But straight forward it has not been.
So I was told the clinic is open from 8-12, so shortly after landing in Qum, we went to the clinic at 10am. I was told to go to another hospital to buy the vaccination card and come back the following day at 8am.
I went to buy the vaccination card but the problem is that neither of us is awake and/or human at 8am and the second issue was that the nowrooz holidays were starting and everyone who lives here knows that Iran doesn't function during the first 2 weeks of the new year.
So we waited till after the holidays were done.
On our second trip to the clinic- at 9am post holidays, I went in to join the queue and again was told: "unless you come at 8am, don't come. We can't register you" So I mentioned that my friends had come at 10am to register and they were registered so what's the problem. Anyway so it was a battle not really worth fighting.
On our third visit to the clinic, I got there at 8.10am! Promptly put my card in the queue and waited and waited and waited. So she forgot to tell me that even if I came at 8am, I wouldn't be seen till 12. And not only that, they didn't actually start seeing people until 8.30!
Seems like once you have a child, you spend your life waiting and visiting clinics. Do the mums here not have cooking and cleaning and laundry to do??? I must be doing something wrong!!
So after waiting 2 hours, I went in and took my card out of the queue and went home.
Made me really appreciate the sure start children's centres we have in the UK. I think the most I've waited is 15 mins got my turn. And not only that, you're not limited to one clinic. As long as you have the baby's red book, you can go to any clinic in the area.
Not only that, but there seems to be an awful lot of unnecessary testing going on. Hearing tests at birth, 3 months, 9 months, 18 months and 30 months as well as regular eye tests from 6 months!
So we're going to try to register again tomorrow. I will be taking a book and a LOT of toys to keep the little one entertained while we wait our turn.
Wish me luck!
2 comments:
Although I've gotten used to the horrible work ethics they have here (I think it may just be a Qom problem and Tehran + other cities are probably a BIT better), our clinic experience with our daughter was smooth and amazing.
We went to the clinic around 10 am the first time and they did everything for us even without a card. They just told us to get it next time from the hospital. After a month when it was her 2nd appointment, I still hadn't gotten the card cuz' I was too lazy and they still ended up doing her injection and other things such as weight, and height (they have been writing down the details on some piece of paper lol), but this time she said please make sure you get the card because we are not supposed to do the check ups without it. So I will probably go to the hospital now to get it, before the next appointment.
Go to the clinic (service-e-behdashti) on Muallem - it is the one most of the Westerns seem to go to. It is usually pretty empty and the nurse there is great. It is also being overseen by UNICEF it seems. You don't have to go there at 8am, we walk in at 10 and once we walked in a while before it was about to close. They don't seem to have such a rule that one needs to be there in the morning.
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