Giving birth & health insurance in Budapest

[Yvonne]

Hello everyone,

my name is Yvonne, I am 30 and from Austria.

My fiancé is Hungarian, he is from Budapest, and at the moment we are living in Sydney, Australia.

We are moving back to Budapest mid September to be closer to friends and family again.

Currently I am 8 weeks pregnant and VERY nervous as it is my first pregnancy.

Still counting down the weeks, hours, minutes and seconds until week 12 hoping that everything goes well.

However, my doctor in Sydney advised to take a look into hospital/doctor in Budapest already.

I have read a lot about private and public hospitals in Budapest and have the feeling that nothing is exactly what I am looking for.

I would tend to give birth in a private hospital, it seems that Maternity is pretty good, but I am a bit worried as it does not have a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Maybe I am a bit too nervous about it but 2 friends of mine actually needed this unit for their baby after giving birth.

If you could share with me your thoughts and decisions, I would really appreciate that.

Also, does anyone have experience with health insurance if the partner is Hungarian. In Austria I would be able to be insured through my partner but not sure what it is like in Hungary.

Thanks a lot for your help in advance

Yvonne

[delphine kerboul]

Hi,

I gave birth in public hospital and was very happy with it, but I speak fluent hungarian which definitly helps (although it was not that fluent for my first child). Anyway if you are in a hospital/ maternity where there is no neonatal intensive care unit, they'll take the baby to the closest one which has.

About insurance, as far as I know you only have public insurance if you have a valid work contract, and I don't think nationality is enough, and no, you can't be insured through your partner, you have to pay volunteerily to the system (or to a private insurance I guess).

Also, if you move to hungary I don't think you'll be eligible to maternity leave or any other help because for this you need to have worked for a certain amount of months in Hungary before the birth. I'm French and it's actually similar in France.

Don't know if that helped in any way!

Delphine

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Date: Mon, 8 Jun 2015 19:52:14 -0700
From: budape...@googlegroups.com
To: budape...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [budapestmoms] Giving birth & health insurance in Budapest

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[Emily-Claire Wigan]

Hi,

I am English and both my sons were born here (now aged 3 and 1). I gave birth once at Telki hospital, which is now closed and due to an emergency my son had to be transferred to Semmelweiss for neonatal support. (This is a fantastic children's hospital but can seem a little scary, as it looks very old-fashioned.) My second son was born with an emergency c-section at Maternity, where there is some basic neonatal support available. I was extremely happy with the care I received at Maternity. I would recommend this hospital. The doctors speak good English but not all the nurses do.

I am afraid I do not know about insurance. I pay separate medical insurance.

Please let me know if you have any further questions about Maternity.

Emily-Claire.

Emily-Claire Wigan

+36 705 235 007

Sent from my iPhone

[Marion Sievers]

Hi Yvonne

I am German and had my son in Budapest 4 years ago with the help of a German speaking Doula. I would highly recommend that you get in touch with her.

http://lenardorsi.hu/eine-schone-geburt-in-budapest-geburtsvorbereitung-und-begleitung-mit-deutschsprachiger-doula/

Best

Marion

[Yvonne]

Hi Marion,

thanks so much for your response. I am really very thankful. I already searched for a German speaking Doula but getting a recommendation is always much better!

Thanks so much!

[Yvonne]

Hi Emily-Claire,

thanks so much for your reply, this is really helpful. I have heard about the Semmelweiss hospital, maybe I still take a look at it as soon as I am back in Budapest. 

I have already been in correspondence with Maternity and they seem very, very nice and friendly and helpul and answered so many questions of mine already.

Did you speak Hungarian or were you struggling with the nurses not speaking English?

Thanks so much

Yvonne 

 

[Yvonne]

Sorry, I am not sure if all my seperate responses work too well. It is my first post in this forum so I am still getting used to it :)

 Delphine, thanks so much!

i did not expect to be eligbible for maternity leave or any other help so that's all good. I will start looking into the private insurance and the other options, maybe someone else in the forum also has some experience.

thanks so much for your help. really very thankful!

[Aliz McLean]

Hi Yvonne,

none of the private hospitals have perinatal/neonatal care units, which means that if you give birth before the 37th week, you will be taken to the nearest (to your address) state hospital that does. There are 5 in Budapest, I think: Semmelweis I & II, and Honvéd are three of them, I'm not sure which ones are the other two.  

If you would like to give birth in one of the five, you need to find yourself a doctor who works there. I'm sure people here can give recommendations.

If you give birth after you completed the 37th week, you can give birth in the hospital, private or public, of your choice, with the doctor and midwife of your choice (they need to work at the given hospital), and may also be allowed to bring a doula from outside (check with the hospital). If anything gets problematic you will, of course, be taken to the nearest hospital with PCU / NCU. You can ask the hospital of your choice which one that is. For example, if you encounter complications at the Róbert Károly private hospital, you are taken to Honvéd, which is just around the corner. 

People are generally happy with Maternity; I gave birth at Róbert Károly and was happy with them, too.

I don't know about insurance. 

Have a good trip here. 

Best, Aliz

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[Nóra doula]

Hi Yvonne!

Réka Morvay's ebook (Giving birth in Hungary) is the resource for you with lot of relevant information.
It is a good idea to do your homework in time, research your options... then you have a bigger chance to pick what you need.

Do you have any kind of health issues that would make it likely that you could need the NICU? Because a healthy mom with a healthy pregnancy usually results in a healthy baby, so you then need to consider whether the specific needs of a healthy childbirth (=keeping and guarding normalcy, maternal competence and easy bonding, breastfeeding) are met in a high tech facility that specialized in emergency critical care.... there are some conflicts in my experience.

Having visited some austrian and german birthing facilities myself I'd think twice about opting for Hungary as the place of my birthing if there are other possibilities, as the general level of service quality and options is lower than in Vienna, for example, even in the private Budapest hospitals.
On the other hand, goals and expectations are very personal, many can be met in Budapest too.

If your insurance allows the use of private hospitals, don't hesitate to choose them. If there are any issues that put you in the high risk segment, that is a special consideration then indeed.

Orsi Lénárd is an experienced German speaking doula, I agree. :)
I am also a doula (birth and postpartum), speak German fluently. I also do speak English, have some experience interpreting, and am a HypnoBirthing Practitioner, trauma counseler, trained in breastfeeding support too.

There are a few other multilingual doulas and other providers listed in Réka's above mentioned booklet, so you can make enquiries about services offered even before personal visits are avaipavle to you.

Wishing all the best,

Nóra

[Claudia Illes]

HI Yvonne, 

I gave birth at Maternity and I'm pretty sure the NICU there is fine for any complications you might encounter. You should check out Robert Karolyi though, I've heard some good stories about births there also. If you'd like some info on the doctors at Maternity, just send me an email. :)

I'm from Australia and was looking for similar standards when I suddenly fell pregnant upon arrival in Budapest a year ago, so I know how you feel!

:) Best, 

C

[Yvonne]

Thanks so much for all your responses! It is very helpful and gives me a lot more confidence. thanks so much!

[Kristin Makszin]

If you are married to a Hungarian, you definitely can get into the Hungarian health insurance. You need a family based residence permit then have to pay approximately 5000 HUF per month if you are not working .

As an EU citizen, you may be able to enter the system even without being married, but I'm not sure about that .

Good luck!!!!

On Jun 13, 2015 2:57 AM, "'Yvonne' via Budapest Moms" <budape...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Thanks so much for all your responses! It is very helpful and gives me a lot more confidence. thanks so much!

[nadine....@gmail.com]

Hi Delphine,

it is an old topic but I am 5 months pregnant now and I was wondering in which public hospital you gave birth?

What were your impressions? 

Best regards,

Nadine

[delphine kerboul]

Hello,

I gave birth in Szent Istvan, which has the "Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative" label. I was very satisfied with it, and many people I know also gave birth there, I heard no negative feedback.

There are really pro-breastfeeding, have very low C-section rate or episiotomy rate, but it will be difficult to get epidural. They support natural birth.

I was very satisfied, but it really depends what you are looking for. I think the rooms where you give birth are modern and nice, but the 3 days after are quite hellish (rooms of 4 with 4 babies). For me the birth itself is more important than the conditions for the remaining 3 days, but that's a very personal question. Many doctors speak english, but it will be difficult to find a midwife or a nurse that speaks english. For my first kid my hungarian was still limited, but I did get a lot of help, especially for breastfeeding and first helps for the baby. You can contact me privately if you wish. 

I also had good comment from Semmelweis (a mother I knew had an hemmoragy, the doctor basically saved both mother's and child's lives).

Delphine

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De : budape...@googlegroups.com <budape...@googlegroups.com> de la part de nadine....@gmail.com <nadine....@gmail.com>
Envoyé : vendredi 20 avril 2018 19:34
À : Budapest Moms
Objet : Re: [budapestmoms] Giving birth & health insurance in Budapest

 

[Dina Rippon]

Hi, 

I also gave birth in Szent Istvan. It was ok. Unfortunately my preferred doctor (the ob/gyn I had been seeing during pregnancy) was not available for my delivery (which was around Christmas). The midwife who was on duty spoke no english, but fortunately I had a doula to translate, otherwise it would have been impossible to communicate. The doctor on call only appeared after the birth to sew me up (I had some tearing), and didn't even speak to me at all! I thought he was very rude and rough. But I think if you can arrange for your preferred doctor to be there for your delivery, it will be much better. Afterwards, as Delphine said, the 3-day stay was not exactly pleasant, but was actually not too bad. The nurses spoke no english at all, but the other new mums in the room did, so often it was they who helped me understand everything! And yes, natural birth, no epidural offered, but fortunately it was relatively quick for me so I was not in agony for too long! In all honesty, it was actually an ok experience, the hardest thing for me was the language barrier. I also had a lot of trouble breastfeeding, and the nurses in the breastfeeding room didn't speak a word of english, so that was difficult too. 

Best wishes, 

Dina

[nadine.mailbox]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience with me! For now I am thinking about giving birth in Margit Korhaz which is closer to me as I live in Buda, but I am not sure yet.I am still thinking about it. And I was thinking about Robert Karoly too but the price is higher of course. I have a European Union Health card which can cover some of the costs for birth-giving although not all in Margit, whereas in Robert Karoly I would have to pay for everything fully, but perhaps the conditions are much better. I don't know. Thank you very much for sharing your experience with me!

Best regards,

Nadya

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[nadine.mailbox]

Hi! Thank you so much for sharing your experience with me! For now I am thinking about giving birth in Margit Korhaz which is closer to me as I live in Buda, but I am not sure yet. I am still in the process of gathering impressions and information.

Best regards,

Nadya

On 25 April 2018 at 14:47, delphine kerboul <delphine...@hotmail.fr> wrote:

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[Karolina Kondrat]

Hello,

is it a must to stay in hospital for so many days in Hungary? Can I also do so cold Ambulance birth? and leave after few hours or next day?
Thank you.
Karolina

Dne středa 25. dubna 2018 13:47:25 UTC+2 Delphine K napsal(a):

[Nóra Schimcsig]

Hi Karolina!

It is your right to leave by law.

However, state hospitals are going to try to stop you, mostly because they are motivated by financial incentive to do so (insurance reimbursement condition is 72hrs stay), but also, because there are uncovered white spots in home aftercare.

To say: "you can leave any time, but your baby can not" is one common example for this coercion.

Hospitals are terribly underfunded in general, and having 10 moms a month who leave early is already 12 million forints difference in their budget by the end of the year. :(

To negotiate an early leave you have improved chances:

*healthy mom and baby, even better if not first baby and no complication vaginal birth

*after 24hrs (hospital is reimbursed 30%, not 0%)

*a paper from your pediatrician assuming follow-up care, like PKU screening

*a doctor or nurse in the family

*paying a sum to the hospital charity fund and telling them about this (though to _demand_ this would be forbidden by a 2009 ruling of EBF), kind of countering their financial incentive.

*having a more open-minded doctor in that actual shift.

Wish you a happy birth and nice experience,

Nóra

[Claire]

Hello All,

I gave birth in Hungary in 2012, 2015 and 2016 from 2 healthy children and one child who died from heart problem when she was 4 days. Then, I moved to Germany.

My experience is the following:

- Having choice between Germany and Hungary, I would without any hesitation choose Germany where the medical facilities are incomparable.

- St Istvan is a very good hospital regarding the natural birth and the support in the breastfeeding. But the stay in after birth is difficult. As in all public hospital in Hungary, it is overfull, you have to bring your own toilet paper, there is no soap in the washroom, the nurses are underpaid and you need after to corrupt to get some attention.
- For my two last children, I gave birth at Deli Pesti with a wonderful midwife. There are 2 highly professional midwifes working at this hospital (Agnes and Katalin), they do a wonderful job. If any problem, doctors can intervene immediately. There is an intensive care department for baby born from 28 weeks. The stay in after birth is a bit better from material point of view. But the organization is military, you have to ask explicitly to keep your baby with you in nights.
- my second child was born with a very serious heart diseases. She was declared healthy at birth. Doctors realized she had a problem when she was 2 days. She was transfered to the cardiologic hospital. She was not operable and she died when she was 4 days. Her heart problem was to see from the 16 weeks of pregnancy. I was followed in a private clinic who employed a generalist doctor as radiologist. She did not have the competencies to see it. If I could go back in the past, I would not trust/ buy this "pregnancy package" all private clinics offer in Hungary. I would (like for my 1st and 3td pregnancy )choose by my own every single doctor/midwife/doctors who follows me.

[Nóra doula]

Just a small comment: the majority of the doctors and midwives who worked in SztIstván a few years ago left that hospital after a new head of department changed the course, and these people have started elsewhere - meaning their profile being 'the best place in town for a natural birth' changed to the worse, while other hospitals improved.

This does not make your experience less relevant, just gives a context for anyone choosing nowadays.

Nóra