The Good Earth
I know in Hungary the hospital stay is much longer than in the United States.
My relatives all live in Europe, and I can attest that their post natal care was unbelievable. This of course may not continue... because the US has been financially propping up the EU by offering it complete military protection, those member states do not have to spend much on their military and instead spend on social programs. European Drs are also not burdned by the insane prices of medical liability insurance s suing is much more difficult and uncommon. Trump is finally asking them to pay up.. so the spending on care will undoubtedly diminish.
My daughter, who is a doula, had three of my four grandchildren in a kids wading pool in her bedroom. Scares the bejeebers out of me.
The first time she invited the wife and I over for dinner. I thought this would be my last chance to convince her to give birth at a hospital. She met me at the door with my granddaughter in her arms.
My Japanese wife was shocked and disappointed when she found out she wouldn’t be staying at the hospital for several weeks post-partum the way they do in her home country.
She handled it well. I did everything I could to make it as comfortable as possible for her the first week. She ended up appreciating being home as she didn’t want to deal with everyone at the hospital anyway.
In the USA it is like running the gauntlet away from the abortion clinic.
Now hospitals are responsible for providing friend and family networks? Force-feeding, in the Internet age, any special knowledge that slips through the cracks?
Our modern maternity and paternity leave policies have 40 days at home lapped.
I’ve heard it’s comparable to a kidney stone.
Been there, done that. No thanks.
When we were in Galway Ireland back in 1994, it was common to see women who left their babies outside the shop door in a tram while mom shopped. One time it was raining & the trams had clear plastic covers with an elastic edge. I’ve oftened wondered if that’s still the case today.
For my first child, I was in the hospital for 3 days because of a complication after the birth. With my second, I was kicked out within 24 hours. On the third, they told me usually they would send home within 8 hours, and I begged my doctor to let me have 24 hours there. I only had a little help with any of them when I got home from the hospital. We had no family around, so on baby #1, mom and dad came a couple of days after he was born, and stayed for about a week. Mom did laundry constantly as I recall, and of course, did the cooking. Dad didn’t do much, but did run out to the grocery store if needed.
There was no such thing as family leave back then, so we got lucky that our first two were born on weekends. Hubby was always right back to work on Monday after the birth. We needed his income without taking sick/vacation days.
With the third kid, we did hire a trusted teenager to come help out for the first couple of weeks when she finished HS classes. She was a godsend. She would help watch the other two while I tended to the baby, and got dinner going. I don’t know what I wouldn’t done without her.
It’s far different these days, at least it seems that way when my grandsons were born. Both mom and dad take time off from work, get paid while they’re off, and still have a job to go back to several weeks later. Sooo different.
I hear a hernia is close to it but with x3’s the pain?.
The quality of care at the Belgian hospital and afterwards was far better. The nurses were numerous and ever present. And after discharge, besides excellent pediatric care for the girls, my wife had kinesiology treatment for recovery. Just one family's experience.
About 2-3 days after my birth, hospital put me in a cardboard box with a blanket and some diapers. Folks put the box into the car (no seat belts back then) and drove me home.
I didn’t believe it, but the box was still in the attic (being used to store Christmas lights) - had a paper with my birth info still taped to the side.
bump
Military hospitals in the ‘60s.
The first one admitted me for water retention and because I was overdue.
I was twenty years old, a thousand miles away from family, and had never seen the doctor or anyone in labor and delivery before.
They woke my husband two hours later and informed him that I had gone into labor and that he had a son.
Husband stopped by the hospital on his way to work to inspect the newborn.
The second time, we were even further away from home and family.
Husband had just left for work, baby extremely overdue so he immediatly returned home.
On the way to the hospital, husband became concerned that we might not make it, so parked in the driveway of the ER.
He took me up to Labor and Delivery and then went down to move the car.
When he got back, sat in waiting room a few minutes when nurse came out with what he thought was an armful of laundry.
She showed him son number 2 and told him to admit us both.
Since the hospital was full of Viet Nam wounded, mothers were in a ward of 6 beds and we took care of our own babies.
The morning after delivery they came around with one clean sheet each.
Told us “top sheet on the bottom, clean sheet on the top, and used bottom sheet in this bin when you get it done”.
in 1959 my mother had visiting nurse services for a week or two after my brother’s birth. The nurse actually wore a big cape.
Twenty to thirty years ago, hospitals sent us home after a day or two, and maternity leave was six weeks.
I never received paid maternity leave, but my employer let me take eight weeks off each time.
Now, even the fathers get 12 weeks of leave.