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Living overseas

Whether you're considering emigrating or an expat abroad, you'll find likeminds on this forum.

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Original poster

Anyone in Belgium...????

44 replies

RuthChan · 25/03/2008 12:45

I have just learned that my husband is going to be transferred to Brussels later this year.
Are there any MNs over there who can give me any words of wisdom about what I should know or should be doing to prepare?

We currently live in Japan, so it will be a big change of scene, even though I'll be moving in a homeward direction.

We have DD who is currently 1.4, so I guess we'll be thinking about nursery etc for her.
I am also (just) pregnant with number 2, so we'll have a tiny baby in tow too. (Hopefully his company will let us stay here until after the baby's born)

It would be great to know that there are some friendly people waiting over there with some good advice...

OP posts:

Original poster

RuthChan · 03/04/2008 12:01

That's interesting.
Thanks.
I'll ask my DH to ask his contact at the office about it.

OP posts:

scaryteacher · 03/04/2008 16:09

LTIB - Jackie is a force to be reckoned with..are you interested in helping out at YC sometimes? I'm always on the look out for 'willing' volunteers!

Mrs S - all I need to do in the Post Office is ask for my Euromillions ticket, and I can do that in Flemish, so no problem there. I need loads to buy a house here!

LongtimeinBrussels · 03/04/2008 23:54

MrsSchadenfreude, she's still there. She even got a mention in the BSB pantomine last year!

Scaryteacher, I have to do my helping out in the mornings as that's when I drop my ds off (saves battling it out in the traffic to get back into town). Afternoons are out as I have to pick up my dd in Etterbeek at 15h40 before heading back out to the school to get ds. Evenings are completely out both because I don't want to go out to Tervuren for a third time and also because dh is always away. Sorry about that!

scaryteacher · 04/04/2008 23:33

Oh well, it was worth a try - you're not volunteering for the PAC chair after Saskia then?

LongtimeinBrussels · 07/04/2008 00:33

No!

Original poster

RuthChan · 09/04/2008 00:58

It seems that there's now a possibility of us moving before, not after

Do any of you lovely MNers have experience of giving birth in Brussels? Do you know anything about English speaking Docotrs/hospitals etc?

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scaryteacher · 09/04/2008 16:30

A friend of mine had her daughter in Leuven hospital a couple of months ago. She told me that they don't let you have entonox (gas and air) or pethedine here...it's an epidural or nothing! She went for the nothing option. Ouch!

Original poster

RuthChan · 11/04/2008 11:29

Thanks scaryteacher.
I will check that out.
Don't worry about the lack of painkiller options, I gave birth to DD here in Japan, where there is none on offer at all.
Epidurals are only used for caesarians.
I survived that time and, if necessary, can probably do the same next time too.

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Belgianchox · 12/04/2008 14:11

Hi, I gave birth twice in Belgium in Nivelles, which is not too far from where you will be by the sounds of it. I had great experiences both times, the standard of hospital care was excellent.

whitewine · 12/04/2008 19:47

my DH has now proposed the idea of moving to Ghent. He is going to have offices both in Amsterdam and Ghent. I have 3 children (year 4, 3 and reception). What would you recommend for schooling?

LongtimeinBrussels · 14/04/2008 10:35

RuthChan, I had all three of mine in Edith Cavell hospital in Uccle, an area of Brussels. The system here is very different from the UK. You get yourself a gynaecologist whom you visit for your checkups (not the GP). She will be there for the birth and the hospital midwife just assists her. You will also go back to her for your post birth check(s). You go to a physiotherapist for ante and post natal classes. The physio will also be present at the birth to make sure you're breathing properly !!! This is partly because, as scaryteacher pointed out, there is indeed only an epidural (or nothing) on offer for pain relief. You stay in hospital longer too. I was in for a week with all three of mine (normal for a first child, or at least it was 19 years ago, my second was born early and in special care and my third was also early and had jaundice and feeding problems) and had a private room each time. The medical system as a whole is completely different here in any case. You pay for everything but get some (not all) of it back from your medical insurance company. Actually how much you get back depends on whether your husband's company has a special health insurance package or whether you have to be insured under the normal Belgian health insurance. The care is excellent and there are no waiting lists. You get to see specialists whenever necessary (actually for the better ones you may have to wait a few weeks, occasionally a couple of months). Oh and another thing which seems to shock UK mums is that when having post birth checks at the gynaecologist she will do an internal every time. When I asked mine about this (never given birth in the UK so didn't realise this wasn't done there until I read it on mumsnet) she said "well you wouldn't go to the dentist and not open your mouth, would you?"! In my case it was a good thing she did as I had early contractions for all three of them (hence the early births) which I wasn't aware of and my cervix started opening months in advance of my due date. If it hadn't been discovered by the gynae I hate to think what would have happened.

Once you know where you are going to living, come on here again and I'm sure you'll get a whole host of advice!

belgo · 14/04/2008 10:41

I've had two babies in Belgium, and am due to have a third in October. I had a very different experience to RuthChan as I chose to have midwife led care rather then consultant led care. I also didn't have a physio therapist. My second child was born at home with the supervison of two highly experienced midwives.

As for pain relief - pethidine and gas and air are not available but you can hire a TENS machine from the BCT.

I hired a birthing pool for my home birth and some women consider this to help with the pain.

There are some hopsitals in Belgium that allow water births.

belgo · 14/04/2008 10:42

I mean to longtimeinbrussels not ruthchan in the first line of my post!

LongtimeinBrussels · 15/04/2008 10:28

Belgo, I wouldn't have been allowed to give birth at home given my pregnancy problems which always led to early births - I needed to be at the hospital as close to the special care unit as possible. In the end only my second child needed urgent treatment and spent two weeks in special care but we obviously couldn't tell that in advance.

It is still more usual here to give birth in hospital than at home though. When I gave birth the first time in fact it was almost unheard of. (Also breastfeeding support at that time was pretty nonexistent but fortunately when my third had feeding problems 10½ years later the support was wonderful.)

What I really wanted to show RuthChan was that hospital births in Belgium are very different to hospital births in the UK. Also, although I had a consultant, she is lovely and we have built up a great relationship over the years. I'll be forever grateful to her for saving my babies!

LongtimeinBrussels · 15/04/2008 10:44

Whitewine, I would say it depends on how long you are going to stay in Belgium. I meet many new parents who put their children into the Belgian system so that their children will be "bilingual all their lives". Unfortunately if your children are only in another language for a few years and then go to a country where this language isn't spoken they will forget most of it (depending on their ages).

Of course it also depends on whether or not you have the means to pay for private schooling or indeed if you are anywhere near an English speaking school. "Native" might be the only way to go. My eldest son went through the Belgian system until 16 and he moved to the British School to take the International Baccalaureate, my youngest son until he was 14 - he moved to take GCSEs and my daughter is still in the Belgian system. It's tough though with lots of tests and exams twice a year from the beginning of primary. There's lots of learning by rote too. If the child fails the year they have to repeat, even in primary!

scaryteacher · 15/04/2008 14:40

LTIB et al....do you fancy Pain Quotidien in Stockel one morning for late breakfast / coffee? Or meet in Tervuren?

Original poster

RuthChan · 16/04/2008 00:01

Thanks for all that info about births, LongtimeinBrussels.
Having given to my DD in Japan, I really don't know much about births in Britain to be honest, but it sounds like the Belgium system may have more in common with the Japanese one than the British one.
It's good to know the hospitals are reliable and I'm quite pleased to know that we can spend a few days in after the birth. Here mothers and babies spend about 4 days in hospital as routine, and I found that a good time to relax with my new baby in a safe environment without having to worry about the housework!
I'll certainly check about my DH's company insurance. I know they have it, but I'm not sure about the details with regards to the birth. That's a top priority.

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bctea · 26/05/2008 13:48

check out www.bctbelgium.com/index.php?option=com_facileforms&Itemid=150 look in the misc section for a new daycare for toddlers with Japanese being a language (along with english,french, dutch & german)

Othersideofthechannel · 23/06/2008 05:49

Hello Belgian mumsnetters, may I quickly hijack to ask for advice about holiday in Belgium on this thread

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