Pregnant in Japan: Registering your pregnancy

A few weeks after I moved to Ichinomiya, I began my investigation on which hospital to go to. As I mentioned before, I finally concluded that I would go to Ichinomiya Municipal hospital. So, on April 24, 2013 I went. My friend had arranged that I should meet Mr. Yokohama. So, I went to the information counter that is located in the front entrance and asked for him. They escorted me to the office where they introduced me to him. He is in charge of arranging translation. I am sure he's got other tasks too, but I don't know what they are.

As soon as you walk into the hospital there is an information counter to your left.

Since it was the first time I had ever been to the hospital they couldn't not provide an interpreter in person. They could only use a phone service. I was fine with that. How could I complain about a free service? I am lucky that they even had it. At that time in the office they got all my information and printed out my hospital card.

This my hospital card. It has my name written in Japanese.
シムキンニコール·ウッズキ technically they misspelled my last name.

After all that was taken care of, he took me to the second floor where I was given some questionnaire to fill out. He called in the phone service where he read the questions, a woman translated, I answered and so on. Basic questions about my health and when I became pregnant. 

Once that was sorted, they asked me if I had my coupon book and boshikenkō techō. I was really confused about what they were talking about. He seemed a bit surprised at first, but not too worried. He took me back to the obstetrics counter where they printed out a number with a time. They did that at both hospitals that I have been to. Rather then call a patient by name you are given a number. There are monitors that display the numbers. It's like going to the deli, but you don't get any meat!

This ticket has my name, the doctor's name, the date, and the time that you will see the doctor. 1018 was my number.

I had to wait about an hour before I could see the doctor. That wasn't too bad, but I was not feeling well so, it did seem to drag on. Finally I saw the doctor. She was very nice and could speak a little English. She did an ultrasound and sure enough it was confirmed once again that there was a baby. My due date was given to me which was November 22, 2013. She then gave me a slip of paper stating I was pregnant and there were some blank spots for me to fill out my personal information. She told me I should go to the health center or city hall and turn it in. She then set up my next appoint for a month later.

His second ultrasound. He grew a lot since the first one on March 29.

I was then escorted down stairs where they showed me how to pay. First I had to give my insurance card and my new hospital card along with a folder that had the information for the billing department. I was then given yet another number on a piece of paper along with a bar code on the bottom (It basically looks like the picture above) then I had to wait 15 or so minutes until I saw my number on another monitor. Once my number was displayed, I could go to one of many machines where I scanned in my ticket. Then it displayed my total which was about $70.00. In this case, insurance does not cover pregnancy bills. It's covered by the city. So, I put my money into the machine and it printed out my receipt along with my next appointment.

Where you turn in your folder

Check monitors for your number

The left corner you can see a row of machines. Here is where you would pay your bill in the mornings when it's busy. In the afternoon there are usually less people so you would pay at the counter.

I then put into my google maps "city hall" and it directed me to city hall. It was about a 5 minute drive from the hospital. Once there I showed the person at the information counter my slip from the doctor. She then directed me where to go. I showed the correct person my doctor slip. She pulled out a bag with an assortment of pamphlets and the boshikenkō techō. She then informed that they did not have an English book at the city hall. If I wanted it in English I needed to go to the health center. She then showed me the map and explained to me how to get there. Turns out it was about two blocks from the hospital. So, back towards the hospital I went.

Once I arrived I found the information desk. There they gave me a questionnaire to fill out. This had English along with Japanese. An employee came and talked with me. This was in English. We went over the form together. They basically want to know when you became pregnant and how do you feel about becoming a mother and what not. The health center is specifically there so that you can take your baby at any time to ask questions or get advice on raising a baby. Also if there are some health concerns for the baby or yourself they will help. Of course if you are sick you would just go to the doctor. 

After filling out the paper work they gave me a package. In this package was my boshikenkō techō which I came to find out was better known as the  Maternity and Child Health Handbook. A car magnet and key chain that informs others that you are pregnant. A coupon book for your doctor's visits. Then a ton of materials about being pregnant and having a baby. It's funny because the Maternity handbook was in English and Japanese, but all the other material was in Japanese. I didn't know what I was suppose to do with that.

Here's some of the material that was included in the package that they gave me.
There's a book in there about good nutrition while pregnant, a book for fathers and many other pamphlets with information on pregnancy and having a baby. One book even had coupons to stores like Babies R Us. (yes they have that in Japan too!!)

Now you are probably wondering what all that stuff is. I know I was when I got it. Overtime I figured it all out. The Maternity and Child Health Handbook is a really great idea. You take it with you to every doctor's visit. They document your weight, blood pressure, sugar and protein levels in your urine. It also has a few pages where you can write about your condition during the different stages of pregnancy. Once the baby is born, it becomes the baby's book. It documents his weight and height up until he is 7. It also documents all his vaccinations. I had to take it to every prenatal visit and will continue to take it to all his future visits. I think it's really cool. What a great way to keep track of things.

These are some of the books for Japanese women. Each city has different covers. I am not sure if it's random or how they decide rather you get Winnie the pooh or mickey mouse.

The is the English version. Everything is in English with Japanese underneath. They have these books for many different languages. However, the English version only has this cover. So, all over Japan women using this version don't get to get the cute designs. However, we're lucky they've got this version for us so, I can't complain.

 The coupon book....that was confusing at first. Then one of my friends explained it to me. Every visit I should turn in a coupon. This made every single one of my prenatal appointments absolutely free!!! Here the city pays for things related to pregnancy. I couldn't believe it. I kept waiting to pay something, but I didn't have to. The only exception was at the end I had to pay $20 for the stress test. No big deal since I didn't have to pay anything before!

This is the Ichinomiya City coupon book. Each city has a different one. The size, shape, color and perhaps the information needed is different from city to city regardless of your language. For the Ichinomiya coupon book on each visit you fill out your address, name, phone, date the book was issued, your birthday and the baby's due date. 

The car magnet and key chain as mentioned before just let others know you are pregnant. You don't have to use them it's your choice. Using the key chain gives you the right to sit in priority seating on the trains and subways. Women usually attach this to their purses or bags. Ideally if someone sees the key chain they will give you their seat. This way you don't have to ask. I found I really needed it in the first trimester. So, many days I took the train for work. I had no energy. I had to pull it all together to get through the few hours of work. Once on the train I just had to sit. The second trimester was better so, I didn't mind standing sometimes. The third trimester I wanted to sit again. I had a few occasions where having that key chain came in handy. The magnet for your car was just to advise other drivers to be careful and it allowed for some priority parking spots. I used both of them. I still have the magnet on my car, because now I've got a baby in there.

So, basically those were the reasons why you have to register your pregnancy. I also suppose it's a way to keep record of births, and the unfortunate death of  a baby or mother. It makes for very accurate statistics. Some people might think it's weird. I didn't I was happy to know that the community was there to support one another during a beautiful stage in ones life. The paper work was annoying, but the benefits were and are amazing to me.