Birth in Cyprus - Limassol General Hospital

This week's birth story comes from a Romanian lady who gave birth this year in the General hospital in Limassol. She was initially nervous about this decision as her friends were advising her to go Private.  I am pleased to say that yet again I'm sharing a story of someone who was happy overall with the care in the General hospital.

Here is her story....

Two months ago I had my first baby. I gave birth in Limassol, in the Municipal Hospital. I was so pleased with the antenatal care and also with the help I got during labor and after birth that I've decided to write my story.

So...since I found out I was pregnant I decided to go for my routine check-ups in the hospital. All the tests, ultrasounds, etc are free of charge and the help of midwives through the whole pregnancy is essential. Yes, is true that you are waiting many hours, but I was happy to find easily someone to trust, to ask anything it cross my mind and to feel that I am not charged a fortune for any piece of advice. 

I dreamed to have a natural delivery, with no pain relief, with no intervention, but I was not lucky enough. On 24th of February I went at the hospital for an induction of the labor as the placenta was getting older. The doctor applied the gel at 12 o'clock in the afternoon, but till 23:00 I had only 1 cm dilatation. That time they decided to put me in surgery. During the operation they saw that the placenta came of the uterus and I was bleeding internally. Fortunately I had the best surgeon taking care of me, Dr Haralambous. 

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I am really grateful to all the nurses they took such a good care of us during the 5 days in the hospital, but especially to Ms. Sotiroula (resident  doctor), Evangelia and Stella (midwives) which were beside me through the long and painful labor. 

To answer objectively to some of your questions, I must say that hospital's policy allows birth partners (I had my husband all the time next to me) and they really have a nice plan for the new family

The hospital policy does not approve any pain relief. But, and this "but" is a very important one: I was never alone. When I was screaming and crawling on the wards corridors the doctor, the nurses and the midwives were rubbing my back, reassuring me that I am doing well and this helped me a lot. It really made me feel the importance of the miracle I was creating.

It costs nothing to give birth in the hospital, but you really feel like being grateful for the rest of your life to each one of the nurses, midwives and doctors in that ward.

I have to mention that giving birth in the hospital was a very hard decision to take, as every one of our friends were telling us that I'll not get epidural, they will let the baby in the same room with me and I'll not have the time to rest, etc. For me, pregnancy was just a very long journey till I met my baby. Of course I wanted her   beside me all the time and I wanted a very natural delivery with no drugs, without anesthesia.

To conclude my story I will write that I am Romanian and I was treated not different from any other Cypriot mother.

  

To see all the other stories so far.....visit my Pregnancy and Birth in Cyprus page