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I suffer from confirmation bias in this, but the Japanese women I know all live outside mainland Japan, and are mostly in mixed marriages with non-Japanese men
by ggm 2y ago
I suffer from confirmation bias in this, but the Japanese women I know all live outside mainland Japan, and are mostly in mixed marriages with non-Japanese men and to a woman they say childbirth in Japan, and expectations on new mothes in Japan are net-negative compared to the english-speaking west, with some small things the other way. Aspects of family mean they are more likely to have a support network in Japan, and there are quite a lot of good child friendly social experiences for them. None of them said the birth experience in Japanese Maternity Hospitals was good, or as good as in the west.
The birth rate problem in the developed economies is not just a Japanese problem, but if this biased view is true, more generally accurate, it cannot help: Why would you want to have kids, if its a shit experience?
Free daycare is sensible but I suspect they will have to start 9 months back in the flow pipe, and also do some things around labour laws for return-to-work.
- kalleboo 2y agoI live in Japan and am friends with foreign women who chose to live here, so I guess I have the opposite confirmation bias, but the people I know who gave birth here have been super happy with the help that mothers get here, getting to stay in the maternity ward for a week with 24/7 nurse support to help recover and getting breastfeeding going. Along with the government paying for the procedure making it free and a bunch of other support. I also have friends who had such bad experiences in the west to the point they ended up going with home birth... From my experience talking to people, the reason for the low birth rate here is the same as in any other country.
- ggm 2y agoThank you for reversing my bias. Probably the women who I know left Japan 10-15 years ago, and thats a lifetime in terms of healthcare, social interactions, you-name-it. Everyone I know who gave birth in the netherlands commented on the low levels of pain relief available!