What kind of help is available?

We have some friends here but none that could really help us out. We've only been in Dubai 7 months so haven't developed the sort of friendships where I could ask for this sort of help... Hi CABear. If you're comfortable with it, there's amazing power on EW! If you ask for something you need, usually you'll get it. Have you been to any EW coffee mornings? Maybe you could check out when the next suitable one is on, tell the main forum you NEED help and go along to meet anyone who may be able to look after your other children?? Almost everyone on EW was new in Dubai at some point so we all understand what it's like to be without the usual support networks. Meet some of the wonderful EW girls, get to know them, let your kids get to know them, and you may just find yourself with a choice of wonderful new friends ready to drop everything and come over to help. Best wishes to you. xx That is true - and what my sister did when she was having her son when she'd moved to a new town. She met someone willing to take the other child for a day or so, and when she went into labor, called her friend. Unfortunately, her friend was in a meeting, didn't get the message, so she brought her DD to the hospital with her! But her friend came to the hospital and picked up DD in time! How about trying to borrow a housemaid? This is different than working part time and the arabs do it all the time, dropping housemaid off to clean friend's house or look after friend's kids.

CABear, your DH is only not allowed in the shared labour suite with you (he is allowed in the delivery room and your ward with you) at Latifa (ex Al Wasl) - and you are not in the labour suite for long. only if there is some medical intervention required he may be asked to leave for a while. don't worry. :)

We have some friends here but none that could really help us out. We've only been in Dubai 7 months so haven't developed the sort of friendships where I could ask for this sort of help... Hi CABear. If you're comfortable with it, there's amazing power on EW! If you ask for something you need, usually you'll get it. Have you been to any EW coffee mornings? Maybe you could check out when the next suitable one is on, tell the main forum you NEED help and go along to meet anyone who may be able to look after your other children?? Almost everyone on EW was new in Dubai at some point so we all understand what it's like to be without the usual support networks. Meet some of the wonderful EW girls, get to know them, let your kids get to know them, and you may just find yourself with a choice of wonderful new friends ready to drop everything and come over to help. Best wishes to you. xx

Firstly, since you're new here, you'll find that getting a qualified nanny here is very hard. Most agencies that say they provide them only give you a reasonably educated filipina with experience. 'Nanny/maid' is the more common alternative. This is a bit of a hot debate on here, but taking into account that that is really the only option for short term, here are some details... From research I've done (for a different reason though) on help for a few months. There are 2 agencies that provide it. One is an agency called Howdra, and one is called Explorer. Do a search on here, I've posted the details before. If you don't find it, let me know and I'll post again. Both provide all day (though live in) help either for a few months or for a minimum commitment of a year (the only variant being cost). It was about AED 3000 per month for the part time option (plus a deposit of about 5K which is refundable). You also have to provide accommodation as I said and about 250 for food (you could ask if the accommodation can be outside if you pay for it I guess). You can interview the candidates and they'll find you alternatives in case it doesn't work out for some reason with the one you've chosen. They also offer a trial service for about AED 500, I think for a few days. Not sure of exact duration. Their costs cover everything - visa, insurance etc. Obviously the downside is that the girls themselves get paid very little - under a 1000 :(. If we had gone through with it, our plan was to pay more separately to the girl (it would have still worked out cheaper than sponsoring and we were desperate at the time and this was the only legal alternative). In the end, we found full time help quite quickly and didn't have to use it. There are mixed reviews on this, some people I know are very happy though, and some reviews I've read on here are downright terrible. But thats just the case in Dubai when you want help I beginning to see. Hope that helps.

If you can't rely on a friend, then maybe your DH needs to clear it with his company now that he will need a few days off in April. I know you said that you can't be sure of that, but maybe if he asks now, his boss will be humane...Inshallah.

This was my biggest stress while having my other kids. It is possible to hire a full time maid from an agency, but it is not cheap. Do you have any friends you can send the others to? Are you having a c-section - where you'll be in the hospital for a few days, or natural, where you can leave pretty quickly?