Giving birth in France
Towards the end of my pregnancy a lot of people asked me if I go to Finland to give birth. I had never even thought of that as an option after getting pregnant. My whole pregnancy was followed in France and all of the information about it was in the French registries. Besides, H's work is here, so we couldn't just take off and go to Finland for months - since it's neither recommended to fly at the late pregnancy nor with a small baby. And additionally I had heard that the French system concerning pregnancy, delivery and post-partum is very good, even better than in Finland.
So our baby was born a few months ago in Paris. My pregnancy follow-ups got to about twice a week until I went into labor some days after reaching 40 weeks. After confirming my labor had started we (I and H) were given options to stay in the "pre-work" room or to go a bigger room upstairs to wait for the labor to progress. We spent time from the early morning until the afternoon in our room after which we had another check-up to know how much I had opened. During this check-up I decided I want to have an epidural and I was taken to the delivery room. I got very nice and English-speaking midwifes and doctors to take care of me and explain everything. It all went very smoothly even though the whole labor lasted for 27 hours since my contractions started!
The biggest issue happened when the baby was born and she didn't cry. While I stayed in the delivery room, she was taken to another room. We were explained that it's usual to have some problems breathing but that she needs to be transferred to another hospital that has babies' emergency clinic. When the ambulance nurses stopped by at my room before taking our little girl, they explained very well and with good English that it's nothing critical and what are the most probable reasons for her problems. Even though it was sad to see our girl going away with them, we felt relieved knowing everything that was going on. Unfortunately though, the nearest hospital with babies' emergency didn't have any place so she was taken further outside Paris. We got a phone number which to call to in order to get information how her situation is improving.
After a few hours of sleep, the staff in my hospital told me that they try to organize a place for me in the same hospital where our baby was taken to. Or if it was not possible, they would at least offer us an ambulance ride to visit her. Later during the same day I was transferred which ended up to be a very good thing since we spent several days hospitalized. Even though the baby received several treatments, I was able to go see her anytime and time to time have her in my room. The staff in the second hospital was also very kind and tried to explain everything to us even though not everyone spoke English there. But combined with our knowledge of the French language, we managed without problems.
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| Our little darling was born with long finger nails. |
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| We got an ambulance ride to the other hospital. I decided to walk so they carried our bags instead of me. |
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| Babies' special treatment section in the hospital. Seeing other babies there we realized how lucky our baby was not to have anything more serious. |
During the week in the hospital we were in the center of the French health care system and couldn't complain at all. We got good service and had to pay 0€ for the whole time. This is why we pay taxes. Later, after getting home we were visited twice by a midwife and got to go follow the baby's weight and discuss in a maternity clinic. (The actual check-ups of the babies are done by the chosen pediatric and I chose my own doctor since she happens to be specialized also in newborns. How lucky!) And now I am offered 10 sessions of physiotherapy paid by the social security. I really don't have much bad things to say about having baby in France. Except that it might be tricky to find all the information if the system and the language are not familiar...
Traveling with a small baby
We had planned to travel to Finland for some weeks in the summer. So after the delivery we needed to start the process to acquire a passport for the baby: registering her at the city hall to get the birth certificate, send the needed documents to the Finnish consulate to get her registered also in Finland, take an acceptable photo of the little one (not so easy when she should have the eyes open, she jiggles all the time and our hands should not be in the picture) and then apply for the passport and wait for it to come. But we made it all on time for our booked flight 6,5 weeks after the girl was born.
I had thought of taking direct flights when flying to Finland and back. No extra take-offs and landings and extra traveling time with the little one. But we happened to find super cheap flights through Germany and couldn't resist the offer. So, we packed enough changing clothes, diapers and pumped milk for the baby to survive for a slightly longer travel, and took a taxi to the CDG airport. We managed everything well at the airport but I was happy I was traveling together with H. It was good to have two pairs of hands so that one could push the luggage and one the baby stroller. We could use the stroller all the way to the gate (except during the security check when I had to get the baby out in order to have the stroller scanned, too) and then leave for the staff to load to the plane. In Germany the stroller was waiting for us right after getting out of the plane again. Very easy indeed. And because of traveling with a small child we were allowed to use the priority lines and board together with the first class passengers.
I had worried beforehand that the take-offs and landings might be tricky with a baby if she gets troubled by the pressure changes. But there was no problem at all since she slept basically through both of the flights. And if she happened to wake up, it didn't take long before she fell back to sleep while giving some milk. I guess the trickiest part was to change her diaper in the small airplane toilets and I am grateful H took care of that (which he did also because he sat on the aisle seat so that I could have more privacy if I needed to nurse the little one).
So we got to Finland without any problem though at the Helsinki-Vantaa airport they only gave the separate basket part of our stroller after the flight, and the wheels ended up going to the conveyor belt with the big luggage. It was somewhat uncomfortable to carry the basket in our hands but at least we didn't have to wait in the health check queue because of having a small baby. Somehow our baby managed to sleep also most of the way in the car when we went from Helsinki to my parents' home. I was so sure she is going to be super hungry when we finally reach the destination since she had eaten less than normally due to the long sleeping times. But who would have guessed, she slept so well the following night too!
It will probably be slightly more challenging to travel with a toddler in the future, but it seems that traveling with a small baby is not really that difficult. Or at least it was not for us and I have read similar stories online from other parents, as well. It's just important to have a few bottles of milk, especially for the car rides when it is not possible to nurse.
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| We slept at the Helsinki-Vantaa airport hotel because we had a very early flight in the morning to return to France (and H needed to take a covid test before it since he was not fully vaccinated yet). I think her bed was big enough... |
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| A very happy baby at the German airport transferring. Why not to be happy when one has slept so much? |
Last months in France
Now we have already returned to France and adjusted to taking care of the baby without the help of the grandparents again. H has started to go to his workplace most of the weekdays which leaves me alone with the little one for a big part of the day. But I think it is thanks to that that I have finally found a rhythm for her day. It is so much easier when I decided to fix her feeding times exactly 3 hours apart and have her take a nap always before the next feeding session.
During our vacation in Finland H got a job there, so we will leave France behind us in a few months. We have started to go through our stuff, sell some and already pack and send something to Finland. We wish to enjoy the good things in Paris and France when we still can and when everything starts to open again (museums, movies, restaurants and hobbies are accessible with a health pass), though taking care of a baby limits our possibilities a bit. But anyway, we have to gather some more good memories before moving our life to Finland.
