Are our doctors better?

Back in our country we immediately got the state health insurance for our babies and went to the pediatrician. Is our health care system better than the one in Georgia? Let’s check!

Form 100

One annoying thing happened already in the beginning when we gave the form 100 (the release form from the hospital) to the nurse. To scan it she opened the binding of the notary which we had paid a lot for.

But anyways, we did not really need this notary for the exit process, we just made it just in case. (We know that for some countries it is required.)

Metabolic Screening (Heel Prick Test)

We already did the metabolic screening in Tbilisi and paid a lot for it. So we were disappointed to learn that they had to do it again because in our country they are testing for more diseases.

This is what we ordered and paid for (it was the premium program):

The doctor in our country suggested that we do it again because they will test for many more disesases. And it will be covered by the state insurance. So basically we did it in vain in Georgia and the babies had to endure the pain twice.

Vitamin K prophylaxis

This was done in the clinic in Tbilisi after birth but still we had to do it a second time. It is to prevent internal bleeding.

Vaccinations

In Tbilisi we did

• BCG (tuberculosis) and
• Hepatitis B

Tuberculosis is not done anymore in our country so it was not required to continue with it.

Hepatitis B is only given in my country if the mother had Hepatitis during the pregnancy. There were no records of her of having it and also I think it is just standard schedule in Georgia to do it. But still we received a second dosis because this it was not 100% clear and it was difficult to ask her.

Then the babies also received rotavirus immunization orally.

All vaccinations where free of charge!

Hip Ultrasound

This is a very important milestone test and it was also done during our visit! (I think we stayed there for at least 1 hour.) This is important to prevent later problems, for example that the joint goes out of its socket. Everything was ok luckily.

Note that we also asked if there is a problem with the back like scoliosis but the doctor said it is very rare with babies and he would have seen it immediately. I was afraid that they could have it because the twins were together in the womb and we heard it from other parents.

Weight, height and head circumference

This was also checked and everything was normal.

Note that we had changed to Hip Combiotic 1 because the doctor in Georgia recommended it but in our country they said we should go back to Hip Bio Pre because it contains important nutrients and they usually give it until 1 year. Pre combiotic is only necessary when the babys have flatulence or constipation.

Our babies had some problems with Hipp Combiotic 1 and also they were already getting a little bit chubby. Well we were still happy because in the beginning they did not gain much weight, esp. one child:

Ears, Heart and Navel

Doctor said navel was finished, it had just a little colorizaton I think because we might have used too much Betadine. Ears, heart and nose were all ok.

Tongue Tie

One baby had a tongue tie and the doctor decided to cut it with a scissor so it can eat better. It was not very painful (the heel prick test was much more painful) and the baby just lost some drops of blood.

Medication and creams

We still had some creams and also Vitamin D left over from Georgia. But the doctor gave us a list of recommended medications and creams that are available in our country.

Oleovit is usually given as a Vitamin D3 supplement. Since we had problems giving the Vitamin to the baby the doctor recommended to us to give 2 drops on a spoon and give it to the baby that way. (In Georgia we had kind of a dispenser and we always had to aim for the mouth and it was very hard to see the drop.)

These are the creams the doctor recommended:

It is basically one cream for the bum and a special one against rash with zinc. (In Georgia we had Topicrem for moisture and Rash Cream.)

Baby acne

This is not a problem the doctor said. We shouldn’t use any creams.

Conclusion

We will have our next appointment with the doctor in 6 weeks. As you can imagine we were very pleased for all the things that he has done for us in just one session. Also everything was basically “free” because of our countries insurance plan. We almost could not believe it after how much we paid in Tbilisi Georgia and many things were not necessary, but how could we have known…