Expat Health Insurance & Healthcare Guide to Greece

Yes in pharmacy, sometimes no prescription needed. You pay 25% of the cost if a member of EOPPY

An expat from the United Kingdom offers her insight into the health care system on the island of Paros in Greece. Information shared includes how it compares to the UK, pharmacies, cost and more.

An expat on Paros Island in Greece offers insight about the quality and availability of healthcare on an island in Greece. Expats should be aware that there are no true hospitals on Paros Island.

Both babies born at home.Very positive experiences. Just breathing and working with the labour, hot water compressors, loving midwives made my births wonderful.Giving birth in your own enviorment makes all the difference.

For the private sector:

I chose my obstetrician first. He was affiliated with one of the 3 large private maternity clinics in Athens. It is a very large clinic.

Positive points: very clean, plenty of staff on hand 24 hours (even if they are rushed), very modern facilities.

Negative points: very expensive (around 2000 euros for the cheapest room option - 6 mothers sharing a room, not including doctors fee); impersonal; breastfeeding difficult because rooming in is near impossible; staff ill-informed about breastfeeding; Too many visitors and visiting hours are not strictly enforced by staff. I had natural childbirth with epidural. Hospital stay: 4 days. The birth experience was positive thanks to a fantastic UK-trained midwife and obstetrician. My experience with the clinic was very negative.

I went to the first midwife-run facility in Athens--but there are midwives aplenty in the villages. I had a completely natural delivery--except they coerced me into breaking my waters and starting pictocin, which made everything quite unnecessarily painful. They also gave me an episiotomy, which I was against. It's hard to stand to your convictions when going through such a hormone- and pain-fueled experience, but have supportive people around you who know your wishes. And don't let yourself alone with any medical personel whatsoever!!!! They aren't always looking out for your best interests. I stayed two days before going home with Gabriel, and the midwife only made one visit to check on us (and collect her money) -- very unprofessional. Unfortunately, they were the best I found, as I went to (literally) FIVE ob's before finding them. Greece has a very high c-section rate (almost 50%) and if you want to avoid this, you must pick your ob very carefully. Really question him. All perform routine episiotomies and discourage rooming in and nursing! If possible, I encourage you to ask about village midwives (maia's) to do your delivery, and stay home, if possible. If I had just stayed in my safe little apartment, they never would've been able to give me the pictocin and threaten me with a c-section. Only after we told them we wouldn't be using their private doctor for any emergency, but rather going to the state hospital--then they finally shut up and did their jobs. Relax. It was a mixed bag, experience-wise. Yes, I have some issues with how they mistreated me, but the alternatives were so much worse.

Fully modern American style maternity hospital. Epidural. 5 days due to c-section. Yes.