English-language groups started for new moms in Budapest

Since doing something as mundane as heading out to the grocery store in a foreign country can be an unexpected adventure, it doesn't take a doctor's visit to figure out that having a baby abroad will likely be an overwhelming experience. The onset of emotion and confusion - and sleeplessness - that accompanies the delivery of a little bundle of joy will likely be amplified, especially since new parents may be without the support system they'd have in place at home.

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Pregnant and breastfeeding moms who speak English can meet to socialize with a new, free group that American-Hungarian Réka Morvay is organizing.

To counterbalance this, Réka Morvay, a Hungarian-American psychologist and mother of two girls under age three, is starting four ad-hoc social and support groups for women in Hungary to help them feel more grounded during and after pregnancy. Two of the programs are specifically for English-speaking women.

"Being pregnant is all new, and as far as I was concerned it was one of the biggest adventures I've ever been through," she says. "Even though I speak Hungarian there is a lot of information to process."

The groups will be held at the district XI outpost of the Early Development Center (Korai Fejlesztő Központ), which is donating meeting space.

A mommy-baby breastfeeding group will meet every second Friday from 10-12 beginning in March; older children are welcome too, says Morvay.

"The aim is to provide a social environment for women to come together," she says. It will be two hours to exchange information related to having babies abroad, such as finding an English-speaking Hungarian practitioner, arranging for birth certificates, and importantly, the group is intended for new mommies to make new friends.

She also hopes to clue-in pregnant women to the finer details of the Hungarian health care system and is organizing an informal prenatal course every fourth Friday from 10-12.

"How many English speakers know that you have to take your own toilet paper and utensils to the hospital," Morvay says. "Not many. You don't want to show up and find that there is no toilet paper in the bathroom. It can be a sobering experience."

She hopes to build this group into a more formal seminar as well, with lectures on pregnancy, birth, nursing, and caring for infants.

There are also English-language prenatal classes available, such as the course offered at First Med, which lasts for six sessions and cost Ft 15,300.

"Private hospitals in Budapest are expensive, few people can afford that." However in Hungarian, she says, prenatal courses are free, so Morvay hopes to arrange a similar prenatal class in English. "I am organizing this with the hope of reaching out to the larger foreign community."

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