Students from Greece who came to Kauno kolegija Higher Education Institution (HEI) have been practising in the Midwifery Department of Republican Šiauliai hospital for the second month. The future midwives highly appreciate the trust in them and the opportunity to participate in natural births, as this is an extremely rare experience in their home country. Even 80 percent of newborns in Greece see the world after Caesarean section. For cooperation and exceptional experience, students from Greece are extremely grateful to the managers of the hospital, the helpful staff of the Obstetrical-Gynecology Department, Brigimantas Kontrimas, a student of Midwifery at the Kauno kolegija HEI, who helps overcome the language barrier, and Alina Liepinaitienė, the director’s advisor, midwife, Kauno kolegija HEI lecturer, who takes care of their practical experience in Lithuania.

The practice exceeds expectations

Midwifery student, Greek Eleni Kosmoupoulou says she came to Lithuania because of very good recommendations: “When Alina Liepinaitienė came to our university, I was impressed by the inclusive lectures and stories about Lithuanian midwives, and our lecturers, midwife, Prof Antigoni Sarantaki recommended going to Lithuania because midwives here are not just assistants to the doctor, but do a lot of births on their own. Therefore, Lithuania was recommended to us as an ideal opportunity to see natural births. And I was also very interested in Lithuanian culture and traditions.” She is open, the experience gained in Šiauliai exceeded all expectations, because it was here that she had the opportunity to deliver the first birth in her professional history.

Eftichia Chatzithanasi says that she chose Lithuania for her internship when another colleague praised the experience she gained in Kaunas: “The reviews about Lithuania were good, so when I was offered an internship at Šiauliai Hospital, I agreed to go without hesitation. The team is very benevolent and helpful. I have already delivered several births, although in three years in Greece I did not have the opportunity to experience a single birth. I did not expect to be able to have so much practice in midwifery in a month’s time. It exceeded all expectations I had.”

Nefeli Anastasopoulou says that she heard that most births in Lithuania are natural, but she did not expect to see so many of them and receive such great trust from her Lithuanian colleagues: “Here, midwives do everything they can for the women. I understand that there are quite a few of us and we may be really tiring, because they have to work, and there are always us who want to learn and find out, but they are very helpful, always pleasant and give us all the knowledge as much as possible. We appreciate it very much.”

Language is no longer a barrier

The Greeks also say they were prepared for the challenge of the language barrier. “The language barrier is the biggest difficulty, but we would experience it when we go to any foreign country, so we were prepared for it – we downloaded translation apps in advance so that we could get the maximum benefit from this practice,” says midwifery student Vasilia Klokkari.

During the first days of their stay, Kauno kolegija HEI Midwifery student B. Kontrimas helped the Lithuanians communicate with the Greeks. It was he who started looking for ways for women to communicate independently: “We downloaded apps to the midwives of our institution to translate texts from English. Now the progress of their English is amazing. Students from Greece try to understand our language so that they can make the most of this practice time.”

Read more here (in Lithuanian).

Information of the Republican Šiauliai hospital