The American Way of Birth…

So begins the title from a recent June article on www.NYTimes.com. The title continues with “the Costliest in the World.”

You would expect that it was going to say something like “the Best, the Most Modern, or the Most Convenient,” but it did not.

On the contrary, this article is all about how costly pregnancy is these days. The featured mom-to-be is Renee Martin, an expectant mother who is a professional but who does not have maternity coverage on her insurance. Further into the article we learn that a large number of policies do not cover pregnancy and that “charges for delivery have about tripled since 1996.”

Continuing on, we discover that the heart of the matter is the a la carte style of charging for  services. That, of course, puts the decision-making process for many tests and other procedures in the hands of the mom-to-be. If she is the “decider,” then decisions must be based on cost rather than necessity, and that is not good.

Clear as day, we can all see what is next, the most serious problem of all–stress; and as you know, stress is the number one cause of disease in our country. Not good.

Just as an aside, we learn from this article that “new mothers in France and elsewhere often remain in the hospital for nearly a week to heal and learn to breast feed.” Contrast that with “American women who tend to be discharged a day or two after birth.”

What are we doing?!!

July! The Month of Freedom

Let us share our tricks-of-the-trade with each other. We are all mothers together sharing the “huge” responsibility of bringing up the next generation of children. Go ahead and check out “100 Parenting Tips” on www.earlychildhoodnews.net/parenting-tips. Choose your favorite one, two, or three and pass them on. Then go to “15 Musts” https://www.earlychildhoodnews.net/special-needs/15-musts/ and find your favorite(s) there too.

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Each one teach one. What a wonderful way to learn!

 

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