Giving Birth in Tokyo, Japan

My Personal Experience Dealing with a Baby Birth as an American Father in Japan

It’s a lot better to give birth in Japan than in the U.S. After the birth, the hospital takes care of mother and baby for at least a week.

Selecting a Hospital

Originally we selected a huge hospital (similar to Kaiser in the US) but due to the huge amount of applicants, we were turned down. This meant that we were forced to choose a smaller hospital closer to home. After my wife gave birth, I realized that it is a lot better to apply for a big hospital. It is a bit personal so I won’t get into too many details regarding it but there was a slight problem at birth.

Birth

Due to the problem at birth, the small clinic did not have permission to treat our baby and they had to transfer her to the big hospital that previously turned down our application using an ambulance. It was my first time riding an ambulance in Japan and hopefully the last.

It was 10 pm and I needed to go with my baby to the big hotel alone since my wife had to be treated at the smaller clinic. When I arrived, the nurse said to wait until they were done treating her.

Waiting for the Doctor

I was anxious and I waited and waited until the nurse came out at 1:00 am saying it will take another hour.

After waiting another 2 hours, the nurse came out and let me see my baby. It felt like ages but after having waited so long, I was so tired that I had a hard time understanding a lot of the medical terms such as 点滴、血糖、脳波.

Fortunately, they wrote it out on paper so I was about to understand the meaning of the second and the last word because I can read the kanji. They refused me when I asked if I could record their explanation. Later, I took a photo of our baby’s condition and treatment and sent it to my wife.

Luckily, I was able to understand everything except for the medical terms because there was only one nurse who could speak basic English. She only knew enough English to explain the things I already understand, so we ended up speaking in Japanese.

The doctor in the small clinic actually made a mistake in our baby’s diagnosis and would have given our baby the wrong medicine. Luckily the doctor in the big hospital helped save our baby’s life with the proper treatment.

4 AM the Same Night

Since it was late, they told me at around 4 am after talking to the doctor to come back to the hospital by 6 pm with baby wipes because they were almost out. I didn’t know why they needed it but I did what they asked.

Items You Must Bring to the Hospital

You may know that a diaper is call オムツ (omutsu) in Japanese. But you probably don’t know that it in the store it’s called テープ (te-pu). Yes, it’s called tape and not diaper for some reason.

I struggled alone to find オムツ but there weren’t any. The nurse even said that they sold them at the convenience store inside the hospital. Fortunately the boxes of “tapes” had pictures of diapers so I figured they were what I needed.

The hospital gave me instruction that stated I needed to bring other items including baby soap, moisturizer, gauze, paper towels, etc. Health insurance only covers treatments and it does not cover these items.

Health Insurance

The Japanese ward that I am living in (Edogawa-ku) actually covers the remaining cost of the hospital fee (insurance coverage). They give you a card that is called 医療書 (treatment card) and it covers 30% of the baby fees and the baby insurance covers 70% of the fees. However, there are hospital fees that insurance and the treatment card does not cover, and those are items that they ask us to bring in.

They ended up charging me 14,260 yen (about $100) for the cost of formula milk and the diapers they used the first day. This was pretty good considering our baby stayed in the hospital for 2 weeks and we even used an ambulance. The biggest cost was my wife’s hospital bill which was about $2,000.

Baby Money

Japan also gives you money to help take care of your baby. Tokyo gives you 100,000 yen in gift cards (approximately $1,000) to raise your child, which arrives within 3 months after your application after birth.

The gift cards can only be used at a store that only sells baby goods. You also get monthly payments from your city ward (the amount depends on the particular ward).

I live in Edogawa and they give us 15,000 yen per month until age 3 then it drops to 10,000 per month until age 12 unless I have more than 2 children. Then it changes to 10,000 per month when they are in intermediate school. (shown below) If you’re over an income threshold, they might lower the amount.

Lastly, Edogawa residents will receive 13,000 yen every month for the first year as long as I do not send my child to a nursery. However, I am able to use a babysitter though I do not plan on one using anyway. (More information can be seen below.)

My Taxi

One of our biggest concerns when giving birth is how to get to the hospital on time. Japan has a unique taxi company called My Taxi and will come when you are ready to go to the hospital. They ask for your estimated due date and give you a set of numbers that you tell them when you call for pick up.

I heard there were a lot of births on the same day as ours, but it took 15 minutes for the taxi to arrive. (10 births from what I heard from the nurse) When the taxi came, they offered a waterproof mat to sit on. The taxi accepts credit cards, IC (suica, pasmo), and cash.

Conclusion

Japan has an amazing system for births. It has great aftercare and an allowance system that gives you a total of 436,000 yen (approximately 4,360 dollars) in the first year.

I heard from a friend that in the U.S. they pretty much kick the mother and newborn out of the hospital a few days after birth and then you’re on your own so Japan might be the place to live if you are considering whether to have your baby in Japan or the U.S.

Here are some additional articles that will help prepare you to live in Japan.

1. What Motivated Me To Live Abroad In Japan
2. What I Wished I had Done Before Studying in Japan
3. Studying Abroad in Japan? Things You Need to Buy and When to Buy Them!
4. Japanese Costco
5. Gym in Japan (Cost, Location, Services)
6. Best Way to Save Money in Japan

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