I gave birth in both Puerto Rico and New York. There were several striking differences.

When I moved from Brooklyn to Puerto Rico 2 years ago, pinch my hubby and then-3-year-old son, we were firmly "one and done."

Life pinch a toddler successful New York City was excessively hard; we spent weekends astatine chain-link fence-enclosed playgrounds that were either shadeless and sweltering successful the summertime aliases freezing and depressing successful the winter, struggled to find affordable childcare, and didn't person the colony it takes to raise a kid.

Moving to Puerto Rico changed our tune. The near-constant sunshine, fantabulous and affordable bilingual schools, easy entree to beaches, and welcoming group who instantly became our organization had america considering a second.

Fast guardant to April 2026, and we welcomed a babe woman successful San Juan.

My first child, now 5, was calved successful Southampton, New York, successful August 2021. From the infinitesimal I started looking for an OB-GYN successful San Juan, my acquisition being pregnant and giving commencement successful New York and Puerto Rico was strikingly different.

Here are immoderate of the biggest contrasts I noticed.

In Puerto Rico, I had a difficult clip uncovering an OB-GYN unfastened to caller patients, and my appointments took forever

I kept proceeding from friends and chap parents from my son's schoolhouse that they were taking full mornings aliases afternoons disconnected activity for modular expert appointments — multi-hour waits were that common.

I didn't judge it until I regularly recovered myself waiting 3 hours to spot my obstetrician. In Southampton, I considered a 30-minute hold a bad day.

A imaginable logic is Puerto Rico's severe expert shortage. Lower reimbursement rates and wages than connected the mainland person contributed to a long-running expert exodus, pinch galore doctors leaving for amended salary and moving conditions.

Those who stay tin extremity up juggling a batch of patients and overscheduling themselves to support up, starring to the agelong hold times I (and galore others) experience.

On apical of that, it took maine rather immoderate clip and a batch of searching to find an OB-GYN who was taking caller patients successful the first place.

Things I took for granted successful New York had to beryllium purchased from the infirmary drugstore successful Puerto Rico

In Southampton, I conscionable showed up to springiness commencement — I didn't really person to deliberation astir pillows, epidurals, aliases diapers.

In San Juan, patients must acquisition these items from the on-site pharmacy. Pillows were $8 a pop, truthful I brought my ain from home. I besides brought my ain blankets alternatively of buying them.

I ended up buying a mandatory baby attraction kit (containing things for illustration a T-shirt, swaddle blanket, and diapers) and a transportation kit (with a hairnet and scrubs for my husband) for $35 and $25, respectively.

I was offered a bedpan for different $15 but declined. Had I had a boy I wanted circumcised, I would've had to acquisition a circumcision tray for $100.

I had to bargain my epidural successful beforehand — and getting it was a full process

In Southampton, I didn't capable retired immoderate forms earlier arriving astatine the hospital, asked for the epidural erstwhile I sewage there, and received it pinch nary fuss. As acold arsenic I remember, it was afloat covered by our insurance.

In San Juan, I went done pre-admission, successful which I filled retired tons of paperwork a week earlier my owed date.

Part of pre-admission included purchasing an epidural. Many chap moms who had fixed commencement astatine the aforesaid infirmary warned maine that it sometimes runs retired of epidurals, and to make judge they cognize I want 1 (and boy, did I want one!) good successful advance.

Thus, I purchased an epidural from the billing section for $1,000. I past had to make an assignment pinch a personnel of the hospital's anesthesia supplier group, coming them pinch the paid invoice, and reply dozens of questions related to my aesculapian history.

Once successful labor, the anesthesiologist came to my bedside and gave maine a position — including diagrams — explaining successful awesome item really the epidural useful and asking for consent earlier administering it.

My hubby was well-fed and sewage a afloat furniture to slumber successful for a mini other fee

In Southampton, I received a backstage room pinch an ensuite bath without having asked for it — fortunate for me, the maternity ward astatine the infirmary location doesn't person immoderate different kind.

My hubby slept successful a chair and complains astir really uncomfortable it was to this time (I don't retrieve location being capable room for different bed).

And while I received 3 afloat meals a day, my hubby wasn't provided immoderate nutrient — he was begrudingly fixed a cup of java erstwhile asked. That said, connected our past nighttime astatine the hospital, we were provided a celebratory steak dinner for two, which was sweet.

In San Juan, I was fixed a database of different infirmary rooms to take from during pre-admission, ranging from shared ones pinch constricted visitant allowances to backstage suites pinch mini fridges and other space.

Each room costs a different magnitude — the nicer ones weren't covered by security and had to beryllium prepaid — and came pinch different amenities.

The 1 we chose, for example, came pinch afloat meals for the patient's partner, and truthful my hubby received a tray of nutrient each clip I did.

It was besides freely capable to let him to slumber connected a afloat bed, which costs an further $10 per nighttime and could beryllium folded and tucked distant erstwhile not successful use.

Ultimately, I had a affirmative acquisition giving commencement successful Puerto Rico

It was surely absorbing to springiness commencement successful abstracted parts of the United States, and my acquisition is conscionable my own. Every infirmary and each commencement acquisition is different, moreover if 2 group are having a babe successful the aforesaid city.

Despite agelong waits and immoderate astonishing quirks, my gestation attraction and transportation successful Puerto Rico went smoothly, and I person nary complaints.