Months 1-3
o Visit the Health Unit. They will explain your local health care options and help you make an appointment with a local OB. See English-speaking OBs.
o If your doctor requests that you get blood tests at a Sabin clinic, bring your form (pedido) to the Health Unit to be transcribed onto embassy stationary as the embassy has a much lower rate negotiated for the tests. Sabin will give you a username and password and you will be able to get the results from all your tests online.
Months 4-6
o For the Glucose Screening Test, Sabin in QI 13 near Carrefour has large recliners that make the two-hour wait more tolerable.
o Find a doula, if desired. See Midwives and Doulas.
o Write up a birth plan
o Contact HR to have a layette shipment added to your travel orders
Months 6-9
o Brazil requires that you are tested for several Strep-B and several STDs within 4 weeks of your due date. If you do not have these test results with you at the hospital you will be tested on site and/or given an antibiotic during your labor.
o Choose a local pediatrician
o Attend 3-day antenatal class at Hospital Santa Lucia. You must call on the first day of the month to reserve a spot in that month’s course.
After the baby is born
o Decide if you will do a blood screening for your newborn. The local one is offered through Sabin (teste do pezinho), or you can mail a blood sample to the US through the Med Unit. Blood needs to be drawn in the first week after birth. If you choose the local test, a specially-trained Sabin phlebotomist will come to your house and collect the sample from your newborn. Results are available in about a week. Call 3329-8081 to schedule an appointment (coleta em domicillo). [I highly recommend this service. The phlebotomist was a total pro.]
o You will need to get a certificate of birth abroad (CRBA) and passport for your baby. See “Documenting Your Brazil-born Baby” for details.
o Visit the Health Unit. They will explain your local health care options and help you make an appointment with a local OB. See English-speaking OBs.
o If your doctor requests that you get blood tests at a Sabin clinic, bring your form (pedido) to the Health Unit to be transcribed onto embassy stationary as the embassy has a much lower rate negotiated for the tests. Sabin will give you a username and password and you will be able to get the results from all your tests online.
Months 4-6
o For the Glucose Screening Test, Sabin in QI 13 near Carrefour has large recliners that make the two-hour wait more tolerable.
o Find a doula, if desired. See Midwives and Doulas.
o Write up a birth plan
o Contact HR to have a layette shipment added to your travel orders
Months 6-9
o Brazil requires that you are tested for several Strep-B and several STDs within 4 weeks of your due date. If you do not have these test results with you at the hospital you will be tested on site and/or given an antibiotic during your labor.
o Choose a local pediatrician
o Attend 3-day antenatal class at Hospital Santa Lucia. You must call on the first day of the month to reserve a spot in that month’s course.
After the baby is born
o Decide if you will do a blood screening for your newborn. The local one is offered through Sabin (teste do pezinho), or you can mail a blood sample to the US through the Med Unit. Blood needs to be drawn in the first week after birth. If you choose the local test, a specially-trained Sabin phlebotomist will come to your house and collect the sample from your newborn. Results are available in about a week. Call 3329-8081 to schedule an appointment (coleta em domicillo). [I highly recommend this service. The phlebotomist was a total pro.]
o You will need to get a certificate of birth abroad (CRBA) and passport for your baby. See “Documenting Your Brazil-born Baby” for details.
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