Pregnant in France - any advice?

[googietheegg]

Hi all, just found out I'm pregnant with DC1 (yay!!) and I live in France, in 11. Has anyone got any advice as to what I do next?! I think I'm about 3/4 weeks, so how soon do I go to my doctor? Will he think I'm a wally if I go this week or should I wait a bit longer?

Huge thanks in advance - it's all a bit daunting and I can't ask anyone.

googietheegg the Message meet ups, etc are all mostly in Paris, and most of the members are in Paris, but the message board, which is pretty much exactly like Mumsnet is available to anyone who joins - is really worth it for when you just want to check something quickly - you'll know that there are hundreds of France-based English speakers online ready to give advice.

They're also very good on teaming you up with a 'buddy' if you're pregnant - if e.g. it turns out you've got to have an elective ceasarian they'll put you in touch with someone friendly who's been through the same thing. They teamed me up with a couple of friendly women who'd done the home birth thing in France because that was what I was interested in. I didn't meet up with either of them, but had a couple of phone chats and got some great advice. Message also train their own breastfeeding counsellors, and they'll team you up with one of them. So if you've chosen to bf there's someone to call on if you're having problems. Handy, as usually in France you don't have any midwife/ health visitor visits after you've had the baby (they just keep you in hospital for days instead!).

Honestly, Message is great!

Googie - congratulations. I had a baby last year in France. I was utterly (and still am) hopeless at getting my paperwork together, combined with the fact that my employers were equally hopeless.

I have had a great experience, however you will find differences when it comes to raising the child! Those still catch me out. You will probably get to know your pharmacist and your paediatre very well!

googie I had my midwife recommended by a friend of a friend. Basically you can just look them up in the phone book and give them a call. My GP recommended an obs/gynae at a private clinic, but I decided that I wanted to go down the midwife route.

can any of you wise people suggest a good French vitamin to take? I've already been taking folic for a few months, but I'm not sure what to ask for in the pharmacy

They don't really 'do' folic acid here, as you may have noticed. One GP smugly told me it was because French women eat healthily enough.

At the chemist they sell several multivitamins + iron for pregnant women.

My GP prescribed Tardyferon B9 which is iron + folic acid. I think you can get it over the counter too.

Congratulations!

Am a few weeks ahead of you (14+3) so I'm pretty new to it all but just going with the flow.

What I did (after asking the lovely ladies on mumsnet!) :

5 weeks : saw a gyne (a new one picked randomly because she was close to where I live). She examined me and gave me a prescription for blood tests to confirm the pregnancy and test whether I'm immune to toxoplasmos

Next day : got blood/urine tests done & booked 12 week scan

Next day : booked in at a maternity unit. My gyne had scared me by saying how they get full very quickly (am in Paris)

12 weeks : did scan

That day : saw gyne who gave me a prescription for more blood tests (am not immune to toxoplasmos so have to be tested every month) and also for the blood test associated with the nucal measure thingy (for down's syndrom, can't remember the name in English)

Next day : blood/urine tests

That week : sent off the forms my gyne had given me : one set to the CAF and one set to CPAM (medical centre) confirming my pregnancy. I also told my employer that I'm pregnant (with photocopy of the official forms). Turns out you really don't need to do that, but never mind!

16 weeks : will return to see my gyne for check up and prescription for blood tests.

Was also advised to start looking for a creche/nanny but that may also be because I'm in Paris.

Vitamins : I take the Gallia pregnant women vitamins because it contains lots of vitamins, folic acid but also DHA which is not in all the brands (you take 2 capsules per day). Not on prescription but over the counter.

snap my gyne bascially said the date that the maternite gave me was my "last possible giving birth date" which is effectively 41 weeks.

Oh yes, definitely look for creche/childcare early on.

fluffy if you're going down the nanny route I can recommend an excellent agency, but you may prefer to self-source and avoid the fees!

Brilliant advice fluffy thankyou, and congratulations!

When you say you 'booked the 12 week scan' where did you go to book it? do I just walk into the local hospital with a maternity unit and ask for it? did I need some sort of referral letter? I've been told some gynes have scanners in their own offices?

Thankfully we don't need childcare as DH and I both work from home, but I have heard there is a sort of 'drop in, pay as you go' type national childcare scheme, is that right?

First appointment my gyne gave me :
A list of recommended maternity units
A list of places I could get a scan
A list of things not to eat

For the scan, it wasn't at the hospital, but at an x-ray/scan place (in France everything seems to be separated, although I think the hospital can group everything together).

I just rang and said I wanted the first pregnancy scan. My gyne gave me a prescription for the scan - you need this in order to get your money back (it was 120 euros for me). I forgot to say, when I sent the forms off to the CAF, I also had to send the "feuille de soins" for the scan and for the blood tests for down's syndrome. They're the papers that say you've had the scan etc and paid and then you'll get reimbursed.

frak (assuming you're also snap ) Thanks but we've got childcare sorted - we're using grandparents

Hi I've found a good maternité in 12 my prob is I'm at 20 weeks and was wondering if anyone could advise me on whether I can refuse the monthly internals. I know that they're to check that the cervix is closed, etc but it's v rare to have internals in most other european countries and I absolutely hate them! Find them uncomfortable and unnecessary. Last one was in the midwife's room, me on the table, legs in stirrups, facing my beloved who'd come with me for the appt!

Yes you can, boupi. I have it scrawled all over my maternity notes and have only had to have 1 the entire pregnancy so far :)

Thank you frakyouveryverymuch. Have been feeling a bit stressed about it.

I highly recommend 'Attender bébé...autrement' for tips on how to negotiate with medical professionals - the authors are very clear on what must be done (for example 20 minutes monitoring every 2 hours is pretty much non-negotiable), what may need to be done and at what frequency, and what you can safely refuse/avoid.

I think I bought it just for the 2 or 3 pages on avoiding internals but it's proved worth the money time and time again throughout and very helpful when writing our birth plan. I'm hoping it will be equally helpful when it comes to the birth itself, especially if I end up needing intervention, in terms of what is possible with continuous monitoring/an IV line etc.

Boupi, I also told them I was not having internals. They had no problem with it! (I think in my neck of the woods they are used to strange foreigners!!)

Thank you both. I'm feeling more relaxed about my next appt.

Interesting - you mean they don't do internals in the UK? (genuine question - I'm not from there). How do they check the condition of the cervix? Surely it's a basic and necessary exam? It's admittedly not particularly pleasant or dignified, but then neither is childbirth! Part and parcel of being pregnant, no?

They do in labour but not during pregnancy unless indicated by bleeding etc. and only then if they can't do an internal ultrasound. The WHO actually recommends not having them done as it the increases infection risk and prodding around can worsen a slightly incompetent cervix. It's not really a necessary exam during pregnancy for most people.

If there's sign of an infection then a visual might be done with a speculum and swabs taken and during the last month midwives often offer them to see what state the cervix is in but they're by no means obligatory.

No they don't in the UK, nor in Australia, nor in many other European countries. The NICE (National Institute for Clincial Excellence in the UK) guidelines actually advise against it as it is not seen as a reliable method of predicting preterm birth. It is unneccessary, interventionist and represents (in my view) a very patriarchal approach to pregnancy care. I know that giving birth is hardly dignified but does this mean that the nine months leading up to it have to be unpleasant too?

Hmm, I've obviously been in France for too long....I thought internals were just par for the course if you go to a gynae, pregnant or not! That's one of the reasons I've only been able to bring myself to go to women doctors, that and their thing about having to be examined totally naked - what is that all about, no towel, gown or anything!!

I can understand them if you go for a gynae checkup outside of being pregnant because palpating a non-pregnant uterus is difficult unless you have one hand inside and one out but in pregnancy the thinking is now that the cervix is closed unless there are indications it isn't, and if it isn't it might be better not to agitate it by touch and scan instead.

Hello there! So I'm now 7+2 and I've had my first blood tests done as prescribed by my GP and he's written me a letter to take to the gynae. Phoned to make my first apt by can't be seen til 3rd May, so we won't be telling anyone over Easter. Does any one know how likely it is that a local (small city/big town) gynae will have a scanner in their office so I'll have one day that day, on my first apt, or will I get sent elsewhere?

So I'm off to the first gyne apt next week - any ideas if it's likely she'll do a scan there and then? SHould my DH come with me? He doesn't want to miss it!

I don't know about small towns but I reckon there is a good chance you may get a scan... could you ring up and ask? I didn't bother taking DH at that stage but the baby I had in France was my second so some of the novelty had worn off :)