I birthed a kiddo in the UK if you have questions*

[Deleted]

But wouldn't it be cheaper to have everything electronic? Or it's the change-over that would drain?

I think I am just having trouble comprehending how a country like Britain just isn't "with the times" for something like this. It's one of those "Oh.....you're not as much like America as we like to think sometimes" moments.

Hrm.

[frlcb]

Jul 23, 2013 13:52:05 GMT -5 kaybee85 said:

My husband may be doing his post doctoral work in Glasgow, and I have no idea what kind of coverage we'll have. I may be pregnant when we move there (assuming we do). I hope this isn't a horrible financial decision .. Don't know what would be covered by his job

You would be covered by the Scottish NHS, assuming you are moving over on his student visa. 

[frlcb]

Jul 23, 2013 13:57:08 GMT -5 ninjabridemom said:

But wouldn't it be cheaper to have everything electronic? Or it's the change-over that would drain?

I think I am just having trouble comprehending how a country like Britain just isn't "with the times" for something like this. It's one of those "Oh.....you're not as much like America as we like to think sometimes" moments.

Hrm.

I am just guessing. I would bet the cost to change it over would be astronomical, so they just do it the way they always have done it. They must not have issues with it?

[Deleted]

Jul 23, 2013 13:56:45 GMT -5 frlcb said:

Jul 23, 2013 13:53:53 GMT -5 @guernica said:

All I know about births in the UK is they don't believe in inducing. My mom was called a "Pushy American woman" a few times by her doctor. She FINALLY convinced her doctor to induce her on March 3rd (my due date was Jan 29). I arrived on March 2nd. We were also sent home a mere 8 hours from me being birthed (but sent home with a midwife for a week) because there was no room in the L&D because there was like a million births that happened.

The longest they will let you go now is 2 weeks. I went 2 weeks late with both my kids, both born at 15 days past their due date. They would never let you go 4 weeks now.

Yeah. My mom was FURIOUS. She didn't understand why she couldn't be induced a week afterwards. It took her calling a doctor in  the States at my dad's last duty station to call the doctor in Huntingdon to finally say yes to the induction. That and my mom went mean and was like "How many kids have YOU personally birthed? How many kids have YOU pushed out of YOUR vagina?! I THINK NONE." lol. Its her fave story.    

[frlcb]

Jul 23, 2013 13:57:22 GMT -5 Saint Monica said:

Jul 23, 2013 13:55:51 GMT -5 frlcb said:

And I am sure the reason there are no electronic files are due to money.

But what about protecting themselves vs med mal claims?

People don't sue over there like they would here. It isn't an issue.

[Deleted]

BACKWARDS! lol

[pinkeggs]

Epidurals DO cross the placenta, just not as strongly as some other meds, such as Fentanyl. The U.S. is where birth is the most "medicalized", and there was a really interesting article that was making the rounds about a week or so ago about how/why it is more expensive to give birth here than anywhere else. Midwifery has a really interesting history here, and seems to be more up and coming again.

I do have to say that aside from some of the major cities, I believe women in the U.S. get private post-partum rooms more often. Sharing a room pp would have been difficult, I think. I am sure there are several women here who have done it!

Thanks for the thread, fields, this is interesting to read!

[frlcb]

Jul 23, 2013 13:58:36 GMT -5 @guernica said:

Jul 23, 2013 13:56:45 GMT -5 frlcb said:

The longest they will let you go now is 2 weeks. I went 2 weeks late with both my kids, both born at 15 days past their due date. They would never let you go 4 weeks now.

Yeah. My mom was FURIOUS. She didn't understand why she couldn't be induced a week afterwards. It took her calling a doctor in  the States at my dad's last duty station to call the doctor in Huntingdon to finally say yes to the induction. That and my mom went mean and was like "How many kids have YOU personally birthed? How many kids have YOU pushed out of YOUR vagina?! I THINK NONE." lol. Its her fave story.    

They won't induce you until 2 weeks unless there is medical indication you need it. So, unlike in the US where doctors will induce at like 41 weeks, they wait until 42 weeks, and then induce, across the board, barring medical issues.

[frlcb]

Jul 23, 2013 13:59:29 GMT -5 pinkeggs said:

Epidurals DO cross the placenta, just not as strongly as some other meds, such as Fentanyl. The U.S. is where birth is the most "medicalized", and there was a really interesting article that was making the rounds about a week or so ago about how/why it is more expensive to give birth here than anywhere else. Midwifery has a really interesting history here, and seems to be more up and coming again.

I do have to say that aside from some of the major cities, I believe women in the U.S. get private post-partum rooms more often. Sharing a room pp would have been difficult, I think. I am sure there are several women here who have done it!

Thanks for the thread, fields, this is interesting to read!

I had to share a room with 3 other women, and our newborns. There is no nursery for you to send your baby to. I also was induced at night, in a room with 3 other women, and they sent my husband home because I wasn't 5 cm, which is what I needed to be to go to the delivery floor, so I labored, alone, with 3 strangers, overnight. It was awful.

[Deleted]

Jul 23, 2013 13:58:47 GMT -5 frlcb said:

Jul 23, 2013 13:57:22 GMT -5 Saint Monica said:

But what about protecting themselves vs med mal claims?

People don't sue over there like they would here. It isn't an issue.

suddenly, i'm seeing dollar signs.



legit question because i'm inexperienced in the world of legal and illegal drugs.  does the laughing gas make you laugh?

[frlcb]

Jul 23, 2013 14:02:09 GMT -5 cville said:

Jul 23, 2013 13:58:47 GMT -5 frlcb said:

People don't sue over there like they would here. It isn't an issue.

suddenly, i'm seeing dollar signs.



legit question because i'm inexperienced in the world of legal and illegal drugs.  does the laughing gas make you laugh?

No, it made me vomit. A lot. And the midwife kept telling me to push through it, and I kept telling her to fuck off. It was not my best moment. 

[pinkeggs]

Jul 23, 2013 14:01:49 GMT -5 frlcb said:

Jul 23, 2013 13:59:29 GMT -5 pinkeggs said:

Epidurals DO cross the placenta, just not as strongly as some other meds, such as Fentanyl. The U.S. is where birth is the most "medicalized", and there was a really interesting article that was making the rounds about a week or so ago about how/why it is more expensive to give birth here than anywhere else. Midwifery has a really interesting history here, and seems to be more up and coming again.

I do have to say that aside from some of the major cities, I believe women in the U.S. get private post-partum rooms more often. Sharing a room pp would have been difficult, I think. I am sure there are several women here who have done it!

Thanks for the thread, fields, this is interesting to read!

I had to share a room with 3 other women, and our newborns. There is no nursery for you to send your baby to. I also was induced at night, in a room with 3 other women, and they sent my husband home because I wasn't 5 cm, which is what I needed to be to go to the delivery floor, so I labored, alone, with 3 strangers, overnight. It was awful.

*shudder* That sounds awful Not to mention sharing a bathroom the day after...

[slug*bug]

Jul 23, 2013 13:39:47 GMT -5 frlcb said:

I hated carrying my medical records with me, but still have ds's red book.

I delivered elsewhere in the EU, but had a similar book: since I delivered in the same hospital both times, they just added DD's information after DS's. I still have it. I've looked through it a couple of times and it makes me really nostalgic: I wouldn't have missed it if I delivered in the US, but it is kind of neat to have after the fact.

[Deleted]

Jul 23, 2013 14:03:13 GMT -5 frlcb said:

Jul 23, 2013 14:02:09 GMT -5 cville said:

suddenly, i'm seeing dollar signs.



legit question because i'm inexperienced in the world of legal and illegal drugs.  does the laughing gas make you laugh?

No, it made me vomit. A lot. And the midwife kept telling me to push through it, and I kept telling her to fuck off. It was not my best moment. 

au contraire.  i think that WAS your best moment.

i got nauseated during labor too, but they gave me zofran instead of platitudes.

[frlcb]

Jul 23, 2013 14:03:33 GMT -5 pinkeggs said:

Jul 23, 2013 14:01:49 GMT -5 frlcb said:

I had to share a room with 3 other women, and our newborns. There is no nursery for you to send your baby to. I also was induced at night, in a room with 3 other women, and they sent my husband home because I wasn't 5 cm, which is what I needed to be to go to the delivery floor, so I labored, alone, with 3 strangers, overnight. It was awful.

*shudder* That sounds awful Not to mention sharing a bathroom the day after...

Oh no. There was no in room bathroom. There were like 3 bathrooms for the whole floor. 

[pinkeggs]

Jul 23, 2013 14:05:36 GMT -5 frlcb said:

Jul 23, 2013 14:03:33 GMT -5 pinkeggs said:

*shudder* That sounds awful Not to mention sharing a bathroom the day after...

Oh no. There was no in room bathroom. There were like 3 bathrooms for the whole floor. 

[amberlyrose]

This is so interesting to me because we would really like to move to England before we have kids.

[Deleted]

Jul 23, 2013 14:06:06 GMT -5 toledo said:

Jul 23, 2013 13:44:09 GMT -5 hopecounts said:

It did until the 1910s/1920s when having a hospital and doctor birth became common and states began outlawing midwifery.
its still illegal in my state.

hence why they have a doctor on DA.

Downton Abbey takes place in England.

this is making me laugh and laugh and laugh.  hee hee.

[wambam]

hopecounts - Midwifery is ILLEGAL in your state?!

[hopecounts]

Jul 23, 2013 14:06:06 GMT -5 toledo said:

Jul 23, 2013 13:44:09 GMT -5 hopecounts said:

It did until the 1910s/1920s when having a hospital and doctor birth became common and states began outlawing midwifery.
its still illegal in my state.

hence why they have a doctor on DA.

Downton Abbey takes place in England.

Sorry I was quick typing while rocking DD.
i meant that having a doctor deliver the baby came in vogue post WW I hence why in DA (which yes is in England) they had a doctor deliver like the royal family.

[hopecounts]

Jul 23, 2013 14:16:48 GMT -5 wambam said:

hopecounts - Midwifery is ILLEGAL in your state?!

Yep a direct entry. midwife can not legally provide medical care.

[wambam]

Jul 23, 2013 14:18:02 GMT -5 hopecounts said:

Jul 23, 2013 14:16:48 GMT -5 wambam said:

hopecounts - Midwifery is ILLEGAL in your state?!

Yep a direct entry. midwife can not legally provide medical care.

What about an RN practicing as a midwife?

[hopecounts]

Jul 23, 2013 14:19:00 GMT -5 wambam said:

Jul 23, 2013 14:18:02 GMT -5 hopecounts said:

Yep a direct entry. midwife can not legally provide medical care.

What about an RN practicing as a midwife?

I believe they can but I have yet to find one.
in fact a friend drove 2.5 hrs across the state line to see a CNM.

[pinkeggs]

Jul 23, 2013 14:18:02 GMT -5 hopecounts said:

Jul 23, 2013 14:16:48 GMT -5 wambam said:

hopecounts - Midwifery is ILLEGAL in your state?!

Yep a direct entry. midwife can not legally provide medical care.

Here's a chart of the laws in various states.

pushformidwives.org/2012/04/29/pushchart/

 Certified Nurse-Midwives are legal in every state, but some can make it harder than others. For example, in VA, a CNM must have the partnership of an OB. Many OBs won't take that on because of insurance reasons. In my city we have one CNM, and she is virtually impossible to get in with because she is so popular. However, she partners with the only OB willing to back her, so...yeah, only one.

[Deleted]

Jul 23, 2013 13:49:36 GMT -5 ninjabridemom said:

Jul 23, 2013 13:49:00 GMT -5 frlcb said:

I have no idea. They really beat it into you not to lose it. There are no electronic files of your info anywhere. At all.

I really want an answer to WHY.

The red folder is the pediatric folder -- so you need to keep it through all 18yrs of the kid's life?

Random fact. I still have my red folder from 1979-1980 in my files. lol

[starlily]

Inspired by comments on my twitter feed:

Do they use the mesh undies post-partum in the UK?

What freebies, if any, do parents get sent home with?

Can non-Royals leave the hospital without a name for the baby?

[frlcb]

Jul 23, 2013 14:33:38 GMT -5 starlily said:

Inspired by comments on my twitter feed:

Do they use the mesh undies post-partum in the UK?

What freebies, if any, do parents get sent home with?

Can non-Royals leave the hospital without a name for the baby?

No, they exist but the hospital doesn't provide them

None

Yes (you have 6 weeks to register the birth and give the baby a name)

[Deleted]

Jul 23, 2013 13:59:29 GMT -5 pinkeggs said:

Epidurals DO cross the placenta, just not as strongly as some other meds, such as Fentanyl. The U.S. is where birth is the most "medicalized", and there was a really interesting article that was making the rounds about a week or so ago about how/why it is more expensive to give birth here than anywhere else. Midwifery has a really interesting history here, and seems to be more up and coming again.

I do have to say that aside from some of the major cities, I believe women in the U.S. get private post-partum rooms more often. Sharing a room pp would have been difficult, I think. I am sure there are several women here who have done it!

Thanks for the thread, fields, this is interesting to read!

see, stellas !!!

[Deleted]

Jul 23, 2013 14:02:09 GMT -5 cville said:

Jul 23, 2013 13:58:47 GMT -5 frlcb said:

People don't sue over there like they would here. It isn't an issue.

suddenly, i'm seeing dollar signs.



legit question because i'm inexperienced in the world of legal and illegal drugs.  does the laughing gas make you laugh?

it just makes you feel loopy as all hell.  some people laugh when they feel loopy.  some people puke.  you roll the dice!

there are usually jokes as you get closer to labor about asking for the gas and air so your H can take a puff or two to calm them down. hardy har.

[Deleted]

Jul 23, 2013 14:11:49 GMT -5 amberlyrose said:

This is so interesting to me because we would really like to move to England before we have kids.

another one for stellas