Anyone in Luxembourg ? Where to find...

[pescatore]

Hello, I am new-ish to Luxembourg and looking for some advice. I am 22w pregnant with our first baby and feeling thoroughly fed up. I moved out here from London and the thing I miss most at the moment is having a facial - the sort with hot fluffy towels. I know it sounds silly - I blame the hormones. I work in Kirchberg and live in Centre Ville. Does any one have any tips ? My French is not very good so it would be nice to find somewhere which spoke English or German.

[Weta]

Hello and welcome to Luxembourg!

Sorry to hear you are feeling fed up... is it the pregnancy or Luxembourg (or both)?

I go to a nice place called Vislavie in Place Guillaume. She's big into organic beauty products and it has a really nice, slightly hippy kind of atmosphere. Can't guarantee hot fluffy towels, but I go to get my eyebrows done and have always thought it would be a lovely place to have a massage or a facial.

She is French though, so I don't know about the language thing. I'll email her and ask. Mind you, I think you could get away with minimal French for a facial if you just look up the relevant words first (and maybe make an appointment in person).

Here is the link: www.vislavie.lu/ - if you click on the "Tarifs" tab in the second line of options it will come up with the prices for a facial.

Is there anything else you need help with? Do you know about the BLC (www.blc.lu) - it's a good place for meeting other new mums/mums-to-be.

[Weta]

Just to say I emailed my beauty therapist and she says she can get by in English and already has a number of clients who speak only English. Her name is Drosana and she owns the salon (it's very small).

[pescatore]

A-ha ! Is by any chance the place with the Hamman right near the drive in entrance to Knuedler ? I've been past it several times but never quite plucked up the courage to go in !

Anyway, thanks so much for the tip - I'll give them a call or get hubby to (he's fluent in French and I can get by). I've been commuting to Lux for two years before I moved here and feel pretty lucky to be having baby here - spent first few weeks of the pregnancy commuting in London on the Northern Line so 10 mins to Kirchberg is a dream and Clinic Bohler wins hands down over the Royal Free in Hampstead. Fed uppedness is mostly due to work being tedious about mat leave (I am not on a Lux contract unfortunately) plus all the associated blah about moving overseas whilst working full time and being pregnant. I am a habitual expat and from experience I am usually fine once I find a beauty therapist so thanks so much for Drosana's name.

I have signed up to the Well Baby clinic's antenatal classes but haven't yet properly investigated BLC so thank you for the tip - will check it out.

[Weta]

Hmmm, never noticed a hammam (!) and have never used the Knuedler either as I always come by foot from Hamilius. But it is nice so I hope you like it too!

Sounds like you're actually pretty happy to be having baby here, though of course it's such a hard time to move. But Lux is so great for children (we moved a year ago and my kids love it), plus it's such a manageable size.

I've heard good things about the well baby clinic - and I think once the baby is a few months old they refer you on to the BLC anyway

[MrFibble]

Sorry to chip in but I did not have the best experience of the Well Baby Clnic ante-natal class (but it was 7 years ago now) and for DS took a class at the Bohler instead which I found to be a lot better. I'm not sure whether they have an English class as they are v. francophone there but I found them to be great.

The Bohler is a fabulous place to have a baby - when I compare DD's and DS's births there is no comparison - the Bohler is great. The anaethetists (can never spell that) are fab, the midwives fab and so are the doctors.

[MrFibble]

To answer your original question though a good German speaking beauty place is Essentiel at the Langweiss 2 shopping centre in Junglinster (tel: 26 78 29 92). Most of them speak German but some speak French and English. They do a great facial but if you want a proper pedicure you have to find a medical pedicurist (spelling?).

[gordonpym]

In my opinion, Irene Kessler is the best in Luxembourg.
It's in Limperstberg, near Place des Glacis. One of the very first beauty center in Luxembourg. Highly professional.

[pescatore]

Finally managed to find this thread again!(terminally technically incompetent, I am). Thank you very much to Weta, Mr Fibble and Gordonpym for all the advice and sorry for saying thank you months after the event. I've tried Drosana and found her good, though expensive. I'm now 38+4 weeks and might go back to Drosana post baby to try the hamam, which looks fab. I will also be looking into Essentiel and Irene Kessler for the next week !!!

I have done the Well Baby antenatal classes now - enjoyed them and would recommend them. I was a bit disappointed they were during the mornings (so ladies only) and also there wasn't quite as much as I would have liked on care of the babies in the early days. But the midwives at Bohler explained to me that most antenatal classes in Lux are like that since they keep you in after the birth for five days, and you then get to practice on a real live baby.... Also the ladies who run the Well Baby classes are lovely and very helpful.

Mr Fibble, thanks for the info on Bohler (the diary date is not far away so nice to hear good things).

Does anyone have a recommendation for a pediatrician in Luxembourg - one who is preferably a Luxembourger (since they usually speak German / English) and preferably in Lux city or nearby ? I understand I'll need to name a pediatrician when leaving the hospital.

[MrFibble]

Dr Robert bretz. He is great. I think he's German rather than luxembourgish . DD and DD both really like him. A bit gruff sometimes but good manner with the kids. Good luck at the bohler - they are great. Btw I have a huge amount of baby stuff (travel cot, bounce thing, back pack, foot sack etc) looking for a home so CAT me if you're interested.

[Weta]

Glad you liked Drosana...

We tried Dr Bretz but my DH took a bit of a dislike to him (I think he didn't feel he really listened to him, and a bit too brusque with DS1) plus a few times he wasn't there when we had made an appointment). We had DS2 vaccinated by a lovely one called Dr Tockert but I think he has retired, and our next to try is Dr Agustsson (Swedish I think) who has been recommended by my colleague.

Good luck with the birth!

[MrFibble]

Yup, Dr Bretz can be a little gruff but we've been with him for 6 years now and never had any problems with excessive waiting or missed apointments (except when I turned up a day late ).

What you could do is just name one of the pediatricians from the practice associated with the Bohler clinic if you have not made up your mind before your baby arrives. One word, I would avoid the Kanner Klinik at the CHL as IME you end up waiting for hours even if you have an appointment.

All the best.

[Cheria]

How did the birth go at Bohler? I'm due to give birth there in a few weeks.

I did one of their pre-birth sessions and also had minor surgery there last year - they look pretty good.

[HerMajestiesSecretCervix]

My experience was 3 years ago but I can add that the Bohler are fab. A friend has had all 3 of her babies there (one emcs and two planned cs) and she thinks they are fab too.

[Cheria]

Thanks - that's reassuring... I keep hearing horror stories from friends back in the UK and haven't heard any on Bohler yet which is nice (secretly smug to have chosen to live in Lux!)

[Weta]

My colleagues who have had babies here all seem to thank their lucky stars it wasn't in the UK...

[HerMajestiesSecretCervix]

BTW I have a stack of baby gear for sale. If you are interested pm me and i'll e mail you a list. (Cheek mare emoticon).

[pescatore]

Ooops- I am not very good at following this thread and hopefully Cheria, you had a great experience at the Bohler already. My experience was rather mixed but (1) It knocked the socks off the NHS experience and I'd definitely go back (2) I was the only one in my baby group to have any complaints (3) I was admitted on one of the busiest days they had all year (I got the last bed on the maternity ward).

I was admitted twice - once when they thought I was in labour and two days later to be induced. The first admission wasn't great - they had three very painful attempts at inserting the cannula in my arm (one still hurts five months on) and left the last attempt in all night, which was the main reason I chose to go home the next day. They wouldn't let me eat anything just in case I needed to be induced the next day so I was very hungry. However the induction / birth itself was really great - the care couldn't have been better, the nurse was very careful about the cannula, they let me have a walking epidural although they don't normally do that and they were just overall lovely.

I ended up spending around a week post-birth in the hospital. It's incredibly well equipped and clean - all the rooms have a big supply of pampers, a fancy change mat and one of those baby warmer thingies. Anything you need - nipple shields, breast pump, towels for baby, formula (the expensive bottled sort), good quality clothes to borrow and a grobag for the baby, even baby wipes, is all provided without charge. The food is great (the staff eat at the same canteen) - better than some of the Kirchberg restaurants in the area. Your DP / DH can stay in your room if you have a single room (there's a charge for this though). If you want, the staff will also take the baby for a few hours to let you get some sleep.

There are lots of people floating around for you which is both a plus and a minus. A typical day included a visit from the obstetrician, the shift nurse, the physio (these post-birth sessions are just great) plus the odd drop in from the lactation consultant, the photographer and the relaxation consultant. Add the daily room clean and in the mornings it feels like a revolving door - and hanging the do not disturb sign out didn't help much !

What sucked for me was support with breastfeeding. DS had trouble latching on as well as jaundice, which meant he didn't wake up to feed. The nurses basically left me alone for two days (though they were unusually full when I was admitted) and didn't give much needed advice (eg put him to feed regularly), which meant that my milk didn't come in for five days. By that stage we were mixed feeding and when I went home we were basically told that we were doing the wrong thing by insisting that it would be possible for me to breastfeed (long history of severe allergies on both sides of the family notwithstanding...). I heard after from several sources, mostly Luxembourgers, that Bohler does not offer the best support if you run into trouble breastfeeding. On the other hand, I am not sure that Duchesse is so much better.

The other thing that sucked is that the night shift staff, especially on weekends, are mostly French / Belgians and insisted on speaking French. Just to be clear - I'm not a monolingual expat in a bubble, I speak German, I understand Luxembourgish (both also official languages..) and I have some degree of French, just not the level of French to understand someone barging into my room uninvited at 3am and taking 45 mins to explain an expressing routine to me, especially when this person knows I don't speak French and I find out that this person speaks excellent English (grrrrrr). Mind you, I suspect that a disagreement with the nightshift is common in many countries, not just Lux. Something to do with sleep deprivation and hormones...

[pescatore]

MrFibble, just wanted to say a belated but heartfelt thank you for Dr Bretz. We think he is fab. He is a bit gruff / reserved, but fabulous with DS and also (so I am given to understand) not quite as prescriptive as some Lux pediatricians can be. I can see how the thing with missed apptmts might work - he doesn't have a receptionist on the days we are there, so he can take some time to open the doors both downstairs and upstairs but he told us that if we turn up on time, he will always see us on the dot, and we've always found this to be the case.

[Virtuos]

I agree, Dr Bretz is a great Dr. and our 3 boys are fine with him. We have been his clients the last 11 years. He has all the time been grumpy and rude, but this last incident made me really annoyed! I was calling to make an apt, if possible for the same day (I called 9.00 AM) and he asked how I could call on a Friday morning when it's 10 cm of snow!?! WHY didn't I call earlier (stupid me). We will still use him for the annual school check-up, but for the rest we now have a great dr. who also is friendly and nice.

[LatteBiscotti]

Virtuos, I recently moved to Luxembourg (last week in fact) and am looking for a good paediatrician (one who speaks English). A few have mentioned about Dr Bretz and although many says he's a good doctor, I'm having slight reservations about his mannerism. You mentioned that although you use him for the annual school check up, you are seeing another doctor who is good, friendly and nice. May I have the name of this doctor? Thank you.

[Weta]

Welcome to Lux! hope you are enjoying it so far... We tried Dr Bretz but weren't very happy. We now go to Dr Agustsson, who I think is Swedish - she speaks excellent English (along with lots of other languages!) and is very nice to the kids and seems extremely competent. My son has ongoing allergy/asthma issues so we have had plenty of experience with doctors :) She was recommended by his allergy specialist at the hospital, and I know a few other people who go to her and are very happy. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend her to anyone looking for a good paediatrician.

And do ask if you have any other questions about Lux!

Weta

[PetiteRaleuse]

There is a group of paediatricians, all women, in Mondorf les Bains who speak English. They are excellent, and as there are three there is always someone to see in an emergency (during surgery hours). We have been with them for just over two years now and have found them to be very thorough and very kind.

[PetiteRaleuse]

Not necessarily convenient depending on where you are though of course.