An American mum who recently gave birth in the UK revealed how different it is in the US. She posted a viral video about this on TikTok which caused some debate…
An American woman has recalled her birthing experience in the UK – and how it is different to the US.
Paige Wester, an American mum living in the UK, shared a video on TikTok discussing the differences. She claimed some things about giving birth in the UK would send mums across the pond “into a coma”.
Some of the differences she spoke about was the meal mums are given in hospital in the UK after giving birth and the medical expenses. The TikTok video secured 450,000 views, 45,000 likes and nearly 700 comments.
Paige began the video by saying: “I’m going to rapid fire some things off about giving birth in England that would send American mums into a literal coma.” The first difference she spoke about was a couple of hours a woman gives birth in the UK she is taken to the maternity ward in the hospital shared with other new mums but in America, women typically get their own private room.
She added: “You’re pretty much just separated by curtains. My maternity ward only had three women on it but I heard everything they were saying. I heard their babies crying, I heard them snore in the night. It was a very strange experience.
“About an hour after you give birth your first meal is tea and toast and that tea and toast was the best thing I’d ever put in my body. I just think it’s so British they give you tea and toast after you give birth.
“After I got home from the hospital my son was having trouble latching and I just called this phone number they had given me and I had a lactation consultant out to my house in like three hours and it was also free.
“So after you give birth and you’re home I know in America you are supposed to go to the doctor’s like two days after giving birth but in England they come to your house which is so nice because I can’t imagine trying to get myself ready and out of the house with a newborn when I’m bleeding out of every hole in my body just to have them check for like 10 minutes.”
The last and “probably the best” thing Paige mentioned about giving birth in the UK rather than in the US was that “you’re not getting a fat medical bill sent to your house”. In America the total average hospital bill for a regular birth without insurance is $30,000 (about £24,000) and with insurance it is $3,400 (approximately £2,719).
For women without insurance who give birth in America and have a C-section, the total average hospital bill is much higher. Some TikTok users in the comment section of Paige’s video spoke about the cost of giving birth in America and in the UK.
One said: “Honestly most Americans are pretty dramatic about having to pay. Insurance covers most of it. I had three kids, one of which was in the NICU. I paid $0, $2,000 and $3,500 (NICU). I’d rather pay than share!”
Other mums in the comment section also said they enjoyed tea and toast after giving birth in a hospital in the UK. One said: “My kids are now 17, 13 and 10 and I’ve never had tea and toast like it since,” and another agreed: “Tea and toast is the most elite thing ever after giving birth, nothing can top it.”
