Hi guys! Hope you enjoy the video! I'm super interested in hearing all of your experiences about having babies abroad, or babies in France, or even just what it's like having kids in your country! xx
In Bulgaria we have 2 years paid maternity leave. You come back to work when your child is 2 years old and they can not fire you from work until your child is 3 years old.
Same in Romania ✌️ (And you can split the 2 years between the 2 parents, but unsurprisingly, men don't jump at the opportunity to care for the children they themselves decided to have) Anyway, looks like parental leave is one of the few things where we've got most of the world schooled
The big point about past due date is not about the mother, it is about the placenta aging. Past french due date, the placenta may degenerate quite quickly and so this is why in France, the mother is asked to come every 2 days and then every day to check the placenta and if things may go wrong, the birth is induced.
Oulala en France je n'ai jamais vu une femme enceinte boire un verre d'alcool , généralement quand on est entre amis on propose pour taquiner gentiment mais on sait très bien qu'elle répondra non car c'est inconcevable dans la culture française ! Tout le monde sait que boire ou fumer pendant la grossesse peut avoir de très graves conséquences pour le foetus. Il y a même des pictogrammes sur toutes les bouteilles d'alcool pour dire NON aux femmes enceintes
Oui j'ai remarqué exactement le même chose pour l'alcool mais un peu moins pour les cigarettes en revanche. Cest connu que c'est pas bien de fumer bien sûr, mais j'ai vu plus de femmes avec des cigarettes que des verres.
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified Je pense que c'est aussi parce qu'il y a plus de personnes qui boivent de manière occasionnelle (et qui peuvent donc s'en passer pendant 9 mois), que de personnes qui fument occasionnellement, sans être un minimum dépendant
Ce n'est pas recommandé d'arrêter de fumer alors qu'on en a l'habitude si on apprend qu'on est enceinte. Ralentir oui, mais pas arrêter cash (sans doute à cause d'hormones ou autres que le corps produit en cas de manque ?). Du moins c'est ce qu'on me racontait à chaque fois que je l'ai été (même si je n'ai jamais fumé, c'était du préventif). Je n'ai jamais vu une femme responsable boire de l'alcool en étant enceinte (même si je doute qu'un verre de vin en neuf mois ait une quelconque conséquence).
@@YzoGahb Ca c'est bien de la pseudo science de médecins Français. J'aimerais bien voir les études scientifiques qui ont montré ça! C'est comme dire qu'il n'est pas recommander d'arrêter le crack quand on est enceinte. Lol
An American mother here, living in France, currently 34 weeks pregnant again. I have never been pregnant in US but I have compared a few things with my cousins and other family members. Of course, the 40 week due date and the 41 due date is a huge thing when I got to the 40th week. I begged for an induction at 41 weeks because I just couldn't take it anymore but it's not uncommon to get to 42 weeks in the US. I also noticed that in the US, they ask you to count baby's kicks in the third trimester but they only ask at the monthly appointment if your baby is moving around. It is a bit weird that France doesn't ask something that the US does. A HUGE difference is the after hospital care. We had a woman come to our house twice (or thrice?) to check baby's weight gain, my healing, and breastfeeding. It helped so much with the anxiety of being a new mom. Also, after the 6th month, all is free! I had a doctor's appointment for a slight cold and there was nothing to pay at all. It was not related to my pregnancy but since I was 7 months pregnant, she didn't ask for anything other than my carte vitale. Also, swaddling is a big difference. My husband looked at me funny and REFUSED all swaddling when he was around although I did it when he wasn't in the room because my baby liked it. In the US, baby's are swaddled from day one and the nurses will teach you how to do it! I was trained to swaddle a baby at a young age (baby brother was born when I was 17 so I helped out a bunch) and was shocked with my husband's response.
Swaddling has absolutely been a difference for me too! They swaddled at the maternity for the first couple days but it was more to keep the baby warm, then help them with startle reflex and help them sleep better. My French mother in law understands the benefits of swaddling but at the same time doesn't really understand how to do it because its not as popular here! And completely agree about those free doctors appointment after the 6th month. Amazingggggggg
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified I ended up using the swaddles with velcro, and this seemed to go over easier since there wasn't a risk of it coming undone in the middle of the night. I bought more on my last trip to the US 😁. No one understood me except for my sister in law who lives in Switzerland. They do swaddling there so she was my only source of feeling normal.
The problem with maternity leave in the US is that people as a rule generally think private generosity and private charity is always better than government rules. The main reason a woman would get maternity leave is because the private employer has a spasm of generosity and decides to be kind and generous to you on a whim. The other main reason would be it's part of the labor union benefits that have been hammered out in strenuous labor--management negotiations. A person is more likely to get good maternity benefits if they work for the federal or state government because government employees usually have generous benefits as part of their employment contracts.
Hey there... Was pregnant twice, in France. I was literally bullied by my gynecologist because I gained above 25 kilos. Both times. And it really didn't matter that I felt like I was starving, all the time. I'm rather thin otherwise and just so you know, I've lost everything I've gained, each time, a few months later and not doing much for it. Boy I hated those 18 months. I wanted 3 kids but my pregnancies did it for me. Not a drop of alcohol either, by the way - but that I didn't miss so much...
I've heard from other pregnant women the same story of getting bullied for their weight gain. It's a really tough and sensitive topic in France... i wish the bedside manner in general was a little bit better in this case!
It's not about your weight per se, but gestational diabetes which can impact the size and health of your baby. I know what I'm talking about, I had it twice and had to have an emergency c section for my son. And yes it was free. In retrospect I wish I had been more careful with my food intake while pregnant.
Coucou, I had 2 good pregnancies in the US and both my kids were born in L.A. Thank goodness my insurance covered everything because it's SO expensive here! I had a c-section both time and stayed in the hospital 4 nights. The fist time it cost $35000 and the second $45000 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I really love your videos, merci.
If I'm not mistaken, the difference in the duration of the pregnancy is actually caused by the fact that in certain countries, doctors count the start of the pregnancy from the date of the last period (called weeks of amenorrhea, in France "semaines d'aménorrhée" or "SA"), whereas in other countries, they count from the estimated week of ovulation (so conception), which would be two weeks after the last period, making the duration of the pregnancy two weeks shorter.
Between the US and the French due date is only one week difference. My doctor told it me that they prefer it to help expecting mothers cope with the stress of going over their due dates, but maybe it's not the only reason!
Great info! Two of our older kids were both born in France : ages(9, and 10) I'm currently now 18 weeks pregnant with our 7th pregnancy! Our 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th were all born here in the U.S. with our last 3 were a Homebirth with a midwife. I LOVE Homebirthing and it's my definite top preference. I think hospitals both in the US and France use too many fear tactics on mothers and don't allow the body to naturally do what it needs to do, including forcing the baby or babies out before their ready by inducing with picton, etc. I find more mothers here in the US going back to nature and doing more homebirths. I don't know if home births are allowed in France I keep hearing differing opinions about it. However I do know friends of ours who are a French couple in Provence who did an unassisted birth with their youngest child in the woods! As far as I know they did not get in trouble. So maybe unassisted birth is something to think about!
7 kids, you are a champion!!!!!! and how fun to have a mix of the US birthing experience and the French one. I feel like home births in France are a big no no. I have never heard of anyone doing it, or any type of info or support from doctors or nurses about how I could do that in France... Good luck with this pregnancy!
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified Hello, I'm french and a father of now a teenager and her mother and I have decided that she will give birth at home. After the whole night with a midwife who was used to help women to do so we finally after taking bath etc. we ended to the hospital nearby (Grenoble) where finally she gave birth but the more naturally as possible (without epidural) and it was fine. She breast feed our baby until the age of three ! There are more and more people who wish to give birth at home in France.
Maternity leave in Canada is 12-18 months depending which amount of time you want to take. You can also split part of this time with your spouse if they want to take some paternity leave also.
I love the idea of splitting with your spouse if you want. It puts men and women on more equal grounds at work when they are welcoming a new child and they both get to spend quality time with the baby!
Small-minded and racist comment. As if giving a kid a French name made him more French. What if the parents wanted to celebrate the kid's American roots with an American name? You would have felt disrespected!? They don't owe you anything.
Hahaha I'm french but was pregnant and gave birth in Chile and I loved it ! I gained 25 kilos (hello water retention xD) and was happy not to have been pregnant in France because of that. I know most ob's are harsh on pregnant women regarding their weight... also, I got a 6weeks prior to giving birth and 6 months after, of maternity leave and that was THE BEST in my opinion.
My Chilean doctor scolded me because I am one kilo away from expected 😅 I’m not mad, I think it is healthy not to gain so much weight. I am waiting for my 6 months leave, 😃
Thank you for the insights! I’m actually re-reading Bringing up Bebe and was a bit surprised to hear that there’re more regulations about unpasteurized food. I just assumed that French women stress out about things like that a little less comparing to US where women are obsessed with the food they cannot eat. Regarding hospitals, I have exposure to two cultures: Canada where I live for 11 years and had my first daughter 1.5 years ago and Russia where I’m from, though didn’t have a baby there, I know more or less about the processes. Canada is similar to US, we only spent 1 day in the hospital after the baby was born, though we didn’t have to pay anything. In Russia people stay about a week, and 2 weeks if there were a c-section. But one thing that really surprises me is actually not when women get discharged from the hospital but when they get accepted. It’s shocking to me that even if I’m in contractions I still might be sent home if my labour didn’t progress far enough. Back home I’ll likely already be in a hospital a couple of days before the due date just in case and then whatever it takes until my labour begins.
My first baby was born in a birth center at 7pm and we returned home 6 hours later. It was a bit harrowing so with my 2nd kid, we still had a midwife but went to a hospital. I could only stay about 24 hours with our insurance. The hospital staff didn't notice a significant birth injury that I had complained about repeatedly but was assured it was nothing. It was finally diagnosed at 8 weeks postpartum. Even with the less than ideal scenarios of these births, I've found over the 25 years since then that most women who share their birth stories have had much worse side effects from medications and birth procedures and they don't even know that they have choices.
From the first minutes after birth, a blood sample is taken from the baby, but there is also a control of the "automatic walking". Yes, the baby of a few hours walks ! He/she is however helped to stand. In Vendée there is a common anomaly in the hips of newborn baby girls, so it is systematically checked from the first hours after birth. Usually french moms are informed about the "baby blues" and about the postpartum depression. In the 80's, in Germany, the pregnant women were receiving food supplements and the episiotomy was almost systematic, it means, even if it wasn't needed ... oupssss ... Are there special things like these in USA after birth ?
In my experience in the US, you had to stay in the hospital at least 48 hours after birth because they do a blood test on the baby at that point. May be different in different states. My OB at the time told me I could leave sooner if I wanted to opt out of that test.
Hey! I live in Spain (I'm French) and I just had a baby. In both countries, the time limit to give birth is 42 weeks. You should not be induced before unless there is a medical issue that justifies it. Unfortunately induction seems to be too frequent but is risky and painful... from what I read it is riskier than waiting so we shouldn't accept it without questioning it^^ 3 days before my due date my gynecologist was like "if you still haven't given birth next time we meet we'll consider induction" (my next appointment was scheduled 3 days after my due date). I told him straight up that I wanted to wait. It made me feel so mad and pressured to give birth. I felt guilty my body wasn't able to give birth in time which is ridiculous because the due date is approximate... I got into labour without being induced at 41 + 1. The testing is done only once a trimester. As for toxoplasmosis, we get tested only during the first trimester to find out if we are immunized or not. Not knowing for the rest of the pregnancy was stressful... During appointments, you get ultrasound. Then they pretty much just ask you how you are feeling and check your blood pressure. No "toucher vaginal" at all... Regarding alcohol, some Spanish women went like: "oh no, I didn't drink during pregnancy. Half glass is fine". I was shocked. To me, pregnancy equals zero alcohol... Pregnancy is free in Spain. I noticed it is very common for people to say the name of the baby before the baby is born. Is it common in the US? Some people will even ask you (like coworkers). I went to a group session about the epidural and they told us to introduce ourselves, to say the name of the baby,... the only one who didn't want to say it was a German woman! Maternity leave is 16 weeks. Paternity leave is 12 weeks but it will be increased to 16 weeks at the beginning of 2021!!! We only stay at the hospital 48h (vaginal delivery) or 72h (c section). Are you gonna do a video about giving birth in France? Xxx
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified Lucky you! I still have to go to work on monday, I am one of the few "requested" by my company to maintain a minimal service during this off-time... :/
I'm wondering if things are different in different parts of France... I have had two children here and my husband and I were taught how to swaddle in the maternity ward, I was very much encouraged and supported in doing it both times....also they totally respected the fact that I wanted a totally natural birth, they never pushed for me to have one and never even had anything "ready just in case". As for alcohol, no one I know would've have even thought of having a drink during pregnancy and my doctor was clear that it was a definite "no no"...also breastfeeding was also something that I was encouraged to do and supported in doing. There was even a special number to call to get though to breastfeeding "helpers" at the maternity ward if I had any issues after getting home.
Super interesting! I'm sure each experience is slightly different. I'm less surprised about the breastfeeding because i think that can be hit or miss depending on where you give birth, but the support in a natural birth surprises me, even if i'm happy to hear it! I don't know one person who purposely gave birth naturally in France and i even watched a birth documentary where the nurses were teasing the women who "thought they were going to make it through labor naturally." It seemed like a bit of a joke to everyone.
Since France has a great healthcare system, I just assumed that the maternity leave would be better than it is here in Canada, which is one-year paid leave. It's been a while, but I remember the government paying a certain amount in UI benefits and then the company topping that off to bring it up to almost my entire salary (can't remember if it was 85% or 95%, but it's somewhat less expensive staying at home and not paying for public transit or gas, for instance). For the last 6 weeks or so of my leave, my vacation pay kicked in and I got 100% of my salary. We also have 5 weeks paternity leave at 70% salary, which doesn't have to be taken right away or all at once, as long as it's taken within a year of birth. Here in Quebec, if your job is deemed dangerous for pregnant women, you go on leave immediately, so if you're a social worker for instance and you work with people who could potentially harm you (young offenders or mentally ill) you could be off work with pay very early in your pregnancy. Same if you work on your feet all the time. Then there is the extremely cheap daycare (only in Quebec). It was $5 a day (lunch included) when my first child was born and I think it was $7 for my second. Not sure what it is now.
Wow, thats so impressive. France has a great healthcare system, but still really behind other countries when it comes to maternity leave. That's really evident when you talk about the leave in Canada!
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified True, but at least they have many other priorities in the right place, compared to the U.S., where going back to work after three weeks is not unusual. It seems like companies and the government over there treat having a baby more like an inconvenient temporary illness, like the (common) flu. Starting those little humans off right, with healthy attachments, makes for a better society for generations to come, but in the U.S. there is less of a notion that we're all in this together and that your life is improved by improving the lives of others.
I hated staying in the hospital because they wake you up every hour or so to check on you & if they have the baby in the nurses station, they have to wake you every 30 minutes for feeding. They could have tried to do things at the same time, but I’m not sure that’s the priority of a very busy nurse
I enjoyed your pregnancy videos, and found them informative. Can you please do a Birth Story Video, possibly with any recommendations from a woman who’s given birth in France. I would really appreciate it!
My experience in the US was heaps more enjoyable and affordable than in France. Even with the French National Healthcare. In the US I was on medicaid & then bluecross blue sheild (after the pregnancy )in Colorado and it covered all of my expenses before, during, and after pregnancy. The care given was amazing and for pre & post natal care I was even at a clinic focused for low-income and second-language people. The hospital was wonderful and the nurses and doctors were so attentive. The food was one thing that the US does a million times better than the French public hospitals. The morning of my delivery in France after I had been in labor and delivered from 1am-7am they only gave me a large cup of coffee & milk along with a small baguette with butter. I didn't get anything else until lunch. I was famished!! The attention was also minimal, little help or care with the fact that my French was minimal except for during delivery. I ended up leaving the French hospital after two days since it was my second child because I didn't feel like they were doing anything to help or make me feel comfortable. It was a huge bummer because everything I heard about French pregnancy and deliveries said it was so much better but I think they were just talking about cost. Though, I paid more out of pocket for prenatal and post natal care than I did in the US. In the US I felt like a queen during and after childbirth, in France I just felt like there was no special care or help. I wish I had known this so I could set myself up for greater success in the hospital instead of being so letdown.
I agree with the weight focus. It is actually more in Paris than other regions and more dependant on doctor age as the standards have changed through time. Regarding private hospitals, few of them have new born intensive care or reanimation therefore if your child needs new born care he/she is move to public hospitals with specialized new born services but the mum has to finish her stay in the private one resulting in not being with your child during this very difficult period. The 16 weeks paid leave with guarantee to retrieve similar job and position is for employee. Indépendant workers (doctors, shop owners, lawyers etc) are not covered. Leaves are covered by private insurance and not all recognize pregnancy as a risk therefore you need to subscribe specific additional contract to ensure you are covered fore leave before childbirth and after.
And the weight focus was really really hard for me. It got to the point where going in for my monthly appt made me so anxious I couldn't sleep and didn't want to go just because of the weigh in. It's really important to stay healthy during pregnancy for your baby and I get that, but I gained a kilo more than the recommend weight gain in France and felt like it was treated like an absolute failure 😔
Actually when you are self employed you do get paid maternity for 16 weeks like employees do. However, the amount of money you get is capped and is not proportional to your income so you need to anticipate the revenue loss during your maternity leave.
@@aldonastraczek it depends on your status and social security regimen. Your entitled to it usually with the cap 500 euros a month and you need to pay for a replacement or close your shop and have your employees unemployed
@@tibal3710 all social security regimens have been merged. I have no idea where you got that 500€ capping from, but you have all the numbers in the booklet secu sends you after your doctor has declared your pregnancy. You also have all the numbers on Ameli. Overall, unless you made under 3k€ per year on your independent status you get around 9k€ in total for the 16 weeks + up to 30 days your doctor can add before if you are going through a complicated pregnancy (that's if you are expecting 1 child and have no other kids, i must admit i did not look at the numbers for multiples). The allowance was aligned by Macron as it used to be 40 days prior to that. I'm a freelancer auto-entrepreneur so obviously I do not have to worry about replacement or anything of that sort.
I live in Estonia, which has the world's longest maternity leave :-) It is 18 months, paid. Father's receive 2 months after birth, plus 10 days before birth. So the father's are outdone by our neighbour Sweden. But it is still nice for the mom's. We also have leave for adopted children.
GirlWithoutPearlearring In the US if you don’t have insurance they come around at the hospital with forms so you can apply for the government provided insurance. Have to quality based on income. With that you have a very low or no copay for the whole hospital stay and delivery and everything. With my son, we saw the total that we would have paid if we didn’t have this insurance: $27,000! (This does not include your prenatal care.) And that was in 2008. But other than this you would probably have insurance and your copay would be whatever that policy requires.
This is absolute misconception ! No one in US pays 5-11,000 for baby! Unless you are a foreigner and intentionally flew in to US to deliver your baby in the hospital to get citizenship. Everyone has insurance in US, through work or gov’t. My sister works in the best hospital in NY and paid only $200 for staying 3 days deductible as per policy! In Paris, m’y coworkers who delivered in private hospitals, their bills were 10,000 and they French citizens and they used 2 insurances to cover cost and at the end they paid 5,000 yes to deliver in private hospital in Paris. This radicules misconception is crazy.
@@xxdeanochkaxx I was curious to see if it has improved much in the 10+ years since I was on my various mom boards after my son was born-I just remember the US moms complaining about the bills they received afterwards and I was appalled at the amounts! I looked at a recent article (Dec. 2019) in The Business Insider that broke down the average cost by state with insurance and without (and for vaginal births vs c-sections). The costs ranged a fair bit from state to state, but WITH insurance the average vaginal birth cost between $5000-8000 (without insurance they’d be paying 10-12k). I think Alaska was the highest at $11,000 with insurance(!) but it was the only anomaly. So definitely better than I remembered it being-and a manageable debt I suppose-but I still don’t think you should have to start off your child’s life with any kind of debt at all. Kids are expensive enough as it is, lol!
Toxoplasmosis by the way is a parasite and you usually get it from cats since it‘s usual life cycle depends on small mammals and carnivores such as cats which would then eat the small mammals :)
Actually, toxoplasmosis is the desease coming along with toxoplasma which is the parasite. Just like SRAS is the one coming with COVID-19 virus. As long as you are already immune to toxoplasmosis, you don't care about what you eat. The big difference, is that around 54% of people are immune in france by the time they get pregnant, while in the US this is below 20% IIRC. Getting toxoplasma during pregnancy is very dangerous, hence the systemic verification in France (good chance to get it, and half is not immune), and the complete madness of finding antibody during pregnancy in US (though it could mean immunity caused by an old infection).
@@NicolasRomantzoff , yeah, sorry, meant that, got confused with the words (not familiar writing in English). Where I am from Every pregnant woman is tested immediately. We assume that the amount of people with toxoplasma gondii here is 1% per year of age
I had my baby at 3am and was discharged from the hospital by 5pm the same day. I had tearing and there was miconium when she was born and they still only kept us in for just over 12 hours. This was in the UK
Hi there, just came across your page and this video. It's great! Would you be able to talk more about the prevalence of natural births/home births/doulas and midwives in France that are quite popular in certain circles in the US? What options are available in France if you want to give birth at home (or the equivalent of a birth center)?
Unintentionally frenchified, awesome video! One question though: would you say that the public hospitals in France are clean and well equipped as the hospitals in the U.S?
Mat. Leave in Canada is either 12 or 18 months,depending on your employer.Either parent can take it or split it how they want. Still not enough...we should all follow the Scandanavian model.
That's really interesting that you found a due date difference between France and the US! I gave birth in the Midwest (October 2019) and am pregnant with my second, and both times my due date was dated for 40 weeks. I'm really curious where your friends are that have doctors who give them due dates of 39 weeks...
In Austria the new mother gets up to 24 months of PAYED maternity leave. Where do babies go at 4 months when the mother is going to work? How are they feeded?
I haven't given birth nor am I pregnant, but I've studied about it a lot in on how it's done in my country (US), had friends and family tell me their experiences here in the US. I also haven't gotten past 1 minute in your video and I'm fairly confident that France does it better as I think many countries especially in Europe do things better, especially in the crucial yet basic things like healthcare. Now on with your video.... *after watching whole video* Hm, pretty much 50/50 and it's a little surprising but it still sounds like France is better than France as far as the care plus the difference in maternity leave. I can't say I knew anything about pregnancy & giving birth in France in general, but I pretty much expected it to be better than the US because of the higher quality health care that seems cheaper in France. The only things I found surprising is the wine consumption and the different weight gain standard. Still not all was as I would've guessed. This was enlightening. Thank you for this. Liked & subbed. Warm regards.
Really interesting video! I'm an American in France (27) and who knows, maybe I'll have a child here some day. Stay safe :) PS- What do you use on your hair? France has suuuuch hard water and your hair looks perfect. I'm really curious!
Ohh man, the water in Paris is SO HARD! I hate it. I honestly got a water filter for a shower off of amazon and i'm testing a new Kerastase shampoo right now. It's a shame because i'm a fan of 2 dollar shampoos normally but they kill my hair here. I also cut my hair shorter than i used to wear it in the US to help have less to manage. Good luck, i know its a real pain!!
Am loving watching these videos even though I have no plans to live in France, although id love to of course, and live in London. My brother was living in France when my sister in law was pregnant and gave birth to my niece (their second child) there. She is from Spain.. She howled with laughter over the weight thing and apparently they were disgusted at her love of cafe con leche throughout the day accompanied with 1 spoon of sugar a time. She took ab no notice.. Hospital stay... in the uk after your first child you are kicked out 4 hours after birth if there are no complications ..... I am pretty shocked that women in the usa drink in pregnancy ...id say today in uk you'd really be considered pretty shitty for drinking at all in pregnancy.. although that has massively changed over the past 20 years
The healthcare isnt free in France. Your company purchase a private health insuranceto pay part of your social security expenses. For example: if you go to the hospital for a week, your private insurance company will pay for the amount requested by the hospital for your time there. If you want to visit the doctor, the same thing applies: the cost of the consultation for a public doctor is 25 euros, the social security system covers a small amount and the rest is paid by your private healh insurance.
I am interested in German formula Hipp ha, I wonder what Formula French like for their enfant. lactose intolerance is an issue for me. Thank you. I like your videos.
In Switzerland we have the right to 3 months mother break, when I had my first pregnancy I wished I lived in Norway and have up to 2 years mother break. France still better than us
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified yes 2 years 100 % before was 3 years iguess .Not always the north Switzerland is more south. Sweden used be before a good country but not anymore. Switzerland and Norway always fight about place nummber 1 the best country in the world lol crazy
@@suzannecollie7632 My question is rather, if you are a foreigner and only worked for 2 months in Switzerland, you don't get a paid maternity leave? How much time do you need to work?
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified yes, they specifically want to encourage both parents to take parental leave. So you get around 67% of what you've earned the year before the birth of the baby for 12 months (not more than 1800€/month not less than 300€/month even if you haven't worked before, if you're a student...). You get 2 extra months of "Elterngeld" (= parent money) if the other parent takes at least two months parental leave. But you can split it however you want: 12:2, 7:7, 10:4... you can also choose to stay home for longer and spread out the payments over a longer time. So if you stay home for 2 years you don't get 67% but only half the money for twice as long.
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified I really feel for all the women out there having to leave early for work. I think I would have cried all day long. I went back after a year and that felt early for me. Where do you leave your babies in France!? And what about breastfeeding!? Do you stop early? Do you pump ? (I hated pumping)
@@jrgilmore935 I think that because I come from a country with such little leave, i felt like 4 months paid leave was huge! So i haven't gotten too emotional about going back to work, just anxious about her first couple of days at the nanny's. Which went great! In France, you have daycares starting from 10 weeks if you wish and if you can't get a place in daycare (this happens a lot), you find families near you to share a nanny so that it's affordable. I wrote in my video description about breastfeeding because i didn't have time to touch on it in the video. Less women breastfeed in France than the US, but if you want to breastfeed, then normally you drop off your milk in the mornings and you pump at work. France is great for covering the cost of the pump through the social security system! And I hated pumping too ;)
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified It is sooo crazy how different lives are depending on what country and system you live in! I don't know anyone who gave their child in care before the age of one. Many actually wait longer. If you start parents are told to plan a period of around 4-6 weeks for the child to adjust to the new place and people. So at the beginning the parent goes to the daycare (or to whoever looks after the child) with the child and the child just gets to know the place and the people. Then depending on how well the child feels and plays the parent will slowly start leaving the room for just like 15 minutes or something at the beginning. That time gets longer and longer until the parent finally leaves. So our "Eingewöhnung" (that's what that transition time is called) is longer than parental leave in some countries.
I am an OB/Gyn in the USA (Midwest!!) and the due date (EDC) we use is still very much 40 weeks, it’s just after the ARRIVE trial many OBs push harder for delivery at 39 weeks. I have mixed feelings and have not adopted this practice in low risk women, but the EDC has not changed. I sometimes get medical charts from other countries. Most first world countries follow many of the same standards for care based on big things such as when a due date is.
Thanks for your videos! I'm an american married to a frenchman, living in rural burgundy and currently pregnant with our first!! I was wondering if you had done any steps to declare your daughter's birth to the US consulate or what your experience has been with this. I'm having a hard time seeing from the website if it's really necessary or if the child can choose later on to apply for american citizenship. For now it seems unnecessary but I would hate to miss an administrative step that could make things more complicated later on. Do you have any tips or experience?
According to what I know, when the child is born, you have to register his birth at the townhall and the child will be considered as french until his majority of 18 years old. But after his majority, if he wants to stay french, he has to do a special request at the prefecture. If he does it, he becomes definitely french. If he doesn't, he doesn't have his french citizenship anymore. This means he can stay in France but can't vote, can't run for election, can't work in the administrations for example, so he has all interest to ask for this french citizenship. He also becomes a member of the European union, so he still doesn't need a visa to travel to other european countries.
Do you have any experience with genetic tests before the pregnancy? What is common in the US vs France? Do you need to privately pay? Do they have more or Lee's tests ?
So the only thing i really understood from my American friends vs my experience in France, was that in France you have genetic testing done early on (if you wish!) to understand the chance your child has of trisomy 21. This is covered by health insurance. Then based on those results, IF you are high risk, a more invasive procedure is covered, if you want it, to determine more in detail the risks. Any other genetic testing seems to be covered at your own cost in France and wasnt even proposed by my doctor. In the US, everything seems to be "covered at your own cost" via health insurances etc... and they do seem to usually advise to take the trisomy 21 in the US, but also a lot of other genetic testing around 20 weeks that I didn't necessarily hear of in France. It seems a bit more hardcore in the US, but thats really my personal experience. What have you experienced?
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified I live in Switzerland and equirenig.. dint really have a clue, I think though it's less common here and doctors dont courage you so much ..
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified the genetic tests depend on your age and your level of risk. The 12 week one for trisomy is for most though. If you are over 40, an amniocentesis is strongly recommended and covered 100%. It is also practiced if your baby is diagnosed with something else like a malformation to eliminate any chances of crossed abnormalities. Obviously that is covered 100% as well no matter how old you are.
Thanks for your video, asking for a friend, is an tourist allowed to give birth in France and do they have English translators in the hospital for someone who didn’t understand French?
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified I'm from Romania. I don't know much about maternity leave here, but I know that all of my friends who became pregnant, they stayed home to take care of the baby, they didn't go back to work. To some degree it's common to have women spend about a year at home with the child only, even if payed maternity leave doesn't last that long. But this is my personal experience with tha people that I've encountered in my country. Is it like that in France, do women really go back to work so soon? and if so, why (in your opinion)?
Denisa Diana you can take a parent leave after your maternity (or paternity) leave but the amount of money is really ridiculous. But I’m not sure that more women would stay at home even if it wouldn’t be the case juste because for French women (on my mind) they’re not only mothers. They have a life of their own, with a job, responsibilities, some opportunities they could miss... And as a feminist, I don’t want to stay at home with my kid for too long after giving birth if people doesn’t have the same expectation for the father. If I am a mom, my partner would be a dad too, with the same responsibilities to our family. And another thing is that in France, we have a great system for children, with childcare center, childminder... and it’s very cheap PS: 4 months after birth, 16 weeks in all (at 100% of her salary), is maybe short in your mind, but it’s pretty correct actually.
Denisa Diana I would say that most of time when it’s possible, you do a mix. A few morning or afternoon in a childcare center (which can be in your company), some others with the grandparents and for the rest it’s you or your partner. So at the begging you could go back to your job but you do not have a full schedule, you can reduce it a little or a lot. You and your partner have just to find your balance between your jobs and your family. And I’m really not chocked by a 4 month-old child, it’s normal here. A decade ago we even had the Minister of justice who took something like 4 days of maternity leave and that’s it. But it was another time. That’s why I love Jacinda Ardern so much, because she is a Prime Minister and a mom in the same time
Cars are much more expensive in France than in the us. And it's much more difficult to get a job. But once you've got a job it's more difficult to get fired...
I understand the feud with you husband. You wanted to give birth at the american Hospital in Paris but it's one of the most expensive clinics and you finance the french welfare state throu taxes. Your husband must have been like like "we PAID for it !"
Oh you hit the nail right on the head. "Are you kidding me?! WE ALREADY PAID FOR THIS!!!" ahhaha And btw, i did not give birth at the american hospital and it went perfectly :)
Americans love to do the "it's free" thing after paying their monthly $400 premium, co-pays, on top of their Medicare taxes for coverage which only starts after their $2000 deductible is reached.
Hi, I am a french girl, I have watched many of your videos.. Did you really go to France? I guess we don’t have the same reality.. Sorry to say that but you are full of cliché and constantly comparing France with US which is a bit annoying.. I like travelling to US but I would never live there, you know why? Do you know about a health care system? Do you think it’s normal that the government doesn’t provide those kind of things? Please don’t make a generality.. You maybe saw a woman smoking while being pregnant but I can say the same in US, would I say that the pregnancy is more respected in France? No! Please know that in France, when you adopt a child, it’s not possible to abandon him to an other family ( what happens frequently in US ). Plus, we don’t have children in jail, we don’t have death penalty.. Please stay focus on human rights and then you can compare which country is the best.
I agree with you. I've heard many people in US about being pregnant and delivery in a hospital. It isn't that great there. Like in NYC or LA. The system is almost cruel to those moms. I've heard that there is no paid leave for moms! If you don't go back to work with a few days you would be most likely fired.
Hi guys! Hope you enjoy the video! I'm super interested in hearing all of your experiences about having babies abroad, or babies in France, or even just what it's like having kids in your country! xx
La toxoplasmose n'est pas due à une bactérie, mais à un parasite, Toxoplasma gondii.
Et le fromage, c'est pour éviter la listériose (Listeria Monocytogenes).
thanks for the info! I understood it was all kind bundled together in the same boat.
In Bulgaria we have 2 years paid maternity leave. You come back to work when your child is 2 years old and they can not fire you from work until your child is 3 years old.
That's amazing
WoW!
Same in Romania ✌️
(And you can split the 2 years between the 2 parents, but unsurprisingly, men don't jump at the opportunity to care for the children they themselves decided to have)
Anyway, looks like parental leave is one of the few things where we've got most of the world schooled
The big point about past due date is not about the mother, it is about the placenta aging. Past french due date, the placenta may degenerate quite quickly and so this is why in France, the mother is asked to come every 2 days and then every day to check the placenta and if things may go wrong, the birth is induced.
Oulala en France je n'ai jamais vu une femme enceinte boire un verre d'alcool , généralement quand on est entre amis on propose pour taquiner gentiment mais on sait très bien qu'elle répondra non car c'est inconcevable dans la culture française !
Tout le monde sait que boire ou fumer pendant la grossesse peut avoir de très graves conséquences pour le foetus. Il y a même des pictogrammes sur toutes les bouteilles d'alcool pour dire NON aux femmes enceintes
Oui j'ai remarqué exactement le même chose pour l'alcool mais un peu moins pour les cigarettes en revanche. Cest connu que c'est pas bien de fumer bien sûr, mais j'ai vu plus de femmes avec des cigarettes que des verres.
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified Je pense que c'est aussi parce qu'il y a plus de personnes qui boivent de manière occasionnelle (et qui peuvent donc s'en passer pendant 9 mois), que de personnes qui fument occasionnellement, sans être un minimum dépendant
moi j'ai vu une femme qui était super enceinte en traîn de fumer une cigarette en dehors d'un bar...
Ce n'est pas recommandé d'arrêter de fumer alors qu'on en a l'habitude si on apprend qu'on est enceinte. Ralentir oui, mais pas arrêter cash (sans doute à cause d'hormones ou autres que le corps produit en cas de manque ?). Du moins c'est ce qu'on me racontait à chaque fois que je l'ai été (même si je n'ai jamais fumé, c'était du préventif).
Je n'ai jamais vu une femme responsable boire de l'alcool en étant enceinte (même si je doute qu'un verre de vin en neuf mois ait une quelconque conséquence).
@@YzoGahb Ca c'est bien de la pseudo science de médecins Français. J'aimerais bien voir les études scientifiques qui ont montré ça! C'est comme dire qu'il n'est pas recommander d'arrêter le crack quand on est enceinte. Lol
An American mother here, living in France, currently 34 weeks pregnant again. I have never been pregnant in US but I have compared a few things with my cousins and other family members. Of course, the 40 week due date and the 41 due date is a huge thing when I got to the 40th week. I begged for an induction at 41 weeks because I just couldn't take it anymore but it's not uncommon to get to 42 weeks in the US.
I also noticed that in the US, they ask you to count baby's kicks in the third trimester but they only ask at the monthly appointment if your baby is moving around. It is a bit weird that France doesn't ask something that the US does.
A HUGE difference is the after hospital care. We had a woman come to our house twice (or thrice?) to check baby's weight gain, my healing, and breastfeeding. It helped so much with the anxiety of being a new mom.
Also, after the 6th month, all is free! I had a doctor's appointment for a slight cold and there was nothing to pay at all. It was not related to my pregnancy but since I was 7 months pregnant, she didn't ask for anything other than my carte vitale.
Also, swaddling is a big difference. My husband looked at me funny and REFUSED all swaddling when he was around although I did it when he wasn't in the room because my baby liked it. In the US, baby's are swaddled from day one and the nurses will teach you how to do it! I was trained to swaddle a baby at a young age (baby brother was born when I was 17 so I helped out a bunch) and was shocked with my husband's response.
Swaddling has absolutely been a difference for me too! They swaddled at the maternity for the first couple days but it was more to keep the baby warm, then help them with startle reflex and help them sleep better. My French mother in law understands the benefits of swaddling but at the same time doesn't really understand how to do it because its not as popular here! And completely agree about those free doctors appointment after the 6th month. Amazingggggggg
And good luck with the second!! hope you have a smooth rest of pregnancy!
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified I ended up using the swaddles with velcro, and this seemed to go over easier since there wasn't a risk of it coming undone in the middle of the night. I bought more on my last trip to the US 😁. No one understood me except for my sister in law who lives in Switzerland. They do swaddling there so she was my only source of feeling normal.
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified I really hope so too! My husband is freaking out a bit with the current events going around though.
US birth in a hospital with anesthesia is $21000 for vag and $30000 for csection. Insurance pays all but 10 or 20% depending on your policy.
The problem with maternity leave in the US is that people as a rule generally think private generosity and private charity is always better than government rules. The main reason a woman would get maternity leave is because the private employer has a spasm of generosity and decides to be kind and generous to you on a whim. The other main reason would be it's part of the labor union benefits that have been hammered out in strenuous labor--management negotiations. A person is more likely to get good maternity benefits if they work for the federal or state government because government employees usually have generous benefits as part of their employment contracts.
Hey there... Was pregnant twice, in France. I was literally bullied by my gynecologist because I gained above 25 kilos. Both times. And it really didn't matter that I felt like I was starving, all the time. I'm rather thin otherwise and just so you know, I've lost everything I've gained, each time, a few months later and not doing much for it. Boy I hated those 18 months. I wanted 3 kids but my pregnancies did it for me. Not a drop of alcohol either, by the way - but that I didn't miss so much...
I've heard from other pregnant women the same story of getting bullied for their weight gain. It's a really tough and sensitive topic in France... i wish the bedside manner in general was a little bit better in this case!
It's not about your weight per se, but gestational diabetes which can impact the size and health of your baby. I know what I'm talking about, I had it twice and had to have an emergency c section for my son. And yes it was free. In retrospect I wish I had been more careful with my food intake while pregnant.
Coucou, I had 2 good pregnancies in the US and both my kids were born in L.A. Thank goodness my insurance covered everything because it's SO expensive here! I had a c-section both time and stayed in the hospital 4 nights. The fist time it cost $35000 and the second $45000 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I really love your videos, merci.
👀 what!!!!!!
If I'm not mistaken, the difference in the duration of the pregnancy is actually caused by the fact that in certain countries, doctors count the start of the pregnancy from the date of the last period (called weeks of amenorrhea, in France "semaines d'aménorrhée" or "SA"), whereas in other countries, they count from the estimated week of ovulation (so conception), which would be two weeks after the last period, making the duration of the pregnancy two weeks shorter.
Between the US and the French due date is only one week difference. My doctor told it me that they prefer it to help expecting mothers cope with the stress of going over their due dates, but maybe it's not the only reason!
Great info! Two of our older kids were both born in France : ages(9, and 10) I'm currently now 18 weeks pregnant with our 7th pregnancy! Our 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th were all born here in the U.S. with our last 3 were a Homebirth with a midwife. I LOVE Homebirthing and it's my definite top preference. I think hospitals both in the US and France use too many fear tactics on mothers and don't allow the body to naturally do what it needs to do, including forcing the baby or babies out before their ready by inducing with picton, etc. I find more mothers here in the US going back to nature and doing more homebirths. I don't know if home births are allowed in France I keep hearing differing opinions about it. However I do know friends of ours who are a French couple in Provence who did an unassisted birth with their youngest child in the woods! As far as I know they did not get in trouble. So maybe unassisted birth is something to think about!
7 kids, you are a champion!!!!!! and how fun to have a mix of the US birthing experience and the French one. I feel like home births in France are a big no no. I have never heard of anyone doing it, or any type of info or support from doctors or nurses about how I could do that in France... Good luck with this pregnancy!
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified Hello, I'm french and a father of now a teenager and her mother and I have decided that she will give birth at home. After the whole night with a midwife who was used to help women to do so we finally after taking bath etc. we ended to the hospital nearby (Grenoble) where finally she gave birth but the more naturally as possible (without epidural) and it was fine. She breast feed our baby until the age of three ! There are more and more people who wish to give birth at home in France.
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified By the way I really like your videos and it improves my english
Maternity leave in Canada is 12-18 months depending which amount of time you want to take. You can also split part of this time with your spouse if they want to take some paternity leave also.
I love the idea of splitting with your spouse if you want. It puts men and women on more equal grounds at work when they are welcoming a new child and they both get to spend quality time with the baby!
Love the fact you chose a french name (or historically french). It shows your dedication, your respect and your will of assimilation. Upvote deserved.
We wanted something French for her first name and american for her middle name. A little Eleonore Harper :)
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified it is a beautiful name.
Small-minded and racist comment. As if giving a kid a French name made him more French. What if the parents wanted to celebrate the kid's American roots with an American name? You would have felt disrespected!? They don't owe you anything.
@@thewirah1 Perhaps you need to make the difference between ethnicity and culture.
@@OptLab It's irrelevant. The kid is ethnically French and will be culturally French if the father is French and she is raised in France.
Hahaha I'm french but was pregnant and gave birth in Chile and I loved it ! I gained 25 kilos (hello water retention xD) and was happy not to have been pregnant in France because of that. I know most ob's are harsh on pregnant women regarding their weight... also, I got a 6weeks prior to giving birth and 6 months after, of maternity leave and that was THE BEST in my opinion.
My Chilean doctor scolded me because I am one kilo away from expected 😅 I’m not mad, I think it is healthy not to gain so much weight. I am waiting for my 6 months leave, 😃
Thank you for the insights! I’m actually re-reading Bringing up Bebe and was a bit surprised to hear that there’re more regulations about unpasteurized food. I just assumed that French women stress out about things like that a little less comparing to US where women are obsessed with the food they cannot eat.
Regarding hospitals, I have exposure to two cultures: Canada where I live for 11 years and had my first daughter 1.5 years ago and Russia where I’m from, though didn’t have a baby there, I know more or less about the processes. Canada is similar to US, we only spent 1 day in the hospital after the baby was born, though we didn’t have to pay anything. In Russia people stay about a week, and 2 weeks if there were a c-section. But one thing that really surprises me is actually not when women get discharged from the hospital but when they get accepted. It’s shocking to me that even if I’m in contractions I still might be sent home if my labour didn’t progress far enough. Back home I’ll likely already be in a hospital a couple of days before the due date just in case and then whatever it takes until my labour begins.
My first baby was born in a birth center at 7pm and we returned home 6 hours later. It was a bit harrowing so with my 2nd kid, we still had a midwife but went to a hospital. I could only stay about 24 hours with our insurance. The hospital staff didn't notice a significant birth injury that I had complained about repeatedly but was assured it was nothing. It was finally diagnosed at 8 weeks postpartum. Even with the less than ideal scenarios of these births, I've found over the 25 years since then that most women who share their birth stories have had much worse side effects from medications and birth procedures and they don't even know that they have choices.
From the first minutes after birth, a blood sample is taken from the baby, but there is also a control of the "automatic walking". Yes, the baby of a few hours walks ! He/she is however helped to stand. In Vendée there is a common anomaly in the hips of newborn baby girls, so it is systematically checked from the first hours after birth. Usually french moms are informed about the "baby blues" and about the postpartum depression. In the 80's, in Germany, the pregnant women were receiving food supplements and the episiotomy was almost systematic, it means, even if it wasn't needed ... oupssss ...
Are there special things like these in USA after birth ?
Good question! I'm not sure about the automatic walking because no one even told me about that in France when she was born! THanks for the info!
In my experience in the US, you had to stay in the hospital at least 48 hours after birth because they do a blood test on the baby at that point. May be different in different states. My OB at the time told me I could leave sooner if I wanted to opt out of that test.
Hey!
I live in Spain (I'm French) and I just had a baby.
In both countries, the time limit to give birth is 42 weeks. You should not be induced before unless there is a medical issue that justifies it. Unfortunately induction seems to be too frequent but is risky and painful... from what I read it is riskier than waiting so we shouldn't accept it without questioning it^^ 3 days before my due date my gynecologist was like "if you still haven't given birth next time we meet we'll consider induction" (my next appointment was scheduled 3 days after my due date). I told him straight up that I wanted to wait. It made me feel so mad and pressured to give birth. I felt guilty my body wasn't able to give birth in time which is ridiculous because the due date is approximate... I got into labour without being induced at 41 + 1.
The testing is done only once a trimester. As for toxoplasmosis, we get tested only during the first trimester to find out if we are immunized or not. Not knowing for the rest of the pregnancy was stressful...
During appointments, you get ultrasound. Then they pretty much just ask you how you are feeling and check your blood pressure. No "toucher vaginal" at all...
Regarding alcohol, some Spanish women went like: "oh no, I didn't drink during pregnancy. Half glass is fine". I was shocked. To me, pregnancy equals zero alcohol...
Pregnancy is free in Spain.
I noticed it is very common for people to say the name of the baby before the baby is born. Is it common in the US? Some people will even ask you (like coworkers). I went to a group session about the epidural and they told us to introduce ourselves, to say the name of the baby,... the only one who didn't want to say it was a German woman!
Maternity leave is 16 weeks. Paternity leave is 12 weeks but it will be increased to 16 weeks at the beginning of 2021!!!
We only stay at the hospital 48h (vaginal delivery) or 72h (c section).
Are you gonna do a video about giving birth in France?
Xxx
Going back to the office on monday? humm... I guess you can wait some more time now! XD
True! More like working from home monday!!
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified Lucky you! I still have to go to work on monday, I am one of the few "requested" by my company to maintain a minimal service during this off-time... :/
Oh wow, keep up with the hand washing! 🦠
I'm wondering if things are different in different parts of France... I have had two children here and my husband and I were taught how to swaddle in the maternity ward, I was very much encouraged and supported in doing it both times....also they totally respected the fact that I wanted a totally natural birth, they never pushed for me to have one and never even had anything "ready just in case".
As for alcohol, no one I know would've have even thought of having a drink during pregnancy and my doctor was clear that it was a definite "no no"...also breastfeeding was also something that I was encouraged to do and supported in doing. There was even a special number to call to get though to breastfeeding "helpers" at the maternity ward if I had any issues after getting home.
Super interesting! I'm sure each experience is slightly different. I'm less surprised about the breastfeeding because i think that can be hit or miss depending on where you give birth, but the support in a natural birth surprises me, even if i'm happy to hear it! I don't know one person who purposely gave birth naturally in France and i even watched a birth documentary where the nurses were teasing the women who "thought they were going to make it through labor naturally." It seemed like a bit of a joke to everyone.
Great video once again. Hope you enjoyed your birthday Kate :) Eléanore is the cutest baby hehe. Stay healthy! :D
Thanks!! I had a great birthday! Still celebrating today hahah. got to keep it going as long as possible! Stay safe to you too!
Since France has a great healthcare system, I just assumed that the maternity leave would be better than it is here in Canada, which is one-year paid leave. It's been a while, but I remember the government paying a certain amount in UI benefits and then the company topping that off to bring it up to almost my entire salary (can't remember if it was 85% or 95%, but it's somewhat less expensive staying at home and not paying for public transit or gas, for instance). For the last 6 weeks or so of my leave, my vacation pay kicked in and I got 100% of my salary. We also have 5 weeks paternity leave at 70% salary, which doesn't have to be taken right away or all at once, as long as it's taken within a year of birth. Here in Quebec, if your job is deemed dangerous for pregnant women, you go on leave immediately, so if you're a social worker for instance and you work with people who could potentially harm you (young offenders or mentally ill) you could be off work with pay very early in your pregnancy. Same if you work on your feet all the time. Then there is the extremely cheap daycare (only in Quebec). It was $5 a day (lunch included) when my first child was born and I think it was $7 for my second. Not sure what it is now.
Wow, thats so impressive. France has a great healthcare system, but still really behind other countries when it comes to maternity leave. That's really evident when you talk about the leave in Canada!
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified True, but at least they have many other priorities in the right place, compared to the U.S., where going back to work after three weeks is not unusual. It seems like companies and the government over there treat having a baby more like an inconvenient temporary illness, like the (common) flu. Starting those little humans off right, with healthy attachments, makes for a better society for generations to come, but in the U.S. there is less of a notion that we're all in this together and that your life is improved by improving the lives of others.
I hated staying in the hospital because they wake you up every hour or so to check on you & if they have the baby in the nurses station, they have to wake you every 30 minutes for feeding. They could have tried to do things at the same time, but I’m not sure that’s the priority of a very busy nurse
I enjoyed your pregnancy videos, and found them informative. Can you please do a Birth Story Video, possibly with any recommendations from a woman who’s given birth in France. I would really appreciate it!
My experience in the US was heaps more enjoyable and affordable than in France. Even with the French National Healthcare. In the US I was on medicaid & then bluecross blue sheild (after the pregnancy )in Colorado and it covered all of my expenses before, during, and after pregnancy. The care given was amazing and for pre & post natal care I was even at a clinic focused for low-income and second-language people. The hospital was wonderful and the nurses and doctors were so attentive.
The food was one thing that the US does a million times better than the French public hospitals. The morning of my delivery in France after I had been in labor and delivered from 1am-7am they only gave me a large cup of coffee & milk along with a small baguette with butter. I didn't get anything else until lunch. I was famished!! The attention was also minimal, little help or care with the fact that my French was minimal except for during delivery. I ended up leaving the French hospital after two days since it was my second child because I didn't feel like they were doing anything to help or make me feel comfortable.
It was a huge bummer because everything I heard about French pregnancy and deliveries said it was so much better but I think they were just talking about cost. Though, I paid more out of pocket for prenatal and post natal care than I did in the US. In the US I felt like a queen during and after childbirth, in France I just felt like there was no special care or help. I wish I had known this so I could set myself up for greater success in the hospital instead of being so letdown.
I agree with the weight focus. It is actually more in Paris than other regions and more dependant on doctor age as the standards have changed through time. Regarding private hospitals, few of them have new born intensive care or reanimation therefore if your child needs new born care he/she is move to public hospitals with specialized new born services but the mum has to finish her stay in the private one resulting in not being with your child during this very difficult period. The 16 weeks paid leave with guarantee to retrieve similar job and position is for employee. Indépendant workers (doctors, shop owners, lawyers etc) are not covered. Leaves are covered by private insurance and not all recognize pregnancy as a risk therefore you need to subscribe specific additional contract to ensure you are covered fore leave before childbirth and after.
Great info about people who arent covered by maternity leave!I wasn't aware about all those exceptions!
And the weight focus was really really hard for me. It got to the point where going in for my monthly appt made me so anxious I couldn't sleep and didn't want to go just because of the weigh in. It's really important to stay healthy during pregnancy for your baby and I get that, but I gained a kilo more than the recommend weight gain in France and felt like it was treated like an absolute failure 😔
Actually when you are self employed you do get paid maternity for 16 weeks like employees do. However, the amount of money you get is capped and is not proportional to your income so you need to anticipate the revenue loss during your maternity leave.
@@aldonastraczek it depends on your status and social security regimen. Your entitled to it usually with the cap 500 euros a month and you need to pay for a replacement or close your shop and have your employees unemployed
@@tibal3710 all social security regimens have been merged. I have no idea where you got that 500€ capping from, but you have all the numbers in the booklet secu sends you after your doctor has declared your pregnancy. You also have all the numbers on Ameli.
Overall, unless you made under 3k€ per year on your independent status you get around 9k€ in total for the 16 weeks + up to 30 days your doctor can add before if you are going through a complicated pregnancy (that's if you are expecting 1 child and have no other kids, i must admit i did not look at the numbers for multiples).
The allowance was aligned by Macron as it used to be 40 days prior to that.
I'm a freelancer auto-entrepreneur so obviously I do not have to worry about replacement or anything of that sort.
I live in Estonia, which has the world's longest maternity leave :-) It is 18 months, paid. Father's receive 2 months after birth, plus 10 days before birth. So the father's are outdone by our neighbour Sweden. But it is still nice for the mom's. We also have leave for adopted children.
Wow, that's amazing... very lucky in Estonia!
Where I work in the USA we only get 90 days maternity leave.
How do people in the US pay 5000 to 11000 Dollars? So having a baby is really this expensive?
Some people have insurance and honestly, the other people, i have no idea what they do....
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified Starting their family life with having debts maybe? Or they give birth at home? Is that a thing in the US?
GirlWithoutPearlearring In the US if you don’t have insurance they come around at the hospital with forms so you can apply for the government provided insurance. Have to quality based on income. With that you have a very low or no copay for the whole hospital stay and delivery and everything. With my son, we saw the total that we would have paid if we didn’t have this insurance: $27,000! (This does not include your prenatal care.) And that was in 2008. But other than this you would probably have insurance and your copay would be whatever that policy requires.
This is absolute misconception ! No one in US pays 5-11,000 for baby! Unless you are a foreigner and intentionally flew in to US to deliver your baby in the hospital to get citizenship. Everyone has insurance in US, through work or gov’t. My sister works in the best hospital in NY and paid only $200 for staying 3 days deductible as per policy! In Paris, m’y coworkers who delivered in private hospitals, their bills were 10,000 and they French citizens and they used 2 insurances to cover cost and at the end they paid 5,000 yes to deliver in private hospital in Paris. This radicules misconception is crazy.
@@xxdeanochkaxx I was curious to see if it has improved much in the 10+ years since I was on my various mom boards after my son was born-I just remember the US moms complaining about the bills they received afterwards and I was appalled at the amounts! I looked at a recent article (Dec. 2019) in The Business Insider that broke down the average cost by state with insurance and without (and for vaginal births vs c-sections). The costs ranged a fair bit from state to state, but WITH insurance the average vaginal birth cost between $5000-8000 (without insurance they’d be paying 10-12k). I think Alaska was the highest at $11,000 with insurance(!) but it was the only anomaly.
So definitely better than I remembered it being-and a manageable debt I suppose-but I still don’t think you should have to start off your child’s life with any kind of debt at all. Kids are expensive enough as it is, lol!
Toxoplasmosis by the way is a parasite and you usually get it from cats since it‘s usual life cycle depends on small mammals and carnivores such as cats which would then eat the small mammals :)
Actually, toxoplasmosis is the desease coming along with toxoplasma which is the parasite. Just like SRAS is the one coming with COVID-19 virus.
As long as you are already immune to toxoplasmosis, you don't care about what you eat. The big difference, is that around 54% of people are immune in france by the time they get pregnant, while in the US this is below 20% IIRC.
Getting toxoplasma during pregnancy is very dangerous, hence the systemic verification in France (good chance to get it, and half is not immune), and the complete madness of finding antibody during pregnancy in US (though it could mean immunity caused by an old infection).
@@NicolasRomantzoff , yeah, sorry, meant that, got confused with the words (not familiar writing in English).
Where I am from Every pregnant woman is tested immediately. We assume that the amount of people with toxoplasma gondii here is 1% per year of age
Where is your headband from? It’s looks cute!
Thanks! I forget, but I want to say it's from Mango or H&M. Cheap one that i bought years ago but LOVE!
Great informative video!!
I had my baby at 3am and was discharged from the hospital by 5pm the same day. I had tearing and there was miconium when she was born and they still only kept us in for just over 12 hours. This was in the UK
Hi there, just came across your page and this video. It's great! Would you be able to talk more about the prevalence of natural births/home births/doulas and midwives in France that are quite popular in certain circles in the US? What options are available in France if you want to give birth at home (or the equivalent of a birth center)?
Unintentionally frenchified, awesome video! One question though: would you say that the public hospitals in France are clean and well equipped as the hospitals in the U.S?
Mat. Leave in Canada is either 12 or 18 months,depending on your employer.Either parent can take it or split it how they want. Still not enough...we should all follow the Scandanavian model.
Yea the Scandinavian model is impressive, but Canada sounds pretty great too!
In a French maternity ward, nobody will ask you whether you want your newborn son circumcised.
That's really interesting that you found a due date difference between France and the US! I gave birth in the Midwest (October 2019) and am pregnant with my second, and both times my due date was dated for 40 weeks. I'm really curious where your friends are that have doctors who give them due dates of 39 weeks...
i'm brazillian and for what you said, here looks like in France
In Austria the new mother gets up to 24 months of PAYED maternity leave. Where do babies go at 4 months when the mother is going to work? How are they feeded?
Wow! They go to the nanny or daycare starting from 10 weeks. Mothers drop off formula or breast milk to be fed....
I haven't given birth nor am I pregnant, but I've studied about it a lot in on how it's done in my country (US), had friends and family tell me their experiences here in the US. I also haven't gotten past 1 minute in your video and I'm fairly confident that France does it better as I think many countries especially in Europe do things better, especially in the crucial yet basic things like healthcare. Now on with your video....
*after watching whole video* Hm, pretty much 50/50 and it's a little surprising but it still sounds like France is better than France as far as the care plus the difference in maternity leave. I can't say I knew anything about pregnancy & giving birth in France in general, but I pretty much expected it to be better than the US because of the higher quality health care that seems cheaper in France. The only things I found surprising is the wine consumption and the different weight gain standard. Still not all was as I would've guessed. This was enlightening. Thank you for this. Liked & subbed. Warm regards.
Really interesting video! I'm an American in France (27) and who knows, maybe I'll have a child here some day. Stay safe :) PS- What do you use on your hair? France has suuuuch hard water and your hair looks perfect. I'm really curious!
Ohh man, the water in Paris is SO HARD! I hate it. I honestly got a water filter for a shower off of amazon and i'm testing a new Kerastase shampoo right now. It's a shame because i'm a fan of 2 dollar shampoos normally but they kill my hair here. I also cut my hair shorter than i used to wear it in the US to help have less to manage. Good luck, i know its a real pain!!
Hard water in some places, not everywhere !
@@AlainNaigeon I've lived in 4 regions and 4 cities in France and I've experienced it in each one. That's a decent size. :)
@@meganl3859 Have a look at this card : www.eau-direct.fr/qualite/durete.html
You forgot "Perineal Reeducation" :-)
Am loving watching these videos even though I have no plans to live in France, although id love to of course, and live in London.
My brother was living in France when my sister in law was pregnant and gave birth to my niece (their second child) there. She is from Spain.. She howled with laughter over the weight thing and apparently they were disgusted at her love of cafe con leche throughout the day accompanied with 1 spoon of sugar a time. She took ab no notice..
Hospital stay... in the uk after your first child you are kicked out 4 hours after birth if there are no complications .....
I am pretty shocked that women in the usa drink in pregnancy ...id say today in uk you'd really be considered pretty shitty for drinking at all in pregnancy.. although that has massively changed over the past 20 years
nope, you're not going back to the office on monday ;-)
I'll still be working again from monday so still a bit of a transition!!
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified they haven't implemented coronavirus-related telework ?
@@AmauryJacquot Yes of course! But i will still be working even if its from home, so still a bit of a transition!
I was thinking the same thing after seeing the date of the video... lol
Can a foreigner like me filipina gave birth in france?
Bienvenue come here
Congratulations.
Thanks!
The healthcare isnt free in France. Your company purchase a private health insuranceto pay part of your social security expenses. For example: if you go to the hospital for a week, your private insurance company will pay for the amount requested by the hospital for your time there. If you want to visit the doctor, the same thing applies: the cost of the consultation for a public doctor is 25 euros, the social security system covers a small amount and the rest is paid by your private healh insurance.
I am interested in German formula Hipp ha, I wonder what Formula French like for their enfant.
lactose intolerance is an issue for me. Thank you. I like your videos.
In Switzerland we have the right to 3 months mother break, when I had my first pregnancy I wished I lived in Norway and have up to 2 years mother break. France still better than us
Are you paid even if you didn't work for very long?
It seems like the more north you move in europe, the better maternity leave! Like Johann Jo asked, is it paid leave?
@@Laurent69ftm yes i guess 100 % but Switzerland still nummber 2 in the world behind Norway
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified yes 2 years 100 % before was 3 years iguess .Not always the north Switzerland is more south. Sweden used be before a good country but not anymore. Switzerland and Norway always fight about place nummber 1 the best country in the world lol crazy
@@suzannecollie7632 My question is rather, if you are a foreigner and only worked for 2 months in Switzerland, you don't get a paid maternity leave? How much time do you need to work?
I feel sooo lucky - Germany has got a much longer parental leave. And pregnant drinking is socialöy not accepted... because: science!?
I've heard about how great parental leave is in Germany and also how you can split it between dad and mom?!
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified yes, they specifically want to encourage both parents to take parental leave. So you get around 67% of what you've earned the year before the birth of the baby for 12 months (not more than 1800€/month not less than 300€/month even if you haven't worked before, if you're a student...). You get 2 extra months of "Elterngeld" (= parent money) if the other parent takes at least two months parental leave. But you can split it however you want: 12:2, 7:7, 10:4... you can also choose to stay home for longer and spread out the payments over a longer time. So if you stay home for 2 years you don't get 67% but only half the money for twice as long.
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified I really feel for all the women out there having to leave early for work. I think I would have cried all day long. I went back after a year and that felt early for me. Where do you leave your babies in France!? And what about breastfeeding!? Do you stop early? Do you pump ? (I hated pumping)
@@jrgilmore935 I think that because I come from a country with such little leave, i felt like 4 months paid leave was huge! So i haven't gotten too emotional about going back to work, just anxious about her first couple of days at the nanny's. Which went great! In France, you have daycares starting from 10 weeks if you wish and if you can't get a place in daycare (this happens a lot), you find families near you to share a nanny so that it's affordable. I wrote in my video description about breastfeeding because i didn't have time to touch on it in the video. Less women breastfeed in France than the US, but if you want to breastfeed, then normally you drop off your milk in the mornings and you pump at work. France is great for covering the cost of the pump through the social security system! And I hated pumping too ;)
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified It is sooo crazy how different lives are depending on what country and system you live in! I don't know anyone who gave their child in care before the age of one. Many actually wait longer. If you start parents are told to plan a period of around 4-6 weeks for the child to adjust to the new place and people. So at the beginning the parent goes to the daycare (or to whoever looks after the child) with the child and the child just gets to know the place and the people. Then depending on how well the child feels and plays the parent will slowly start leaving the room for just like 15 minutes or something at the beginning. That time gets longer and longer until the parent finally leaves.
So our "Eingewöhnung" (that's what that transition time is called) is longer than parental leave in some countries.
I am an OB/Gyn in the USA (Midwest!!) and the due date (EDC) we use is still very much 40 weeks, it’s just after the ARRIVE trial many OBs push harder for delivery at 39 weeks. I have mixed feelings and have not adopted this practice in low risk women, but the EDC has not changed. I sometimes get medical charts from other countries. Most first world countries follow many of the same standards for care based on big things such as when a due date is.
Thanks for the insights and yea midwest!!!
Where did u give birth in france
How do u get a pre pregnancy check up in france
What r the best hospitals to give birth in france
Thanks for your videos! I'm an american married to a frenchman, living in rural burgundy and currently pregnant with our first!! I was wondering if you had done any steps to declare your daughter's birth to the US consulate or what your experience has been with this. I'm having a hard time seeing from the website if it's really necessary or if the child can choose later on to apply for american citizenship. For now it seems unnecessary but I would hate to miss an administrative step that could make things more complicated later on. Do you have any tips or experience?
According to what I know, when the child is born, you have to register his birth at the townhall and the child will be considered as french until his majority of 18 years old. But after his majority, if he wants to stay french, he has to do a special request at the prefecture. If he does it, he becomes definitely french. If he doesn't, he doesn't have his french citizenship anymore. This means he can stay in France but can't vote, can't run for election, can't work in the administrations for example, so he has all interest to ask for this french citizenship. He also becomes a member of the European union, so he still doesn't need a visa to travel to other european countries.
Au Québec de congé de maternité est de 1 an.
Environ 55% du salaire.
Do you have any experience with genetic tests before the pregnancy? What is common in the US vs France? Do you need to privately pay? Do they have more or Lee's tests ?
So the only thing i really understood from my American friends vs my experience in France, was that in France you have genetic testing done early on (if you wish!) to understand the chance your child has of trisomy 21. This is covered by health insurance. Then based on those results, IF you are high risk, a more invasive procedure is covered, if you want it, to determine more in detail the risks. Any other genetic testing seems to be covered at your own cost in France and wasnt even proposed by my doctor. In the US, everything seems to be "covered at your own cost" via health insurances etc... and they do seem to usually advise to take the trisomy 21 in the US, but also a lot of other genetic testing around 20 weeks that I didn't necessarily hear of in France. It seems a bit more hardcore in the US, but thats really my personal experience. What have you experienced?
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified I live in Switzerland and equirenig.. dint really have a clue, I think though it's less common here and doctors dont courage you so much ..
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified the genetic tests depend on your age and your level of risk. The 12 week one for trisomy is for most though.
If you are over 40, an amniocentesis is strongly recommended and covered 100%. It is also practiced if your baby is diagnosed with something else like a malformation to eliminate any chances of crossed abnormalities. Obviously that is covered 100% as well no matter how old you are.
Thanks for your video, asking for a friend, is an tourist allowed to give birth in France and do they have English translators in the hospital for someone who didn’t understand French?
Obviously they have translators. You only need to tell them before hand and at least one of the personnel would speak your language
There is the American Hospital in Paris if it can help
hello there
Omg only 4 months of maternity leave
Yup! Where are you from? What's the maternity leave like?
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified I'm from Romania. I don't know much about maternity leave here, but I know that all of my friends who became pregnant, they stayed home to take care of the baby, they didn't go back to work. To some degree it's common to have women spend about a year at home with the child only, even if payed maternity leave doesn't last that long.
But this is my personal experience with tha people that I've encountered in my country.
Is it like that in France, do women really go back to work so soon? and if so, why (in your opinion)?
Denisa Diana you can take a parent leave after your maternity (or paternity) leave but the amount of money is really ridiculous. But I’m not sure that more women would stay at home even if it wouldn’t be the case juste because for French women (on my mind) they’re not only mothers. They have a life of their own, with a job, responsibilities, some opportunities they could miss... And as a feminist, I don’t want to stay at home with my kid for too long after giving birth if people doesn’t have the same expectation for the father. If I am a mom, my partner would be a dad too, with the same responsibilities to our family. And another thing is that in France, we have a great system for children, with childcare center, childminder... and it’s very cheap
PS: 4 months after birth, 16 weeks in all (at 100% of her salary), is maybe short in your mind, but it’s pretty correct actually.
Morgane L
But the baby is only 4 months old... do you put it in a child care system and pick it up after you come from work?
Denisa Diana I would say that most of time when it’s possible, you do a mix. A few morning or afternoon in a childcare center (which can be in your company), some others with the grandparents and for the rest it’s you or your partner. So at the begging you could go back to your job but you do not have a full schedule, you can reduce it a little or a lot. You and your partner have just to find your balance between your jobs and your family.
And I’m really not chocked by a 4 month-old child, it’s normal here. A decade ago we even had the Minister of justice who took something like 4 days of maternity leave and that’s it. But it was another time. That’s why I love Jacinda Ardern so much, because she is a Prime Minister and a mom in the same time
It costs how much to buy a car in France? It's how difficult to get a job in France?
Cars are much more expensive in France than in the us. And it's much more difficult to get a job. But once you've got a job it's more difficult to get fired...
@@stephanestephane4291 Are those good things or bad things?
Can't you work from home in this period of time when coronavirus is spreading everywhere? Keep social distance to avoid catching the virus.
Yes! But when I filmed the video it wasn't the case yet. Now it will be working from home on monday, but still back to work!!
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified better to work at home. Stay safe and healthy. 👍
Yeah, having a baby is also free. Can't imagine paying 10000 to have a child. and yes, we pay this through taxation.
Est ce que vous portez un serre tête ?
Oui!
I understand the feud with you husband. You wanted to give birth at the american Hospital in Paris but it's one of the most expensive clinics and you finance the french welfare state throu taxes. Your husband must have been like like "we PAID for it !"
Oh you hit the nail right on the head. "Are you kidding me?! WE ALREADY PAID FOR THIS!!!" ahhaha And btw, i did not give birth at the american hospital and it went perfectly :)
YOU are SO BEAUTIFUL !
Americans love to do the "it's free" thing after paying their monthly $400 premium, co-pays, on top of their Medicare taxes for coverage which only starts after their $2000 deductible is reached.
Hi,
I am a french girl, I have watched many of your videos.. Did you really go to France? I guess we don’t have the same reality.. Sorry to say that but you are full of cliché and constantly comparing France with US which is a bit annoying.. I like travelling to US but I would never live there, you know why? Do you know about a health care system? Do you think it’s normal that the government doesn’t provide those kind of things? Please don’t make a generality.. You maybe saw a woman smoking while being pregnant but I can say the same in US, would I say that the pregnancy is more respected in France? No! Please know that in France, when you adopt a child, it’s not possible to abandon him to an other family ( what happens frequently in US ). Plus, we don’t have children in jail, we don’t have death penalty.. Please stay focus on human rights and then you can compare which country is the best.
I agree with you. I've heard many people in US about being pregnant and delivery in a hospital. It isn't that great there. Like in NYC or LA. The system is almost cruel to those moms. I've heard that there is no paid leave for moms! If you don't go back to work with a few days you would be most likely fired.