For those of you non-Taiwanese fathers whose children were born in Taiwan, were you present in the delivery room at the time of the birth? Did you feel welcome? Those Taiwanese father I've talked to were generally present during the delivery, so I know that it is allowed and not uncommon in Taiwan. I can't imagine that doctors and staff would treat foreigners differently.

For those of you who have had children born both in Taiwan and in the U.S. or Canada, how did the experiences compare? Overall, I'm have a more favorable opinion of Taiwan. The recovery facilities are nicer, the stay is longer, and the radition of zuo ye zi makes sense to me. I really like the OBGYN and his facilities. He can communicate in English, which helps make up for my limited Chinese.

But with the due date approaching, anxiety is increasing. Anything I should be prepared for that is specific to Taiwan that I wouldn't have read in pregnancy books?


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10/29/2006 EDIT
Should father's be present during their child's delivery?
http://www.squidoo.com/husband-in-delivery-room/
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Bring something to read.

Shouldn't be any trouble at all to get you in the DR.

No problem. I was invited -- didn't even need to ask.

My oldest son was born in Yilan in 1991....no problem. In fact, I was the first father to be in the delivery room. It was the first foreign birth in the hospital. My youngest son was born in Hsichih.......our doctor had been educated in the US and asked me if I wanted to be in the delivery room. He almost demanded I be there. Again.......I was the first father to be in the delivery room.

My daughter was born in 2003 at Mackay here in Taipei. They flat out refused to allow me in the delivery room. The doctor was a woman. She said it was hospital policy.

Yeah, perhaps my Chinese study materials. I bet hearing me practice my Mandarin pronunciation will help take my wife's mind off of the pain of delivery.

I got in a lot of trouble for reading. That's all I have to say about that.

Something tells me that won't be the case.

Hehehe. Come back on day 43 and tell us what you thought of it . Or if you can't avoid blowing a gasket, then we'll see you on day 5.

I was told by our doc that for a natural birth, they'll allow dad in the delivery room. For surgery (i.e. C-section), dad can be in the room, but only if he gets an official letter of permission. Best to ask your doctor directly. We had our baby at Mackay in Taipei. Service was excellent, by the way. Five-star.

My wife said that there would be no problem with me being in the delivery room. But I should pressure her to make sure that she verifies this.

Our OBGYN was trained in the US, has his own practice, and we are having the baby delivered in his facilities.

Some of my wife's relatives and friends have advised her to have to baby at the hospital, but I actually feel better going with the OBGYN's facilities. He is highly regarded, had modern equiptment, and nice facilities. The staff has been very professional.

The hospitals, on the other hand, seem chaotic and I worry about how sanitary they will be. I realize that the maternity ward is a completely separate section, but still... Also we are almost assured (as much as you can be in these things) that my wife's OBGYN will be the person in the delivery room. At the hospital is pretty much who is on call.

I really do not see any advantages of a hospital over an OBGYN. And I certainly don't want to change doctors this late in the game, but my wife's friends and some family have certainly gotten her worried.

Your wife's friends are being normal in their concerns about the baby not being born in a hospital. It's quite normal for many people to have at home births with qualified mid wife nurses. But I've never heard of someone giving birth in an OBGYN's office.

If your wife has been having a healthy pregnancy, meaning her health is fine and so is the baby's, the perhaps it could be fine. But during the delivery, should the baby become breach or your wife doesn't dilate to the full 10 cm for a normal delivery, or any other complications should arise, will the OBGYN have the medical equipment to take care of both of them?

Perhaps you may just want to do a pro and con list of using a hospital and your OBGYN's office for the birth.

Congrats on your future child. May all go well.

Perhaps I should clarify, it isn't in an OBGYN's "office". It is a fully equipped facility and zuo ye zi center that handles many births in Taichung. Our OBGYN owns it and lives in the same building, but we are not talking about some hole in the wall.