“Notes I have from birth of first child: movies are full of shit. Water breaks. They go to the hospital. They’re there for ten minutes, push once, maybe the wife says something like I hate you to the husband for comedic purposes and the baby comes. This is all bullshit.⠀
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After 16 hours at the hospital and many instances not deemed appropriate to discuss (as in bodily functions), the baby arrives. It’s mostly just waiting around until he decides to swim towards the only opening he has access to.⠀
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Two. Parents will call or text you 76 times in an hour (each) to ask for updates. It’s like, you know we are at the hospital, if a child entered this world, would you not be the first people we update? ⠀
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Perhaps most importantly: if it wasn’t painfully apparent that healthcare isn’t broken bc of COVID 19, child delivery has to prove it. Period. We are lucky we have health insurance but every single time they came into our room to do something, I keep thinking to myself how much this must cost without insurance. On top of the child birth alone, the epidural, multiple IV bags, and a bunch of other nuanced stuff that we needed. Every time a bag opened, I was glad I didn’t have to think about how much it cost (though it’ll still cost money, it’ll be nothing compared to what I could’ve been without insurance). Parents shouldn’t have to decide what they can or cannot afford during labor. They should feel like all the resources are available to them if they need it. The system is broken. It needs to be fixed.”
Location: United States – Philadelphia, PA
Instagram: @dchengwrites
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