Once Upon A Time...Having a Baby in Finland

Once upon a time - I had kids in Finland.
I came here pregnant with my first kid and moved here while under 30 weeks pregnant and then had given birth to him here.

Here's my experiences - all three kids were born in the same hospital in central Finland.

Kid 1: V-Man born in 2009 (Residence permits were B-Level at the time he was born).
Being the first kid - we were spoiled with a baby shower before we moved to Finland and having no family or friends here when we moved - I was kind of relieved more than terrified.  I'm fiercely independent and wanted to experience the "joy" of having a child abroad with his father.

We luckily had one set of friends to guide us through the pregnancy and delivery - and for that we are grateful.

Here's the basics (that applied to all the kiddos):

1.  Get pregnant.
2. Book a Neuvola appointment: Neuvola is the health center in Finland specifically for expecting mothers and children.
3. Bring your little booklet with you to every Neuvola appointments.  Neuvola appointments were free for both me as a mother and for the child.  (You're probably going to forget it during one of those - trust me - you're not the first or the last person!)
4. You see a nurse for your appointments - not a doctor like in North America.  
5. You'll see a doctor (depending on how healthy your pregnancy is) approximately 2-4 times.
6. The ultrasound was done between weeks 20-22 in a separate clinic called "Gravida".
7. Rest/eat/be active.
8. Finland follows the WHO (World Health Organization) guidelines for pregnancies and overall health quite closely.
9. I didn't need to get the diabetes test done because I had it done in Canada prior to moving and brought my medical records with me.
10. Have a kid.
1. There is no need to call a specific doctor or midwife or nurse to join you for delivery.  You get who you get when you get there.
2. Midwives do the deliveries and doctors assist when and if needed.
11. No water birth deliveries in the hospital (for hygienic purposes I've been told).
12. Pain relief options are: epidurals and perineal cervical block (PCB) - a needle inserted inside vaginally that creates nearly instant relief for up to two hours.  I used this with the V-Man and not with the other two...I've also had a 6-months post heal time (in which I could fully use the bathroom without pain and have sex as well).  Other women who have had it that I know - expressed similar issues.
13. You can give birth standing up, lying down, squatting - whatever is comfortable for you and safe for the baby.

Here's what you should pack in your birthing bag/hospital stay bag.
Average stay for a typical delivery of a healthy baby is 2-days.  C-Sections may require that you stay longer but I didn't have that experience.

1. Neuvola booklet.
2. Birth plan.
3. The other parent and/or birthing coach can be present.  You cannot have a crowd in there cheering you on.
1. Parking can typically be paid for with bank card, credit card and cash.
4. Camera, phone and battery charger.
5.  Basic toiletries - of course if you forget these - they can help you or Dad can bring it for you.
6. Water bottle (they will provide a cup and pitcher at your bedside - but I prefer a water bottle).
7. Medicine of your own if you require it.  (Pain relievers are given if necessary for example but if you're asthmatic - you should bring your own as well.)
8. Outfit for you and baby to go home in.
9. A book or hobby for when the baby is asleep - if you're not sleeping too!

Something to consider:  if your baby(ies) are in breech position (meaning feet down south and not their head) - they will encourage birthing vaginally anyway.  A couple of my friends had this - and while it was extremely painful - they're still alive.  They're not the first or the last to birth a breeched positioned baby - and when I shared this with my Canadian counterparts - they were appalled that a C-Section wasn't planned immediately.

Some things to know when staying in a hospital post-delivery:

1. You'll be given a simple meal of fruit, yoghurt and fixings for a sandwich post delivery to eat after your shower.
2. Baby sleeps beside you in their own plastic bucket bed.  You can of course bring the baby into your bed and co-sleep - not a problem.
3. If you need a few hours of sleep because the baby was fussy or isn't latching - they'll take the baby for you happily.  (This occurred for me when Kid 2 aka A-Man hiccuped ALL NIGHT and I didn't get any sleep...) 
4. You'll be sharing a room with another new mom and their baby - and that means sharing a bathroom (with a shower) and diaper changing area (usually located along the wall and between the beds).
1. There are curtains to separate you.
5. There's no space for your husband/partner to sleep there with you and the baby.  This is prime time for them to catch up on sleep or help with the other kids at home if any.
6.  You get your own meal three times a day.  You can leave the baby in their bucket box in the bedroom or bring them with.  It's to encourage using your muscles and body post-delivery and only if you have some quite serious delivery problems or a c-section - will the nurse bring your meal to you.  (You also return your dirty dishes and tray). 
1. Breakfast is usually porridge and sandwich fixings.  Lunch is typically a larger meal and supper/dinner is typically something lighter like stew or soup. 
7. You'll be provided jumbo underpants (and massive pads), a nightgown, a robe, sandals and socks.  
1. Baby clothes are also provided - along with diapers.
8. They do have breast pumping machines available to rent if you don't have your own and also to use if your baby needs to stay at the hospital a few extra days (V-Man stayed 5-days post delivery due to a minor blood infection).
9. You'll be billed approximately 32€/day - and this is with Kela coverage. I've been advised to have a child without Kela coverage (the Finnish social security benefits) is well over a few thousand euros...This quite cheap in my opinion because it covers 3-healthy meals a day and 2 coffee/tea times, all the sanitary products and services and the doctor appointments as well.
10. If you have problems with baby latching on - don't be shy.  Ask for help.
11. Nursing a baby is NOT taboo in Finland.  It's perfectly common to nurse a baby wherever and whenever.  Breasts aren't overly sexualized here like they seem to be in other countries in regards to breastfeeding.

Now silly me, I thought like a North American and got his father to bring the baby car seat - despite living across the street from the hospital.
Because in North America - you're expected to have a brand-spanking new car seat for the baby to travel in when leaving the hospital and it has to be inspected and approved before you can leave with kiddo.

Here's the thing with Kid 2 and 3:

I did bring the car seat for kid 2 - but my friend who picked me up - installed it in the car before coming up to get my bag and I carried the A-Man out the door no problem.
And with M-Girl - I carried her in a baby carrier and took the bus home.

In Finland, a baby car seat is only necessary post-delivery if you plan to travel by car or taxi to leave the hospital (and of course every trip afterward).

*Mind BLOWN.*



Within about a week - you should make your baby's first Neuvola appointment.  The nurses can come to your home if you like - you simply need to request it.

So there you have it - I hope I covered everything in regards to having a baby in Finland!
A Domestic Goddess that no longer will be having to go through this...:)

Once Upon a Time in Finnish School Cafeterias...

Once upon a time, I was a teacher's assistant for my Finnish language course work practice, known as a "työharjoittelu".
It was my first hands-on experience in the Finnish education system - that I had read about online for so many years while living here.

Prior to moving here - I hadn't heard about the Finnish education system that is admired all over the world.
Not that I chose to ignore it but perhaps I simply didn't know and it wasn't popping up on my Facebook news feed at the time because let's face it - I didn't know any Finns then!

So here's a list of things that simply AMAZED me while I was there for 1 week (and then I returned to complete my training after maternity leave for another 6 weeks):

• Children start school at the age of 7.
• The only school supplies they need are pencils and a backpack.  There's no crazy list of things that parents need to find their kids!!  Notebooks and paper, handicraft supplies etc are all provided.
• Students call their teachers and headmaster/principal by the first name.  
• This created equal respect.
• The teachers create the schedule for the week - or to say, they have a great say in it.  Sometimes classes started at 8, sometimes at 9 or 10.  Sometimes it ended at 2 or 3pm depending!
• There aren't school buses here.  Kids bike or walk to school - some were dropped off and picked up by parents and if they lived too far away, they took the city bus.
• Really young students don't have homework.  Older students had some - but it wasn't a lot.
• Students could use their text books for tests but would then be docked points if so.
• Students don't wear footwear indoors with the exception of gym class, wood working and any other manual labour/technical labour courses.
• Some kids wore slippers - but most were in socked feet.
• Classes were only 45 minutes long and there was a 15-minutes break in between.
• The 15-minutes was used to go to the next class and exchange text books (older kids) or to go outside quickly and just dump their brains out for a bit.
• One teacher I worked with advised me that it decreased fighting, stress and bullying.
• Both males and females learn how to knit, sew, use a serger (overlock) machine, cook and crochet.
• They also both learned wood work or metal work (depends on what the school has).
• In the school I was practicing in - the bathrooms simply had "WC" (Water Closet) on the individual bathroom doors.
  You walked in and there was a toilet, toilet paper and a sink with soap.  There wasn't the possibility to be bullied in a large bathroom with multiple stalls.
• Another thing I appreciate about this is that those that are part of the LGTBQ community (or aren't sure yet) - don't have that social pressure or an extra oppourtunity to be bullied for their bodies or choice of clothing etc.
• Lunch for students was completely FREE, HOT and HEALTHY.  Dessert was rare and usually tied to an upcoming holiday.
• Things like burgers happened maybe once a year!!  Never mind fries, greasy pizza etc!
• I was advised that Finland is one of the first countries in the world to introduce a hot and healthy lunch meal for all pre-university/college students.
• College/university students pay between 2,60€-4€ for their lunches.
• Lunch time means kids serve themselves their own portions and use real glasses, dishes and metal silverware.  



This is an example of the lunch buffet at the college I'm doing my work practice in.

• This reduces waste because there's great emphasis on taking what you can eat and if you need or want more - you can.
• A typical lunch meal is some sort of hot main course, salad and bread available along with milk or water for beverages.
• Kids also clean up after themselves, scraping their plates and putting away their dirty dishes in sorting boxes along a conveyor belt for the kitchen staff to wash up after.
• Some examples of lunch meals:
• Pea soup - typically served with mustard and for dessert an oven-baked pancake and jam.
• Spinach soup - typically served with hard boiled eggs.
• Various casseroles
• Soups or stews
• There weren't any water fountains in the hallways because every classroom had a sink and tap and kids had their own cups to drink from.
• When I wrote about this in my previous blog, a Finn commented it also prevents accidents from happening with slippery floors or kids getting their teeth knocked out from rough housing.
• Fitness was incredibly important for the students and the staff - so in the winter time when I was there - quite often, gym class was spent outside skiing on the lake or skating in the rink in the back yard!
• Private schools DO exist here - but not very many.  The quality of education Finns receive publicly is excellent and top of the line.
  It's been written about all over the net.
• Here's some examples:
• Finnish National Agency For Education
• The Smithsonian
• Study in Finland
• This is Finland
• Business Insider
• Filling My Map
• Children with special needs have their own school typically.  My oldest son has autism and he goes to a neurotypical school but there is a section of the building dedicated to the special needs/neuro-diverse children.  
• I confessed to the teacher I was paired with that I'm disturbed by this form of segregation.  However, she informed me that it's simply to avoid neurotypical kids being a distraction to the neurodiverse and vice verca.
• One thing I've noticed while living in Finland is that many children don't understand special needs (unless they were exposed to it regularly) because of this segregation.  But then again, I was raised in a Canadian schooling system, where we were integrated with the neurodiverse regularly and I grew up accepting people of any disability and learned not to stare or poke fun quite early.
  Not that all children or adults do this while I'm out with my oldest kiddo - but it does happen whenever he has meltdowns and I always had wondered why.  Now I do.  

That's all I can think of currently - it's been awhile since I've been there! :)

Yours truly,

A Domestic Goddess killing some time on a Sunday morning far too early thanks to children being awake...

Once Upon A Time in Tupaswilla...

Once upon a time, I went to the largest smoke sauna in Finland, located about 35 km outside of Jyväskylä.
The place is called Tupaswilla.

They hosted a ladies only night and my friend suggested that we go to get out of the city and try it out.
There's a smoke sauna, a lake to go for a dip (yes, even in the winter - Finns will go swim when taking a sauna!) and a snack afterward.
Oh and a peat mud mask for the body!

Well, I was super curious, as I was just at a public smoke sauna near Helsinki recently and it was also near a lake and because it was public and co-ed - you had to wear a bathing suit and there was nothing about a mud mask!

So I went eagerly.

Here's the thing about Finnish sauna etiquette - you go naked.  There is 0 shame in the human body and everybody comes in different shapes and sizes and it's celebrated here.
I have gone to the sauna with mutual female friends and nobody stares at anyone's body or whispers about scars or marks or muscle (or lack of)...
And many flats/apartment buildings/cottages and homes have saunas or a community one (more about this later) but a smoke sauna is very different compared to the typical electric or extremely common wood ones (more in cottages in the country side).

So I've gotten used to it.

But going with a massive room full of women?  Not much of a difference - especially where I wear glasses and can't quite see anything without them anyway.

First of all - you have to reserve your spot by e-mailing them when you're going.  They're not necessarily open for ladies night every night!  And they also take reservations for weddings and big events too.

So what do you bring with you to Tupaswilla?

• A water bottle - fill it and bring it with you.  Of course they will have water to refill it.
• Shower basics - a towel, shampoo and body wash if you need it and moisturizer.  They are open showers - no dividers and definitely no curtains.
• Indoor shoes like flip flops or Crocs - something that'll get wet and muddy and can be washed easily.
• Dry clothes for after.
• 30€ (at the time this was what we paid) in cash.

Then what?

• Go there and pay.
• Get undressed - Finland is QUITE safe and not much stealing occurs to be honest! (Trust me - my wallet was fully loaded with bank cards, cash and a newly loaded bus card and I got it ALL back!)
• Finns don't care about nudity when it comes to sauna or breastfeeding - so have 0 fear.
• Shower
• Go upstairs to the sauna WITH your water bottle and wearing your indoor sandals.  No phones, no contact lenses or pure gold jewelry because it will melt.  (Again, experience with the jewelry melting to my skin...)



Peat - not poo.

• Grab a white cloth to sit on - this is for hygenic purposes and also because you're going to be covered in mud soon!
• Once you're warmed up - go back downstairs, rinse off and then apply the peat.
  If you have high blood pressure, you're not supposed to use it all over your body - the worker will explain it all in Finnish (and I'm sure they know English too!).
• The peat will affect your hair colour if you dyed it within the last 2-3 weeks.
• You can put it head to toe - it's clean and been tested and pure.  So perfectly safe.
• ENJOY and relax.
• Every 20 minutes or so, the worker will shout the time.  So it's recommended you only keep the peat mask on for 20 minutes or so then go to wash it off.  
• Do not get dehydrated.  Drink a lot of water!!  The peat mask should feel moist on your skin - not dry, because it works from the inside out.
• You're free to go swim in the lake or just take a dip!
• HINT: the aluminum handle bars are F*CKING cold!!  So, take a couple of those cloths to sit on and use them on the handles when getting in the lake (if it's winter/early spring).
• You can also stand outside to cool down too!  (With or without your towel.)

Dipped my foot - that was more for a photo op.

Warm up in the sauna and repeat the lake swim if you feel like it!

Once you're done in the sauna, take your water bottle and cloth you were sitting on (dispose of it downstairs in the trash) - take another shower to clean up and get dressed.

Nearby is a lovely cottage and you can have a cup of tea/coffee and some bread and butter.

Then be on your merry little way.

This was a once in a lifetime experience for me in Finland and I am so happy I went!!
The staff were super friendly and polite, everybody seemed to enjoy themselves and some ladies near to us told my friend and I it wasn't their first time going - so overall, a super positive experience.

Yours Truly,

A Domestic Goddess wishing for more smoke sauna oppourtunities...