A fee for skin to skin contact after birth

[BlueRaincoat1]

I saw this on Twitter, and it has made me so sad. Its an american hospital bill for a c section. To see a price being put, a cost being charged, a sum payable, for that life changing moment a mother holds her baby for the first time. That someone thought of that moment, and put a cost on facilitating it. Is this where we are heading? It is not right, it's just not right.

That's capitalism!

This is what happens when the primary objective of healthcare is making money, not making people better.

It's not life changing. Think about the hundreds and hundreds of mums who can't/don't get a chance to have skin to skin contact straight after birth for medical reasons, they still bond with the baby. I couldn't get the skin to skin for either of my children and all is well and quite frankly it's over dramatizing to say it's life changing.

Fair enough QueenBlueberries, I take your point - I mean life changing in the sense of being the first time you hold your child. Which I would saying many really is a life changing moment. I wasnt in anyway suggesting that a mother who doesn't have skin to skin contact doesn't bond with their child!

This is what will happen if you vote Tory

@Scapegoatforlife that is utter bollocks.
JC is just trying any possible tactic he can to draw the public away from the fact that he is a terrible, incompetent, bigoted leader.

We are not going to end up with American style health care.

I'm not surprised that they bill for skin to skin as it takes up more time in the operating theatre. They do bill for everything there - I'm surprised that they haven't billed for the oxygen breathed whilst in the hospital.

Are you a political activist, OP?

If you are not intentionally trying to spread misinformation, I think you need to have a close look at the policies of all UK political parties via a vis the NHS. Nobody in any position of authority has ever suggested that the UK move to a US style system.

There is a lot wrong with the NHS. It is such a sacred cow in the UK that nobody is allowed to say this. There are much better health care models in other EU countries which deliver better results for everyone. The NHS was founded in 1948 to meet different needs for a different population. It needs to adapt. Any organisation that fails to adapt to a changing world dies.

I had DC1 in the US following a missed miscarriage also in the US. I had DC 2 and 3 in the UK. The standard of care was far far higher and more caring and compassionate in the US.

At least by itemising and pricing the basics the US system makes sure they are delivered. Sadly this is not always the case in the UK as the current Shropshire investigation and countless MN threads demonstrate.

This is an old story. It's been doing the rounds for a few years whipping up a frenzy of outrage
huffpost

Yes the US health system is fucked and awful but lets not skew the information out there

Electricwhisk, no I'm not an activist, although I do have fairly strong political views. I'm generally a fairly practical person but I had a quite emotional reaction to the Twitter post, and have posted this more in that vein, rather than with a political agenda. I appreciate that saying 'is this where we are heading' does lend a certain political slant however, in light of the debate about what will happen to the NHS.
I just found something quite profoundly sad about monetising that moment of first holding your baby, it was such a special moment for me, there seems something so cold about thinking 'and it was worth $40'

Nousernameforme Thanks for the link, I didn't know that.

Well in a system where everything is itemised, as it is in the UK if you have treatment at a private facility, the bill will show every little thing. In this case the mother had undergone a CS so skin to skin would have taken up more OR time. Therefore, she was billed for it.

I saw this on a thread on here too yesterday.

Outrageous.

Thank GOD for the British NHS!

$61 for a lactation consultant though. I'd have paid that in a flash as opposed to the scolding midwife advice I had...