HOW do US women physically manage to back to work so quickly after birth?!

[boboismylove]

I was watching The Good Fight the other day and one of the characters said she was planning on returning to work THREE DAYS after birth. I know this is fictional but I looked it up and apparently 1 in 4 American women return to work within 10 DAYS.

This is obviously awful. But I don't actually understand how it's physically possible?! I couldn't sit up properly for a month after birth, and was limping for around the same time. I didn't have a C section, and technically had a relatively smooth birth - so I can't imagine going back earlier! How do women in the US manage it physically?! What about prolapse risk? Looking after stitches? Extremely heavy bleeding? - and again, this is only with a "normal" birth.

I know even in quite a few developing countries they have 6 weeks leave - maybe connected to the idea women should rest and be housebound for 40 days.

Sorry for being thick, but what is copay?

I have heard it before in reference to US healthcare but I dont really understand what it means. I assume that the patient has to pay something but does that mean that their insurance pays for the rest or the government or what?

Copay is what the patient pays at their visit. The rest is normally covered by your healthcare plan (insurance, state program or Medicaid/Medicare).

So if the care they need is copay and they cant afford it then they get no care? Do they have to pay when they book an appointment or afterwards?

What sort of thing usually requires copay?

Not being provocative, just wondering how it works.

Copay is the norm in rest of the world, including all the high quality medical insurance systems in Europe. For each appt & the treatment at it, & each prescription.

We have copay here in Sweden. Normal docs visits are about 20 quid. Free for children and pregnant women. You pay up to about 120 quid a year then get a free card. Prescriptions also have a copay and you pay for each night in hospital and a set fee for AandE (about 40 quid I think.)

It works well, and I think it’s something the NHS should consider, given the number of frequent fliers, people pitching up in A and E drunk/with minor ailments etc.

If you’re really poor there’s government assistance and no one goes without here. It seems to work well.

Here you pay when you go for your appointment ER is a percentage of the cost hence the urgent care clinics that opened up. The only people you seein ER these days are those who are having a true emergency, those with Medicaid or illegal immigrants (Obamacare doesn't charge them for ER care so it continues to be used as a GP surgery).

It'll be interesting so see if anyone follows Aviva's new parental leave policy. Both mother and father are entitled to 6 months leave, fully paid. Then the mother has 3 months SMP and 3 months unpaid available after that.

Stargirl - thank you for the Aviva details. Something for good employers to also put in place. Employee friendly policies can help so much with retention.

Copay isn't that normal in Germany. I've only ever had to pay for one treatment, that was physio. And prescriptions yes, about €10 (children's are free), but you pay for prescriptions in England, too. I don't pay for normal doctor's visits, not for doctor's notes, I haven't paid for any other specialist, I didn't pay for emergency room treatment. DH was sent a €10 bill for an ambulance(!) about 9 months after the fact and I believe it's €10 per night in hospital, but haven't done that bit yet. They did want €150 for the nuchal translucency screening. We actually got it covered due to being high risk for something else. I had to pay €6 for a note confirming my pregnancy and due date for my employer but my employer had to pay me the €6 back.

However, if you keep all of your receipts for these health-related costs, if you reach a certain level per year you can send them back and get them reimbursed. I also find that a lot more is covered here that you would have to pay for in the UK, for example DS1 has had dental sealants done, which was covered. We've had countless scans during pregnancy (apparently only 3 - 10, 20, 30 weeks - are technically covered, but we also had one at 6 weeks, 8 weeks and 12 weeks and after that they've asked for a contribution).

US copays I've seen tend to be much higher than this, also. To be honest a €20 fee to see the doctor would put me off. I would force myself to work when I was feeling ill. I don't think that's very helpful. It is not as though I enjoy going to the doctor, you always have to wait for about an hour if it's a day you're getting off work so it's not really a fun experience!

I had a emergency c-section, but I felt back to normal within 2 days. I could have gone back to work. I wouldn't have wanted to though, not a chance.

@stargirl1701 even if they both work for aviva? Or is this the same as SPL with enhancement of 6 months full pay for either mother or father?

My employer follows the latter policy

"HOW do US women physically manage to back to work so quickly after birth?!"

It helps that most of them arent laying paving flags for the council.😊

Considering that doctors advise against carrying anything heavier than the baby and not driving for a few weeks, I suspect there is a lot that falls short of laying paving flags for the Council that would still be exhausting or dangerous for women in the post partum period.

I could have gone back physically in that time scale. But I doubt I would have been much use due to lack of sleep.

I am anther who could easily have gone back physically. I had straightforward labours and was up and about the next day and right as rain within a week or so. Breastfeeding came pretty easily too me as well, I honestly didn't find childbirth that physically tough (apart from the actual birth bit, that is tough but only lasted a few hours).

Emotionally, that is a different discussion, but physically I could easily return to an office job pretty soon after giving birth.

@TheGrumpySquirrel

Yes, if both parents work for Aviva, they both get the full 6 months paid leave. They will both have 6 months with their baby at the same time. Astounding and inspiring policy.

@OlennasWimple

UK employers are also supposed to provide a room for pumping

When I had DS five years ago it was considered good practice but there was no legal obligation to do so.

My work place is too small to have any spare rooms - two rooms and a toilet between nine members of staff, so I used the toilet, which horrified people but my work was totally supportive of me expressing there was just nowhere else to do it.

I'd have struggled returning to work after a couple of weeks, I'd only just got out of hospital for a start, had a third degree tear and blood pressure that refused to go down after DS was born, and the worst thing was that the blood pressure medication I was on made me feel really ill for two or three hours after taking it and all I could do was lie down, or if I really had to be up, sit huddled under a blanket waiting for it wear off. I didn't go out on my own for a good few weeks as I just didn't feel well enough.

Both my births I was in hospital because all 3 needed hospital treatment. This meant for little sleep for me. I lost a lot of blood when I had my twins and it was like a huge bimhad landed in my life. Absolutely no chance of going back after 10 days.

I've had two planned c-section babies, and I would have been fine going back to work a few days after each of them. I can't believe I get a paid holiday (maternity leave)! So lucky.

Having breast fed 2 children I could never express but managed to work full time including from just before 6 months.

I could never express a drop but they both breastfed for 3 years - they just waited until I finished work and then I would cluster feed them.
I could not imagine going back to work at 3 months though.

Tellycushion I think it is quite rare to see having maternity leave as a holiday.

Great that it all worked out fine for you though others really don't get it so easy.

TellyCushion - while would you put maternity leave and holiday in the same sentence! I had DT’s by csection and there is no way I could have gone back to work in a few days- it was days before I could walk unaided.

Much easier to sit at many desks jobs however than cart a baby and toddler around the place.

The BBC lady who is suing because the BBC made her (and others) form personal service companies mentinos in the press how quickly she went back 13 weeks etc and yet that would have been regarded as quite a long time when I was having my babies so it shows how norms have changed. However if you work full time and have a second child you usually cannot just lose your older child'r nusery place when you're on leave and you need to be reasonably well off to afford to continue to pay the rent or mortgage once the 6 weeks at 90% pay disappears which is not a very long period when you have bills to meet.