European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 27, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                More americans give birth in German hospitals by Janet Agostino medical writer Hen Bonnie Powers delivered her son in a German Hospital her Only complaint was the food there were no choices on the menu. Otherwise the cars she received trom the nurses and doctors was similar to what she would have expected in an american Hospital. Powers had been cried for during her pregnancy by medical personnel Al the army clinic in Aschaffenbur and at the Frankf Uil army regional medical Center. Bui when she Well into premature labor the hour Long ride to Frankfurt was considered unsafe because of complications she had developed during pregnancy instead she was sent to the a Schallenburg City Hospital. Like Powers who is married to army spec. William Powers in Schallenburg. An increasing number of service members wives and do civilian women will be delivering their babies in German hospitals because of a shortage of military obstetricians and gynaecologists. Active duty serve remembers have priority in military hospitals for obstetrical care. About 75 women a month living in the communities of Wei Brincken Baum older Pir Masens and Sembach will be sent to German hospitals instead of Iho lands Uhl army regional medical Center because of a Lack of Bosle Luicians said or. Maj Richard Cardenas chief of obstetrics and gynaecology. A year ago. Hero were enough obstetricians for the majority of women to deliver at lands Uhl he said in a Schallenburg three out of 10 women will deliver in a German Hospital said Becky Eaton an obstetrical nurse Al the Asch Altonburg army clinic. Women Are fold irom the Start of choir pregnancies thai hey May have to deliver in a German Hospital it they develop serious complications. Ii they have an imminent delivery or if the Frankfurt Hospital is full when they go into labor Eaton said. German medical care is in general equal to american medical care according to Many american doctors and nurses. In fact Germany has a lower Rale of infant deals and injury than the United states Cardenas said. The Large medical centers Are oils Landing he said. Overall they have a very Good system of  wives of service members can have most of their German medical Bills paid for by champs the civilian health and medical program of the uniformed services. They will need to pay $7,85 per Day the same rate charged in the military hospitals or a minimum of $25, champs pays the remainder of the covered Hospital and doctor charges in we Brucken. The Evangeli Sches Krank Enhaus is rated highly by the wives of . Service members who have delivered there said it col. Sharon Moses a nurse practitioner Aline air Force clinic at Wei Bricken a. It was great said Victoria Hunter who had a daughter delivered by caesarean Section at the Hospital in june. The doctor spent a lot of Lime with us and explained everything thoroughly. The staff was Friendly and helpful t was pampered they did everything for  Hunter like other women in the Zweir Ilcken area was cared for during most of her pregnancy in the air Force clinic. Women usually Are Send to the German Hospital in the 341h week of pregnancy. Moses said. Many of them Are a Lille apprehensive at first she said. But to ease their anxieties the women can go on a Lour of the Hospital Given by a German doctor in English. The differences the women wiil experience Between German and american medical care Are More Apt to be in the customs and culture rather than in the medical knowledge and technology. German women usually Are hospitalized longer after a delivery than american women remaining about seven Days before going Home. Women delivering in american Lac lilies Are hospitalized Tor 24 hours to three Days. However american women delivering their babies in Gorman hospitals can request to leave sooner Moses said. Hunter who is married to air Force Salt sol. James w. Hunter jr., stayed eight Days. She could have stayed three Days longer but asked to leave earlier because she fell Well enough to go Home the language Barrier of course creates most. Dilemmas. Many German doctors speak English but that is not necessarily Frue of Iho nurses foil namely. There is usually someone on the Ward or in the Hospital who can speak English. Moses said the nurses at the German Hospital Are Given packets of information Aboul baby care written in English to distribute to the american women. Women who know they will be going to a Gorman Hospital should bring personal toiletries towels pyjamas and a Bathrobe because these items Are not always supplied by German hospitals Eaton said. They also should bring German Marks for the soda machine and pay telephones As Well As items to keep themselves Busy such As books stationery baby announcements or any hobbies. Women generally return of the american Lac lilies for their babies to be seen by paediatricians and Lor their own follow up care although they can go to a German physician if they choose. Egg donor program helps sterile women or. Martin m. Quigley in director of the egg donor program Al the Clevelan clinic. A say it la Lei Only voluntary Anonymous egg donor   associated press to women told repeatedly they were hopelessly infertile because they Lack ovaries have become pregnant through an Anonymous egg donor program. To Piolet their privacy the Cleveland clinic in Cleveland Ohio has closely guarded the identities of the two women describing them Only As in their Early 30s, one a housewife and another a farm wife. One lives in Ohio the other in another state. These Are women who have been told for years and years they would never gel pregnant says or. Marlin m. Ouigley who directs the program Al the clinic. They were As sterile As you could  the two women Are the first successes in a program that involves taking eggs from a Volunteer fertilizing the eggs with the sperm of the recipient s husband and implanting Rise fertilized egg in the recipient s uterus As far As we know we Are the Only people in the world that have a voluntary Anonymous egg donor program Ouigley says. Since the program began a year ago eight women have undergone fertilized egg implants. In addition to the two pregnancies four women have failed to become pregnant so far and two Are awaiting pregnancy tests. We re on track Quigley says. Whan the program was announced the Cleveland clinic received 500 inquiries in the first week More than 90 percent o them from women interested in donating eggs to infertile women. Unlike sperm donors for artificial insemination women s eggs Are a Heck of a lot More difficult to come by than men s sperm Ouigley says. The clinic invited 68 women to 90 through a rigorous donor screening program which includes a medical history psychological evaluation detailed briefing on the procedure and the possible risk and a review by an ethical expert who makes sure the donor understands Overy thing. A key part of the program Ouigley says. Involves Matching egg donors and recipients to try to provide women Wilh babies similar in physical appearance to what they might have expected if they had become pregnant naturally. The Matching has been incredible Quilloy says. He recalls that one Day one of his aides familiar with one of the women in the matchup was Able to pick out the other woman As she waited in a cafeteria line because they looked so much alike. He says the screening also weeds out donors who might have sexually or genetically transmitted diseases. The clinic and us staff make no promises about the Type baby that might result. A recipient consent document also warns that there is no guarantee the recipient will become  the procedure usually takes Aboul 20 minutes and can be uncomfortable Quigley says donors Are offered a painkiller. The eggs Are combined with the sperm and up to three of the fertilized eggs Are inserted into the would be Mother. Using More than three Al a time would increase the chances of a multiple birth Quilloy says. Donors Are paid $900 to $1,200 Lor their Lime involved in the screening subsequent blood testing and the actual egg collection. We re certainly nol paying for eggs Quigley says ii the recipients become pregnant they face up to 12 weeks of hormone treatments because they Lack the ovaries needed to control the hormonal body changes required to maintain a  have to maintain the pregnancy artificially Quigley says. Lori Andrews a Legal expert on reproductive Law in Chicago says we could sea a Case in which a woman who donated eggs As part of her own attempt to become pregnant through in Viltro fertilization might sue Lor visitation rights with a baby created Wilh her donor eggs. But Quigley s program faces less risk of such Legal problems she says because donors Are volunteers who Are paid Only Lor their time and Effort. He said they have no Hope themselves of becoming pregnant through in Vitro fertilization. The Only Law in the nation regulating egg donations was enacted in Louisiana to prohibit payments to a donor Andrews says. Tuesday september 27,1988 the stasis and stripes Page 17