A tale of two babies.....
Over the next couple of months, we will be following two women, from their pregnancy stage to giving birth and the early months of looking after their little ones. We will be exploring their different issues, problems, and of course, their joys.
Emma has been in Dubai for 2 years now and this is her first child. She is 25 weeks along and is starting to feel the first movements of her little one. She is a very down to earth young woman who is not really phased by anything, but this, has thrown her a bit!! “ I hate crying for no reason, and feeling very emotional...”. So how has her experience at being pregnant in Dubai, been so far?? Is it as good, or as bad as they all say...??
Have you chosen your doctor/hospital?
I decided to give birth back in the UK. I chose this because I wanted to be close to my family and have the support that they would offer once the baby arrived. Also, the idea of giving birth in the Summer months was not a tempting one!! In the meantime, I has been followed by the doctors here in Dubai. I chose Medcare for my appointments as it is on my Insurance's list. My experience there so far has been of professionalism, my appointments are regular and on time, there is no waiting and I have a scan every time I go there. My company insurance has been a bit slow with the reimbursements but I will be covered for the full pregnancy.
Have you changed anything in your diet and lifestyle?
The Doctor put me on vitamins which you can buy from all pharmacies and are good value for money. I don't eat Sushi or raw fish, any uncooked or raw meat, so goodbye to my medium rare steak! All dairy produce need to be pasteurized and forget the mouldy cheeses!
I am also swimming regularly and my husband is now the official 'cat litter' changer. If he is not there to do it, I will use rubber gloves.
Have you started planning for your new arrival, in terms of cots and prams?
Yes, we have chosen our pram. As we will be doing quite a bit of travelling once the baby is born, we needed something practical and that fitted in with moving around a lot. So we settled on the Quinnybug. It had very good reviews, the buggy seat can be adapted to either sit frontwards or backwards, the wheels are great over different terrains and in particular, it is adaptable to fit in all models of cars. We bought it over the internet, 2nd hand, it is 3 years old but it was worth the saving. I can really recommend using the internet to find most of the things you need for your baby!
Sandra is an old timer as far as Dubai is concerned. She's been trying to get pregnant for a while now and finally, has had success. At 20 weeks into her pregnancy, she is now relaxing and enjoying the experience. “ I've been wanting a baby for so many years, this is finally my dream come true”! Having a good knowledge of Dubai, she has researched the best doctors available and truly has done her homework.
Have you chosen your doctor/hospital?I did a thorough search and spoke to many people about their experiences. I found in general, that is was very hard to get an appointment with the Obstetricians who are very popular as they can sometimes be booked up nearly 6 weeks in advance. The ones that work in hospitals tend to have a longer waiting period too. In general, appointments in Clinics are on time and you will never wait longer than 15mins. I go to the Prime Medical Centre for my check ups and I am very happy there. The nice thing about Dubai, is the level of professionalism and choice which is available here. I have seen an Obstetrician from day one of my appointments, have been given the choice of having a scan or not, which compared from the country I am from, this would not be available there.
I finally chose Medcare as the place to give birth as this is where my doctor works from. It is also a fairly new hospital and with a lot of professionals and good reputation. I don't have company insurance, so the insurance I have will not kick in until I am 32 weeks pregnant but after that, it will cover me for an unlimited amount, thus, I have total coverage.
Have you changed anything in your diet and lifestyle?
I am taking daily vitamins, recommended by the doctor and available at a good price from pharmacies, as well as calcium supplements. I am also swimming regularly.
My diet has become more varied, I try to eat at regular hours, especially since I suffered from very bad morning sickness. I don't eat any foods with MSG, avoid Caffeine, any foods with raw eggs such as mousses or home-made mayonnaise, all seafood because of the high level of mercury found in it nowadays and any raw or pre-cooked meats. I am careful with food hygiene and make sure that I am the one, cleaning or washing salads etc.
My husband is on cat litter cleaning duty and I have now, not stopped the cats from sleeping in my bedroom, which was certainly not easy to thing to do !
Have you started planning for your new arrival, in terms of cots and prams?
We have now bought the pram and went for the Peg Perego. The reason we chose this is because the seat can convert into a flat carry cot which then can be removed and used as a Moses basket. It is a good Italian brand, fit's into my car and I believe, the best value for money available in Dubai at the moment – I also got it with 25 % off as there was a sale on. The other pulling factor ....it's red!!!