We continue our ChileKids Interview section. We meet Elizaveta Kaygorodova. She is a charming mother of three children, one of whom was already born in Chile.
-Elizaveta, please, tell us a little about yourself! Where are you from, what do you do?
I am from Moscow, I work in the medical field. I have three children, the two older ones are waiting for their Chilean brother at home.
-Congratulations on the birth of your baby! How did you come up with the idea of giving birth in Chile?
To be honest, almost spontaneously. At first I had an idea to give birth in the USA. But… the pregnancy was already too long. By the time, I received the visa (on average, 3 months), the baby would have already been born. Therefore, I began to look for alternative options and found a website talked about childbirth in Chile.
– At what time did you arrive?
I came at 35 weeks.
-You are a heroic woman! How was the flight?
To be honest, it was quite difficult. My stomach made it difficult to use the table for lunch, as well as it was complicated to sleep. At such long term of pregnancy, especially if you are flying alone like me, it is better to overpay for business class.
— How do you like Chile? General impression and especially your opinion about the local medicine.
Immediately at the airport I was surprised by the attitude towards children. A child of about four years old was lying on the floor in the registration hall, everyone was just stepping over him. His parents didn’t even say anything to him. Children can run around everywhere, scream, play, no one will say a word to them. I must say that now my children seem exceptionally calm and well-mannered to me, compared to the Chilean ones!
The prices weren’t too pleasantly surprising. In my opinion, they are much higher than the Moscow average. However, this may be due to the fact that I buy food in the supermarket and not at the market.
-Please, tell us about the place where you live!
The location is great, five minutes to the beach. So the air is wonderful. The view of the ocean is very calming. It’s great that there is very fresh seafood, vegetables and fruits here.
-How did you spend your time by the ocean? Did you manage to walk to the sound of the surf?
I walked a lot along the ocean, from Concon to the end of the embankment in Reñaca and back. I walked the entire embankment in Viña-del-Mar. There is something to see, fountains, monuments, nice cafes with delicious ice cream, many free cultural events. I was in the park in Viña-del-Mar, it was very beautiful there. I also want to recommend taking a walk along the picturesque alley in Concon.
-What are your impressions of local medicine?
Overall positive. In terms of level, everything is approximately the same as in a private clinic in Moscow. But everything is much more serene. Sometimes it’s even annoying, because I think Russian women are accustomed to stricter control. I was very pleased with the doctor who did the ultrasound and, in general, the way this process was handled here.
There are two plasma TVs in the office, one for mom, the other for relatives. Opposite the one for family members, there are seats so that everyone present can watch the new relative. This is all very touching! Classical music was played during the ultrasound.
-In which clinic did you give birth?
Obsnatura Clinic in Viña-del-Mar, which specializes in managing pregnancy and childbirth as naturally as possible.
-How did the process go?
The birth was natural, without anesthesia. I gave birth in a maternity hospital in a private clinic – Hospital Clinico Viña-del-Mar, but with my team from Obsnatura and ChileKids.
Liliya Ilyasova came to my childbirth process and helped me through the birth without unnecessary interventions. We also had midwife Beatrice and doctor Natalie from Obsnatura on our side. The doctor was very helpful during the pushing, showing me what to do. In general, the service at the clinic is amazing. Moreover, they feed you 5 times a day.
I would also like to say about Olga, a doctor from ChileKids, who helps accompany the childbirth. She took me to the maternity hospital in her car, because… I really didn’t want to take a taxi, because the contractions were already quite noticeable.
A special application on the phone also helped, which Lilia advised to download in order to count contractions (it writes when you need to go to the maternity hospital). In general, everything went exactly as I wanted, I am very happy!
-All that’s left is to get the documents and quickly go home to the two older children! What advice would you like to give to other expectant mothers who are planning to give their baby Chilean citizenship?
To learn more phrases in Spanish! It helps a lot in everyday life. Although, basically all the doctors I talked to speak English.
Don’t buy a return ticket right away, so you don’t have to change it later.
-Thank you so much, and congratulations once again on the birth of a little citizen of the world!
We received all the documents for this family and the mother with her baby returned home.
