In addition to the differences in France for prenatal care, there are quite a few differences when it comes to labor and delivery.  I had a scheduled c section so I don’t know all the differences when it comes to a natural delivery, but here are the differences I experienced:

First, the overall hospital costs shocked us as they are much, much lower than the US.  I delivered at a private hospital and was able to choose from several room options.  We paid extra to have a private room (I can’t imagine sharing a room with someone else after having a baby!) and to have cable and wifi.  The upgraded room only cost 85 euros per night which also included 4 meals per day (of course they serve the afternoon goûter…a snack around 4pm).  Our total hospital bill in the US before insurance was around $33,000 whereas here it was only 1,400 euros and after insurance we only paid 140 euros!

For a scheduled c section, you have to check into the hospital the afternoon before your surgery whereas in the US you would go to the hospital the morning of your surgery.  They monitor you and the baby every so often but mostly you are left to rest.  I didn’t really want to be at the hospital the day before, but it turned out to be a time-saver when I wound up having contractions at 4am and they needed to quickly get me into surgery!

Unfortunately there was one difference that I really didn’t like, which was that Ryan could not be in the room with me during the c section.  In the US (and other countries) the father can be in the room.  Ryan was in a waiting room across from where I had surgery and when the baby was born they let me see him for a minute and then brought him to Ryan where they waited for me to be brought into a recovery room.  We stayed in the recovery room for about 2 hours and then were brought back to my room.

The length of the hospital stay is also longer here.  For a natural birth, the typical stay is 3 days and for a c section it is 5….however, this time can be longer if you are not ready to go home.  They don’t kick you out as soon as they can like they do in the US!  The nurses actually asked me if I wanted to leave on the 4th day if the pediatrician said Reese was ok to leave.  I could have stayed longer but by that time I was tired of being in a hospital bed all day and I was lonely!

My time in the hospital was also quite different than in the US.  I did not have a hospital bracelet like in the US that they would scan and keep track of my medication etc.  Reese did not have a bracelet that would set off alarms if someone tried to steal him.  I don’t know if something like that has ever happened in France but they clearly are not worried at all about people trying to steal babies here.  I was not bothered as often by people coming in and out of the room at all hours of the day.  After the first day I was not monitored as much, they would just check my blood pressure and temperature once in awhile.  At night I was given my pain medication to take then and they would also give me my pain medication for the morning so they didn’t have to come bother me again.  My OB came to check on me a few times during my stay and on the last day he came to give me a list of prescriptions.  At this time he also asked me if I wanted to use birth control, whereas in the US they don’t even discuss this until your 6 week checkup.  Instead of having a checkup at 6 weeks, it is done at 8 weeks postpartum.

Each day a nurse would come in to help us give the baby a bath and they have a whole routine here- in addition to the bath they give the baby saline solution for their nose instead of using a nasal aspirator, then a dose of vitamin D, then 2 different products to clean the cord area and they finish with spraying a perfume on their hair (one night I sent Reese to the nursery and the nurse that night must have really liked this perfume because when she brought him to me to feed him he was doused in that stuff!).  They also don’t use the baby wipes we’re used to in the US, they use cotton pads that they wet with water and then use a liniment lotion to protect the skin from diaper rash.

A kinesiotherapist came to my room twice, once to show me core exercises and once to massage my legs.

The meals in the hospital, for the most part, were better quality than in the US.  The only thing I didn’t like was the breakfast was a typical French breakfast of tartine (bread with butter and jam) yogurt, coffee and orange juice.  Us Americans are used to eggs, sausage etc!  The coffee for breakfast was served in a bowl so you could dip your tartine in it.  The other meals all consisted of an appetizer, main dish, dessert, bread and yogurt or cheese.  The meal options were healthy and even somewhat “gourmet” compared to what you would see in the US.  The afternoon goûter consisted of butter cookies with tea, coffee or hot chocolate.

Leaving the hospital was also very simple.  Ryan just had to pay our bill and we were left to pack up and leave on our own.  Usually with a c section you have to leave in a wheelchair, but here I had to walk out which was actually pretty tough for me and I wished they gave me a wheelchair.  The walk was a little long and I had to go very slow.

Post-partum care is more like how things were done in the past in the US.  Because I had a c section, a nurse comes to my home every day for 21 days to give me an anticoagulant shot and to take a blood sample twice a week to make sure my platelets aren’t too low.  The nurse also came to my home to remove my staples.  Some women are prescribed compression stockings to wear for a few weeks after surgery.  A few days after I returned home, a midwife came to check on me and Reese.  She looked at Reese’s cord, weighed him and helped me with breastfeeding.  The midwife will also schedule another home visit or 2 depending on your needs.

Maternity leave in France includes 6 weeks before your delivery and 10 weeks after your delivery.  If you are breastfeeding, some companies will give you an additional month off.