Birthcare: Frank thanks you
Without getting sentimental and posting all our baby snapshots (well, all right, just one) I want to start the year by saying how fortunate I feel. My son Frank was born in New Zealand—and on New Year’s Day, the best possible start to 2008. He entered the world at Birthcare in Parnell, and the entire experience was a joy. I grew up in a country with ‘free’ healthcare—as Russell Hoban once said, it may not be health but it’s certainly national—so I didn’t pay a penny for medical and dental care until I left the UK for good in the mid-1980s. But I doubt you’d find Birthcare standards of midwifery and maternal care in the UK nowadays without the wherewithal to pay through the nose for them. Three days of hotel-standard accommodation with a 24-hour focus on our newborn; our own room with shower, toilet, TV, balcony and a view of the Domain and Auckland Museum; a bed for Dad and good food for Mum; tips on feeding and bathing for Frank: a far cry from Elisa’s experiences more than a decade before, when her first son was born at National Women’s. Everything about Frank’s birth felt blessed, and after some initial difficulties finding a midwife, we struck gold and found one who supported all our decisions and helped to make it not only unforgettable but as natural and free from interventions as possible. I wonder whether the Birthcare model is unique to New Zealand; it seems like one of our ‘best kept secrets’. This style of birthing might catch on elsewhere if everyone wasn’t so focused on ‘user pays’. We paid only $150 for Frank’s birth (and that was to cover my three nights’ accommodation; I’ve paid more to sleep in motels with bedbugs). The rest was New Zealand’s first investment in Frank’s future. So thanks, Birthcare—we won’t forget it.
posted by Chris Bell at 3:17 PM
8 Comments:
Yes, it's a great place for all the reasons you mention, but what impressed me most was that dinner comes with a wine list.
Congratulations Chris.
I'm really pleased for you.
All the best
darren
Congratulations on the new arrival Chris! All the best for you and the family.
Chris, very warmest congrats from us! Cheers
Congratulations Chris. He already looks like he's analysing and considering the world around him. A very cute little chap.
Ah, he's gorgeous! cONGRATULATIONS TO THE THREE OF YOU!
Good on you Chris (and Elisa). The little chap looks just like his Dad :-)
top work, Chris! Congratulations.
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