Argentine Maternity unit

This week I´ve had the privilege of driving a pregnant neighbour to hospital to have her first baby.  In the to and fro of taking her family to visit, I have had a first hand view of the local public hospital (the insides of hospitals have always fascinated me since my uni days!).

A few differences jumped out at me ...

1. Bureaucracy wins over relationships

Although a super ´family-friendly´ culture, the Argentine ´rule-keeping red-tape´ mentality dominates.

For a start, visiting hours are strictly controlled by a security guard, who sits in the maternity hallway issuing a visiting pass to only ONE relative or friend at a time.  The maternity ward offers 2 one-hour slots a day, and although most visitors arrive by bus (few working class people here have access to cars) they may be turned away because the patient already has a visitor, or as occurred in our situation, the patient is involved in a programmed post-natal class!

2.  Four-legged presence

 Like in any public space in this country, the maternity waiting room had its resident stray dog!
As we waited our turn to see the new mum and bub, I asked my friends about the strangest places they´d spotted strays ... we laughed about our sightings in school classrooms, lecture theatres, churches (competing with the preacher!), university lunch-halls, even the Buenos Aires subway system!

The new bub and mum are doing well, and happy to be home now.

Posted by Julie