Welcoming a child into the world and your family is a momentous occasion, and one that should be handled with great care. In some places in the world, it is treated as such. The medical care you might need is available and affordable, the expense of caring for a newborn baby isn't a concern, and you can relish the magical newborn time as you begin the physical recovery from childbirth in relative peace and comfort.
In some places, that's the way birth goes. A video from @Anima_Honey compares having a baby in the U.S. vs. having a baby in France, and we see the stark difference between a system that prioritizes profits over a system that prioritizes people. In the U.S. birth, the mom is pushed out of the room because it is needed for someone else. She is charged an exorbitant fee because, even though the hospital was in her insurance network, the doctor and anesthesiologist were not. She is hurried back to work to pay for the hospital bills because she doesn't have any guaranteed paid maternity leave. Meanwhile, in France, the mom not only gets three days in the hospital all paid for, but she also receives a birth grant and other social security funds to help cover the expenses of having a child.
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Americans in the comments shared their birth experiences, making it painfully clear that the video is not exaggerating:
"My son and I were in the hospital 3 days... he was in the NICU for 24 hours...our bill was $40,000 with no insurance and after discharge the finance dept said I needed to pay $20,000 before leaving, I laughed and said 'Nobody has that kind of money on them, including millionaires.'"
"I had a rough birth and was kicked out of the room and the pediatrician who NEEDED to see my baby was out of network and cost almost $1000. She saw my baby for 5 min!!! It’s nuts this healthcare system."
"As a NICU Mom who is still paying off my daughter's hospital birth 2 years ago, and just battled with our insurance company to cover her recent surgery this resonated with me. Our health system is SO BROKEN. There is not enough support for parents. Especially NICU parents! My husband and I couldn’t even get the therapy we needed paid for after all the birth trauma from our daughter’s near-death experience. It’s not right."
NICU care can be extremely costly without full insurance coverage. Photo credit: Canva
"That bit about some providers were in network but others weren't is so true. They act like you get to choose each provider in the room and not the doctor or hospital themselves. When you go to a hospital you don't vet everyone that walks in your room. Crazy!"
"Speaking as someone who works in insurance, this is chillingly accurate. You can go to a hospital that's in network, but your rendering provider may be out of network, same with the anesthesiologist. I tell patients to check with their insurance to verify if the doctors are in network as well, but even then, the bill could still be sky high, depending on how the insurance plan is set up."
What giving birth is like in other countries
People from other countries shared their own experiences with childbirth where they live, which further highlighted what an outlier the U.S. is on this front. Check out what is possible:
"Same in Trinidad and Tobago. Free pre-natal, delivery and post-natal care, 8 weeks paid maternity leave and a maternity grant."
"In Sweden, you don’t pay for giving birth and every parent gets 180 days from work. And every month until the child is 16 we get childsupport."
Having a baby shouldn't leave you worried about paying hospital bills.Photo credit: Canva
"In Germany you don't have to pay anything. But you or the father of the child can stay home for up to 3 years, getting parental allowance. And you get child allowance."
"In India we have 6 months maternity leave, and hospitals take care of you until necessary mostly minimum 3 days."
"In Canada we dont pay anything for delivery, 365 days maternity leave with half salary or one and half year whatever you want, your job is secured, paid $500 per child until they turn 16."
"In Costa Rica you get your maternity leave 1 month before delivery and 3 months later. Public hospitals treat you like a human being for free.."
"Well in Slovakia you have 8 months of paid maternity leave and then paid parental leave till your baby is 3 years old (all from social services) and you stay in hospital until you two are ready to leave (4-7 days if you are alright) also you dont pay anything for delivering a baby and you are entitled for almost 900€ from social services, because you gave birth to a human."
Maternity care looks quite different in other countries. Photo credit: Canva
"In México you don't have to pay anything as well in public hospitals. They give you maternity leave plus your full salary while taking your maternity leave, moreover it has recently approved the paternity leave for both parents to bond with their newborn."
"In Romania the mother can stay at home 2 years with 85% of her salary. Free medical care during birth."
Seeing the contrast between childbirth experiences in the U.S. and most other nations around the world is eye-opening. While some of us might feel enraged by our system in comparison with other places around the world, we can also celebrate knowing what is actually possible. It's easy to normalize what's normal to us, but there's nothing objectively normal about the way maternal care functions and the way maternity leave is handled in the American system. What can we learn from these other countries about how to make our system better? Let's encourage our legislators to find out and advocate for the changes that put people before profits.
A 
NICU care can be extremely costly without full insurance coverage. 
Having a baby shouldn't leave you worried about paying hospital bills.
Maternity care looks quite different in other countries. 
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang.via 
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang speaking in 2023.via