Birth Story and Comparison

I have only closely experienced one birth, the birth of my niece, Charlotte. Her mother, Kat, is my identical twin sister. Kat discovered she was pregnant at just a few weeks, and regularly saw a doctor who practices both natural and western medicine, a chiropractor, and an acupuncturist. Her husband and she had planned the baby, and attended birthing classes together to learn about the prenatal and labor experiences. Kat’s labor and delivery went very smoothly, aided with an epidural, and then later some medicine to speed along the dilation. The baby was very healthy and of average size and weight.

The experience began with a 1:00 a.m. phone call from my mother. Kat’s labor had started, so we began the one and one half hour drive up to the hospital. Kat had decided she wanted her husband, my, and our mother in the room for her delivery. Throughout the 24-hour labor we stayed in her room, except for a couple quick trips to the cafeteria. According to the nurse and midwife, her labor was very average. Kat was going through something none of us in the room had. My mom had never gone through labor, as all her children were scheduled or emergency C-Sections. When Kat delivered the baby, I was right there holding up one leg (Mom was the moral support and hand holder, Kat’s husband was the other stirrup). Kat was able to hold Charlotte for a good 20 minutes before they took her for all the little tests and whatnot, and then was quickly returned. Kat and the baby were released from the hospital after 24 hours, and she was on unpaid maternity leave for 3 months. Had she not returned to work by the end of the 3 months, she would have lost her health benefits. Her husband received 3 days of paternity leave.

The whole experience made the concept of birth a reality. So much of what we think about many things in life are colored by media or extreme stories of colleagues (like when you have to get your wisdom teeth taken out, and someone always tells you some horror story about their experience). Though Kat holds a good job (as a public school teacher) and her husband is successful at his job (a sales rep), they felt they had to financially prepare themselves for a 3 month loss of a salary, which when living in an expensive city, can be hard to do. Aside from financial strain, Kat would have been alone with a newborn after 3 days, if her husband had not been able to use his vacation days to extend his paternity leave. Though there are laws that protect women from losing their jobs when taking time to have a baby, I feel the in the U.S. many employers and insurance offer bare minimums to families.

I researched birthing practices in Germany, and found notable similarities between giving birth in Germany vs. the U.S.

In Germany, employers and health insurance companies pay maternity payments. Here in the U.S. when on maternity leave, often there is no pay to go with it.

Prenatal exams are done regularly in both countries, by midwives or doctors. If the mother does not have insurance to pay for these exams, welfare covers it.

German insurance covers up to 12 visits from a midwife, and also pays for visits from the midwife up to 10 days after the baby is born.

As in the U.S. births in Germany can take place at hospitals, birthing centers, or home. The hospitals in the U.S. will release mothers and their babies after 24 hours. German hospitals will keep mothers and their babies 3 to 5 days unless the mother opts for an “out-patient” birth, in which they are released after 4 hours.

In Germany mothers may receive 6 weeks of maternity leave before the birth and 12 weeks after birth. In the U.S. maternity leave lasts 3 months and there are no rights to payments.  In addition to maternity leave, Germany offers parental leave, which is the right for a parent to leave work until the child is 3 years old. Though no salary is paid, the employer must keep the job position open for the parent to return to.

The maternity and parental leave options in Germany hold employers to maintain a focus on the importance of family, fostering healthy development, and the building of strong family connections.

Information found at http://berlin.angloinfo.com/countries/germany/birth.asp