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And these statistics are especially shocking given that it's estimated that Britain (with very low child mortality; 5/1000 live births versus 2/1000 for Finland

by vixen99 10y ago

And these statistics are especially shocking given that it's estimated that Britain (with very low child mortality; 5/1000 live births versus 2/1000 for Finland) is poorer than the poorest state in the US http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2014/08/25/britain-is-poorer-than-any-us-state-yes-even-mississippi/#2bfa49523fab http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2014/08/25/britain-i...

semi-extrinsic 10y ago
I believe the British NHS system takes really good care of pregnant women and kids. We lived 6 months in the UK when my wife was expecting our second child, and we got free checkups with the local doctor, free ultrasounds etc., no questions asked, even though we were citizens of another European country and were not paying any taxes in Britain nor were we members of UK social security. (I was being paid in our home country, which is legally OK for short term stays).
- jon-wood 10y ago
  The NHS is fantastic at dealing with pregnancy, children, and a "normal" post-pregnancy in mothers. Sadly its woefully inequipped to deal with postnatal depression, as my wife and I discovered after our son was born. My wife has a history of mental illness, which means the risk of postnatal depression was about 50/50 and everyone was meant to be aware of that. Despite that getting anything done eventually involved turning up at the emergency department and making it abundantly clear that someone was likely to die if nothing was done, we were incredibly fortunate to get one of the few hundred mother and baby unit beds in the country, and even more fortunate that it wasn't far from where my parents live meaning I could actually be involved day to day - in the same unit there were mothers whos partners had to make a 400 mile round trip to see them, because that's where the only free beds were. The care from the mother and baby unit was fantastic, I just wish the same care was accessible to everyone who needed it, rather than just the very worst cases.

by vixen99 10y ago

semi-extrinsic 10y ago

I believe the British NHS system takes really good care of pregnant women and kids. We lived 6 months in the UK when my wife was expecting our second child, and we got free checkups with the local doctor, free ultrasounds etc., no questions asked, even though we were citizens of another European country and were not paying any taxes in Britain nor were we members of UK social security. (I was being paid in our home country, which is legally OK for short term stays).

jon-wood 10y ago
The NHS is fantastic at dealing with pregnancy, children, and a "normal" post-pregnancy in mothers. Sadly its woefully inequipped to deal with postnatal depression, as my wife and I discovered after our son was born. My wife has a history of mental illness, which means the risk of postnatal depression was about 50/50 and everyone was meant to be aware of that. Despite that getting anything done eventually involved turning up at the emergency department and making it abundantly clear that someone was likely to die if nothing was done, we were incredibly fortunate to get one of the few hundred mother and baby unit beds in the country, and even more fortunate that it wasn't far from where my parents live meaning I could actually be involved day to day - in the same unit there were mothers whos partners had to make a 400 mile round trip to see them, because that's where the only free beds were. The care from the mother and baby unit was fantastic, I just wish the same care was accessible to everyone who needed it, rather than just the very worst cases.