Why don’t U.S. hospitals let women sleep quietly for the night in the hospital after giving birth?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ha ha! I am an immigrant. The moment I gave birth and was wheeled in the room, it was not the experience I wanted. It seems that nurses here are not trained for postpartum care and manners. Thankfully I had a private room (or maybe I had a room where there was no other person?) for the less than 1 day I was there. The care is certainly minimal in US.

I insisted that I wanted to be home and checked out with the baby the next day. I had no complications, baby was healthy and I had a normal vaginal birth. I recovered at home and followed our own traditional cultural practice of 40 days of seclusion, hot oil massages, warm herbal baths, lots of yummy food and lots of rest. I had 2 people looking after me and the baby. We were never left alone, I had company that I fully trusted (mom and sister). We had outsourced a lot of chores and we were well prepared for the 40 day seclusion. It was blissful and joyful. No other country treats new mom as badly as US. I am still surprised that people want to have kids in this place.

Our insurance covered everything so my out of pocket cost was zero.

Most people's sister and mom are not available to provide this level of care for 40 days. Sounds nice though.

Agreed. Culturally, 40 days confinement is the norm for us and that means that everyone pitches in. The entire family prepared and helped for this event. It is believed that these 40 days are crucial for maternal and baby health (mental and physical). Childbirth is considered a new birth for the mom and she and the baby are not left alone. It is a significant event for the whole family.

In my home country, I could have stayed in a traditional birthing center for at least a week or 10 days, if I wanted. Hospitals now keep you for 2-3 days because of fear of infections and C-sections might stay for 7-8 days. But, we still have this culture of home confinement and now you can get postpartum doulas if you do not have family members to help.

I doubt many American women would want to be stuck at home for 40 days just because they had a child. That seems excessive and also a huge burden on women in your family. I notice how it’s glossed over the women were expected to provide unpaid labor for 40 days. No thanks.

Wow! This is a really POS response. Don't talk of all the other American woman would want. Speak only for yourself.

I loved being home with my mom, my sister, my NB and my DH. So I was not bored and loved the company. I was recovering and I wanted to be cared for at home. Of course, since we are not like your family, it was not a burden on my family members. No, there was no thought of paying them because that is an offensive, ugly and repulsive mentality. This is not how we function.

Yes, I only wanted female members of my family to help me. They were giving me massages, helping me to nurse and helping me to bathe. I would not want my father or brother to be doing that for me. I don't know what kind of weird family you have.

There is no reason to be dismissive because of cultural differences. But, I pity your thought process and your family culture, because you neither have a family support system like I have nor you are capable of being a support to someone else. I pity you.

NP. So the women in your culture don't usually work outside the home?

Why do you think so?
Women in our culture, especially those who are in the US, are very well educated, regardless of if they are working outside the home or inside the house. Most are college educated and most work in high paying STEM jobs. They also belong to high HHI families.

Usually, people can plan and properly budget/allocate funds, time, resources to take care of these kinds of situations for several reasons - a culture of pitching in for family events and close knit families, a mindset for valuing these traditional cultural milestones, and most importantly - financial means to pay for resources. Our community happens to be among the richest communities in the US.

There is a very strong tradition of higher education in our culture for both men and women. Girls are encouraged to be good in STEM and most get high paying jobs. Our kids excel in academics, so much so that there is an achievement gap in the US between how far behind other kids are compared to the kids in our culture. We are the community that has cracked the code of how to have our girls excel in STEM. Most of our community is college educated (the percentage of women in our community who are college educated exceed the percentage of college educated White males in this country!).

So, in terms of knowledge, marketable skills, job opportunities, family support and financial emancipation, women in my culture in the US are actually doing quite well.

I suppose the women in my family have usually had jobs where you couldn't arrange for extended time off like this, even with advanced notice. It's hard to get coverage for a specialty surgeon, for example.

I'm glad your cultural customs work for you. You are obviously very proud of them.

NP. Well aware of those cultural customs. Also proud to be from a culture that actually cares about women and their babies. In those cultures there are post partum centers with post partum doulas to take care of baby and woman while mom rests. You can also hire a lady to take care of you for forty days. All my friends had these postpartum doulas. It’s not just family rallying around you for unpaid labor. Those countries actually have family friendly maternity leaves. All my friends went back to work after, not so much the us.

Thailand? India?

Singapore. There are child care centers within every living neighborhood district. All my professional friends went back to work, since they had so much support from grandparents, availability of daycare, family and Nannies. Every friend hired a post partum doula, they were shocked that I went it alone with my oldest. The first I barely struggled through. The second I found a Chinese post partum doula to hire in the US, handed the baby off and slept for a whole day. First I barely ate, second I was being cooked three healthy meals a day. The experience was like night and day.

Singapore has an extremely toxic work culture and one of the lowest birth rates on Earth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because there is a hungry baby and mom is the best one to feed it? (If she wants to try nursing)

This isn’t a corporate trick. It’s biology.

Yeah, I don’t understand the question either. Most new moms don’t want their baby in a far away nursery all night.

And I don't understand why people who have never taken care of babies are in here saying stupid things.

Mom feeds baby. Nurse takes baby. Mom falls asleep. Nurse soothes baby and put in a bassinet. Baby fusses off and on for an hour while nurse checks on him. Mom is still sleeping. Baby cries. It's only been two hours, so nurse soothes him. Baby sleeps. Baby fusses, but falls back asleep. Baby finally awakens, crying, about four hours after he was last fed. Nurse brings him to mom. Mom wakes and feeds and hold him for 20 minutes. Nurse takes baby. Mom falls asleep again. Nurse and baby repeat the previous song and dance while mom peacefully sleeps.


You cannot put a newborn on the clock- 4 hours could be too much!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ha ha! I am an immigrant. The moment I gave birth and was wheeled in the room, it was not the experience I wanted. It seems that nurses here are not trained for postpartum care and manners. Thankfully I had a private room (or maybe I had a room where there was no other person?) for the less than 1 day I was there. The care is certainly minimal in US.

I insisted that I wanted to be home and checked out with the baby the next day. I had no complications, baby was healthy and I had a normal vaginal birth. I recovered at home and followed our own traditional cultural practice of 40 days of seclusion, hot oil massages, warm herbal baths, lots of yummy food and lots of rest. I had 2 people looking after me and the baby. We were never left alone, I had company that I fully trusted (mom and sister). We had outsourced a lot of chores and we were well prepared for the 40 day seclusion. It was blissful and joyful. No other country treats new mom as badly as US. I am still surprised that people want to have kids in this place.

Our insurance covered everything so my out of pocket cost was zero.

Most people's sister and mom are not available to provide this level of care for 40 days. Sounds nice though.

Agreed. Culturally, 40 days confinement is the norm for us and that means that everyone pitches in. The entire family prepared and helped for this event. It is believed that these 40 days are crucial for maternal and baby health (mental and physical). Childbirth is considered a new birth for the mom and she and the baby are not left alone. It is a significant event for the whole family.

In my home country, I could have stayed in a traditional birthing center for at least a week or 10 days, if I wanted. Hospitals now keep you for 2-3 days because of fear of infections and C-sections might stay for 7-8 days. But, we still have this culture of home confinement and now you can get postpartum doulas if you do not have family members to help.

I doubt many American women would want to be stuck at home for 40 days just because they had a child. That seems excessive and also a huge burden on women in your family. I notice how it’s glossed over the women were expected to provide unpaid labor for 40 days. No thanks.

Wow! This is a really POS response. Don't talk of all the other American woman would want. Speak only for yourself.

I loved being home with my mom, my sister, my NB and my DH. So I was not bored and loved the company. I was recovering and I wanted to be cared for at home. Of course, since we are not like your family, it was not a burden on my family members. No, there was no thought of paying them because that is an offensive, ugly and repulsive mentality. This is not how we function.

Yes, I only wanted female members of my family to help me. They were giving me massages, helping me to nurse and helping me to bathe. I would not want my father or brother to be doing that for me. I don't know what kind of weird family you have.

There is no reason to be dismissive because of cultural differences. But, I pity your thought process and your family culture, because you neither have a family support system like I have nor you are capable of being a support to someone else. I pity you.

NP. So the women in your culture don't usually work outside the home?

Why do you think so?
Women in our culture, especially those who are in the US, are very well educated, regardless of if they are working outside the home or inside the house. Most are college educated and most work in high paying STEM jobs. They also belong to high HHI families.

Usually, people can plan and properly budget/allocate funds, time, resources to take care of these kinds of situations for several reasons - a culture of pitching in for family events and close knit families, a mindset for valuing these traditional cultural milestones, and most importantly - financial means to pay for resources. Our community happens to be among the richest communities in the US.

There is a very strong tradition of higher education in our culture for both men and women. Girls are encouraged to be good in STEM and most get high paying jobs. Our kids excel in academics, so much so that there is an achievement gap in the US between how far behind other kids are compared to the kids in our culture. We are the community that has cracked the code of how to have our girls excel in STEM. Most of our community is college educated (the percentage of women in our community who are college educated exceed the percentage of college educated White males in this country!).

So, in terms of knowledge, marketable skills, job opportunities, family support and financial emancipation, women in my culture in the US are actually doing quite well.

I suppose the women in my family have usually had jobs where you couldn't arrange for extended time off like this, even with advanced notice. It's hard to get coverage for a specialty surgeon, for example.

I'm glad your cultural customs work for you. You are obviously very proud of them.

NP. Well aware of those cultural customs. Also proud to be from a culture that actually cares about women and their babies. In those cultures there are post partum centers with post partum doulas to take care of baby and woman while mom rests. You can also hire a lady to take care of you for forty days. All my friends had these postpartum doulas. It’s not just family rallying around you for unpaid labor. Those countries actually have family friendly maternity leaves. All my friends went back to work after, not so much the us.

Thailand? India?

Singapore. There are child care centers within every living neighborhood district. All my professional friends went back to work, since they had so much support from grandparents, availability of daycare, family and Nannies. Every friend hired a post partum doula, they were shocked that I went it alone with my oldest. The first I barely struggled through. The second I found a Chinese post partum doula to hire in the US, handed the baby off and slept for a whole day. First I barely ate, second I was being cooked three healthy meals a day. The experience was like night and day.

Singapore has an extremely toxic work culture and one of the lowest birth rates on Earth.

Seriously!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ha ha! I am an immigrant. The moment I gave birth and was wheeled in the room, it was not the experience I wanted. It seems that nurses here are not trained for postpartum care and manners. Thankfully I had a private room (or maybe I had a room where there was no other person?) for the less than 1 day I was there. The care is certainly minimal in US.

I insisted that I wanted to be home and checked out with the baby the next day. I had no complications, baby was healthy and I had a normal vaginal birth. I recovered at home and followed our own traditional cultural practice of 40 days of seclusion, hot oil massages, warm herbal baths, lots of yummy food and lots of rest. I had 2 people looking after me and the baby. We were never left alone, I had company that I fully trusted (mom and sister). We had outsourced a lot of chores and we were well prepared for the 40 day seclusion. It was blissful and joyful. No other country treats new mom as badly as US. I am still surprised that people want to have kids in this place.

Our insurance covered everything so my out of pocket cost was zero.

Most people's sister and mom are not available to provide this level of care for 40 days. Sounds nice though.

Agreed. Culturally, 40 days confinement is the norm for us and that means that everyone pitches in. The entire family prepared and helped for this event. It is believed that these 40 days are crucial for maternal and baby health (mental and physical). Childbirth is considered a new birth for the mom and she and the baby are not left alone. It is a significant event for the whole family.

In my home country, I could have stayed in a traditional birthing center for at least a week or 10 days, if I wanted. Hospitals now keep you for 2-3 days because of fear of infections and C-sections might stay for 7-8 days. But, we still have this culture of home confinement and now you can get postpartum doulas if you do not have family members to help.

I doubt many American women would want to be stuck at home for 40 days just because they had a child. That seems excessive and also a huge burden on women in your family. I notice how it’s glossed over the women were expected to provide unpaid labor for 40 days. No thanks.

Wow! This is a really POS response. Don't talk of all the other American woman would want. Speak only for yourself.

I loved being home with my mom, my sister, my NB and my DH. So I was not bored and loved the company. I was recovering and I wanted to be cared for at home. Of course, since we are not like your family, it was not a burden on my family members. No, there was no thought of paying them because that is an offensive, ugly and repulsive mentality. This is not how we function.

Yes, I only wanted female members of my family to help me. They were giving me massages, helping me to nurse and helping me to bathe. I would not want my father or brother to be doing that for me. I don't know what kind of weird family you have.

There is no reason to be dismissive because of cultural differences. But, I pity your thought process and your family culture, because you neither have a family support system like I have nor you are capable of being a support to someone else. I pity you.

NP. So the women in your culture don't usually work outside the home?

Why do you think so?
Women in our culture, especially those who are in the US, are very well educated, regardless of if they are working outside the home or inside the house. Most are college educated and most work in high paying STEM jobs. They also belong to high HHI families.

Usually, people can plan and properly budget/allocate funds, time, resources to take care of these kinds of situations for several reasons - a culture of pitching in for family events and close knit families, a mindset for valuing these traditional cultural milestones, and most importantly - financial means to pay for resources. Our community happens to be among the richest communities in the US.

There is a very strong tradition of higher education in our culture for both men and women. Girls are encouraged to be good in STEM and most get high paying jobs. Our kids excel in academics, so much so that there is an achievement gap in the US between how far behind other kids are compared to the kids in our culture. We are the community that has cracked the code of how to have our girls excel in STEM. Most of our community is college educated (the percentage of women in our community who are college educated exceed the percentage of college educated White males in this country!).

So, in terms of knowledge, marketable skills, job opportunities, family support and financial emancipation, women in my culture in the US are actually doing quite well.

I suppose the women in my family have usually had jobs where you couldn't arrange for extended time off like this, even with advanced notice. It's hard to get coverage for a specialty surgeon, for example.

I'm glad your cultural customs work for you. You are obviously very proud of them.

NP. Well aware of those cultural customs. Also proud to be from a culture that actually cares about women and their babies. In those cultures there are post partum centers with post partum doulas to take care of baby and woman while mom rests. You can also hire a lady to take care of you for forty days. All my friends had these postpartum doulas. It’s not just family rallying around you for unpaid labor. Those countries actually have family friendly maternity leaves. All my friends went back to work after, not so much the us.

Thailand? India?

Singapore. There are child care centers within every living neighborhood district. All my professional friends went back to work, since they had so much support from grandparents, availability of daycare, family and Nannies. Every friend hired a post partum doula, they were shocked that I went it alone with my oldest. The first I barely struggled through. The second I found a Chinese post partum doula to hire in the US, handed the baby off and slept for a whole day. First I barely ate, second I was being cooked three healthy meals a day. The experience was like night and day.

Singapore has an extremely toxic work culture and one of the lowest birth rates on Earth.

Seriously!

Says someone who has never worked in Singapore. It has low birth rates because the population is extremely educated. In terms of toxic workplace no more toxic than the high flying jobs in the US. I have worked in both countries. What I have noticed for sure is professional women are more supported in terms of family than they are here.

[Anonymous]

And as someone who did the the “American” way sucking it up for my first birth and then having a Chinese postpartum doula help me during my second, I appreciate how different and how much easier it was to recover and cope. With good food, sufficient sleep, and someone even giving me massages to help my milk come in and to recover.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because there is a hungry baby and mom is the best one to feed it? (If she wants to try nursing)

This isn’t a corporate trick. It’s biology.

Yeah, I don’t understand the question either. Most new moms don’t want their baby in a far away nursery all night.

Judging by these responses, plenty of women actually would like that, for like 2 nights, before going home and doing all the night care for the rest of the child’s life. Wouldn’t it be awesome if there was a choice?

FYI I delivered at GBMC in 2014 and 2016 and the newborn nursery was awesome. I slept like a rock and woke up briefly for my pain meds 1-2x, otherwise I asked for the baby back in the morning!

Yes thank g-d for the nursery! Such a relief post c-section! (Gave birth in 2021) baby wasn’t there all night though but at least some relief! I was alone and pretty out of it.

[Anonymous]

A country who tells post partum women to come back to work within weeks after birth, gives absolutely no support immediately after birth in the hospital, and who loves to tell women now they are parents they have to suck it up, and don’t provide accessible medical care and childcare to children, has no place telling others whether they have a toxic work culture or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And as someone who did the the “American” way sucking it up for my first birth and then having a Chinese postpartum doula help me during my second, I appreciate how different and how much easier it was to recover and cope. With good food, sufficient sleep, and someone even giving me massages to help my milk come in and to recover.

I don’t want some stranger massaging my boobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A country who tells post partum women to come back to work within weeks after birth, gives absolutely no support immediately after birth in the hospital, and who loves to tell women now they are parents they have to suck it up, and don’t provide accessible medical care and childcare to children, has no place telling others whether they have a toxic work culture or not.

Right. We live in a country where we don’t need to rely on the government to birth and stay home with children. This is actually a good thing. Parents provide medical care and there are backstops (medicaid) when they can’t. The average woman in America does not in anyway need to return to work shortly after a child unless she isn’t married.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A country who tells post partum women to come back to work within weeks after birth, gives absolutely no support immediately after birth in the hospital, and who loves to tell women now they are parents they have to suck it up, and don’t provide accessible medical care and childcare to children, has no place telling others whether they have a toxic work culture or not.

Right. We live in a country where we don’t need to rely on the government to birth and stay home with children. This is actually a good thing. Parents provide medical care and there are backstops (medicaid) when they can’t. The average woman in America does not in anyway need to return to work shortly after a child unless she isn’t married.

Yikes. Sheltered much? 42% of U.S. births are paid for by Medicaid, and approximately the same percentage are to unmarried mothers. The average paid maternity leave by companies is only 29 days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A country who tells post partum women to come back to work within weeks after birth, gives absolutely no support immediately after birth in the hospital, and who loves to tell women now they are parents they have to suck it up, and don’t provide accessible medical care and childcare to children, has no place telling others whether they have a toxic work culture or not.

Right. We live in a country where we don’t need to rely on the government to birth and stay home with children. This is actually a good thing. Parents provide medical care and there are backstops (medicaid) when they can’t. The average woman in America does not in anyway need to return to work shortly after a child unless she isn’t married.

Considering maternal mortality rates here, I’d say you’re very wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A country who tells post partum women to come back to work within weeks after birth, gives absolutely no support immediately after birth in the hospital, and who loves to tell women now they are parents they have to suck it up, and don’t provide accessible medical care and childcare to children, has no place telling others whether they have a toxic work culture or not.

Right. We live in a country where we don’t need to rely on the government to birth and stay home with children. This is actually a good thing. Parents provide medical care and there are backstops (medicaid) when they can’t. The average woman in America does not in anyway need to return to work shortly after a child unless she isn’t married.

There are so many things wrong with this post that I don’t know where to begin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A country who tells post partum women to come back to work within weeks after birth, gives absolutely no support immediately after birth in the hospital, and who loves to tell women now they are parents they have to suck it up, and don’t provide accessible medical care and childcare to children, has no place telling others whether they have a toxic work culture or not.

Right. We live in a country where we don’t need to rely on the government to birth and stay home with children. This is actually a good thing. Parents provide medical care and there are backstops (medicaid) when they can’t. The average woman in America does not in anyway need to return to work shortly after a child unless she isn’t married.

Yes in Chevy Chase.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ha ha! I am an immigrant. The moment I gave birth and was wheeled in the room, it was not the experience I wanted. It seems that nurses here are not trained for postpartum care and manners. Thankfully I had a private room (or maybe I had a room where there was no other person?) for the less than 1 day I was there. The care is certainly minimal in US.

I insisted that I wanted to be home and checked out with the baby the next day. I had no complications, baby was healthy and I had a normal vaginal birth. I recovered at home and followed our own traditional cultural practice of 40 days of seclusion, hot oil massages, warm herbal baths, lots of yummy food and lots of rest. I had 2 people looking after me and the baby. We were never left alone, I had company that I fully trusted (mom and sister). We had outsourced a lot of chores and we were well prepared for the 40 day seclusion. It was blissful and joyful. No other country treats new mom as badly as US. I am still surprised that people want to have kids in this place.

Our insurance covered everything so my out of pocket cost was zero.

Most people's sister and mom are not available to provide this level of care for 40 days. Sounds nice though.

Agreed. Culturally, 40 days confinement is the norm for us and that means that everyone pitches in. The entire family prepared and helped for this event. It is believed that these 40 days are crucial for maternal and baby health (mental and physical). Childbirth is considered a new birth for the mom and she and the baby are not left alone. It is a significant event for the whole family.

In my home country, I could have stayed in a traditional birthing center for at least a week or 10 days, if I wanted. Hospitals now keep you for 2-3 days because of fear of infections and C-sections might stay for 7-8 days. But, we still have this culture of home confinement and now you can get postpartum doulas if you do not have family members to help.

I doubt many American women would want to be stuck at home for 40 days just because they had a child. That seems excessive and also a huge burden on women in your family. I notice how it’s glossed over the women were expected to provide unpaid labor for 40 days. No thanks.

Wow! This is a really POS response. Don't talk of all the other American woman would want. Speak only for yourself.

I loved being home with my mom, my sister, my NB and my DH. So I was not bored and loved the company. I was recovering and I wanted to be cared for at home. Of course, since we are not like your family, it was not a burden on my family members. No, there was no thought of paying them because that is an offensive, ugly and repulsive mentality. This is not how we function.

Yes, I only wanted female members of my family to help me. They were giving me massages, helping me to nurse and helping me to bathe. I would not want my father or brother to be doing that for me. I don't know what kind of weird family you have.

There is no reason to be dismissive because of cultural differences. But, I pity your thought process and your family culture, because you neither have a family support system like I have nor you are capable of being a support to someone else. I pity you.

NP. So the women in your culture don't usually work outside the home?

Why do you think so?
Women in our culture, especially those who are in the US, are very well educated, regardless of if they are working outside the home or inside the house. Most are college educated and most work in high paying STEM jobs. They also belong to high HHI families.

Usually, people can plan and properly budget/allocate funds, time, resources to take care of these kinds of situations for several reasons - a culture of pitching in for family events and close knit families, a mindset for valuing these traditional cultural milestones, and most importantly - financial means to pay for resources. Our community happens to be among the richest communities in the US.

There is a very strong tradition of higher education in our culture for both men and women. Girls are encouraged to be good in STEM and most get high paying jobs. Our kids excel in academics, so much so that there is an achievement gap in the US between how far behind other kids are compared to the kids in our culture. We are the community that has cracked the code of how to have our girls excel in STEM. Most of our community is college educated (the percentage of women in our community who are college educated exceed the percentage of college educated White males in this country!).

So, in terms of knowledge, marketable skills, job opportunities, family support and financial emancipation, women in my culture in the US are actually doing quite well.

I suppose the women in my family have usually had jobs where you couldn't arrange for extended time off like this, even with advanced notice. It's hard to get coverage for a specialty surgeon, for example.

I'm glad your cultural customs work for you. You are obviously very proud of them.

NP. Well aware of those cultural customs. Also proud to be from a culture that actually cares about women and their babies. In those cultures there are post partum centers with post partum doulas to take care of baby and woman while mom rests. You can also hire a lady to take care of you for forty days. All my friends had these postpartum doulas. It’s not just family rallying around you for unpaid labor. Those countries actually have family friendly maternity leaves. All my friends went back to work after, not so much the us.

Thailand? India?

Also, China.
The Chinese postpartum confinement nanny, or "Yue Sao" 月嫂, is a specialized caregiver who offer around-the-clock care for new mothers and babies.

Japan also has the tradition of 8 weeks of rest for women postpartum. Usually its the maternal grandmother (if she is able) who takes care of the mother and child.

Latin American postpartum tradition called Cuarentena. Even they have a 40 day period of care and seclusion of mom and baby.

I'm not sure this is a thing in Japan, never heard of it.
We do get to stay in hospitals a few days longer (I think I stayed 4 days), but afterwards we are pretty much on our own just like here in the US.
Most people cannot afford nannies and post partum centers/ doulas are not a common thing.

-Japanese

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And as someone who did the the “American” way sucking it up for my first birth and then having a Chinese postpartum doula help me during my second, I appreciate how different and how much easier it was to recover and cope. With good food, sufficient sleep, and someone even giving me massages to help my milk come in and to recover.

I don’t want some stranger massaging my boobs.

So suck it up and room in with baby at the hospital like everyone else.