Difference in having baby in UK vs. US

What is up with the week stay in the hospital and midwives?  What about finding doctors and good hospitals?  Can you pick you doctor and hospital? 

Hi Indy
You dont have to stay a week in the hospital unless you have a c/section and then its usually just 4 days. I had a c/s with both my sons which were born in the UK. If you have an uneventful vaginal delivery you can go home as early as six hours after the birth.
I have two American born sons also. I had the best prenatal care around. The best OB/GYN. I was so disappointed to hear you only see a "consultant" (OB) twice during your pregnancy. The rest of your pregancy would be watched over by your midwife. There are no internal exams here either unless they think something may be wrong. They dont even perscribe vitamins! When I had my first son here I was surprised to be sharing a ward with 5 other women. No private bathrooms, no TVs. Very basic. But all in all I can tell you I had two very good experiences here with the birth of my Brit sons. I wouldnt have changed a thing.
As far as picking your own doctor, well its pretty much the midwife that is on staff at your local surgery that will be looking after you. I did request to have my last son at Warwick hospital just because I heard it was cleaner. (thats a whole different topic!). But as far as docs and midwives go you are pretty much at the mercy of the NHS. Dont worry. Its not so bad!
Good luck!
ricki

Hi Indy, Pebbles is right, usually you don't have to stay a week unless there'a problem. I had a normal vaginal delivery and was only kept in overnight.   I saw an Obsterician about 6 times in my last trimester for a very minor problem, so you do see one if necesary.   Also you can choose between hospital care or "shared care" between your GP surgery and the hospital.  I had shared care and on one occassion when the midwife was overbooked, the GP did my check up and he was useless!! I had to tell him what to do, so you really are better off with a midwife in the  UK.

I was given a choice of 4 hospitals in my area. At my hospital you could have a private room for a small fee and there were TVs etc by all the beds.  There was also a choice between giving birth on the labour ward,  in their  natural birth centre, or at home.  These things will vary, depending on what facilities your hospital has.

Well I'm not exactly sure how to reply to this, as it is a really sensitive topic for me and I'm not really the poster child for NHS Love. I suppose anyone reading my response (and everyone else's responses!) needs to understand that every situation is different and you can get both fantastic and atrocious care in *BOTH* countries. Saying that...

Sometimes you can pick your doctor and hospital. You can pick your GP, but each office does it differently. There is midwife lead, where you see the same midwife the whole time. There is midwife/GP led, where you basically switch between the two to give them smaller workloads, and there is team led, where you see a different midwife each time you have an appointment. It totally depends on where you live, and how they want to do it. But you can always request someone else if you don't like who you have - but if you are in certain places, you'd be getting someone else next time anyway, and can't alwyas see the midwives you connect with. I was lucky and had only 1 midwife the whole time. She was wonderful.

As far as your subject line question goes, here are the main differences I can think of:

1. Wards. You give birth in a private room, but are moved to a ward as soon as possible. I found this horrible, as I gave birth at 4:34 in the morning and was wheeled into the ward at 7 when everyone else was waking up, so I got no sleep. I didn't like the lack of privacy. We had BUPA coverage as well, but that doesn't give you anything for maternity, so ward it was. In the US you'll get a private room.

2. Widwife led care. I thought I'd hate this, but this was the best part. You are treated like a normal healthy pregnant woman, and not a woman with a medical problem. They are very hands-off. No internal exams, very much into suggesting homeopathic remedies, and come to your home for the initial and final consultations. Of course, in the US it can tend to be over-medicalized and err on the side of paranoia. A nice happy blend between the two would be nice on this front. In the US you are way more likely to be attached to machines and have intervention and things like that - they don't want to get sued after all. All which can just stress the mother out, which isn't a good thing. So really, this is a matter of taste. I was happy (mostly) to have it the UK way this time, but I'll be really happy to have it the US way next time given my personal circumstances.

3. Your husband/partner. They won't be allowed to stay with you once you get wheeled into the ward. I suppose I understand, as you don't want 12,000 people in the ward, but this is again where having my own room would have been bliss. I wanted my husband with me. Instead, he had to come in during visiting hours like everyone else. In the US your partner is allowed a lot more time with you. Saying that, in the US you're more likely to have your baby taken away right away for tests etc - in the UK it all happens right there in the room so you aren't separated from your new sprog. I know that is different from hospital to hospital in the US, so again - it depends on where you are within the country, not necessarily whilch country you are in.

4. Health Visitors. In the UK, you don't automatically get a pediatrician for your child. Also, you get a health visitor. This is someone who takes over for the midwife a few days after your birth. They come to your house to monitor you for depression, to take care of you and your baby, to answer questions, etc. Their focus is family health, not just the baby. After they ar done with their visits (and how many depends on your personal circumstances) they are available at a clinic at certain times in the week so you can get baby weighed, etc. They are your main contact for baby questions etc.

5. Medicine. Specifically for morning sickness. I had HORRIBLE morning sickness until I was about 22 weeks pregnant, which is way past normal, but everyone refused to put me on anti-nausea medicine. In the US I know I could have gotten it in a heartbeat. This was one area where I thought medical intervention would have been just fine, thankyouverymuch. Instead I got the same old (ineefective for me) advice. Nothing worked and I was thoroughly miserable. Whether that was indicitive of England or just my GP and midwife, I don't know. But still, the US is a lot more pill-happy than the UK, but in this instance I'd have relished a bit of pill-happiness.

7. After Care. You have to really fight your corner here and insist youg et seen and heard if you think there is a problem. They work on the assumption that everything is fine, and sometimes youreally need to make a fuss about things.

Both my sons were born here and in completely different areas, but I must say, I didnt have any problems. I too was shocked in the beginning that a MALE DOCTOR would not be overseeing me...talk about your stereotypes! It took someone British asking me "wouldnt you prefer a woman who knows a female body and most likely has already been thru the experience?" Too right. I only met my Obstetrician once at the end when I was way overdue. I call him BIG HANDS. He did the most painful internal examination that I will never forget! It was worse than labour!

Both times, I was allowed to stay for a week in the loveliest of settings. I did leave the cold, ugly hospital of Bath for one nearer my house - I think they're called cottage hospitals??? It was the best week of my life and I cried when I came home.. They really looked after me and prepared me for the LIFE WITH BABY. In the US, they kick you out straightaway.. I suppose some people feel confident to do this, but I sure didn't. Not without any family near me to help me out.

But everyone has different experiences. My first birth I had the most marvellous midwife ever. The second time, she could barely be bothered to turn and look when I started a contraction.....

I've only had a baby here, so I don't have any real basis for comparison.  I felt my pregnancy was very well managed.  I had GP led care, but the GP who always saw me is the one who takes care of all the mums to be, babies, female issues, etc.  She was great!  It was she who spotted my pregnancy induced hypertension immediately.  Because of my daughter's position, I did require an assisted delivery (forceps) and then spent one week in hospital in my own room.  I'm so glad I didn't get kicked out, as I would have in the States, as I was already suffering from severe postnatal depression.  I got wonderful treatment for that as well. 

I had babies in both countries and I prefer the UK system.  The UK maternity system treats the whole person, as someone who is well, and also relates to the new family that you are creating - the care extends up to 6 weeks after birth.  The US system thinks of you as a sick person and is concerned only with your reproductive organs, and there's no connection with the obstetrician and the pediatrician.

Giving birth in the UK is far more natural - you find your own positions for labor and birth, for example - than the US, where you become a "patient" and lie on your back in a hospital bed while things are done for you.  In the UK, there are far more ways of coping with the pain; in the US, your choice is an epidural or nothing.  In the UK, you can choose to give birth at home and get high quality midwifery care with seamless backup by the hospital.

In the hospital in the UK, you often have the choice of laboring in either a basic hospital room, a home-from-home suite or in a birthing pool.  Post-natally, you have a choice of going to a six-bedded ward, or a paybed (amenity room) for £50 - £100, or going straight home.  If you choose to go home, you do so straight from the labor ward, and will be cared for by your midwives (visits 2x per day until 3 days, then daily for 10 days or longer; more if you have a specific need) and GP (home visit on day 1 or 2, and again about a week later).

Disclaimer: Sorry for the generalizations - of course there are pockets of wonderful care in one place and awful care in another - but the question was very general so I think this type of response is warranted.

in the US, your choice is an epidural or nothing.

That isn't actually true, as my sister-in-law gave birth in the US 2 weeks before I gave birth in the UK, and she had exactly the same choices that I had: gas & air, pethidine, or an epidural, and the did both the "walking" epidurals and the normal kind. Also, she had a birthing ball, was allowed to take walks and change positions as well. So I suppose as with a lot of things, it is less about country versus country, and more about where you are within the country.

and will be cared for by your midwives (visits 2x per day until 3 days, then daily for 10 days or longer; more if you have a specific need) and GP (home visit on day 1 or 2, and again about a week later).

That wasn't how our local GP and midwife worked, though I do wish it had been. This is another one of those things that depends on the GP - they are all different. I was certainly never seen twice a day, nor even daily, and in fact not even in the hospital after giving birth - so I'm jealous!

Actually, giving birth in the US is becoming a much less intrusive process.  You're usually not forced into a bed to have things "done for you" unless you choose that or there is a problem.  I know with dd I was told I would have to have an IV and stuff right away-then I asked my doc about it and he looked at me like I was insane and told me it depended on me and what I wanted.  He really, really encourages different labor positions etc. in his practice-funny because I am not a "natural birth girl" at all!  But he's big into no meds and walk around etc-and he's head of ebstetrics at one of the hospitals where he delivers, so he sets a lot of their policy, so it's a very "open" hospital.  More and more hospitals are doing this. 

I was also offered several different ways of handling pain.

And not all hospitals in the US have private rooms-mine didn't which is (one reason) why I am having this baby at a different hospital!

As for me I had my son in June. I had not only a private room, but a whirpool tub. I gave birth in the same room as we slept. The baby had his own bassinet ready with heat lamps and all the equipment ready for a delivery. It was great!

I was also told I could get up and walk around or stay in bed. As I was 5 days late and still not moving along, they WANTED me to move.

My only problem with the system we were in I was not able to see a doctor until I was 8 weeks. I thought this was wrong. With my first I was ill from 3 weeks on. I could not get anything for the nausea. I was finally able to be put on some meds, but not until after I HAD to give up my job. I was ill 24/7 and could not work. After the meds I was doing fine. My female doctor was also I bit lax on kindness.

As for meds. I wanted an epidural. But no one thought I was in as bad pain and as close to 10 as I was. I jumped from 2-5-10 in a matter of 20 minutes. The whirpool did that. I was given a shot of drugs twice before I hit 5. I would have liked the epidural, but I now know I am woman and can take anything that comes my way.

With my first in 1995 I was in England for six months. I got very ill with dehydration. I ended up in Baskingstoke hospital for a week. I told DH that in no way would I have my child at a place that places 6 women in a room. I was so ill, but as the other women had children, and visiting, I had no sleep. My only comfort was a nurse from South Carolina doing an intership. She was able to understand what I was asking for as I was still having trouble getting across the "American" terms.

Heat lamps, eh?

Sounds fab 

Heat lamps, eh?

Sounds fab

Yeah, in case the baby is cold. My son would not warm up so they had to turn them on. I thought it was cool. But in the end that is WHAT money buys.

What's wrong with mommy's tummy?

What's wrong with heat lamps?

Where do I start...?