In honor of my due date....and the fact that I'm still pregnant (very pregnant) and having this baby is really the only thing on my mind (that, food and fitting into my real clothes again) I thought this would be an appropriate time to detail the highlights of my 40 weeks of pregnancy in Brazil.
From start to finish the cooking of this little Brazilian baby has been an awesome, weird and spectacular way to experience Brazil. We already knew that Brazilians loved babies, so why not go ahead and find out how they love pregnant women. Done....almost.
After finding out that Brazil has a 90% and higher cesarean rate, we began to choose our obstetrician carefully. The medical unit at our embassy researches and keeps a list of local doctors and specialists that not only speak English, but who's care is on par with that of doctors in the United States, which is mostly, but not always, in my opinion, a good thing. Having found out we were expecting in the summer (read: winter) months when most Brazilians take their long holiday, we were initially visiting a wonderfully nice OB who had a 95% cesarean rate. Though she promised me I could "attempt" (circus stunt-style?) a natural birth we also know that numbers don't lie. So we stayed with her for a bit, until we could transfer to another OB who is virtually the only other obstetrician who promotes and encourages natural birth in the city. If you are Brazilian and have even heard the words "parto natural" you know the name Dr. Rachel.
We have since learned that obstetricians, by law are required to remain with their patients the entire time they are laboring, which can be lengthy and obviously cuts into the number or patients that one obstetrician can take on at a time. Therefore they schedule a c-sections, which they claim, emphatically, are less painful than a natural birth and think we are crazy to attempt childbirth any other way. They also love the convenience and so do the obstetricians who can, as a result, load up on clients and assure no overlaps in laboring. Not at all unlike the United States is becoming.
In the waiting area at my first appointment with our new obstetrician, just 12 weeks pregnant, I found myself surrounded by beautiful, thin Brazilian mother's with babies that looked to have just been born hours before. I was dumbfounded at the luck of the genes of these people...until my name was called. An hour and a half later than my scheduled appointment and I was beckoned to step on the scale and given a strict weight-gain guideline of 12 kilos. This was nearly 20lbs less than I had gained (and subsequently fought losing) in my previous two pregnancies. As my charts were hand written on loose leaf notebook paper I also began to realize why my wait time was so standard and also why why my pregnancy here in Brazil would be so much more personal...and healthy than my pregnancies with the boys in Florida. Having taken over an hour with Paul and I to go over history, previous pregnancies, existing children, hobbies, favorite restaurants, etc. we felt like we were really people having a baby, not just another chart passing through the hands of our doctor.
In terms of caring for people with hearts and bodies and lives, the US could really learn a lot from Brazil. In terms of waiting times, American patients would likely be more patient with their wait time, knowing that the care that the quality and humanized care that they would be receiving would be worth their time flipping through Parent's magazine.
I have been greeted at both entry and exit to all appointments and ultrasounds with abraços and beijos and my hands stuffed full with tiny cappuccinos and bags of warm pão de queijo after my having my blood taken each and every time. I have even been serenaded at several lab appointments by a gentleman playing acoustic guitar while I wait.
Nearly all waiting areas that don't require an appointment, like the labs, give you an option upon taking a number to select "Preferencial" if you are pregnant, taking you to the front of the line. Even large grocery stores, hail a "Gestantes" line that includes chairs for sitting as your items are rung up and includes the elderly, handicapped and those with small babies (or screaming children we have learned!) I would have never been one to look "weak" and use the "stork" or "expecting mother" parking spaces in the US, but Brazilians insist that you use them, pulling you from one line to the next and well, waiting in lines here is like waiting for paint to dry, so you learn to take a break when you can get it.
If I was ever uncomfortable with the signature belly touch that accompanies pregnancy (and I was) Brazil has been the place to get over it. Brazilians "ooh" and "ahh" over the miracle of pregnancy, want to touch your belly, unload your shopping cart for you and tell you all about their own children and grandchildren.
Only time (hopefully only minutes or hours) more will tell the rest of our story of pregnancy in Brazil and our little Brazilian baby will be in our arms before we know it. Although she will not have Brazilian citizenship, but will always be a part of Brazil and Brazil a part of her.
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