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Medicines

First of all consider taking vaccination for Polio, Diphtheria, Typhoid, Tetanus, Hepatitis A,B etc. (should be free on the NHS for the UK)
Typhoid injection protects you for 3 years I was told by the nurse. Diphtheria, Polio, Tetanus 10 years. Hep A 20 years.

Once this is covered you would need anti-malaria tablets especially when in Gujarat. If the tablets are cheap then you have the wrong ones because these are usually suited for traveling to destinations like Latin America and not India or the third world.
Get the tablets which contain the words 'Paludrine & Avloclor' and start taking them at least a week before you fly out and continue taking them for at least a week after wards. I know if you stay months it can be expensive. We cheated, we took the tablets every other day! But generally when in Delhi or Mumbai you do not need to take any but do take other precautions by covering yourself in the early mornings and early evenings onwards and mosquito repellents.

Other Precautions

Rural areas we are not in but even so in the city, especially at dawn and dusk, there'll be a few buzzing around. You'll find that fast moving insects are not the ones to swat, the 'skeeters' are them slow meandering types who hopefully struggle under fans when you sleep.

Women, your perfume attracts them. Both should cover up as much as possible. Take some lemongrass oil or citronella oil and daub that on instead of perfume and keep the bottle cap off. Buy some local repellents like 'All-Out' which is a device you plug into the mains. Other repellents are like incense coils which you keep burning throughout the night. Take a mosquito net with you if you must but the room cleaner might think we lot are a bunch of pansies! If there's no other means of securing the net, take a roll of duct tape. In reality you'll only find the summer months a nuisance.

Bombay has a tropical climate and has an annual average temperature of about 27c. The hot humid season occurs in April and May. A monsoon occurs from June to September with about 70" of rainfall. A 'cool' season supposedly extends from November to February but on my recent trip November was like 32c. ">

All in all, don't be frightened off it's not as bad as I've made it out to be. Enjoy your stay!

 

Mosquito Spray

'All-Out' device, similar to this for a couple bucks plug into the mains.

First of all don't fly by Air India unless you have to and leave plenty of time ahead of any appointments with the clinic. Travel light as luggage space on a regular Indian car (typically a TaTa Indica) is abysmal unless you upgrade the taxi to a larger MPV/people carrier, say Rs1000 extra which is not much so bear this in mind. Especially to those that come from the US!

Get a Visa, preferably a multiple entry visa because you may be needing to return a number of times during the course of the surrogate's (if you need a surrogate that is) pregnancy and beyond.

Do not place all your electrical items like cameras, laptops, cellphones and their chargers in any one luggage. It helps the Indian security and scanning crew to see things more clearly thus hopefully preventing them from opening up your bags and asking you dumb questions.

Bizarrely, they scan your luggages even on arrival! On arrival there's no body searches so if you have too many electrical items simply stuff some in your pockets when you land.

Write down on a piece of paper your passport number, the Visa number, the passport issue and expiry dates, the visa expiry date and Visa issue place (eg London) and the flight number and if you can't remember, your age as well! Keep this information in your pocket along with a pen because you would need them to fill in the custom slips that are handed to you inflight. Keep it with your passport. Doing all this will save you from fumbling around and having to wrestle down your baggages from the overhead compartment. Tick the box which says 'Tourism'.

Tourist visa require an application form and 2 photos and must be obtained before flying.

On departure, they scan the baggages which only go into the hold of the aircraft so there's no need to take off your rucksack or show any cabin carry-on bags.

But before you join this queue you will need to first have your large baggages roped around with a white security strip. Look around you, the ones in the check-in line already have their large suitcases strapped so follow the other 'freshers' and look for the strapping security fella! Get in the check-in queue once you have been strapped. If you don't have any bags to put in the hold then forget the above malarkey just head for the check-in.

Now it's important to remember that surrogates often deliver babies very early for westerners. By that I mean a month early so make sure you have your luggage packed well in advance. It is also best not to book your flights until you know your surrogate is admitted to the hospital. If your surrogate is not in labour then fly out at least a week before the expected due day. Had you booked your tickets early then to cancel or change your departure would incur costs. Also make sure your airline allows you to make changes to your return journey because one would not know how long it takes to get the baby's clearance to fly out. I'd say book a four month trip for any Britisher and two months for any yank or canuck

Even if your airline permits you to carry two tons of baggage stick to 20kg each when you come to collect your baby as remember the local domestic airlines in India permit only 20kg and you might have to fly up to Delhi to submit the baby's paperwork and think about flying out from Delhi. In other words fly into Mumbia and return from Delhi. Got that?

All foreigners will need to show their passports to the hotel reception upon arrival. Hotels must produce a copy for police purposes. If you're staying at a 5 star place then some of the below may not apply. But better safe than sorry!

A/C rooms. Well I've never had them as all rooms have ceiling fans but if you're staying just a few days and can afford it then why not. For the fair skinned amongst us I'm guessing it's no brainer as one might be indoors alot longer than as if one was on a normal holiday.
I've met patients at the clinic who are paying above Rs 3,500 for a room. Blimey, even budget hotels have a/c and I'm only paying Rs 450 (non a/c) 600 for two persons, admittedly it's not in Mumbai but a Rs 3,000 taxi ride away to a nearby city of Pune. Choosing to stay away from overcrowded and polluted Mumbai and enjoy the drive and scenery to Pune which has shopping like McDonalds and Pizza Hut and western style grocery stores walking distance from my room with it's 21inch TV is also a no brainer. Contact me home@oneinsix.com if interested in this option and I will give you all the details.

Essential things to bring along are a pair of slippers of the beach type variety because washrooms .... er, just bring a pair trust me! And leave the slippers on the mat outside the washroom when you finish. Bring a bog roll.
When not in your room switch off all lights but leave the fan on as this helps prevent attracting flies. Don't forget to turn out the bathroom light and keep all doors shut at all times.
Bring some duct tape to block out any peep holes! Handy for fixing anything from bags to nets and such. To avoid being hassled, show those street shoe shiners a clean pair of heels by bringing along a small rag or wet towel to clean dust off one's own shoes.

Hot water in lesser hotels is a hit or miss affair. Try to wake up earlier to not miss out on the hot water. If you do then keep the tap running even when empty because usually in the afternooons or by evenings the boiler comes on again. But by then a long brisk walk in the scorching sun will soon end your longing for the hot water. Use the cold water as in India even the cold water isn't all that cold but strangely when there's no hot water the cold water stays warm for a while longer. Don't ask how but it does!

The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip was correct. Indian electrical wiring is a joke. Electricity cuts out normally a few hours a day but all hotels have back up generators even if sometimes they are slow in kick starting. Even so it's best to bring along a small torch or for longer stays some candles and matches. There is no need to bring any soaps or tooth pastes and toiletries as they are readily available everywhere.

One last important thing, Indians make alot of noises. Disgusting noises if you know what I mean. The marble halls don't exactly deaden the din. I spend most of my time with fingers in my ears or the TV volume up high. As for common courtesy for fellow guests even at 2.00am forget it. That Rs 3,500 a day hotel seems like a pretty good idea after all!

Recommended TV viewing are the BBC News channel, Star Plus for Indian soap dramas, HBO & Star Movies for english movies, Ten Sports and Star Sports for Wrestling and soccer and of course the GOD channel and Punjabi channels for Bhangra and recitals from the Golden Temple (early mornings and early evenings)

If staying in lesser hotel, should baggage allowance permit, bring along a clean bed sheet, a pillow case and a towel. Sheets can be obtained for a few hundred rupees locally. Location and amenities are all important for a long stay and city of Pune (poona or poonay) would be our choice for it's easy accessible shopping and eating. Click for accommodation suggestions.

Bring some Tupperware food containers. Vital to keep insects from snacking on your snacks and the humidity from sogging your biscuits!




UK to India plug adapter


US to India plug adapter


An Indian plug


An Indian Socket

Not much has changed since Mr. Cradle of Civilzation walked out of Persia into the Indus Valley.
Be it electrical, jewellery, wooden, clothes or bureau-de-changes you'll normally find the whole street is either a jewelley or electrical or juice bar as they are clumped together with little variety for shoppers but persevere in the heat, nip down a side alley and another street will open up selling something different. If you want a clean environment then there are western style shopping malls springing up everywhere. At these larger stores the security will check in your bag and give you a tag. I persume that's because they don't trust people and this extends to cashiers aswell. And if you want good service then I suggest sticking to Macdonalds until a Walmart or a Tesco store wakes and shakes up the Indian way of doing business and that day will not be soon enough for my liking.

Until then the mamma and pappa type shops will give you some bargains but they may take a siesta in the afternoons til 5pm but all shops stay open late as it's pleasantly cooler in the evenings. The busier times are from 6pm right up til closing. As you are driven around be on the look-out for flea markets and street sellers selling them glittering glass and embroided bed cover sheets which also make ideal wall tapestry. Silk paintings are a favourite, wooden pen and holder, jewellery and bangles galore, incense sticks and the obligatory Taj Mahal and elephant of course. Haggle with street sellers, we got our bed sheets for Rs 1,500 but could easily have worked that down to Rs 900. walk away when they refuse and when you return back they may drop the price for you.

Grocery shops are a good place for souvenir shopping especially for Indian teas. Get those spice drops 'eye dropper' that you put in cups of teas, they come in tiny yellow cardboard boxes labelled 'Spice Drops'. Flavours are Masala, Ginger and Cardammon, hmm lovely. Tetley tea bags also come in these flavours. Other items to get are pickles, herbal shampoos and hair oils and logically placed on shelves they are not!

Indians are small (except the Sikhs of course) so always get one or two clothes size bigger.

Internet access is everywhere with rates of Rs 20 per hour.
If you have a half decent cellphone bring it along as to my surprise my cellphone worked but use it only for emergency or else the phone statement back home (also to my surprise) was extortionate. Shop signs displaying in yellow 'ISO or PCO' are everywhere, use their little red phones to make local calls to the clinic and have some Rs1 coins handy (not Rs2's). For international calls go into a booth rather than a dusty open phone. These booths display the dialled number above your head as well as print out a receipt of the bill.

The food from up north (Punjab, i.e. Sikh) is superior to what is served down south (Mumbai-Pune). Punjabi dishes are served at every restaurants in the south and for a good reason. Nearly all restaurants are vegetarian. Meat, eggs and fish are served in more expensive places.
We're not so keen on Gujurati thali foods, they're bland. So to any foreigner we suggest the following, get them all, so as on second visit you'll know what to order and what not!

Punjabi Dishes

Pakora (onion bhaji)
Samosas
Paratha (stuffed chappatti)
Paneer Palak (curd with spinach)
Paneer bhurji (like scrambled egg but with curd)
Mutter Paneer (peas & curd curry)
Veg. Makhani (creamy veg curry)
Raita (yogurt, get Mix or Boondi raitha)
Aloo Jeera (potatoes)
Jeera Rice
Makki di Roti (cornmeal chappatti)
Lassi sweet or salted (yogurt drink, normally sweet)
curd is like tofu but made from milk solids

Southern Dishes

Masala Fish
Mysore/Masala Dosa (pancake w/potato stuffing)
Spring Masala Dosa (above in manageable peices)
Tomato Omlette (pancake)
Cheese Onion Tomato Uttapa (rice pancake)
Veg. Biryani
Dahi Vada (lentil donut in yogurt)
Pav Bhaji (Bread with sauteed mix veg)
Sitaphal Milkshake (seasonal only, ask for others)


Try Limca fizzy drink. (not the Mirinda Lemon brand).
If you see a street seller making mango juices (in spring/summer season) then try it out!
My favourite is Sitaphal milkshake (custard apple) available later summer onwards. Better than McDonalds milk shake.

Those with food intolerance to Wheat/Gluten will be happy to know that chappattis(roti) can also be made from Bajra and Jawad flours. Although rare in restaurants we found two eateries in Pune that do them. More the reason why we always stay in Pune. I told one owner to keep it on the menu as I come once a year! Up in Punjab there is Missi roti. It's made from various types of flours. Probably not gluten-free but a life saver if you get literally sick of rice everyday.

I've started to type up what you should have with you when you collect your baby.
If anybody can think of anything else do drop in.

Clothes! 100% Cotton preferably. Cap for shade.
Sheet
Towels
Blanket
Bibs
Shawl for carrying

Nappies (Pampers or Huggies from India - TEND TO BE SMALLER THAN IN THE WEST. GET ONE SIZE LARGER AND DON'T PULL TABS TOO TIGHTLY OR IT'LL BREAK OFF!) ('Soft Love' nappies sold in India is cheaper and better)
Nappy dispose bags
Rash cream
Plastic bowl for bathing (buy from India)
Moisturising Body wash or baby soap

Talcum Powder
Infocal (colic relief)

Milk formula (we're buying ours from India)
Feeding Bottles with teats *
Sterilizing tablets & water container
Bottled Water (from India)
Kettle (we're buying ours from India)
Thermos Flask
Dummy/Pacifier
Clothes wash powder (from India)

*4oz bottles for the first 2-3 months then 8oz bottles. Yanks can get away with 4oz bottles as their citizens get their baby's passports rapidly. the Brits and Europeans must pack the kitchen sink.

Cordless kettles are available for up to Rs2,000. I've noticed one thing about these chinese made kettles they soon stop boiling! Inserting a safety pin or a needle (while switched off!) in the base station's central area you prise the copper contacts closer together which will make the kettle sit tighter on the terminals thus ensuring better contacts. You're also supposed to see the water levels on the transparent side of the kettle but this is India!
After 3 months the kettle packed up, it was a Philips. We dug up our old travel kettle which we left behind in India when we had our Daisy two years earlier. This is a Black & Decker travel size and bought in India around Rs1,000.

If worst comes to worst or if your baby arrives early then don't rush to get these supplies as they can be purchased in India quite easily. Location of your hotel is important. There's a Mothercare store very close to our hotel but then we stayed in Pune. For those that are going to Mumbai clinic then Pune is nearby. If you contact us then we can give you highlighted shopping map for this city. I'll try to do the same for the Akanksha clinic.

Now it's important to remember that surrogates often deliver babies very early for westerners. By that I mean a month early so make sure you have your luggage packed well in advance. It is also best not to book your flights until you know your surrogate is admitted to the hospital. If your surrogate is not in labour then fly out at least a week before the expected due day. Had you booked your tickets early then to cancel or change your departure would incur costs. Also make sure your airline allows you to make changes to your return journey because one would not know how long it takes to get the baby's clearance to fly out. I'd say book a few months trip then adjust accordingly.

If you want, a baby harness to carry the baby around airport etc, though you need one hand to support it's head but the other's free for luggage but not if you're carrying twins!!



Both ideal, both available easily in India. Rs285 a tin for the Nan. Refill packs comes in cardboard and has same markings. Same price too.
Nan contains DHA (natural fatty acids found in breast milk) and little harder to find especially in Gujarat so stock up when you get a chance and head back to Mumbai for it (or Pune where we found ours easily enough). There's a Nan 1, Nan 2, Nan 3. Only buy Nan 1. Got it?

No wonder everybody says our baby Daisy is so huge! Take a tin home. If anybody wants some let me know and I'll bring some back for you space permitting.



Pampers and Huggies both available. Soft Love brand is cheaper and far better. Not as widely available but we recommend them over and above the others. Try as many different brands as you can.
Soft Love can only be found north India. Punjab and perhaps Delhi. But if you're staying at our apartments then our contact there can take you to a 4 storey tall babies store who can bring you anything. For the north americans amongst you they even have Playtex baby bottles! You won't find a better store nor for that matter a better contact or apartment anywhere in India for the price.


Colic Relief from India


Mosquito cream for infant


Baby pillows. Get them in India.


From India keeps water hot for 24hrs! Cost Rs550. Smaller is Rs350


Wipes. Johnsons also comes in small pack. All are good.
Johnsons wipes also comes in a different darker pink wrapping. The difference being where it was made or imported. For instance a larger pack of Johnsons wipes is Rs160 (made in Taiwan) whereas the one above is a normal size pack which cost Rs30 more and comes from Europe. The red Pampers was made in Canada! The bottom is Ginni brand made in India Rs110 and just as good.

With our first baby the doctors prescribes a few vitamins. The clinic/delivery hospital in Gujarat for our second baby never suggested any extra vitamins for Dhillon (baby2). We got a bottle of the same stuff that Daisy (baby1) had. If it's good for her then it's good enough for your baby. We used the two drops on alternate days just to be safe.

Vitamin E Preparation called EVION. White box with red and blue stripe along the top quarter. Smells lovely!
A multi-vitamin any type. Just make sure it's suitable for babies. Horrible stuff!
There also was a coconut oil drop to help gain weight called Simyl but can't be found where we stayed.
There was also a calcium liquid, pink in colour. This box was big and green and orange in colour. There are other boxes in these colours but again we couldn't recount it's name.

Those with a craving for boiled sweets can get their fix at a million small huts and stores that sell them in jars. A penny each as Indians are penniless they rarely come in other packages or sizes. Daisy loves them but what else can we give to our children in India but fizzy drinks and sweet stuff? Once back home Daisy will get Juices and dried fruits and nuts.
Collectively all sweets in India are known as 'Toffee'.





Indians love mint candy. Mint sweets are everywhere. More the reason to look harder for fruit flavour Mentos sweets. These come in singles and in tube form. Ask the store keeper for fruit flavoured Mentos.

Bisan Ladoo (comes without nuts as well) Bobby and Daisy's fav.         Coconut Ladoo. Scrumptious.Various colours.


Coconut Ladoo                                                                              Coconut Ladoo

Gajrela (carrot cake)                                                                        Sakur Pare (nuggets covered in sugar icing)

Gulab Jamun. (syrup coated, this ones decorated with coconut)       Gulab Jamun with filling

Gulab Jamun in syrup                                                                                            Ras Malai (needs refrigeration, delicious)

Rasgulla (milk solids syrup drenched)                                              Rasgulla

Bengali sweets (milk solids fancied)                                                 Bengali Sweets

Pakora (onion bhaji) spinach/mix veg/potato                                    Paneer Pakora (torfu type filling)

Samosa                                                                                          Frying tonight

Fresh Samosa                                                                                state-of-the-art kichen

Seen enough? Want some? Don't forget to say "half-a-kilo". Translated into Indian "adda kilo".

So just say out "adda kilo milk cake".  A Peter Sellers accent would help!