ooooh. another expense. good for you. (enjoy!)
Thanks Brat, you bet. Keeping mom and baby healthy and happy is job #1. We're quite fortunate that we will both be able to stay home with the baby and share all the tasks without having things like w*rk to interfere.Brat says:
Congratulations.
From here on out your first job is to take care of the Mom. When you are parents take care of each other so that you can both take care of the babe.
It's whatever we choose. They are more than happy to have dad there coaching mom during the delivery. They really encourage the fathers participation. Of course, if it's not your thing, you can opt to sit out, but I personally want to be there for every bit of it.samclem says:
Trek,
Congratulations! So, how do things go in Estonia: "Natural childbirth" with breathing exercises and husband-as-coach, or Dad waits in another room while the pros handle things with Mom?
So... when should we send you ours?Estonia literally PAYS you to have children to encourage the population growth.
So... when should we send you ours?
Actually, since we live in Estonia, the expenses are quite limited. Estonia literally PAYS you to have children to encourage the population growth. And like other European countries, they see the importance of children and parents being able to spend a maximum amount of time together with keeping stress levels to a minimum. So my fiancée will be able to stop working 3 months prior to the expected delivery date and then once the baby is actually born we will get a very generous childbirth payment from both the state and local government. Then my fiancée will receive 100% of her current wage for the next 15 months and her employer must keep her job for her when/if she returns. We will also receive a monthly family benefit payment until the child is 16 years old. And of course there are no medical bills to pay due to the national health care system and dental (including orthodontics) are free until the age of 19. So no paying for those braces if needed. So basically the family benefit payments will pay for all the things that would otherwise eat into my budget (like baby food, wipes, diapers, etc).
So we cannot do this in america??
Ok how about some kind of national coverage??
Nah those insurance companies.......
ok, they need to start using estonia and not sweden or canada in those comparative studies about health care/family support for women/families! you're not making that up?
3 months before the baby comes are there statistics/reasons why? reduce maternal stress? i've had friends ordered on bed rest for 3-4 months, usually toward the end of the pregnancy - and they still end up working via the laptop...
so people regularly take the full 15 months off? i took off 3 with each bambina and felt very stressed about being out of the office, and then stressed returning to bulk back up...
what about child care? who does it? do moms typically stay at home, or are grandparents prevalent? what is the cost? and i'm guessing preschool is universal too then?