If US hospitals all started caring for babies and mothers while keeping them together for the entire stay, the cost savings in staff and in reduction of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures to deal with the iatrogenic complications from separating mothers and babies could be used to provide real breastfeeding support.
I react as Heather did to the three months of leave, the pediatrician visit, etc.  But the description of a typical birth and postpartum stay was chilling.  Really really scary stuff - it is not the lack of evidence-based care that is so shocking, it is the pervasiveness of demonstrably harmful practices.  Why, oh why are insurance companies willing to shell out for this systematic abuse of mothers and children when they are supposedly so concerned about costs?  
I'm going to use this essay's description of the two birth experiences to show my 20 maternity aide students how good we have it here.  And I needed the reminder, because we also have plenty of room for improvement in the maternity services even with universal access to care, midwifery care as the standard and breastfeeding as the norm, and up to a year of leave at 80% pay after having a baby or adopting a child.  

Rachel Myr
Kristiansand, Norway

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