Choosing the Best Healthcare Provider During Pregnancy Abroad

Maternity Abroad Book
Written By Jessica Gabrielzyk

We often underestimate how much our experiences and advice can influence others. Take my friend Débora Cunha, for example. Years ago, while living in Australia and pregnant, she casually mentioned how crucial it was to find a doctor who felt like “the one” for her well-being. Little did she know, this simple advice would have made such an impact on my own pregnancy journey.

When I later found myself pregnant and living in Porto, Portugal. Débora’s words came rushing back. The care and support from my Portuguese obstetrician, Dr. Ana Sofia Fernandes and other healthcare providers, like local nurse Claudia Botica, were invaluable. They made me feel secure and comfortable, even though I was in a foreign country still learning the culture and customs.

Choosing the right professional to support you during pregnancy, especially when living overseas, can truly make a world of difference. Débora’s advice is just one of many nuggets of wisdom in the book “Maternity Abroad,” packed with practical tips and experiences from mothers who have navigated pregnancy in foreign lands.

I don’t want to spoil too much for you, but the book is filled with amazing tips that can ease your pregnancy journey abroad. So, get yourself a coffee and let’s chat about maternity abroad. I hope the book feels to you how it feels to me, like we are two friends chatting about it over a cup of coffee.

Pregnant Woman getting checked by a doctor

Key Takeaways:

1. Influence through Experience: Personal stories and advice from friends can significantly shape our choices and well-being.

2. Importance of the Right Healthcare Provider: Finding a doctor who matches your comfort and needs is crucial, especially during pregnancy.

3. Support System Abroad: Building a reliable support system in a foreign country helps manage the challenges of pregnancy away from home.

For more practical advice and personal stories on navigating pregnancy abroad, check out “Maternity Abroad.” (Coming Autumn 2024!)

Click here to download My Maternity Abroad Checklist

Jessica Gabrielzyk

Jessica Gabrielzyk is a Brazilian writer living in Switzerland. She moved there with her husband and daughter, who was three months old at the time and had strong opinions about the whole thing even then.

She writes about change.

The visible kind and the kind that happens inside a person, while everything on the outside looks fine.

Her first book, Maternity Abroad, explored what it means to become a mother far from the system you trusted. It has reached readers in more than fifteen countries across five continents. Parenting Unpacked, her second book, follows the experience of parenting through major life disruption, whether that's an international move, a career loss, a new baby, or a life that simply stops responding the way it used to. My First American Coloring Book was created to help toddlers engage with daily life in the United States through play and familiar imagery.

She is a member of SIETAR, the Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research, and the International Academy of Brazilian Literature.

She writes for the parent who is still inside it, getting through the day, and wondering somewhere underneath all of it who they are becoming.

When she is not writing, she is walking forty minutes uphill with a stroller, telling herself the exercise is the point.

Previous

Embracing Self-Doubt and Being Kind to Yourself
Next

What’s Your Reading Style? ePub vs. Hardcover