Panama Expat Forum

panamajane
Joined 2017
Posts: 1

6 years ago

giving birth in panama

6 years ago

Just wanted to post some hard-won info about giving birth in Panama (as a US citizen).

There is a phenomenon happening in the hospitals here to try to bill mothers/parents (if private hospital) or bill govmt. (if public hospital) to perform c-sections.

A Canadian friend of mine was pressured into having a c-section even after she was 9 centimeters dilated and just about ready to push the baby out. She was extremely upset because she ended up having to pay 5,000 dollars instead of 1,000.

I am 8 months pregnant and decided to have my baby here in Panama. I have all my medical records from the States and 3 weeks ago the baby was in a head down position (birth position). I got a reference from a Panamanian friend who refered me to Dr. Mariela Gonzales in David Panama to get a pre-birth exam. She did an ultrasound and told me my baby was in a transverse position and that because I am already 35 weeks, she said that she would have to "program me for a c-section" because it was unsafe to go into labor with the baby in that position (even thought the baby has at least 4 weeks to turn). I got pretty nerve-wracked about the information that she gave me and hardly slept that night. The next day, I vowed to get a second opinion and went with a highly recommended doctor from another American friend. The very next day, had another ultrasound performed and the baby was in the head-down, ready to birth position.
Now, how could it be that three weeks ago my baby was in this position, and then she flipped out of it, and then the next day she was in it, without me feeling anything except her regular kicks??
My theory is that the first doctor lied to me and told me my baby was "mal-ubiquada" so that I would be another 5,000 dollar bill on her list. Also, I must say her bedside manner was lacking as she was extremely rude to me.

I wanted to post this as many mothers may come to Panama to give birth for the benefit of giving their child dual citizenship, and also shortening the time needed to obtain their citizenship here (from 5 years down to three years), but that they may be unaware of some of the hospital politics surrounding birth. As always, it is super good to be informed, and always have an advocate in the room if you are the type of person who typically gets pushed around by people in so-called authority.

It meant nothing for this so-called doctor to lie to me/fear monger me into her system in favor of her pocket-book. Also, I heard from another friend that there are a lot of politics around pushing mothers to give their baby formula inside the hospital post-birth instead of breast milk, because the hospital gets pay-outs from formula companies.

For those looking for a good OB in Panama, I did find one (and I pray that I am not unpleasantly surprised somewhere in this process). Her name is Rubis Perez, out of Chiriqui Hospital in David. From what she described her role to be, she is like a hybrid midwife/OB in the sense that she stays with the Mother in labor and then leaves when the labor is complete. She gave me her personal cellphone and told me to call her when contractions start (quite different from the role of an American OB, eh?) She respected my wishes for a natural labor, etc. which I was really happy about.

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