Halas!!

Settling in to a new country is exciting, yet challenging like any adventure. I knew my husband’s company would provide excellent health insurance, and from other expat families I’ve heard healthcare was amazing here in Doha. Being my second child and feeling more confident about what happens at birth, I was alright with this new change. One of my friends in Vietnam told me it would be easier to deliver in Hanoi since I already knew everything, plus the advantage of having a nanny whom we had known for two years. I thought my friend was right for the most part, but to me, the intensity of Hanoi, and imagining carrying my newborn on a motorbike was just not the way I wanted this experience.

During our US summer travels I visited my former OBGYN who delivered Gaia. During the ultrasound, he noticed Eelan had only two vessels coming out of the umbilical chord. The “normal” is three, i.e. two arteries and one vein. He said this was not to be alarmed but recommended we kept an eye in her growth and heart bit. My 14 hour flight to Doha was pleasant. After doing 25-35 hours to Vietnam this became a short ride. I did not sleep much as I was making sure Gaia was fine. My feet did not swell much, and the jet lag was managed. It was good!

Once we got here my #1 mission was to find a doctor. From my research and talks with expats I heard about two possible places: Al Ahli, a private hospital and The Cuban Hospital, a kind of mix between a public and a private one.  Al Ahli was the best choice since the public hospitals, which are amazing by the way, do not allow men in the delivery room. The Cuban Hospital is connected to Hamad which is the superb public hospital, but they differ in that their doctors are Cuban of course, and men are allowed during deliveries. At a glance it seemed to be an excellent choice, especially when you can birth in your mother tongue (Spanish), the issue was the location. This hospital is not in Doha, it is in Dukhan, a municipality north of Doha about 1 hour away. There was no way I was doing this ride, especially since we had no car yet, and the driver license process was taking a while.  

Al Ahli was the choice. I had two visits there, and I was unhappy with the service. Even though the facilities are glamorous, and the lady with the tea cart always smiled, you have to get a number, and then the doctor would see me for 5 minutes. Worse than this cold interaction was the fact that during delivery you do not get the doctor who is seeing you. If you are lucky and the doctor is on duty that day, then you will, otherwise you will go through delivery with a complete stranger. Additional to this terrible factor,  customer service felt heartless, I could sense it as soon as I entered the impeccable glass doors. I was a number, I was in the way. You pay, get checked, and leave. That did not feel right, how could I tolerate this during delivery when I am the most vulnerable? 

As I planned my move to another doctor while 8 months pregnant, and starting to feel a bit apprehensive, I talked to one of my husband’s co workers and she mentioned she would be delivering in Doha Clinic, where apparently the staff is very nice and they advocate for natural ways of birth. So the next day, without time to lose, I called my Uber and headed to Doha Clinic which is conveniently 5 minutes from our apartment. The facility is old, and I would probably, judging by the look, would not have picked it.  To my surprise, when I entered this dated hospital everyone had a smile and a helpful disposition. In a matter of minutes I was shown the rooms, the delivery area, and was given all the information on how to process the birth certificate. I was relieved! I went the next day to take my lucky number and meet my new doctor. The doctor who was recommended on a Facebook group was not on duty that day, but I was so ready to have a reliable doctor that I went with the shift.

My lucky number was Dr. Rasha, a young, and sweet Egyptian lady. I started seeing her every week after the 34 weeks when I met her. She scheduled for ultrasounds to check on Eelan and the umbilical chord. Everything was going well as far as growth and heartbeat. My challenge here was the language. She spoke an average level of English, but I felt somethings were possibly lost in translation, and to my concerns she replied “It’s ok!” “Halas, Halas”, which later I learned means “enough” or “done”, and in the Arab world it is said after every other phrase. And apparently from conversations with other expat moms, everything is “ok” here. Three days before I went into labour, I had an ultrasound and she said everything was ok (as usual), but in the car I started reading the ultrasound notes “One loop of umbilical chord seen around the neck for follow-up”. I immediately went back and asked about this to what she said “no problem, only one loop”. She said she did not mentioned it because she did not want to worry me…

In that last visit I told her I had been with small irregular contractions at night, she checked me and I was not dilated at all. This last visit concluded with her, telling me to come on Saturday at 11 pm so she could check me again. Here doctors have shifts and you see them during these random times [like this one]. As if she knew it, maybe intuition or a skilled medical hypothesis, I went back that Saturday with regular contractions at 11:30 pm and gave birth at 2:28 am.

The experience, as most natural deliveries, was painful. Being my second birth it went quicker.  It felt quite natural, I had 3 nurses, Dr. Rasha, and Bert. The bed was anatomically perfect, it almost made me feel as if I was standing, but my legs were resting over stirrups. This position released pressure from my back, because my lower lumbar area and tailbone were not touching the bed; yet I felt very supported. When I gave birth to Gaia I was almost naked, disliking anything over me. But here the nurses were sure to cover me very well, there was no part of me uncovered. This situation actually felt good as I was shivering prior to delivery.

After 1 hour of painful contractions, and about 20 minutes of dreadful pushing, in the blink of an eye, Eelan was out and Dr. Rasha unwrapped the infamous chord. The nurses excitedly uncovered a small part of my skin by my chest, and immediately settled her on my skin. After our joyous moment, I felt a bit of a painful pinch in my holy area, Bert immediately reminded me it was the anesthesia for the stitches. Oh yeah! I had a tear…  that uncomfortable part which now will take weeks to heal (I forgot). While the doctor checked Eelan I pushed my placenta out, and my abdomen was raw and sore from the nurse supporting the push for the baby. I opted in my BirthPlan, which in Doha clinic is sacred, for no vaccinations (until she would be two months old). I did accept the Vitamin K after many discussions with our new pediatrician here. It was a rather quick post delivery, and I was gently taken to my room. I was blessed and grateful that Eelan was always with me, she never left my site.

When we got to the room, about 4 am, I latched her one more time to each of my breasts, which were now starting to get sore, and after she nursed, she slept on my chest. I was in heaven. The nursery offered to change her or feed her to my request.  Bert stayed with me and we awaited for the later hours to have Gaia and my mother come and meet Eelan Ati Bassett.

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