A few weeks after giving birth, I had a fever for a few days but only during the evening. We went to the 24 hour health post near us, only to find it was "closed for renovations" i.e. they didn't have enough money to run the place. We waited a few more days and then decided to go to the hospital, thinking it would be a quick visit to get some antibiotics.

We arrived at the hospital at 11am and were seen at 3pm, only after Fabs kicking up a fuss. I wasn't a priority as I wasn't pregnant. We were at a maternity hospital - of course everyone was pregnant!!!

The doctor thought I had a breast infection because of the fever but because my stomach was also sore ordered an ultrasound. However, they don't do ultrasounds until after 5.30pm.

I finally had the ultrasound and the first the Doctor (who fortunately spoke really good English and had visited Chester!) said was that either my ovary had haemorrhaged or they had left a foreign body in my uterus. He ordered an x-ray and still couldn't be sure. So he said I had to have a CT scan at another hospital.

The doctor at the other hospital wasn't answering the phone, then when it was finally arranged we had to wait for an ambulance to take us. About 11pm we finally got the ambulance to the other hospital. They nearly wouldn't see me as I had my baby with me and of course Fabio to translate.

Because we were in the ER, with lots of ill people and I was sitting across from a chained up prisoner and his armed guard, they decided that wasn't the best place for me and a baby, so they put us in a back corridor.  We waited another few hours, finally had my CT scan, then waited another few hours for an ambulance to take us back to the maternity hospital. No one would tell us the results of the CT scan and I was put in the labour ward  at 2am and told I would have another c-section to see what it was. We kept asking what it was but no one would tell us. We said that I wouldn't go into surgery until someone told us what was going on. The nurse said that she didn't know and needed to talk to a Doctor. She came back and said that I would go in for surgery at 7.30am

I thought it the c-section would be the same as last time with Fabio there but he wasn't allowed. So it took an amazing nurse about 20 minutes to calm me down talking to me. Then epidural took ages and was extremely painful as I was so tense. Because it was only a few weeks since my last epidural it took ages to take effect, just as they were about to give me a general anaesthetic it took effect. After the surgery I asked what it was and they said it was just a bag of pus.

I went into recovery at about 8.30 and waited for the epidural to subside. Last time I was there for a couple of hours, this time at 1.30 pm the doctor from the first c-section came to see me. He said that the first c-section was really dangerous, that I was bleeding a lot and nearly needed a hysterectomy. All of this was news to me. He said that he had to tell the truth and that the resident had left a swab in me and it has caused an infection..  26 hours after going to the hospital they finally admitted it. At this point I just said ok it's happened there is nothing we can do to change it and at least both Bubs and I are ok.

I was taken to my room which had 2 beds and was told that my husband could use the other bed, as I would be hospital for another week. (Last time, there was 3 beds and the husbands weren't even allowed to use the bathroom and had a chair to sleep on!)I still had the epidural needle in, a catheter and a drain in my uterus where the infection was.

The nurses were amazing, Fabio and I both had meals (again, last time the husbands weren't even allowed to eat our leftovers!), I was checked on constantly. Bubs should have had his first health check but we were in the hospital so we couldn't go. We were told he would be looked at at the hospital but when we asked the Doctor, he said he couldn't. Then sheepishly came back and checked him. Basically we were getting VIP treatment as they were worried what we would do.

The doctor came from the first surgery came to visit me a few times, making sure I knew that it was the resident (and not him the leading Doctor of the surgery) that left the swab in. We knew one of the nurses in the first c-section and the doctor said as she was our friend that made me his friend, so we should know that he went above and beyond because we were all friends.

At this point we kept saying that we wanted my medical notes and were assured that when we left we would get them. I finally left on the Tuesday, 5 days after going to get checked out - with out my notes. They were supposed t be ready on Thursday but some doctors hadn't signed them, then it was a holiday so we couldn't get them. 6 days later we finally got my notes.

There was no mention of me needing a hysterectomy, no mention of the how bad the first c-section was and it was confirmed at 4.30am on Friday that there was a foreign object in my uterus and we were told 9 hours later. Obviously it's not great that they left some thing in me! But what upset us the most was the lies and how it was hidden from us. Fabio overheard the doctors where I had my CT scan saying to send me back asap, how they were glad it wasn't their fault. He also heard a nurse saying that they didn't want to be the one to tell us as it looked like Fabio would punch them!

Throughout the whole process I do have to say that all the nurses were amazing and very supportive. It just upset me that just as I was feeling better and being able to pick up Bubs and do things, I was back to square one and also having to clean the drain and change the dressing.

The maternity hospital is supposed to be the best hospital in Joinville for giving birth, even above the private ones. I heard that is did happen to a friend of a friends in a private hospital as well. I understand that accidents do happen and I can't fault any of the other treatment and the care from the nurses. I think that  the whole health system needs to be more transparent and explain things to the patient and give them options. I feel like it is a "I am the Doctor and I know best" culture. Even when I was talking about my birthing plan the doctor was telling me no to things, nothing was explained to me when I went in for the first c-section. I have since found out that if they had done some more tests and given me oxygen, I may have been able to have a normal birth. A mum friend also told me that the baby's heart beat normally slows down before you are just about to start pushing.
But at the end of the day I am fine and I have a beautiful, healthy smiley baby!

Well the baby was finally born!! The UK doctors got the due date wrong - 6th of March and the Brazilian doctors got the due date wrong - 15th of March!!! I ended up having an emergency c-section which I was really upset about but I have a healthy happy baby boy so that is all that is important.

I wanted to give an outline of how everything went, as I have no insurance and used the public health system the whole way though. I was able to find lots of information about giving birth in Brazil with private care but nothing with public. This is based on my personal experience in Joinville, Santa Catarina.

1.                 Pre-natal care

The day I found out I was pregnant was a Saturday, so we had to wait until Monday for me to see a doctor. Fabio called around and for me to be seen and checked by a doctor it would have cost about R$300 or I could go to a lab and pay R$42 for just a blood test. Obviously we chose the latter!

They took some blood and the results were available in an hour. We got a print out of the results but even Fabs didn't understand if we were pregnant or not, we went back asked the receptionist who didn't understand either, checked with a nurse and we and the whole waiting room found out it was positive!

We were going to the UK in a couple of weeks, so we chose not to go and see a doctor but for me to be checked out when I got to the UK.  I did however buy some pre-natal vitamins which were R$32 for a month's supply

While in the UK everything was great and people were really helpful at getting me seen and "booked in". However the midwife did accidentally call me and start moaning she had a very demanding patient who was only here for 4 weeks form Brazil, not realising she had called me back instead!!! I managed to get a free ultrasound, folic acid tablets and was "booked in" to the UK system.

When I arrived back in Brazil, we went staring to my local posto de saude, which is like a health centre and we managed to get an appointment for the next day to be booked into the Brazilian system.

This appointment took about an hour, it was mainly getting lots of information, have a few quick blood tests and signing things to say if I didn't show up for appointments they would find me and follow up!! Which I highly doubt would happen!

I then had to go to the Municipal Lab to get extra  blood tests. They gave us a time to turn up - which they give to everyone, everyone turns up at the same time and it's first come first serve. This is how everything worked throughout y whole pregnancy. This would be my first gripe with the whole system, there is a lot of waiting as everyone has the same appointment time. Their justification is that so many people don't bother showing up, so by doing it this way the people who want help get seen and time is wasted on the people who don't show up.

The results were available a week alter and we had to go back and pick them up. This would be my second gripe, you have to do a lot of running back and to to different places for different things.

I went to the health centre for my first doctors appointment with my results, again there were lots of questions, she checked the results, listened to the heart beat. My appointment was at 1:30pm but I wasn't actually seen until 3:30 - again because they give everyone the same time. The doctor gave me an slip to get an ultrasound done. These were the only things I had to pay for. You basically get this paper approving that you need an ultrasound then you have to find a place to have it done.

My first ultrasound cost R$70, I got some photos, and all the details.

From then on I had appointments with the doctor every month. Again, waiting about 2 hours to be seen and having about 10 minute appointments where she would check results listen to the heart beat etc. I still had to go over to the municipal lab and do my blood tests, glucose test, urine et;c every trimester at the municipal lab, then take the results back to the health centre.

Once I hit the final month, I was going back to the doctors every week to check the heart beat. I had less waiting time with these ones, as I was put at the front of the queue. The doctor hadn't given me the "order" to do a Group B streptococcus (GBS) test which had to be done before the 37th week. By that point I was 36 weeks and 4 days, however there were no appointments available so I was late having it done. I managed to get an appointment at the maternity hospital for 7am on a Sunday morning. They put a rush on my results and I was able to get them by checking online an hour before my appointment with the doctor!!

Over all during the pregnancy I paid:

• R$70 for my first scan
• R$170 for my morphological scan. The place where I had my first scan had closed down. So I had my second at Lumius and was bit unsure of why this one was so expensive. However, I did get a DVD of the whole scan and the place was much nicer and cleaner. I got quotes from other places between R$160-220. I went with Lumius because of the free DVD!
• R$70 for my final scan, at Lumius again, so I think in general the morphological one is expensive
• R$32 for a months worth of pre-natal vitamins - I bought a load in the UK so I only had to buy 1 months supply in Brazil
• R$36 for 1 months supply of iron tablets. I was anaemic in last month. Fabs ran around and found the tablets were about R$60 but we managed to find a discount place where you didn't need a prescription, as they are only available in prescription.

2.                 The birth

I started having contractions on the Saturday - the day after my UK due date and a week before my Brazilian date. The contractions were really sporadic and coming from the front so I dismissed them as Braxton hicks. However on the Sunday, I was woken up at 2am with more contractions and they were becoming pretty frequent. I hadn't done any birthing classes (although they are available, by the time we looked into going to one, the only ones were past my due date) but from cast amounts of online research I knew I shouldn't go in until my contractions were for an hour, every 5 minutes, lasting a minute. Mine were averaging every 7 minutes lasting about a minute long. I got Fabs to call the hospital to see if I should go in. The woman said she wasn't sure and to come in!

I got to the hospital (Maternidade Darcy Vargas) and saw the triage nurse and waited to see a doctor. By this point my contractions were becoming less frequent, so I thought I would be sent home. I finally saw the doctor after about an hour. Some woman had gone in when they called MY name and had been admitted under my name! Which made me laugh as the Doctor's name was also Jocelyn, so I'm surprised they didn't have a conversation about having the same name and then realising it was the wrong person!

The doctor checked to see how dilated I was and it turns out I was 7cm! (10cm and you are ready to start pushing and deliver!) I was really surprised as the contractions were lest frequent. She said I was definitely not Brazilian as most Brazilians don't know when to come in and come in at 1cm dilated!

I was taken to the ward which was a  corridor divided into bays by walls with curtains but with open at the top. So it was private but you could still hear what was happening. Although, I don't the nurses and doctors knew, as they seemed to think it they stood out side the curtain and talked about the gringa she wouldn't hear! One of the nurses - Camilla spoke English and was lovely!

Fabs was running around for about an hour doing baby work, they gave me an ID bracelet and took my thumb print. The baby's heart beat was being monitored every so often and I was checked to see how dilated I was.  At 9cms I was told to have a therapeutic shower for 30mins but I got so hot that I came out earlier!

They then checked my dilatation again and the heart beat again. I was still 9cm and my waters hadn't broken yet. Then suddenly a lots of nurses came in and 2 doctors, one of them broke my waters and the other explained that the baby's heart beat had slowed down and I needed to have a c-section. I was devastated. The nurse told me to go and shower again because of my waters being broken. So I showered and the nurse get asking if I was ready, she ushered me in to the operating room where there was a whole tem of people waiting for me. Fabs was made to wait outside at this point. I hadn't realised how urgent it was until now, as there was this AWFUL woman who was shouting at me for tying and putting my robe back on, trying to jam needles in my hand and shouting at me for that. Fortunately one anaesthesiologist - Bruna spoke English was trying to explain things to me. I asked he to tell the woman to stop shouting at me, which she did but it made no difference! Bruna gave me an epidural - I think it was her, but again she was lovely explaining things to me.

By this point Fabs was suited up, they had put a screen over me and he came to sit with me through the procedure. It was pretty traumatic as I could hear all this beeping that kept slowing down and speeding up and I wasn't sure if it was my heart beat of the baby's then we heard crying and he was born at 14:55!!! He was cleaned up and brought to me for a minute, where he clung onto me and then when they took him away he grabbed the wires on me. It was heart breaking. Fabs went off with him to ve checked out while I was stitched up which took about half an hour.

I then went to the recovery room where I was supposed to stay for about 3 hours until I could feel my legs. At this point Seth was brought to me and he stayed with me. Fabs wasn't allowed to see me until I was in my room, I was ready but no one told the other sector so I didn't end up seeing Fabs again until about 7:30.

My room was with 2 other women and an ensuite shower and toilet. There were lockers, a sink in the room and a TV. Here you are allowed one person to stay with you the whole time and the baby stays with you as well. So not much sleep with 3 babies and 3 couples!

They also have a "milk bank" where if you are having problems you can go 24 hours day (even when you have left) and get help with breast feeding which was great.

Overall my experience at the hospital was great. The nurses and doctors (bar that one woman) were really nice and helpful, a few people spoke English but even if they didn't I understood most of what they said. The hospital even though it is a public one is supposed to be the best in Joinville including the private ones. I would say patient care wise it was great but it was old and could have done with updating. There were lots of broken tiles in bathrooms etc. But over all my experience was good. I went in on Sunday morning and was allowed out on Tuesday morning.

That weekend they had 80 births!!!

3.                 Some random side points:

•  I did yoga with Purna Shanti Yoga, which was amazing. I highly recommend doing pre-natal yoga. For me that was my only interaction with other pregnant women and while I couldn't always express what I wanted to say it was good to listen to what other pregnant women were going through as well.
• I had a birthing plan, we had a doula come and talk to us at my yoga class and she said for the hospital to actually take notice of your birthing plan. You need to have it signed by someone at the hospital and then taken to the Cartorio to be signed there as well.
• Be prepared for a lot of waiting around at appointments, lots of to-ing and fro-ing. I also found it ridiculous that to make an appointment at the health centre, we had to actually go there, you can't do it by phone!

 Overall, my whole experience of being pregnant and giving birth with the Brazilian health care system was good!! So far the after care has also been good!