Vaccinations in Spain ....

Well yesterday I took my 3 year old for her booster MMR jab which you have to have at 3 years old in Spain. I wasn't really looking forward to it as my daughter has recently started to enjoy going to the doctors and whereas when she was a baby she'd kick and scream, she now giggles and plays and is happy to be examined if necessary. So I was thinking that having a needle jabbed into her would not be a positive experience and would put us back to square 1 in terms of co-operating at the dr's!

I couldn't have been more wrong and I'd like to say that the whole experience was fantastic. I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that this was our first foray into the Spanish social security healthy system. As we also have private health care I've always taken my daughter to private paediatricans finding it easier to get a quick appointment and being able to choose when and where to take her. Yet on top of the cost of private insurance every vaccination also costs around 70 euros. Between birth and now she had around 16 vaccinations, so that's a lot of money!!!

As I now work and pay into the social system I decided that this time round I'd make the most of it and take my daughter for her jab at our local health care centre. Our appointment yesterday was at five pm and we went armed with books and food expecting a long wait. We arrived at ten to five and were the only people there and so went straight in. The paediatrican was lovely, very smiley and funny ... chatted to my daughter and gave her some toys to play with. He was encouraging with my pidgeon Spanish and we made ourselves understood.

When it was time for the jab I couldn't have been prouder of my daugther. Expecting to 'drink' the medicine she was intrigued that it was going in her arm. Before she'd had time to see the needle it was in and out and her only comment was a slighly cross 'Oww that hurt!' before the doctor made her giggle again.

We were out by five pm and the whole experience was positive and dare I say it ... fun! I shall certainly be making more use of my local health service and feel ashamed for having been anything less than enthusiastic about the Spanish health care services in the past....