Dr Berral

A few weeks ago I sadly suffered a miscarriage with my second pregnancy. The miscarriage was what is known as a 'missed miscarriage' or silent miscarriage, in other words there was no sign of the miscarriage until the scan and the miscarriage was not going to happen naturally and so I was advised to go to hospital for a D&C.

As with all things in Spain nothing was simple and after several rather stressful visits to the hospital my D&C was arranged. The day before the operation the hospital gave me some tablets to take during the night, they would begin the dilation process therefore making the procedure easier and less painful. When I got home that afternoon it occured to me that I had never heard of taking tablets before a D&C and so of course I did the worse thing possible and googled the tablets!!! I was confronted with a number of horror stories about these tablets, their side effects and what may happen to me during the night if I took them! I have to say that this was not the best afternoon for me to be reading these kind of stories and as you can imagine being in a rather fragile state emotionally anyway, I was beginning to get seriously stressed!!

I realised that I did not have to take these tablets, that the procedure could be done anyway, but in my fragile emotional state after several days of waiting was worried that if I didn't take them the hospital might refuse to do the op. I tried phoning the hospital but the 'helpful' receptionist ( not! ) wouldn't put me through to anyone and told me that in her 'medical opinion' I should take the tablets. My own gynocologist was unavaliable and so in desperation I decided to ring Dr Berral.

Dr Berral is a British trained Gynaecologist and Obstretrician who I had visited twice at his private clinic in Marbella. The first time for a 4D scan during my first pregnancy and the second time when I was having some gynaecological problems last year. Both times I found Dr Berral very helpful, professional and kind. I was still worried about calling though as with regards to the miscarriage I wasn't his patient and it was late at night by this stage.

When I called however Dr Berral couldn't have been more patient, helpful or kind. He talked me through why the tablets were given to me, what would happen if I took them, he reasurred me that if I didn't take them it shoudn't make any difference and spent a good ten minutes or so calming me down and making me feel better about it all. Just after I spoke to him my gynaecologist ( who I had left about 15 messages for ! ) rang back and also reassured me as to what would happen. Having spoken to both these doctors I felt much better and did take the tablets ( but naughily a lower dose than I was supposed too .... the next day at the hosptial they didn't even mention them!!!! Typical! ).

I am immensly grateful to Dr Berral for taking the time to take my call, it's really nice to know that there are dr's out there who are happy to help and can give impartial and realistic advice.

If you are looking for a gynaecologist or obstetrician in Marbella then here is some more info about Dr Berral

Dr Berral is a British trained consultant, Gynaecologist and Obstetrician based in central Marbella. He offers a range of women's services including a well women clinic, pregnancy support and private deliveries. The specialised ante-natal care includes blood testing on site, 3D/4D ultrasounds and advice on all aspects of the health of mother and baby. Antenatal classes are also avaliable along with help on making a birth plan and arranging a private delivery if you wish.

To visit Dr Berral's website or make an appointment click here...

Midwives in Spain

For a while now Indybel have been working with several great British midwives working throughout Spain. Anne on the Costa del Sol has been actively promoting our services since the summer and we are hugely greatful for her support, we are now delighted to also be working with Shawn in Barcelona and Sue in Madrid. These midwives are a great support to us foreign mums in Spain. The Spanish health care services are excellent but it's great to be able to ask questions in our own language and fully understand the changes that are taking place in our bodies.

This weekend we were contacted by another midwife here on the Costa del Sol. Her name is Marion and she has a clinic in San Pedro where she runs both pre natal and post natal consultations, gives advice on giving birth in Spain and also has a baby and vaccination clinic. She's a great contact for all mums and mums to be on the Costa del Sol and we are delighted to now be working with her. If you'd like to find out more about Marian's services, check out her website at http://www.costadelsolmidwife.com/ Don't worry if you don't live near San Pedro, she does home visits too!!

Ante-natal Classes in Spain

Around 3 months before my daughter was due I attended antenatal classes in Marbella, Spain. I found these classes invaluable for several reasons. Firstly giving birth in a foreign country is very daunting, so to be able to attend a class run by an Irish midwife who had worked in the Spanish hospital system for many years was very reassuring. We covered everything from the many stages of birth including what might happen in the days before the birth and indeed if things became difficult during the birth to what to do after the birth including feeding and bathing your newborn baby. The other fantastic thing about these classes was that through them I met a group of girls who have since become great friends and confidents. We started to meet up from around the time our babies were all 3 months and have since swopped stories and fears, given advice and information and attended all sorts of groups and baby activity meetings together. Our little ones have also grown up together and are now all great friends and are so excited to see each other. The lovely midwife who ran our classes has recently handed themover to another Irish midwife on the Costa del Sol. If anyone would like more information about the classes just let us know.

When we began Indybel we immediately contacted the midwife who ran the classes above and she very kindly agreed to take some of our flyers to her classes. She was very pleased to see that we were selling raspberry leaf tea and birthing balls, two items she felt were very important to pregnancy and not easy to find here in Spain. She has also been a fan of our dream genii pillow. We'd like to thank Anne here for all her help and support over the past few months and wish her lots of luck for the coming months!!

Due to the success of our relationship with Anne we decided to contact other English midwives in Spain to see if they would also be interested in our products. We are now delighted to be working with two lovely midwives in the Madrid and Barcelona regions. If there is anyone who is pregnant in Madrid or Barcelona who would like their details or who is pregnant in the Costa del Sol and would like details of the ante natal classes in this area ... just drop us a line at info@indybel.com

Both our Madrid and Barcelona midwives were also really pleased to see we stocked the birthing ball and one was also delighted to find our stash of natural nappies being a great advocate of real nappies .... if there are any other English Speaking midwives working in Spain who would be interested in working with us please do get in touch ... we'd love to hear from you.