Doctors & Doulas

Finding Dr Right!

You’re going to have a baby – congratulations! The first thing to do is to embrace the excitement surrounding the big moment. Then you’ll need to start thinking about your preferences for pregnancy care.

For some expats in Singapore, maternity costs are covered by corporate health insurance; this means giving birth in private hospitals and seeing obstetricians for prenatal check-ups. Obstetricians usually only work at one hospital, occasionally two (one private, one public), so if your health insurance doesn’t cover all hospitals, then your choice of obstetrician will be limited to those who work with a particular hospital.

Every woman has different preferences for childbirth, so you should do plenty of research and visit a number of obstetricians if possible. It’s important that you feel comfortable, because you will be sharing intimate and personal details with them.

There’s a lot to think about, but to make the most of the short nine months of pregnancy and have a positive experience of labour, you need to feel confident that you’re in the right hands.

To this end, here are some of the things you should consider asking your doctor about to get a fuller picture of how your big day might unfold.

• The hospitals they attend and their availability around your due date

• Their general approach towards birth – is it a medical process requiring continuous monitoring, or a natural process requiring intervention only when necessary?

• Whether or not they encourage birth plans • Their approach towards induction

• Their thoughts on pain relief methods of various

kinds, including natural pain relief methods • Their rates of C-section and episiotomies, and the

situations in which they would perform them • Whether they encourage skin-to-skin contact

with baby straight after birth

Helping Hand

You can find many qualified doulas in Singapore offering fantastic support and guidance for expectant couples. It can be a great option, especially if you’re a first-time parent!

5 facts about doulas

• The word doula derives from the Greek

word for “female slave”!

• From around 50 years ago, it gained a new definition, referring to an independent caregiver who helps make an expectant mum feel safe and comfortable before, during and after childbirth.

• The role of doulas differs from midwives in that they offer non-medical support to mothers. That being said, most doulas will have a lot of experience and knowledge about labour and delivery. • Doulas can help expectant mums follow a birth plan, and assist with advice on pregnancy issues, particularly when it comes to pain management.

• There are quite a few multilingual doulas around, should you need one – this can help if there’s a language barrier between mother and doctor.