Having a baby in Vietnam

Find the best possible specialists you canm This is easier if you are in Saigon. AIf you live in the sticks, consider relocating for the birth. My daughter was born on Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa Ptovince.

After giving birth, traditional rules are totally unhygenic and include, confining mother and baby to the house for a month and not allowing the mother to bathe. Doctors recommend hygenic practices and also sunning the baby in the early morning sun to promote production of vitamin d, which is needed dor bone growth.

My wife did not follow these superstitious rules, but it was four months before I could get my baby to the beach to see the real world. She loved it.

During pregnancy the doctors will recommend your wife take folate and iron pills.
Vietnam has a list of inoculations for the baby, at least one of which is given via the mother before birth.

Grandmothers believe the men no NOTHING about babies, so expect to be allowed only minimum access while grandmum, your wife, and aunts do ALL the work.

Doctors do encourage breast feeding. There is no doubt about it from a medical view: Breast is best.

Various quality formula milk is available  but the good stuff is very expensive. The hospital and relatives will give you cans of formula for the nursing mother to improve her nutrition, not for the baby.

That's a start. Read up as much as you can about pregnancy yourself, so rhay you have some ammunition doe qhen the women in yoir wife's family want to fill her with old wive's tales and archaic superstition.

Good luck.

Besides the medical aspects, there are the whole set of questions revolving around naming the baby, birth registration, and dual citizenship.  Most of the discussion here has revolved around the US rules and process but as you are an Australian, hopefully your countrymen will chime in.

I believe Vietnamese law dictates that in order to have a full foreign name (without Vietnamese first name), the baby must be registered as Vietnamese citizen first.  If not, s/he will be considered a foreigner who applies for Vietnamese citizenship, and s/he must have a Vietnamese first name.

This is what I posted a while ago about naming a child born to a foreigner and a Vietnamese spouse:

"According to Minh Gia Law Firm in Hanoi and Hoang Phi Law Firm in Saigon, if the child acquires a foreign citizenship first, then the parents must apply for Vietnamese citizenship as if the child is a foreigner even though s/he is born to a Vietnamese parent and in a Vietnamese hospital. 

In doing so, the birth certificate must include a Vietnamese name because any foreigner who applies for Vietnamese citizenship must be called officially by his/her VIetnamese name.  OTOH, if the parents choose to give the child Vietnamese citizenship at birth (a written agreement between the parents is required), then the child, a native born, can have his/her full name in any language as long as it's written in Roman alphabets. 

As there is more hassle applying for Vietnamese citizenship than a foreign one, it's advisable to have Vietnamese citizenship first."

Originally, it was the answer to an American father, but if the father isn't American but Australian, Norwegian, or Japanese, the Vietnamese law regarding the naming of the child is still the same, I would think.

If you don't mind that your child will carry a Vietnamese first name for the rest of his/her life, then the order of the citizenship doesn't matter, but make sure the name is something his/her English-speaking friends can pronounce and it doesn't have a negative connotation in English language.  Children (and adults too) can be cruel when it comes to teasing and taunting (my personal experience.)

@TigerPlease
I am in the same situation like you. Only that we are 2 weeks earlier.
I recommend to go for the first check-up soon.
And make sure that your woman take multi-vitamine medicine.
Folic Acid (vitamine B9), vitamine B12, iodin, iron and calcium are important during pregnancy.
Some days ago, we went to the first check-up in the Hanh Phuc Intl. Maternity Hospital (clinic in D1). We choosed a Vietnamese female doctor. You can also choose a Vietnamese or western male doctor. We paid VND 500'000 for the doctor's advice (western doctor about 1 mill. more) and VND 300'000 for the ultrasound.
In 3 weeks we must go again for the blood count.
http://www.hanhphuchospital.com/Health- … 666-0.html

Good luck for you and your gf.
I hope we can read only positive experience in future here in this thread.

@ralphnhatrang
"After giving birth, traditional rules are totally unhygenic and include, confining mother and baby to the house for a month and not allowing the mother to bathe. Doctors recommend hygenic practices and also sunning the baby in the early morning sun to promote production of vitamin d, which is needed dor bone growth.

My wife did not follow these superstitious rules, but it was four months before I could get my baby to the beach to see the real world. She loved it."

My wife told me the same.   
And I could also see it after her sister has her second baby.
I hope I can avoid that she doing the same. But she listen to much to her mother regarding Vietnamese traditions.
Probably I will have to fight to see my baby during the first months. 

@THIGV
Does Vietnam accept dual citizenship?

Andy Passenger wrote:

@THIGV
Does Vietnam accept dual citizenship?

Sorry to step in instead of waiting for THIGV's answer.  I just happen to see the question and I do know about this subject well,  hope THIGV doesn't mind. 

The law was amended in 2008 (effective 2009) to allow dual nationality. 

My great grandniece is Vietnamese and Taiwanese at birth.   
My niece and her children are Vietnamese and German. 
My grandnephew and his daughter are Vietnamese and German by marriage and birth respectively. 
A cousin-by-marriage and her husband are both Vietnamese and American.
The owner of the nail salon I frequent here in Saigon is Vietnamese and American by reclaiming his Vietnamese citizenship.
The housekeeper at the last building we lived had a baby who is Vietnamese and French at birth. 
She'll also be Vietnamese and French by marriage when her husband moves her and the baby to France.
My niece's best friend and her son are Vietnamese and American by marriage and adoption respectively.

Thank you Ciambella

These are good news.
Because when I register the children in my country, they automatically gets citizenship.
And a registration in my country is important for my future children (e.g. for financial security after my death).

"After giving birth, traditional rules are totally unhygenic and include, confining mother and baby to the house for a month and not allowing the mother to bathe. Doctors recommend hygenic practices and also sunning the baby in the early morning sun to promote production of vitamin d, which is needed dor bone growth."

The one month confinement rule is also practiced in other south east asian countries and most probably came about before modern western medicine arrived in the region.

It actually makes a lot of sense if you consider history and to a certain extent a country's pollution/hygiene standards/sanitation practices.

The biggest risk to a new borns health ( and to the mother, who may have gone through a tough labour and still very weak) are infectious diseases, whether it be water borne, air borne, or some grubby kid/adult hocking/coughing/picking their nose and flicking it away.

It may not be life threatening, but it can cause alot of worry and heartache if the bubbs falls ill after only 1 week and struggling to breath.

Infectious diseases such as meningitis still occurs in public hospitals in first world nations.  I have a friend who's son caught meningitis at a public hospital in Australia, it was identified and treated but the doctor said he is exhibiting small signs of parkinsons disease. Im not a doctor, so i can't comment on any of the risks regarding infectious diseases in this country, this is a kid I know personally.

The one month confinement allows time for new borns develop their immunity and mother to get back to good healthy especially if they have lost a lot of blood during child  birth.

My theory is that "back in the day" everyone practiced the one month confinement rule  because modern medicine was not advanced enough to treat very simple bacterial or viral infections. When you bathed, water was probably taken in buckets from a river where some horse/cow/human excreted upstream. To me, in that scenario it totally makes sense to confine yourself for one month.

Pointless in this day and age, with an abundance of clean water, modern medicine, western trained doctors and private foreign hospitals ... but then again we are in HCMC.

Sunning the baby is recommended to prevent Jaundice, and should be done without fail.
Jaundice makes the bubbs skin go yellow, the liver in the bubbs is struggling to break  toxins (bilirubin) , those toxins are then released in the blood. Sunning the bubbs or photo-threapy will break down the toxin into a form that the body can pass through the  system.

The bubbs can still develop  jaundice even if they're sunned on a daily basis, but the treatment is straight forward and 100% effective. They just zap the kids for a day or two under UV light and the problem goes away. Their poo then literally becomes this sticky black goo, which is the toxins expelled from the body. (personal experience).

My two cents worth, do the one month confinement simply to keep mum and grandma happy, because hormones are still off the charts from pregnancy/child birth, because the last thing you need is mum to go develop post natal depresssion because dad is not listening   have mum eat lots of pork and do what ever sounds logical to you.

Such an emotional sharing.

Thanks everyone for the replies so far and good luck to you too Andy.

We are currently in Hoian and moving on to Nha Trang in a week. Have already been and had blood tests done but will need to source some vitamin/supplements.

I'd say we will spend 2-3 weeks in Nha Trang and then head closer to HCMC to settle down and prepare. We are considering Vung Tau as home base. We've stayed there a few times before. My girlfriend's family is in Saigon so seems like the logical choice to me.

Some relatives will go way OTT trying to endear themselves to the baby so it will give them money later.

They have no concept of hygiene and biology.

They will use your child to blackmail you for money.

Thaiger wrote:

Some relatives will go way OTT trying to endear themselves to the baby so it will give them money later.

They have no concept of hygiene and biology.

They will use your child to blackmail you for money.

It seems you've had some bad experiences.
But the most of other expats are happy with their children and the family of their wifes.
I think, it only takes a little human knowledge, time and brain to find a good wife who does not exploit you.

2AM wrote:

have mum eat lots of pork and do what ever sounds logical to you.

Why eat lots of pork?
Too much meat is not good for health.

We all have our different views on 'Logic'

Pork is protein.   Folic acid is found in dark green, leafy vegies.

As in all things, balance is the key.

Ethos, Pathos, Logos:  Logic always comes last...

The fats in the pork gets processed in mums system and transferred into the breast milk. Bubbs becomes nice and plump. (Thats my theory behind the superstition).

As soon as the bubbs comes out into this world their little bodies use up lots of energy and actually
lose weight after a 1-2 weeks. Everything they consume usually comes out the other end within a few hours.

I think the idea that too much meat is not good is a myth, too much of any type of food is not good.

Protein is good for muscle repair and growth, which is what meat provides.
It is too much of unsaturated fats or trans fat that is not good, often found in butter, cooking oils and  fatty cuts of pork and beef, on the other hand they sure do taste delicious... Mmm... Thit Kho

"It is too much of unsaturated fats or trans fat that is not good, often found in butter, cooking oils and  fatty cuts of pork and beef, on the other hand they sure do taste delicious... Mmm... "

..as evidenced by the increasing number of fat kids waddling around...

Welcome to Capitalism, Viet Nam.   The Barbarians are at the gates...     

2AM wrote:

I think the idea that too much meat is not good is a myth, too much of any type of food is not good.

You contradict yourself in this sentence. 

Bazza139 wrote:

"It is too much of unsaturated fats or trans fat that is not good, often found in butter, cooking oils and  fatty cuts of pork and beef, on the other hand they sure do taste delicious... Mmm... "

..as evidenced by the increasing number of fat kids waddling around...

Welcome to Capitalism, Viet Nam.   The Barbarians are at the gates...     

I full agree that.

The mother of my wife cooks almost every day meat and eggs.
And the children and teenager in the family drink and eat tons of sugary food stuff and get fatter and fatter.
My biggest challenge will be to protect my future children from this.

Before I moved to Vietnam my last health checkup showed that I have never been healthier in my life (with a very balanced diet with little meat during the last years).
Now I have been living in Vietnam for 6 months and have become 5 kg heavier. 
It is really not easy to escape the eating habits of the family.

Semantics!
This is a forum post, not a university thesis. ;P

I think most people reading it understands the underlying message.

Carbs plays a big factor and nearly every meal has a large serving of white rice or rice noodles.  Brown rice is more expensive not commonly eaten.

Brown rice is expensive in supermarkets, but only slightly higher than white rice at neighbourhood wet markets.  Look for them under "gạo lứt".  A week before Tet, I bought two different kinds of white rice at 20K and 25K/kg and two different kinds of brown rice at 25K and 28K/kg.

In reply to Andy (sorry to be off post)
It seems the all VN wives want to fatten their husbands t9o prove that they look after their husbands 'properly'. After my weight had increased by 10%, I informed my wife that from now on I would not be eating as much as she wanted. My weight then returned to normal.Many friends have had exactly the same problem.
Good luck.

Not really off post Ralph.  The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.

Consciously or not, the kids copy your example.

Correct Nutrition is integral to self-awareness...

Many VN also think rhwy should aimilarly fatten their babies, too, which is also unhealthy.
Re: birth certificate for your baby
The hospital will give you a Record of Birth saying that X gave birth to a male/female child at Y hospital on Z date. You lodge this with your application for a birth certificate with the province Justice Department. The birth certificate will show only the mother's name if she is not yet legally married,  in which case the baby must have a VN name and citizenship (unless the law has changed in the last few years). If the mother is married, it is still a good idea dor the Birth Certificate to show VN citizenship so that the child will be permitted to attend a government school in VN later.

Wedding parties in VN are to announce to the village that you are a couple and can be arranged at any time before or after you legally marry.

I guess reading all this my main concern is the birthing of the baby. I read alot of horror stories surrounding certain hospitals in HCMC resulting in death or near death experiences.

As far as the girlfriends family is concerned, they are a relatively small family who my girlfriend provides for from her own stable income. I don't see any of the above concerns happening, we have been traveling around Vietnam and Australia the past 2 years and see them time to time. Her mother is more than welcome to play her role in the raising of the child when we settle down. The child won't be left with anyone else.

I've since put my girlfriend in touch with an expat woman who has already had one child in Hanoi, so I'm hoping she can gain some good advice from her in the coming weeks.

I'll still have plenty of questions I need to work out in between work and the vomiting. That's life!

Thanks again everyone.