, 2014 22:04:56 GMT 1
Hello, has any experience with Podobnik Private Clinic in Zagreb?
I am from Australia and I am 6 months and have had one appointment there so far.
Any info here or private message is very welcome.
Thank you, Danielle
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Post by oaktreemill on Jun 29, 2014 13:50:40 GMT 1
Hey Danielle
We had our little girl at Podobnik 3 months ago and it was fantastic.
It was our first little un so was always going to be a little bit of a new experience for both of us. The team there were great and on call 24 hours a day to answer any questions or give support wherever we needed it.
When it came to the actual birth all our wishes, not matter how strange they may have seemed were observed and they simply could not do enough to make my wife as comfortable and happy as possible. The after care, 3 day stay at least, was great and my girls were looked after superbly. It certainly put my mind at rest knowing they were being looked after when I had to return home to sort animals and business. They even fed and watered me while I was there.
I would certainly recommend it, as would my wife, in fact she is the better half of us (in so many ways) to speak to about it. Feel free to drop us a message or give us a call any time if you need any advice or just fancy a chat. Or pop by, we are only 45 minutes from Zagreb centre...... All details our on our website (see below)
Cheers for now
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danni
New Member
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Post by danni on Jun 30, 2014 14:08:13 GMT 1
Congratulations on birth of your daughter and thank you so much 'oakmilltree' for the information, that has certainly put my mind at ease, as I have found it difficult to find any reviews on Podobnik online.
I must say I was impressed with the staff at my first appointment, and I am very happy to hear they will accommodate any wishes for the delivery.
We would love to pop in for a visit but we are living on the coast near Sibenik. We will be traveling to Zagreb each month for appointment and then for the month prior to due date.
I will pop you a message on your website (lovely furniture by the way) as I would love to hear from your wife about her experience there (if she has the time, understandably she will have her hands full with little one).
Thanks again, Danielle
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Post by siriwan on Oct 17, 2014 22:38:14 GMT 1
Hello! A bit late to the party but I haven't been on the forum for ages I had my first baby in Croatia and she was born at Karlovac maternity in December 2011, with very good care and a great obgyn. I had no complications and had a natural, no drugs, birth, 4 hours for 4 kilos I had a terrible experience with Zagreb's Petrovo Diabetic pregnancy ward and Prof. Ivanisevic but that was just because I took no sh... from her but mostly, I heard about and met too many women there whose babies had gotten "infection" at birth in Petrovo, where they apparently treat you like just another number You're far from Karlovac and won't give birth there but in case other expats are wondering, it was really good (yes, the food is bad, of course ) They do encourage breastfeeding and the baby stays with you 24 hours a day in "breastfeeding beds" next to the mother's bed (I had my second one six months ago here in Belgium and didn't even have that...) Flat screen TV and no bathroom in the room, but that was a double room for me as they were exceptionally busy at that time, and I didn't see the single rooms. Croatia does have good healthcare, you don't always need to go "private" (which I couldn't afford anyway). I also don't think Pobodnik and other private places can take care of problematic births or neonatal care if it's too heavy...
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Post by cneoridium on Nov 18, 2014 6:31:01 GMT 1
Our son was born at KBC Sestre milosrdnice Vinogradksa in Zagreb last year. Our first child so not a lot of direct experience to compare it to, but the maturity doctors and nurses were nice enough, facilities and equipment were generally modern. The maternity ward is actually kind of nice - plain, but with windows looking out over the city (that they opened them when it got stuffy in the room on the hot summer night), I think 4 beds separated by curtains, "soothing" pop music playing. Not like the white, "operating room" style wards I looked at in California. Doctors spoke English and allowed me to stay with my wife during birth (one person is allowed - scrubbed and in sterile dress). Methods were modern, although when they ran into complication they pulled out an old suction birth device and left a big sucker mark on Jr's head (those are generally frowned upon in the US lately because of the slight risk of cranial injury if not done right). The doctors were kind, but very much white-coat-and-stethoscope, no-nonsense - "we are the doctors, you are the patient, we will perform the birth procedure on you, just sit still" kind of attitude. Certainly no special requests or negotiation on things. Post natal care at the hospital for 5 days was adequate, but not the best - the famous "Croatian hospitality" of the nurses (i.e., you're going to get what they give you, when they want to give it to you, if they're not on break); 4-5 women to a tiny room, some with screaming babies that never slept; nasty hospital food. Basically like a US hospital 20 years ago. Care was good though, even with complications. My only real complaint was that they just seemed reluctant to do anything proactively "lets see if it gets worse, and if it gets critical we'll take action"- baby had jaundice but since the tests were only in the 'danger zone' instead of the 'critical zone', no treatment even with the equipment right there. Finally he slipped into 'critical zone' and they finally fixed him up, no problem. They weren't being cheap or lazy, they were just very intent on not interfering with the natural process unless things got out of hand, for better or for worse. They are also huge on nursing. No bottles allowed unless baby seems in danger of starving - a relentless team of nurses prods and cajoles, and chastises until you successfully nurse! No "I can't produce milk" allowed! Only really lame part is visiting hours. Moms are allowed a single visitor for 30 minutes per 24 hours. An hour before visiting time (for the whole maternity and pediatrics ward) maybe 50-60 visitors crowd into a small room and jostle for position. Finally... a nurse opens a door, everyone lines up, and each person is checked in (at a painfully slow pace), reminded not to bring contraband (patients are only to eat what the hospital gives them), and released to search for their loved ones into the halls. Precisely 30 minutes later, a collection of Nurse Ratchets combs through the rooms and escorts everyone out - if you're in the back of the line, you might only have a 5 minute visit, or not make it at all - 30 minutes including the ...30 minute check-in. Just time to say hi and maybe sneak some little treat or present under the bedsheet while nurse is chastising someone else At least for us, a government nurse was dispatched after we got home to make twice-weekly inspections/visits to our home. Again a little curt, but helpful. She'd come in with her little kit, inspect the nursery, bedding, feeding set-up, diapering set-up, instruct the new mom on nursing, diaper changing, bathing, etc. and give the baby a thorough exam each visit, council the parents on baby care. Actually really nice for us as first time parents, but again kind of intrusive - a grumpy nurse shows up randomly and inspects your house, critiques your childcare skills, and fusses at you if you don't have things just right. We'd hear her buzz in downstairs and make a mad scramble each time to get everything in order, clean up whatever inevitable "violation" Jr. had managed to produce just in time. Generally we were happy with the whole thing, not bad compared to an average American hospital birth, when comparing with our friends. Certainly a lot less expensive -basically no significant out of pocket expenses for citizens for a standard birth with a few complications, 5-day hospital stay and maybe 20-30 followup visits and therapy visits over the next 6 months. Most of my California friends ended up with maybe $10-15K out of pocket, on average.
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