Having a baby in Poland as a US citizen

My husband and I are planning to move to Gryfow Slaski in the fall. We are hoping to have our next child there, but really need some advice. We are both American citizens and only speak English. We are learning Polish, but know that we won't have the language down before we would have to use it. Also, I have an abnormally shaped uterus and I must have a C-section delivery with all my children, so I need a good OBGYN (midwives cannot oversee my care). As well, my children come early because of my uterus, so we need good care available for preterm babies.

So...what are the best hospitals in the area? Any advice for our family at all would be appreciated. Thanks!

First things first - you do know that having the baby in Poland will not entitle it to Polish citizenship automatically? A few Americans have made this mistake in the past, due to US law having the 'jus soli' clause.

Secondly - I think in your case, the best advice is to have the baby in America. There's the language barrier and an entirely different way of doing things here - while having a gynaecologist look after you is normal, other things might be different. Of course, you can get an English speaking one easily enough - but with everything, you'll have to pay.

Incidentally, it's December now and Autumn (fall) isn't until September...how will you be able to fly so late?

I'm curious how much experience you have personally with parents who come on this board or perhaps Poland in general just to birth their foreign children in Poland for citizenship? Seems like quite a move to come push out a child on Polish land to gain citizenship!? Quite the odd first order of business to handle... unless I'm missing something.

USMomma - I'll send you a PM with some information as soon as I get my son back to bed. We're currently TTC our second child and just recently was seeking a midwife for a home birth who also spoke English. I've found a great midwife who does speak English. However we're in Warsaw and that may be the reason I've been so lucky. Will you have family here in Poland already that you are joining? Are you already pregnant or hoping to conceive? We're also an American family living here in Poland although because of my husbands job.

Hi-
I'm American and I have given birth to 2 children here in Poland. The difference is that my husband is Polish and I know a little Polish. I didn't have the health issues that you have so I didn't need to know much more in Polish than "push". I think that if you cannot find a doctor who can speak English then you could hire someone as a translator/liaison (or maybe 2 people, one as a spare) to accompany you to all your appointments and ultimately to the birth as well.

On a side note, if your doctor promises to be at your birth and this is your only English-speaking contact, it would still be a good idea to have another person to help you with all the paperwork and be there just in case your doctor is late or isn't able to arrive in time. The translator can also explain some "Polish" things to you that are not language related but culture related.

I wish you all the best!

Not Poland, but google the Chen case for more. In a nutshell, it was known for mothers to travel to Northern Ireland to give birth - as the child then had automatic Irish citizenship (due to the then-in force jus soli law regardless of the legal status of the parent(s)). It was then ruled that the parents had the right to stay in the EU to look after the child, which was an Irish and by extension EU citizen.

But yes, it's also not unheard of for Americans to think that their child being born abroad means that it's automatically a citizen of the country in which the birth took place.

my experience in Gdansk, albeit nearly 7 years ago
- VBAC wasn't seriously considered by the doctor.
- my husband was originally not permitted into theatre to be with me for the section. he insisted (his argument being that I spoke very little Polish), but I believe he was successful only because it was a private healthcare birth.

- hospital facilities were a bit brutal, even going 'private'. simple things, really, like ending up after a very complicated section, lying on a bed which wouldn't even be raised up to let me lie more comfortably. After day 2 they fixed a chain with a handle on the end to the end of the bed !! and if I wanted to sit up I had to pull myself up like that.

- oh, and the food was abysmal. wouldn't have fed it to the dog. milk soup with hand-made lumps of flour-dough that were sometimes the size of a large snail. that alternated with garlic sausage ...

My American friends were all amazed at how I came home from the hospital with only 4 pounds of baby weight left to lose. Maybe it was the suppers of chicken hearts that did it?

Smacznego!

kielbasastories.blogspot.com

I attended the birth of all our kids. It is a fascinating experience for a male (less for the female :):) ) but if you are too sensitive, you`d better skip it. There are known cases of husbands who accompanied their wives and later were so traumatised they shunned marital sex. Fortunately, that never troubled me. :):)

Me too.