In our first post about having a baby in Costa Rica, we shared our experience with prenatal care. We covered public vs. private healthcare, and how we picked our doctor and decided where to deliver. Now that baby Sam has arrived, we’ll talk about the next phase in the adventure: the birth. We’ll explain what it was like to have a baby at a small private hospital in Costa Rica. We’ll also go through what we were worried about as foreigners having a baby in another country and how the actual delivery experience compared.
IMPORTANT NOTE (May 2020): This post is from when we had our first baby several years ago. We have since had a second baby and used a different doctor for the birth. We also delivered at a different hospital (a private hospital in San Jose instead of the small private hospital in San Isidro). We have a new article called Having a Baby at Hospital CIMA about our recent experience. We recommend reading it, since our perspectives have changed some.
Getting Ready for the Birth
What We Were Most Worried About
Before I delve into our story, you should know some background about the type of birth experience I wanted. It was our first child, so honestly I didn’t really know what I was in for. But after reading lots of websites and watching videos, I decided I wanted a natural birth to the extent possible. I didn’t want interventions like induction and wanted to try it without pain medications. I hadn’t originally planned on a water birth, but after talking to a woman in the waiting room at my doctor’s office who said it really helped with the pain, I changed my mind eight months into the pregnancy and decided I’d like to try it.
Some of the things I was most worried about were Matt not being allowed to be with me during the delivery, something that is common in public hospitals in Costa Rica, and being given medication like oxytocin to induce the labor to go faster. I had heard from someone who had given birth at Clinica Labrador (now Hospital Las Americas), the private hospital in San Isidro de El General where I was going, that there had been one especially pushy nurse who had insisted on giving her oxytocin when her labor wasn’t progressing fast enough. Having read about the importance of skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding in the moments after delivery, I was also worried that the baby would get taken away soon after the birth.
There were several things about the hospital that I had concerns with too. I wasn’t sure what the facilities would be like and how difficult it would be to communicate with the nurses who probably only spoke Spanish. My Spanish is getting better but I don’t know medical terms and didn’t want to deal with being unable to communicate when making important medical decisions. Finally, I had heard about how some hospitals have policies about the number of hours you can be in labor before a C-section is required and wondered if the hospital would be able to override my doctor’s and my decision to wait for labor to progress on its own.
Working Through the Issues with Our Doctor
What I found extremely beneficial to putting my mind at ease was talking through these issues with my doctor in advance. During office visits in the months leading up to my due date, he assured me that he would be making all the decisions about my care (with my involvement, of course) and that the hospital wouldn’t be able to override him to force a C-section or other intervention. He told me that pain medication, including an epidural, would be available to me if I decided that I needed it and that he could perform a C-section if it became necessary.
Something that really helped to put me at ease was when he told me that I wouldn’t go to the hospital right away when my labor began. Instead, he would check me out in his office and we wouldn’t go to the hospital until the labor progressed significantly—and we would go together. That made me feel a lot better. He also told me that at Clinica Labrador, men were able to be present during the delivery so Matt could stay with me the entire time.
Touring the Hospital
My doctor also encouraged us to go to the hospital for a tour and talk to the head nurse. As I explained in our first post, I really wanted to keep my doctor for delivery because I was so comfortable with him and his medical ideology, which favored natural births. That meant that I needed to like Clinica Labrador, as he didn’t do deliveries at the other private hospitals in Costa Rica like CIMA in San Jose.
Luckily, our tour of Clinica Labrador went great. The head nurse was so kind and approachable, and actually reminded me of my grandmother. I felt very comfortable around her, and although she spoke only Spanish, she talked in such a way that she was very easy to understand.
After telling her how far along I was and a little about my pregnancy, she walked us through the different rooms we would be in for the different stages of delivery and showed us the room where we would sleep. We learned that we would all be able to sleep in the same room, Matt on the futon and the baby in a bassinet in between us.
Costs
After speaking to the nurse, we went over costs and other paperwork with the receptionist. He spoke English fluently, which was very helpful.
We learned that a natural delivery would cost ₡615,000 (about $1,230), a delivery with an epidural would cost ₡740,000 (about $1,480), a water birth would cost ₡690,000 (about $1,380), and a C-section would cost ₡800,000 (about $1,600). (Note: This is 2015 pricing based on when the hospital was called Clinica Labrador – see note below.]
This was the hospital fee only; our doctor’s fee of $1,600 was separate. Included in this price was care during the first 24 hours from the time we checked in. This was standard no matter what kind of birth you had, even a C-section, and seemed crazy to us. Matt and I decided that if I wasn’t ready to leave within that time frame, we would just stay longer given that the costs were so reasonable.
Update: Since we wrote this post, the Labrador underwent a major renovation and is now called Hospital Las Americas. We have heard from people that the facility is much nicer now. If you’ve delivered at the new hospital, let us know how your experience was in the comments below.
Birth Experience
Early Labor
I won’t go into all the details of our long birthing story, but here’s an overview. Sam decided to take his time to come into the world. Despite everyone’s theories that I would go into labor a few days after my due date, then when that didn’t happen, around the time of the full moon, I ended up being two weeks late. I had few signs of labor and was scheduled to be induced 12 days after my due date. Other than being tired, I felt great and was very excited to have the baby.
Sure enough, in the early morning on the scheduled day of my induction, I started to go into labor on my own. I had regular contractions and decided that we should go to San Isidro to be closer to the hospital since we lived 45 minutes away. I had heard lots of stories about how fast labor can progress and the last thing I wanted was to deliver a baby on the side of a curvy mountain road. Knowing what I know now, I had plenty of time. I ended up being in labor for a very long time.
During my two plus days of labor, Matt and I stayed at a hotel in downtown San Isidro and would check in with the doctor throughout the day. Despite having painful contractions that occurred regularly, my labor was still progressing rather slowly. The contractions continued day and night and the pain made it very difficult to eat and sleep. My doctor thought it wouldn’t be long until I had the baby and I still wanted a natural birthing experience so we continued on like this for a couple of days.
Although I was in a lot of pain, I felt okay because I had great care. Whenever something came up, Matt would send the doctor a text message and he would get back to us, telling us whatever symptom I was experiencing was normal or to come to his office. In the middle of the night, he also came to check on me at the hotel, which was amazing. He brought a portable heart monitor to check on the baby and make sure everything was okay with me.
After two days of being in labor, I was feeling very weak from not eating much, tired from not sleeping, and very emotional about this baby not coming. We went into the doctor’s office that morning and things still hadn’t progressed much despite all the contractions. At that point, I decided I wanted to be induced. I knew that I would need energy for the delivery and couldn’t go on like that for days longer.
Delivery
So that afternoon, I went to the hospital for an induction and couldn’t have been happier. It was somewhat ironic that I was so happy to be induced. As I said, I had originally wanted a natural delivery with no interventions, but all that changed after enduring two days of labor. Now I understand why people always say to have a birthing plan but to be flexible because you never know what is going to happen.
The nurse hooked me up to the IV for the induction and helped me with breathing techniques to get through the contractions. She was wonderful, very calming, and present when I needed her, but not too involved at the same time. The induction progressed perfectly and they moved me into the tub to start pushing just a couple of hours later. I wasn’t sure what I would think about the water birth, but it ended up being a great experience. The warm water seemed to really help with the pain and made me more relaxed. I think I pushed for around an hour before finally meeting baby Sam.
After Sam was born, he was quickly checked out by the pediatrician. The doctor then put him on my chest, and let us spend almost a full hour with him, just the three of us. It was a magical experience that Matt and I will never forget. It was our doctor who pushed for this time together after the birth. It seemed that the hospital staff was antsy to take Sam for more care, but our doctor didn’t let that happen.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I had a good birthing experience at Clinica Labrador. The facility wasn’t state of the art by any means, but was more than adequate. It was clean and comfortable, and I felt like I was in good hands with the head nurse, who was obviously very experienced.
There were some less-than-desirable parts of the experience, of course. I had some complications after the birth and lost a lot of blood, but my doctor was helpful and reassuring. He even made a house call to check on me the day after we left the hospital.
A couple of things to note about the hospital in general for anyone thinking about delivering there. Although the staff was supportive of breastfeeding in general, they encouraged formula as well. Several times when Sam was crying in our room, a nurse would barge in, saying that the baby was hungry and trying to give him formula despite the fact that he was nursing fine.
Something else to keep in mind is that most of the nurses at Clinica Labrador only spoke Spanish. Between the two of us, Matt and I were able to understand most of what they were saying, but if you don’t speak any Spanish, it would be difficult. The last thing that could have made the experience better was support for breastfeeding. This might have depended on who was working that day, but no one helped me with breastfeeding when I was first starting. Luckily, though, I had spent a lot of time learning about it in advance and Sam got it right away so it went smoothly.
So that’s our experience giving birth in Costa Rica. If you’re planning on having a baby in Costa Rica yourself and have a question, post it below and we’ll do our best to answer it.
Last Updated: May 15, 2020
Looking for more information about starting a family in Costa Rica? Check out these posts:
- Having a Baby in Costa Rica: Part 1 – Our first post about our experience having a baby in Costa Rica. Focuses on prenatal care and why we chose to have a private doctor and deliver at a private hospital.
- Having a Baby in Costa Rica: The Paperwork – What steps to take to get baby’s first passport and necessary paperwork to be able to take him/her out of the country.
- Having a Baby at Hospital CIMA – Our most recent post about having a baby in Costa Rica, this one covers what it was like using a private doctor in San Jose and delivering at a large private hospital called CIMA.
- Buying Baby Stuff in Costa Rica – Info on cost of baby gear in Costa Rica and where to find it.
- La Leche League: Costa Rica has a La Leche League, which provides support for breastfeeding mothers. There are local groups all around the country.
Thanks again for sharing your whole experience… your insight is valuable. And I am so happy the little guy is here safe and sound, Congrats to you and Matt!!
Thanks Kelli. I tried to include as much detail as possible about the experience but let me know if you have any questions when the time comes.
Hi Jenn and Matt – I have been following your blog for quite a while but haven’t commented before. Wanted to congratulate you both on your wonderful news and welcome to Sam!! I really enjoy your blog and all the useful information you post.
Thank you, Karen, that’s so nice of you to say! Thanks so much for all your support.
Hi Jenn,
thanks for sharing your experience and congratulations on your Baby Boy Sam!
This is really helpful! 🙂 My husband and I moved to Costa Rica last september (we’ve been visiting a lot throughout the last years, as my sister and her husband moved here 12 years ago). Right after we arrived I got pregnant, so now we’re facing the same adventure you guys just did. 😉
Would be great to get in touch and share experiences.
Pura Vida from Playa Naranjo,
Caroline
Hi Caroline, Congrats on your pregnancy. You must be getting excited! Glad the post is helpful. If you have any more questions about how it works here in CR, let me know and I’ll try to help. Are you in the Playa Naranjo up in Guanacaste? I know there’s a CIMA satellite hospital in Liberia.
Hi there 🙂
Great blog with tons of valuable info! Were you citizens before you had a baby in CR? If not… are you citizens now?
Hi Samantha, Having a baby makes it a lot easier. Sam is a citizen automatically and we can get permanent residency through him, but not citizenship. We still have to apply for residency like normal and plan to do it in the next few months.
Hi congratulations! I am in the same boat we are moving to the San Isidro area and would love the name of your doctor. If you wouldn’t mind emailing me I would really appreciate it.
Thanks,
Lizzie
No problem. Sending you an email now.
Hi,
Can you please share your doctor’s contact information with me? I would like to have a intervention free waterbirth in Costa Rica and I can only find info online on Dr. Adam Praer. I would love to research all my options.
Also, what was is it like raising a baby in Dominical? Was it easy to connect with other families? Did it get lonely?
Hi Caroline, Sure, I will send you an email.
We still live near Dominical. There are a lot of young families here, but you do have to make the extra effort to find them. This area doesn’t have parks or other places where families meet up so it’s important to go to local events. Can be harder if you’re working a lot (like us) but it’s doable. It probably gets easier when you have a kid in school or day care. It can get lonely for sure since our closest friends and family members are far away, but one of the biggest challenges has been that we don’t have much help with our son. No grandparents around to babysit 🙂 It can all be figured out, though, if you really want to make a go of it. We have a lady who comes to help with our son a couple of times a week and it has been super helpful. Poco a poco, as they say in CR!
Hi Jenn, Matt and Sam 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing your experiences. It has been incredibly helpful as my partner and I plan our move to San Isidro. Would you be so kind to share the name of your birth doctor with me as well? Also, the name of the lady who comes to help with your son, if she is open to it and available starting in January. In gratitude, Alicia
Hi Alicia, Sure, I will send you my doctor’s name now. The lady who comes to help with our son lives near Dominical and doesn’t have transportation. You will probably need to find someone closer to San Isidro because a lot of the locals don’t have cars.
Dear Jenn!
Thank you very much for your posts and very definite information!
After all where you can suggest to deliver a baby? Which hospital or doctor is the best?
Hi Yuri, My experience is limited to this one time so it’s hard for me to say what is best since I haven’t delivered at a public hospital or any other private ones. I was happy with the hospital I chose and my doctor, but I know of others who have had good experiences elsewhere.
We are thinking about moving to Costa Rica later this year or early next year, our son will be 6-9 months old. How is medical care there for the little one? Are the same immunizations available?
Hi Korendia, Medical care is socialized in Costa Rica, but unless you have residency, I don’t think you can use the public system (I think all children, even tourists, get free emergency care at public hospitals but I don’t think it applies for routine care). So you would have to pay for private care, which is actually very good and affordable. We take our son to a private pediatrician in San José and it costs about $90 a visit. They can do all the immunizations too (the schedule here is the same as the US). The immunizations can get expensive out of pocket so keep that in mind if you aren’t sure about getting health insurance.
Hi. I have spent a ton of time Ojochal and the area for the past 12 years. Now that I am expecting I am planning on having my baby down there! I have friends that have delivered in Cortez and at CIMA. I want to find more of a middle ground and not have to travel all the way to SJ. That sounds stressful. So I am looking at Perez. What was the name of your doctor?
Just sent you an email, Julia.
Hi. I would love to talk to you guys about this, all of it.
Thanks in advance!
Jordan
Hi Jenn!
Super grateful for this info. We are planning on possibly moving to Uvita and having our baby there. Are the out of the pocket doctor visits of $90 and the $3200 in delivery fees outside of private insurance? Is it cheaper to get private insurance? Also could you please send me your doctor’s contact info as well? He sounds amazing. I wonder how skilled he is at C-sections? Do you know if it’s offered to tie your tubes at the time of c-section?
Thank you!!
Hi Janelle, Yes, we didn’t have private insurance so that’s what we paid out of pocket. I’m not sure how much it would be with insurance or even if my doctor accepts it. I know with many private insurance plans the doctors/facilities are limited. I’ll send you his contact info now. I have heard that he is great at C-sections and you can indeed get your tubes tied at the same time.
I live in Ojochal right now and am pregnant as well, looking for a OBGYN- who was your doctor in San Isidro? I am interested in going to him as well.
Hi Lauren, We just sent you an email with the information.
Me too! Please I’m desperate to find someone I trust and feel safe with.
Hello I have tried commenting and emailing. I am looking for the name of the Doctor in San Isidro. Thank you!
Hi Jordan, We just sent you an email with the information.
Hi there! Would love the name of the doctor in SI please!
Hi Steph, Sending you the info now.
Great article Jenn, I’m a labor and delivery nurse here in the US(and a mom), so I completely get your experience(not unlike many stories I have heard here too). I’m posting a question here since it is regarding medical care. Our trip is in a month and my daughter has a severe shellfish allergy(shrimp, clams, lobster, muscles, crab, etc.) we have epipens and inhalers but if we were to need medical care(bc she accidentally eats some), is there a 911 in Costa Rica? Ambulance? are the hospitals that are rural ok? Whats your experience with restaurants understanding food separation when people have severe allergies? thanks
hi thanks for sharing your story! happy everything turned out great 🙂 I’ve used your site to rent a car and now I guess baby info! lol. besides clinica labrador in san isidrio, was there any other hospital that was a close tie or option for you? we will be close to dominical as well and starting our research on nearby places. Heard quepos has possibly a good private one too? We are also trying to have our baby the same natural way too if possible but around a medical setting if need for emergency.
looks like your doctor may be pretty busy now with all your referrals! 😉 lucky him. Would love his info too and anyone else you closely considered. Really appreciate your help! much blessings
Hi Jonny, Sending you an email now!
Hi Jenn and Matt,
Thanks for sharing your experience, it was very reassuring. My boyfriend lives about 15 minutes outside of San Isidro and while we had initially thought we’d have our son at CIMA, although now we are thinking of staying closer to home. Could I get the name of your doctor? Also, what was your experience with circumcision, if any? Thanks!
Hi Ann, I’m sorry for the delay. Please let me know if you’re still looking for a doctor in San Isidro and I will send the information. We didn’t circumcise our sons but know it’s possible in San Jose. You can always go for the procedure after the birth if you decide to have the baby locally.
Hi Jenn, i am Nigerian, and looking to have our baby in Costa Rica. Do you think we’d have troubles taking our baby out after we get a Costa Rican Passport? To be honest, the passport is the objective for having our baby on Costa Rica.
Hi Tobi, Your baby will be able to travel freely once you get the permiso de salida (exit permission). We have more information about this in our post, Having a Baby in Costa Rica: The Paperwork.
Can you please email me your doctors name? Thank you!
Hi Amanda, Sure, I will email you now.
Congratulations to both of you! It is so wonderful to hear about your birthing process. Thank you so sincerely for sharing this. We are moving to Samara in 6 months I’ll be about 7 months pregnant. We are looking for guidance. My first birth was supported and held in such a beautiful way in the US and I’d love something similar. We will be on the other side of the country.. any insights?
Hi Jenna, Glad our post was helpful!
I’m not sure what type of birthing experience you’re looking for, but there are some midwives in the Samara area who could do a home birth. If you would prefer to be at a hospital, you will have to decide between public and private. You used to be able to have a doula at a public hospital (at least at some of them) but that has probably changed with Covid. You would have more control over the experience in general if you go with a private hospital. CIMA and Clinica Biblica used to have satellite locations near Liberia but we are pretty sure those are closed now. So you would need to go to San Jose. Lots of expats here spend a week or two before their due date in San Jose if they live far away. That is what we did for the birth of our second son who was born at CIMA in San Jose. Here’s the link to our article about that birth in case you haven’t seen it: https://www.twoweeksincostarica.com/having-baby-hospital-cima/
There may be other options around Samara that we don’t know about too so definitely ask around when you arrive. Hope that helps!
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. We are debating staying in the US until June or having baby in CR. We just purchased property in Samara but won’t fully be relocating until April but maybe we’ll extend it my a couple months just to be safe. Im so glad for your blog and offerings here. Thank you and Pura Vida. If you are ever in Samara and need a place to stay, look us up at Villa Tangerine.
Hello! My partner and I are moving to Costa Rica approximately six weeks before my due date in October (2022). We are very nervous about finding the right doctor as well as a good place to deliver. Your post about the natural doctor and Hospital Las Americas sounds to be exactly what we are looking for. Could you give us his information? Thank you so much for sharing your experience!
Hi Lauren, I will email you now.
Hi Jenn & Matt (and your little guys too!),
So happy to have found your site and that you are so generous with sharing your experience!! I’m 1/2 Tica but grew up abroad and would prefer as natural a birth as possible. Do you mind sharing the names of your OB and pediatrician in SJO?
Bendiciones para tu familia!
Hi Daniela, Congratulations! Yes, we’ll send you an email now.
Hello!
What a great post, thank you so much for sharing.
I’m also curious about the doctors information, please and thank you 🙏
Hi Grace, You’re welcome! I’ll send the info for both of my doctors now.
Hi! Appreciate this so much. Curious how the cost works if you end up needing more time in the hospital or if you do have medical complications? Thanks!
Hi Jenna, We stayed an extra day and it was very affordable. Not sure about the costs if you have complications.