Update from the hospital:
Katie and Edmund are doing very well. He is feeding great. We are staying another night because Katie is getting more blood transfused, since she had lost a lot. Papa has gotten to hold Edmund a good bit, changed his diapers, burped him, cleaned his belly button/cord–he’s a happy clam!
We have been really grateful for the excellent health care we have received from this hospital, the nurses, doctors, everyone. We have anything and everything we need: diapers, gauze for wiping bottom, alcohol wipes, lanolin, pillows, beds (we even requested a couch last night that I could sleep on as the chair was not very comfortable and they brought one in, room service for Katie, on and on. My insurance (through work) will pay for all of it.
Some friends of ours had a baby in England and the health care was really stingy, only giving them one diaper for their baby, a few cottonballs to wipe, etc. and then expecting them to bring all the rest themselves because that was their “ration” from the State-run health system. I won’t say who they are because I don’t know if they want anyone to know, but suffice it to say that our experience has been diametrically opposite and much better. They were put into a room after delivery with only curtained-off areas for a lot of mamas and babies, crying all night, etc. while we have our own spacious room, bathroom sink, rolling crib, etc.
Thanks be to God for modern medicine as well; I understand why women died in childbirth so frequently in older times, without having the sanitation, biological knowledge, medicines, and equipment that we do today. I am grateful for our good health care and also for this modern science.
Thank you for your prayers! Our Lord has answered all of them, and we are very happy. We will go home tomorrow.
Before labor began!
first of all, let me congradulate both you and Katie, and Edmond. God bless you and all of your family.
I think that you are being too hard on health care in general. I don`t know much about the UK`s system, but in France, the system there is so top notch that doctors visit the sick at home. Many countries have health care systems, and the one I use (Canada`s) works well. I find what the USA is bringing in to be a rather weird public-private sector arrangement that guarantees the private sector won`t loose money, but recognize that at this time, in the USA, that is the only thing that has a chance to fly.
My children were both born in NYC, and after the second birth, I felt pushed out of the hospital (the baby had jaundice and I was not totally functional) because of the insurance bonus that my doctor would get. I actually was refunded for two days of pre-paid hospital stay and had to make daily visits to the pediatrician to make sure that my son was not suffering unduly for two weeks after the birth. So, for me bringing in a sack of diapers and baby wipes would have been a small thing compared to the worry I had over my baby’s jaundice. Putting a hospitalized baby in a light box is a small thing, while admitting a baby to hospital for the same thing is such a bigger step. There were no ill effects over the long term.
American health care was very expensive compared to Canadian health care, and also quite different. I was so surprised to receive a written letter from my doctor after a general check up reporting on the test results and state of my health. That visit had cost me $250 US as compared to $30 CDN, so maybe that was the value added? In Canada, I get a follow-up call when something is wrong, but otherwise no news is good news.
The thing that remains with me from my comparative experience of both systems is how few Americans had health coverage, and how long it would take them to consult a doctor when they got sick, and how being sick could bankrupt them. So, from my perspective, I see public health care as essential to the well being of a country’s population, and I am happy to see Americans taking the first step in the way of universal coverage.
Thanks Rachel for sharing your perspective,
What’s funny is that Katie and I really wanted to leave the hospital yesterday and get discharged, but the nurses would not let us because they wanted to get Katie as healthy as she could be and monitor her an extra day–I think that depending on where you are, at what time, in which hospital, you will get care somewhere along the spectrum.
Our other Canadian friends love the US health care and told us stories of things that are much worse in Canada with universal health care. Anecdotally people’s experience varies, so the trend or average is better to try to find under both systems.
Here in the US, though not everyone has insurance, no hospital can legally turn someone away from care; people who cannot pay simply don’t pay and everyone else foots the bill (one reason insurance rates for paying people like us are high). If you are poor, you can get medicaid (gov’t insurance) and you pay nothing for any service. If you are “working poor” you can fall through the cracks, and hopefully our health care reform will help with that, though I don’t know if it will. It’s better to either be quite poor and dependent on the State for everything or be middle-class or higher and pay for it yourself.
In any event, I appreciate your respectful comment and sharing your experience!
Congrats! May God bless you and yours with health and happiness!
Your old sparring partner,
Garret