In Japan, the hospital stay can be anywhere from 4 to 10 days, depending on choice of hospital or birth clinic. Extended days are usually for women who delivered via C-Section or who had a birth with complications. In the case of my birth clinic I had a 4 day stay.
As with my prenatal visits, every thing that would happen throughout my hospital stay was meticulously detailed in my hospital handbook. Daily checkups for baby and me, blood tests, breastfeeding “classes”, baby care “classes”- nearly every hour was scheduled for us.
At first, I hated the idea of staying in the hospital after birth. What was I supposed to do for four days? I had only been exposed to the ~ American~ birth experience, where others are routinely discharged within 24-48 hours after giving birth. Even Duchess Kate was able to leave after giving birth, and she was royalty.
Private Room
After my two hour rest in the LDR, baby was brought in for our first time nursing. Then, baby was off to the nursery, and I was escorted to my room, a private, Japanese style room.
Private rooms generally come with a per night extra fee. I chose a private room because I wanted:
- my husband and in-laws to visit when they wanted without having to worry about disturbing others.
- to have as much “me time” as possible and honestly was not into the idea of sharing space with others.
- to Skype, text, browse the internet, read, etc without disturbing my roommates.
There was a misunderstanding with lights out and using shower. Apparently, I wasn’t to use the shower after 5pm and lights had be off by 9. I didn’t find this out until the second night.
Perhaps it was the hormones and butt pain, but I less-than-kindly let hospital staff know that there was no reason to have selected a private room and pay extra if I can’t use the shower or watch Netflix in my room.
Hospital Stay
Instead of resting after going to my room, I felt an immediate rush and was unable to relax. My room was like a hotel. I had a wardrobe, tv, bed, dresser, sink/vanity area, and a unit bath with a washlet toilet.
There were several light switches, including an adjustable light above my bed, perfect for reading or late night web browsing slash YouTube binging. I even had my own thermostat. Perfect.
I unpacked my hospital bag, snacked on delicious olive oil and sea salt crackers, emailed my mom, caught up on the latest celebrity gossip on my favd trifecta of Oh No They Didn’t/Bossip/Mediatakeout.
I already told the nurse that I wouldn’t be going to the nursing room for the 6: 30 feeding, but i decided that I should rest. After all, it was a busy day. I put down the iPad, texted my husband goodnight, texted my mom about the delivery, and finally went to bed.
Day 1
In the morning, I was in pain. My pain relievers had worn off, and I was feeling the after effects of my episiotomy.
I hobbled to the bathroom, ever grateful that I had a washlet toilet so that I could clean myself and get some relief from the warm water.
When I made my way to the nursing room for the 10:30 feeding, many of the other women looked and walked like they were in serious pain. I thought that I shouldn’t complain.
After lunch, my husband came to visit, and it was our first time to be together as a family. It was his first time to hold the baby. Apparently they didn’t let him hold the baby after delivery. In hindsight, I wish I had added that in my birth plan. I had no idea it would not have been a possibility.
Day 2
Day 2
By the the second day, however, I was becoming restless. I took to using the stairs from my 4th floor room to the nursery on the 2nd floor. I did stretches and cat/camel pose to pass time and to strengthen my pelvis.
Aside from exercise and walking up and down the hallway, there wasn’t much to do. I wasn’t allowed to go out which made me frustrated. There was a Starbucks, Daiso AND 7/11 within a one minute walk radius but I couldn’t go.
Day 3
From the third day, I opted to have baby stay in my room so I could get used to having her around me. I figured I better practice learning how to eat and hold a baby at the same time while I’m in the hospital.
Day 4
The last day I got my stitches taken out which was incredibly painful. The doctor said something along the lines of, “Well, Japanese women…” when I complained of the pain. I asked him very bluntly, “That doesn’t even concern me. Do I even look Japanese?”
A nurse who was in the delivery room with me came by to console me. I appreciated her effort, but I was through with the hospital stay. Just let me go home already!
At noon, I was more than ready to check out. Finally, my hospital ordeal was over!!!
Hospital Swag
This was in my hospital care bag:
- cute polka dot hospital gown
- special postpartum panties and matching nursing bra and tummy band
- a large package of nursing pads and nipple oil
- several packages of special sanitary napkins for postpartum bleeding,
- a bag of amenities that include slippers, face wash, shampoo, conditioner, body soap, comb/brush, toothbrush &toothpaste.
As a parting gift, the hospital also gave me a package of diapers (Pampers), powder formula samples, discount coupons for pictures at a local studio, a large embroidered towel for baby, vouchers to exchange for personalized name art , personalized storybook, and baby photo calendar.
Food
A picky eater, I worried about the food, but when pizza toast came out on the first day at 8am, I knew I would be taken care of. Every meal during my stay was awesome. There was a wonderful variety of Japanese, western, and Asian dishes.
Cost
My hospital required a ¥100,000 deposit at 8 months to reserve a room. This deposit was applied to the final bill when checking out. Using my health insurance through my company, I received ¥420,00, to be paid directly to the hospital. We had a balance of ¥520,000.
As I stayed in a private room, the additional fee was ¥12,000 per night. On the day of my discharge, I paid ¥13,000 out of pocket. Had I selected a shared room, I imagine that I would have received ¥30,000-40,000.
Read more on The Cost of Giving Birth in Japan and How to Pay For It
Reflection
One thing about the hospital stay that impacted me greatly was seeing the preemies in their incubators. I always thought of myself as pro-choice, but seeing their tiny bodies fight so hard, all I could see was “life,” if that makes any sense. If given a chance, those babies WILL fight to live.
I also couldn’t imagine not being able to hold baby and thought those mothers were so strong.
I just had a baby, and it seems like everyone is asking when I’ll have another.
I’m not sure if I want to go through the emotional experience of the two week wait because it took me years to get pregnant. But if I do get pregnant again, I’ll definitely consider going back to my hospital.
