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

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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]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.

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

Agreed.  [b]Culturally, 40 days confinement is the norm for us [/b]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 [b]postpartum doulas[/b] if you do not have family members to help.

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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. [/quote]

More than all of that- Dh wanted to care for us and be with just the baby and me. He would have been upset at my mom trying to change diapers or feed me. He loved bonding with his newborns. He took 6 weeks and then 6 when I went back to work, so I guess that’s like 42 days[/quote]

That's great. Yes, my DH also did all of that. Thankfully, my mom, my sister and my DH get along very well and work well together.  So it was a very joyous time for all of us.   I also wanted my mom and sister with me, since I am very close to my family and this was a very emotional time for me.  [/quote]

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