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Extract on the same day and 6 more differences between childbirth in Russia and abroad
Women all over the planet are made the same. However, pregnancy and childbirth are different everywhere.
It is customary for us to complain about medicine – almost everyone has their own scary story about indifferent and incompetent doctors. But there are countries where things are even worse. And these are not at all the backward countries of Africa, but the most developed, advanced states. We decided to compare what childbirth looks like in our country and abroad – and the comparison is far from always in favor of foreign medicine.
1. It is expensive
With us you can give birth for free, according to the compulsory medical insurance policy. The insurance covers almost everything from pregnancy management to partner births. True, unfortunately, few know about their rights and therefore go to paid childbirth – for the sake of guaranteed comfort. And in the USA, for example, it is simply impossible to give birth for free. Some of the hospital services are covered by insurance, but the average bill for $ 2 still has to be paid by ourselves. Some mothers even say that it takes years to pay hospital bills – the children have already gone to school, and all the debts are not closed. Medicine in the United States is, in principle, very expensive. But the conditions are also comfortable, and the attitude towards women in labor is appropriate – the condition of young mothers is checked almost every half hour.
But in Canada and Israel, the insurance covers the services of maternity hospitals, and mothers do not complain about the conditions: it is convenient, even cozy – almost like at home.
2. In advance – do not come
We can be hospitalized, based on preliminary calculations of the date of birth: since the gynecologist said that on January 5th to give birth, it means that immediately after the New Year, pack your things and go to bed. In the West, no one will do this: they come to the hospital with almost full disclosure, when the interval between contractions is no more than 5-6 minutes. If contractions are less frequent, and the disclosure is less than three centimeters, the pregnant woman will be sent home to wait for the active phase of labor.
That is why the Western press is replete with articles about how women give birth in hospital corridors, barely having time to enter, or even in the car – and it’s good if they manage to get to the parking lot.
3. Caesarean optional
If it is very scary to give birth herself, the woman may insist on surgery. This was used, by the way, by some celebrities – Britney Spears, for example. Her mother was so intimidated by the horrors of childbirth that the star did not even consider giving birth herself. We do not practice this – no doctor in his right mind will do a cesarean section without evidence.
But there are countries where the attitude towards Caesarean is even stricter than ours. For example, we have severe myopia or divergence of the pubic bones – this is an indication for surgery, but in Israel it is not.
4. No sterility
Pregnancy is not a disease. This is the opinion in Europe and therefore they give birth in rooms where there is no question of any sterility. Anyone the expectant mother wants to see can be present during childbirth. And not only one – in France and Great Britain, for example, they will be allowed to sit in the delivery room for two, in Israel – too. However, as those who gave birth in Israel say, there are even 5-6 people in the maternity ward, and the doctors are quite loyal to this.
But the main thing is that nobody is forced to change clothes and change shoes. A person can be present in the holy of holies in street clothes.
5. Express checkout
If everything went well, mom and baby are obviously okay, they can be discharged home in 36 hours. If there was a cesarean, then they will be kept in the department for three days. And normally a woman is sent home two days after giving birth. Moreover, the time is counted not from the moment the child was born, but from the time of the woman’s arrival at the hospital.
In the UK, they went the farthest in this regard – a mother can be discharged home as early as six hours after giving birth. On the one hand, it is still more convenient at home, on the other, there is hardly enough time to come to oneself.
6. Car seat – mast-style
Almost everywhere they check whether young parents have a car seat for their child. If not, then they simply won’t be released from the hospital. The nurse will definitely check how the chair is fixed in the car, make sure that the baby is correctly placed in the cradle and properly fastened. And only after that you can go home.
7. Home practice
In some countries, such as the Netherlands, almost a third of mothers prefer home birth. In this case, a midwife must be present. In addition, families also invite a postnatal housekeeper – she stays in the house for a few more days, helps to manage the household and the baby, writes … But if mom decides to go to the hospital, she will be discharged from there after eight hours, if everything goes well.
In addition, Israel and the United States have special maternity centers where interference with the natural course of labor is minimal. You can stay there for several days, and the conditions are as close to home as possible. And some midwives rent villas for such purposes where they give birth. The main thing is that there should be a hospital somewhere nearby, if difficulties suddenly arise.