Something else to consider is that the childbirth survival rates in the UK are higher than in the US, i think it shows we must be doing something right with that being the case.
I will admit I cried. I’m so very happy that she’s here! Congratulations, wonderfully done. Yes, she’s beautiful! I love my new granddaughter! Love you all!!
Congratulations to you both! She's so beautiful, and I'm glad the labour process went so smoothly. Generally in the UK, a doctor/consultant is only present for the birth if there is a risk or complication. For my first child, I had three consultants in the room at one point (numerous complications including the cord being round his neck - he was delivered safely but it was rather dramatic!), so I took it for granted, but for the birth of my daughter it was just the midwife, and my goodness, what a difference! I would say that with a consultant involved it becomes more of a medical procedure than a natural experience, as at that point the focus is more on safety and speed, whereas midwives (in the UK at least, I can't speak for elsewhere) are trained to aid mother (and baby) in having a natural, comfortable birth because it's something we are biologically designed to do.
NHShospitals do have air conditioning but they keep patient areas warmer than you expect - patients are normally not wearing many clothes and and staff are in scrubs. Chilling patients and their babies is not recommended. Also pregnancy and childbirth are not ilnesses. Your body does not need medical invasion if its working ok and you have no problems. Midwife led units are great and leave the doctors to those patients who really need them.
@@caitm8056 My dad was an environmental systems engineer, and his is firm had a contract with the local hospital. You have dont have to worry about pathogens spreading through the vents because it's a presurised system, and the extracted air is filtered before being blown outside. You don't pump the same air from room to room.
@@caitm8056 Weird, as every Hospital I have worked in does use Air Con. They use filters to remove pathogens and each ward Air Con is independent from each other. It just blows the air outside, it doesn't circulate it.
The mention of them checking cervix every appointment in the USA sadly just smacked of "Something else to charge the insurance company for". I cannot see a medical need for it.
Congratulations Danielle and Matthew! Gorgeous baby! :) In my experience, UK hospitals are pretty good at helping you find your way when you arrive - they often have volunteers to help, but this has changed a lot during Covid shutdown when there's a lot fewer "non essential" staff around.
Congratulations you two! She's absolutely gorgeous. I'm glad that you had an overall positive labour experience despite the pandemic situation going on. All the best!
As others have said, Midwives lead our childbirth unit. They do an excellent job. Having attended the prem birth of my nephew when things got complicated the red button was pressed and a team of midwives and a Dr arrived to deliver the baby and get him to breath. Intervention is there when needed. Congratulations!
Congratulations this video brought back happy memories of me and my wife becoming parents. Seriously as a born and bread Brit. I find the idea of getting an invoice for a birth equivalent to getting an invoice for breathing. America really needs to cover its citizens for at least somethings like in the rest of the developed world.
I found that so emotional to view. Especially when mum was having her contractions and was understandably distracted. I felt so proud of her watching her endure the pain and discomfort of child birth. She was such a hero and she produced a beautiful wee wean. Thank you for sharing such an intimate and emotionally moving part of your life. I wish you and you're beautiful wee lassies well.
Many congratulations Danielle and Matt on the birth of your beautiful daughter. Blessings to your family and thanks for letting us share your wonderful experience.
Congratulations and thank you for sharing these precious moments with us. Danielle you are a star and I never knew a woman could give birth in such a calm way. A tear slipped out... You were like an angel! Xxx
Huge congratulations on the arrival of your gorgeous girl!! I’m so glad you had a positive birth experience 😁 I can say with some certainty that your experiences of lack of hospital personnel, having to bring your own stuff and also the contradictions about where you could go etc is pretty much entirely down to the COVID situation. I think that the NHS staff are (as always) doing an incredible job under utterly unprecedented circumstances 💕
Congratulations! She's lovely and it looks like you were an absolute champion! From an NHS doctor let me apologise for the more difficult parts of your experience. As others have said, some of the miscommunications may have been exacerbated by the pandemic but truthfully it's something that's generally been worsening for the last few years and it's usually due to too few staff trying to cover everything. But it's tiring and exasperating for you. The heating thing is a perennial problem! I'm glad that overall your midwife-led birth was a great experience, I do think it's something we do well.
We also believe it is something you do well! We were quite pleased with our experience overall. Thank you for your service during these trying times as well!
@@SchaeferFamilyAdventure when I worked in Theatres we were the only department to have A/C so it was lovely in the summer and because the hospital was built in the 90s it was totally fitted out with A/C in all departments until the found legionellas disease (sorry if it's named wrong as my auto checker has broke🙄) in the hospital A/C and in most new hospitals in the UK at that time, so they closed all A/Cs in the UK except all the Theatres , but the Theatres had different A/C installed as it was cheaper than doing all the wards and departments in the hospitals,,hence it's bloody hot on all the wards, and there should have been porters and welcoming staff on station when you enter all hospitals especially being pregnant but due to most of the nonessential staff being furloughed because C-19 that's why you weren't met at the door with a chair and porter,,,
I’m so pleased you had a good birth experience with our wonderful NHS. Some things may have differed due to Covid-19 but on the whole it would appear they did well. Your baby is beautiful and healthy. I hope she brings you endless joy. Stay safe. x
Congratulations on the birth of your beautiful daughter. I think the covid epidemic had a lot to do with the lack of staff. I went for a check-up a few weeks ago and the hospital was much more deserted than usual, no volunteers and staff having to be employed elsewhere. Anyway, all went well and Matthew is now outnumbered three to one!!! Very best wishes, Sophie x
Congratulations!! I'm also an American here in the UK. My general observation is that offices felt less nice here, which throws some, but it's just decorating budget. They are very professional. I love that the care is more midwife focused, and way more hands off than the USA, like the example of not sticking hands up your cervix every visit, which actually tells you very little about the pending delivery. The statistics show much lower rates of maternal mortality here, and I believe a large part of that is they don't jump to medicalize everything, so you get far less induction, which also leads to less c-sections. There is a much stronger tradition here of natural childbirth, so you may have to push harder or go into a different unit if you want an epidural, which is one downside. The biggest plus for me, though, is the postnatal care is far better here, which I think would surprise many Americans. The midwives and health visitors come to your home as regularly as you need. They come from the very next day after you come home, and they check on baby, on you, help with breastfeeding, weight, anything really. I never understood how in the USA they say a baby shouldn't go into public at first, but they have you bring them into a waiting room full of sick people for "well baby" checks. Plus, you are beat up. Who wants that? I love how you don't have to do any of that here and can stay home for the first month if you want to. Yes, there are weaknesses here, but overall I felt my care was excellent.
I'm British nut lived in the US for 9 years. Our first child was born there and the other two were born in the UK. The quality of care was excellent in both countries as far as delivery went but, as you say, the postnatal care seemed so much better organised in the UK.
So thrilled for you both. Warmest congratulations on the safe arrival of your baby. Must admit I had tears in my eyes when I heard her first cries. Enjoy your expanded family.
Congratulations on the arrival of the lovely little lady. With all the negativity and problems in the news it is good to see joy is still in the world. My wife had 2 seperate home births with the NHS midwives and they were all amazing. Was a bit if a fight to get approval for a home birth but they both went well and with 2 midwives in attendance we had all the medical support we needed for her and the babies. Best thing about home births... you are at home and just chill out during the waiting and then once all is done can just get in bed and goto sleep with the little one as company.
I had my 1st baby in hospital and it was a really straightforward birth so my midwives were perfectly happy to let me have home births for my 2nd and 3rd. If you’re relaxed and don’t live too far from the hospital, I’d highly recommend it. Lovely being able to have a hot shower and climb into my own bed afterwards. 😊
Congratulations! And thank you for sharing such a wonderful experience. Danielle, I just suddenly burst out crying when you were actually delivering, it was really moving and such a precious moment. Lots of love to you all xx
Love love love you guys! Congratulations on your little bundle of joy! Willow must be super excited. Really glad you mentioned about differing advice, some of this will be Covid related but equally we had similar with our 3 girls. God bless you all xx
Congratulations to you both on your new arrival, and congratulations to Willow on becoming a big sister!! Wishing you all the very best for the future.
Just seen this right now and as a 66 year old granddad a little bit of tear let me down. It took me back to 1979 when my first child was born, I was present and my second in 1982, also present. I wish you ALL the very best. NHS just cannot be faulted, second to none. Congratulations.
Hi, Danielle and Mathew, congratulations on the arrival of a lovely baby, you must both be delighted. I'm glad all went well even though it was rather warm. How has big sister reacted? Looking forward to your next video soon.
congratulations! wow! what a beautiful baby, gosh i''m surprisingly emotional watching this! i'm glad you had a good experience and have a lovely and healthy new member of the family
@@SchaeferFamilyAdventure My husband was with me during my son's birth, but it was just me and the midwife for my second (girl) because he (husband) was at home looking after her brother. I loved having him there for the birth of my son, but strangely, I didn't mind him not being there for my daughter's birth. It was a case of 'needs must' and the midwife was lovely. After 26 years, I even remember her name.
Wow i cant believe i just watched you have a child. I have tears. Thank you for sharing this with the internet and me I'm so happy for you. You'll have a daughter with a British accent and an actually British daughter oh your in for trouble when they grow up! Now I'm just realising you did this during the lockdown! well I'm very happy you are all safe and well. the temperature of each ward is controlled by a sister of the ward afaik they wear the maroon tops and boss all the nurses about.. Now you can do videos about maternity and paternity laws in the UK, the paternity laws are new relatively , it would be interesting to see what you think of them. If you ever have time to make another video !
Congratulations on your beautiful daughter. We usually provide our own after birth items such as pads etc but for us, healthcare is completely free where as I guess you having to pay a surcharge, you may expect some of that included. I’m a Brit who recently moved back from the US and the NHS is definitely one thing I’m thankful for 😀
Congratulations on the safe delivery of your healthy new daughter and that everything considered, you were happy with the experience and your treatment by the staff concerned. Although, you said there wasn’t a Doctor present, I am sure they would have been there for you, had the midwives encountered problem where they considered a Doctor needed to be involved. Just try to relax a little now it’s over and let your husband take the strain for a while. Lol. You mentioned having given birth on your back for your first child. I remember many years ago a TV documentary indicated that Louis the XIV of France popularised the fashion, by having his wife give birth on her back. He considered it gave him and unfortunately, a large number of other people in the room, who by law were allowed to witness the birth of a Royal Heir, a visually better view of the event. Now of course we can live the moment with you on RUclips..... My Best Wishes you both.
Amazing video. I'm a father of 3 and was very focused and supportive during their births but these days I always tear-up when I see someone else give birth ... I'm always a mess by the end of an episode of Call the Midwife (definitely worth watching on the BBC iPlayer). So pleased that everything went well ... I need to go get a tissue :-)
Just came across your series of videos. Congratulations on the birth of your new baby. So glad your experience was a good one. Best wishes to you all for the rest of your time here, as an American friend you and your fellow Americans are always welcome here.
Congratulations.. I know I am 7 months late 😂.. lovely summary .. we moved from USA - Connecticut to now Scotland -Uk and have our now 4 year old born in USA and now planning for the next.. this information and experience shared by you guys is very valuable and a helps us prepare what to expect .. thank you ..
Congratulations to you both - wow that’s a quick birth ! My eldest son was tiny and was delivered by caesarean. My daughter was natural birth and she was double the size (10lb 2oz) and three times as loud 😂
Congratulations! Midwives are amazing, Typically they deal with all births in the uk and it tends to be much calmer when they do! They only step up to Drs/consultant if there are any concerns normally. Also yes you are right... hospitals are WAY too hot! I guess they do need to be warm on the labour wards to help keep the babies warm, but they are hot everywhere!
Wow can’t believe you both were so happy, smiling and relaxed.... pretty sure if I was filming my girlfriend in labour I would end up wearing the camera. Congratulations both 🥳!!!
Putting aside the comparisons just want to say Good job mom! Congratulations to mom & dad on a beautiful baby! I know I'm a year late but still. Going to be great for your daughter to watch this when she is older. Also pat on the back for dad too. Lastly what a beautiful name for a beautiful baby
Congrats on your new arrival guys our US friends are vlogging their first baby experience in the UK Kodalenpartyof 2 . A bit of support from you guys may be good although they I believe having their baby on the military base where he works
Thank you for this video. It was brilliant and made me cry! I'm so pleased for both of you and the baby. And with a name like Willow she's bound to play cricket for England when she grows up.
So glad you had a better birth with you in control lovely congrats and welcome to that little Brit another wonderful link between the U.K. and US. I know you have to bring your own bits and bobs but you didn’t have to pay a massive bill which is a bonus
Congratulations on the new arrival. She looks beautiful! Having two daughters, one, I was at the birth the other wouldn't wait for me to arrive, this brings back a lot of memories. Glad all went well.
Obviously the service was not perfect in part because of Covid 19 but do you feel that not having to pay affects how you perceive the service you got? Would you have expected better if you had to pay? Do you think it's good you get good value for money?
I don't think there is any such thing perfect, everyone in the Uk receives the best care possible if you want to pay privately you can, it is different to the US, with NHS you don't leave the hospital with a huge bill.
@@kellyk5946 Oh dear. you need to educate yourself. USA citizens also pay taxes Federal tax, State tax and Sales tax, but they also require health insurance. And depending on how much you pay that insurance may not cover them for certain things like the privilege of holding your own baby. The whole health system in the USA is a scam set up for the benefit of shareholders of insurance companies, hospitals, and drug firms and the Patient is the mark.
Hospitals have completely changed over the last few months. Lots of things that mean a lot to people, such as open visiting and volunteers to greet people in the hospital, have been stopped to decrease covid risk. There will also be lots of behind the scenes changes with appointments, scans, staffing etc that will be affecting all your care. These are hopefully all temporary changes!
Oh my gosh, you were amazing, you did so well! And now your precious child is one year old! The ideal birthing scenario in Britain is that you see your midwives frequently, they support you through your labour and the birth and you rarely see a doctor/obygyn. If there is any problem with the baby during pregnancy or labour doctors will appear like magic to put things right. I had a wonderful pregnancy with DS1 and labour seemed fine, but at the very end he became distressed - the cord was around his shoulders so no oxygen. When I realised that the room was suddenly full of doctors I knew things were bad. :- ( (Everything was OK in the end). In England, no doctors = you and baby are healthy and happy.
God, this is embarrassing. You know when you log into YT and you get recommended vids. I just assumed this was new. I just saw the date on the vid. Sorry! 😊
Congratulations! Just wanted to clarify that in the UK we actually discourage pregnant women form lying on their backs as it can increase their risk of aortocaval compression and compromise the blood supply to the placenta!
congratulations on the birth of your little one, i only started watching your page last night, and thought this was an older post and then noticed the date, how fab. we have 4 kids who now range between 20-32 years of age, i remember when they were born it was just the most exciting time of our lives, hope you have the same experiences. i also work for the NHS, and thank you for such positive comments, the heating seems to be a uk wide problem within the NHS, although i work in wales so don't mind the heat, hope you have a quiet few days to yourselves and enjoy it, oh and get plenty of rest
Just realised they probably didn’t like you going off the unit because of the covid risk, the midwife who said you could go for a walk probably forgot about it, which seems odd but if you are not on a covid unit is actually very easy to do as it is so alien to us all, I should of realised when I saw they were wearing masks.
You were not in a normal situation. Firstly, the staff are trying to shield you and your baby from Covid and second, this was the hottest May and early June on record in the UK. Congratulations!
UK hospitals don't generally provide those extras you were expecting because it's publically funded. I guess your Heath Insurance in the states includes all of that, considering how much you have to pay for insurance, the NHS is free.
Congratulations D and M. What a pity about the mix-up over walking about, because that is the best thing you can do to encourage your labour, gentle walking about and frequent changing of position. A rocking chair is a good substitute, if you are getting tired. And even if you are on a monitor, you can still stand up and 'walk on the spot'. Anything that keeps your baby's head bobbing about against your cervix helps to maintain contractions. I'm adding this info here, in case there are some mums-to-be reading your channel. I'm sure there are! What a story to tell her when she is bigger - you were born in the middle of the famous Covid crisis. I am sure it will be in the history books. Peter (retired midwife).
Congratulations on the birth of your second chold 💕 by the way... You probably know this but it is called "breaking the waters" because there are two sets of waters ... The Chorion & the Amnion waters. Enjoy your babies... I"m sure they will enrich your life as nothing else quite can. 😀💕
My midwives have both said that to give birth on your back is not a "natural" position and it's more painful as it actually squashes the exit route smaller as your pelvis can't move as much to help accommodate the baby moving. Congratulations and I'm glad you had a safe a good experience in these difficult times. We do love our wonderful NHS x
As someone who gave birth in the UK I can say that the appearance of a doctor meant there was a problem (ended with a cæesarian) while a midwife means everything is going so right for you and baby. Midwives have been the experts for centuries, which is as it should be, and for centuries a doctor on the scene has meant trouble for mother and/or baby. I would hate to live in a country where it was assumed every birth would mean a medical problem for mum and/or baby so the doctor must be on hand, very insulting to all fully trained midwives. While lack of unnecessary staff such as auxiliaries and desk staff would be due to the virus rather than a normal occasion. Congratulations and have fun with the sleepless nights (from a mum whose daughter slept through the nights from a couple of days old).
It’s amazing how much better the standard of care is in the UK vs US. Everything you have to fight for with a midwife (CNM) in the US is basically standard there.
I think due to the Pandemic all the non essential staff (e.g. receptionists and hospital volunteers) have probably either been furloughed or let go, still I'm surprised there weren't any direction boards in the entrance area. With the possible exception of A and E (ER) I think in the waiting areas for most hospital departments and certainly outside in the hospital grounds there are signposts for most other departments and 'points of interest' for hospital visitors. Also (and again this might just be because of the Pandemic) I think because with the exception of premature or particularly complex births the expectation in British maternity hospitals and ward is that at most mother and newborn(s) will at most say 24hrs, whereas from what I understand from videos like this (and articles about giving birth) that have been done in the US (state dependent obviously) that due to the whole registration of the birth aspect you can be in the hospital for several days if you haven't picked a name which may explain why the hospital provides quite alot of what (you and) baby may need. In the UK you can register the birth (for free) at the registry office local to the hospital where the baby was born up to 6 weeks after they arrive, after 6 weeks you have to pay a small fee (I think it's about £5-10) to register but on receiving baby's birth certificates (you get 3 as standard; 1 for you, 1 to be sent away to the Government for any additional documentation you may need (I.e passport, school registration etc.) and the last to be sent (on the Express understanding that it needs to be returned) to grandparents if they wish to set up savings accounts for them) you get vouchers for one of the big supermarkets' baby club
Congratulations. Midwifery in this country is a profession. They really do know what they're doing.
It is in America too. Just isn’t the most common sadly. CNMS (which would be equivalent of a UK midwife) have the same level of care as an OB.
Something else to consider is that the childbirth survival rates in the UK are higher than in the US, i think it shows we must be doing something right with that being the case.
I will admit I cried. I’m so very happy that she’s here! Congratulations, wonderfully done. Yes, she’s beautiful! I love my new granddaughter! Love you all!!
Danielle and I were both crying as well!
Love you mom! - Matthew
Congratulations to you both! She's so beautiful, and I'm glad the labour process went so smoothly.
Generally in the UK, a doctor/consultant is only present for the birth if there is a risk or complication. For my first child, I had three consultants in the room at one point (numerous complications including the cord being round his neck - he was delivered safely but it was rather dramatic!), so I took it for granted, but for the birth of my daughter it was just the midwife, and my goodness, what a difference! I would say that with a consultant involved it becomes more of a medical procedure than a natural experience, as at that point the focus is more on safety and speed, whereas midwives (in the UK at least, I can't speak for elsewhere) are trained to aid mother (and baby) in having a natural, comfortable birth because it's something we are biologically designed to do.
NHShospitals do have air conditioning but they keep patient areas warmer than you expect - patients are normally not wearing many clothes and and staff are in scrubs. Chilling patients and their babies is not recommended. Also pregnancy and childbirth are not ilnesses. Your body does not need medical invasion if its working ok and you have no problems. Midwife led units are great and leave the doctors to those patients who really need them.
I've never worked in an nhs hospital with aircon? They don use it (at least here) because of the spread of virus' via the vents
@@caitm8056 My dad was an environmental systems engineer, and his is firm had a contract with the local hospital. You have dont have to worry about pathogens spreading through the vents because it's a presurised system, and the extracted air is filtered before being blown outside. You don't pump the same air from room to room.
@@caitm8056 Weird, as every Hospital I have worked in does use Air Con. They use filters to remove pathogens and each ward Air Con is independent from each other. It just blows the air outside, it doesn't circulate it.
The mention of them checking cervix every appointment in the USA sadly just smacked of "Something else to charge the insurance company for". I cannot see a medical need for it.
@@timaustin2000 it's all about money over in the States. Nothing is free.
Got to love the NHS, they've always done me proud. Congratulations on your new addition.
Congratulations Danielle and Matthew! Gorgeous baby! :) In my experience, UK hospitals are pretty good at helping you find your way when you arrive - they often have volunteers to help, but this has changed a lot during Covid shutdown when there's a lot fewer "non essential" staff around.
I'm sure the covid stuff caused their to be some differences in the way things happened for our experience.
Thanks!
Congratulations you two! She's absolutely gorgeous. I'm glad that you had an overall positive labour experience despite the pandemic situation going on. All the best!
Thank you so much, it really was very positive!
Cheers
As others have said, Midwives lead our childbirth unit. They do an excellent job. Having attended the prem birth of my nephew when things got complicated the red button was pressed and a team of midwives and a Dr arrived to deliver the baby and get him to breath. Intervention is there when needed. Congratulations!
Congratulations this video brought back happy memories of me and my wife becoming parents.
Seriously as a born and bread Brit. I find the idea of getting an invoice for a birth equivalent to getting an invoice for breathing. America really needs to cover its citizens for at least somethings like in the rest of the developed world.
Wow, can't believe you gave her a Cornish name! My daughter is Lowenna, meaning Joyful. Congratulations!
That is such a beautiful name! Thanks for sharing!
I am from Cornwall haha
@@dan-ks1yd with a surname like that you had to be a local boy :-)
I found that so emotional to view. Especially when mum was having her contractions and was understandably distracted.
I felt so proud of her watching her endure the pain and discomfort of child birth. She was such a hero and she produced a beautiful wee wean.
Thank you for sharing such an intimate and emotionally moving part of your life.
I wish you and you're beautiful wee lassies well.
Many congratulations Danielle and Matt on the birth of your beautiful daughter. Blessings to your family and thanks for letting us share your wonderful experience.
Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed sharing in the joy with us!
Congratulations and thank you for sharing these precious moments with us. Danielle you are a star and I never knew a woman could give birth in such a calm way. A tear slipped out... You were like an angel! Xxx
She really was incredible, wasn't she? -Matthew
Thank you Wilma!
Huge congratulations on the arrival of your gorgeous girl!! I’m so glad you had a positive birth experience 😁 I can say with some certainty that your experiences of lack of hospital personnel, having to bring your own stuff and also the contradictions about where you could go etc is pretty much entirely down to the COVID situation. I think that the NHS staff are (as always) doing an incredible job under utterly unprecedented circumstances 💕
Congratulations! She's lovely and it looks like you were an absolute champion!
From an NHS doctor let me apologise for the more difficult parts of your experience. As others have said, some of the miscommunications may have been exacerbated by the pandemic but truthfully it's something that's generally been worsening for the last few years and it's usually due to too few staff trying to cover everything. But it's tiring and exasperating for you.
The heating thing is a perennial problem!
I'm glad that overall your midwife-led birth was a great experience, I do think it's something we do well.
We also believe it is something you do well! We were quite pleased with our experience overall. Thank you for your service during these trying times as well!
@@SchaeferFamilyAdventure when I worked in Theatres we were the only department to have A/C so it was lovely in the summer and because the hospital was built in the 90s it was totally fitted out with A/C in all departments until the found legionellas disease (sorry if it's named wrong as my auto checker has broke🙄) in the hospital A/C and in most new hospitals in the UK at that time, so they closed all A/Cs in the UK except all the Theatres , but the Theatres had different A/C installed as it was cheaper than doing all the wards and departments in the hospitals,,hence it's bloody hot on all the wards, and there should have been porters and welcoming staff on station when you enter all hospitals especially being pregnant but due to most of the nonessential staff being furloughed because C-19 that's why you weren't met at the door with a chair and porter,,,
I love the fact you choose what position to give birth in. Lying on your back makes it hard to push and the labor can take much longer.
I’m so pleased you had a good birth experience with our wonderful NHS. Some things may have differed due to Covid-19 but on the whole it would appear they did well. Your baby is beautiful and healthy. I hope she brings you endless joy. Stay safe. x
Congratulations on the birth of your beautiful daughter.
I think the covid epidemic had a lot to do with the lack of staff. I went for a check-up a few weeks ago and the hospital was much more deserted than usual, no volunteers and staff having to be employed elsewhere.
Anyway, all went well and Matthew is now outnumbered three to one!!! Very best wishes, Sophie x
Congratulations!! I'm also an American here in the UK. My general observation is that offices felt less nice here, which throws some, but it's just decorating budget. They are very professional. I love that the care is more midwife focused, and way more hands off than the USA, like the example of not sticking hands up your cervix every visit, which actually tells you very little about the pending delivery. The statistics show much lower rates of maternal mortality here, and I believe a large part of that is they don't jump to medicalize everything, so you get far less induction, which also leads to less c-sections. There is a much stronger tradition here of natural childbirth, so you may have to push harder or go into a different unit if you want an epidural, which is one downside.
The biggest plus for me, though, is the postnatal care is far better here, which I think would surprise many Americans. The midwives and health visitors come to your home as regularly as you need. They come from the very next day after you come home, and they check on baby, on you, help with breastfeeding, weight, anything really. I never understood how in the USA they say a baby shouldn't go into public at first, but they have you bring them into a waiting room full of sick people for "well baby" checks. Plus, you are beat up. Who wants that? I love how you don't have to do any of that here and can stay home for the first month if you want to. Yes, there are weaknesses here, but overall I felt my care was excellent.
I'm British nut lived in the US for 9 years. Our first child was born there and the other two were born in the UK. The quality of care was excellent in both countries as far as delivery went but, as you say, the postnatal care seemed so much better organised in the UK.
I am so happy you had a good experience with NHS.
So thrilled for you both. Warmest congratulations on the safe arrival of your baby. Must admit I had tears in my eyes when I heard her first cries. Enjoy your expanded family.
Congratulations on the arrival of the lovely little lady. With all the negativity and problems in the news it is good to see joy is still in the world.
My wife had 2 seperate home births with the NHS midwives and they were all amazing. Was a bit if a fight to get approval for a home birth but they both went well and with 2 midwives in attendance we had all the medical support we needed for her and the babies.
Best thing about home births... you are at home and just chill out during the waiting and then once all is done can just get in bed and goto sleep with the little one as company.
I had my 1st baby in hospital and it was a really straightforward birth so my midwives were perfectly happy to let me have home births for my 2nd and 3rd. If you’re relaxed and don’t live too far from the hospital, I’d highly recommend it. Lovely being able to have a hot shower and climb into my own bed afterwards. 😊
Congratulations! And thank you for sharing such a wonderful experience. Danielle, I just suddenly burst out crying when you were actually delivering, it was really moving and such a precious moment. Lots of love to you all xx
Love love love you guys! Congratulations on your little bundle of joy! Willow must be super excited. Really glad you mentioned about differing advice, some of this will be Covid related but equally we had similar with our 3 girls. God bless you all xx
Congratulations to you both on your new arrival, and congratulations to Willow on becoming a big sister!!
Wishing you all the very best for the future.
Just seen this right now and as a 66 year old granddad a little bit of tear let me down. It took me back to 1979 when my first child was born, I was present and my second in 1982, also present. I wish you ALL the very best. NHS just cannot be faulted, second to none.
Congratulations.
thats beautiful god bless and welcome to the uk, as a dad and a guy i was close to tears during the warning.
Congrats wonderful to see - Midwives are the experts here - Doctors are on hand if anything goes wrong, ^oo^
Hi, Danielle and Mathew, congratulations on the arrival of a lovely baby, you must both be delighted. I'm glad all went well even though it was rather warm. How has big sister reacted? Looking forward to your next video soon.
congratulations! wow! what a beautiful baby, gosh i''m surprisingly emotional watching this! i'm glad you had a good experience and have a lovely and healthy new member of the family
Congratulations,as an old guy I was getting a bit emotional. When my kids were born we weren't allowed to attend the birth.
Wow, that's terrible, I know it is a different time but I can't imagine giving birth without Matthew by my side.
@@SchaeferFamilyAdventure My husband was with me during my son's birth, but it was just me and the midwife for my second (girl) because he (husband) was at home looking after her brother. I loved having him there for the birth of my son, but strangely, I didn't mind him not being there for my daughter's birth. It was a case of 'needs must' and the midwife was lovely. After 26 years, I even remember her name.
Congratulations on the birth of your second child, I am so happy that you had a good experience too. Wishing you all the very best for the future.
Wow i cant believe i just watched you have a child. I have tears. Thank you for sharing this with the internet and me I'm so happy for you. You'll have a daughter with a British accent and an actually British daughter oh your in for trouble when they grow up! Now I'm just realising you did this during the lockdown! well I'm very happy you are all safe and well. the temperature of each ward is controlled by a sister of the ward afaik they wear the maroon tops and boss all the nurses about..
Now you can do videos about maternity and paternity laws in the UK, the paternity laws are new relatively , it would be interesting to see what you think of them. If you ever have time to make another video !
CONGRATS Y’ALL!! Sorry for the long labour, but glad you have a healthy baby girl and YOU are doing well! ❤️
Thank you so much!
Congratulations on your beautiful daughter. We usually provide our own after birth items such as pads etc but for us, healthcare is completely free where as I guess you having to pay a surcharge, you may expect some of that included. I’m a Brit who recently moved back from the US and the NHS is definitely one thing I’m thankful for 😀
Congratulations on the safe delivery of your healthy new daughter and that everything considered, you were happy with the experience and your treatment by the staff concerned. Although, you said there wasn’t a Doctor present, I am sure they would have been there for you, had the midwives encountered problem where they considered a Doctor needed to be involved. Just try to relax a little now it’s over and let your husband take the strain for a while. Lol.
You mentioned having given birth on your back for your first child. I remember many years ago a TV documentary indicated that Louis the XIV of France popularised the fashion, by having his wife give birth on her back. He considered it gave him and unfortunately, a large number of other people in the room, who by law were allowed to witness the birth of a Royal Heir, a visually better view of the event. Now of course we can live the moment with you on RUclips.....
My Best Wishes you both.
Amazing video. I'm a father of 3 and was very focused and supportive during their births but these days I always tear-up when I see someone else give birth ... I'm always a mess by the end of an episode of Call the Midwife (definitely worth watching on the BBC iPlayer). So pleased that everything went well ... I need to go get a tissue :-)
Just came across your series of videos. Congratulations on the birth of your new baby. So glad your experience was a good one. Best wishes to you all for the rest of your time here, as an American friend you and your fellow Americans are always welcome here.
Congratulations.. I know I am 7 months late 😂.. lovely summary .. we moved from USA - Connecticut to now Scotland -Uk and have our now 4 year old born in USA and now planning for the next.. this information and experience shared by you guys is very valuable and a helps us prepare what to expect .. thank you ..
What a trooper, you did so well! What a beautiful baby girl. Congratulations!
Congratulations to you all. She's beautiful ❤🍼
P.S you were an absolute champ. Not sure i'd be so quiet & composed 😂
Congratulations to you both - wow that’s a quick birth ! My eldest son was tiny and was delivered by caesarean. My daughter was natural birth and she was double the size (10lb 2oz) and three times as loud 😂
I love your outfit for when you had your wee one. So glad it went smoothly and can't believe how quickly time has flown c
Congratulations!
Midwives are amazing, Typically they deal with all births in the uk and it tends to be much calmer when they do! They only step up to Drs/consultant if there are any concerns normally.
Also yes you are right... hospitals are WAY too hot! I guess they do need to be warm on the labour wards to help keep the babies warm, but they are hot everywhere!
Wow can’t believe you both were so happy, smiling and relaxed.... pretty sure if I was filming my girlfriend in labour I would end up wearing the camera.
Congratulations both 🥳!!!
Haha, there were some times that's how it felt ! Thanks!
Putting aside the comparisons just want to say Good job mom! Congratulations to mom & dad on a beautiful baby! I know I'm a year late but still. Going to be great for your daughter to watch this when she is older. Also pat on the back for dad too.
Lastly what a beautiful name for a beautiful baby
I'd love to hear your experiences/thoughts on the Health Visiting service, as I understand it's not something you have in the US?
Congratulations guys - yes, a tear came to my eye too! All the best :)
Congratulations on your new baby. Bless you all. Thank you for sharing this amazing part of your family story with us. ♥️
Congrats on your new arrival guys our US friends are vlogging their first baby experience in the UK Kodalenpartyof 2 .
A bit of support from you guys may be good although they I believe having their baby on the military base where he works
Congratulations to you all. She's beautiful ❤️
Thank you so much! We think so too!!
@@SchaeferFamilyAdventure , have you confirmed that she is a British citizen? It's not always as clear cut as in the US.
She will be a US citizen, actually. No options in the UK unless the parents are already citizens.
@Schaefer Family Adventure Unfortunate, even so still British by birth❤️ congratulations
Thank you for this video. It was brilliant and made me cry!
I'm so pleased for both of you and the baby. And with a name like Willow she's bound to play cricket for England when she grows up.
Congratulations on your British baby!! You guys are mint!! ❤️
Wow you were absolutely amazing! So calm. Thank you for sharing your experience and congratulations 🎉
Congratulations she’s beautiful ❤️ from Scotland
So glad you had a better birth with you in control lovely congrats and welcome to that little Brit another wonderful link between the U.K. and US. I know you have to bring your own bits and bobs but you didn’t have to pay a massive bill which is a bonus
You've got over 6000 views and no dislikes , thats unheard of on youtube. Congratulations btw
Congratulations!! I love the Cornish name! Bless you, guys xx
Congratulations on the birth of your beautiful baby girl! 🥳 I’m delighted for you 💖
Thank you Michelle! We really appreciate it.
Congratulations to you and your growing family. Welcome to the world young lady.
How is Willow reacting to her little sister? I'm sure she's excited.
Congratulations on the new arrival. She looks beautiful! Having two daughters, one, I was at the birth the other wouldn't wait for me to arrive, this brings back a lot of memories. Glad all went well.
Thank you!
Congratulations on your new little one. Danielle, you were amazing
Thank you so much!
Women have campaigned for years to have midwife led births in the UK. You had to provide your own clothing, wipes etc because it gives you choice.
Congratulations she's beautiful and I love her name too. X
Aw, congratulations. What a little dote, and a beautiful name.
Oh my goodness, how wonderful.....congratulations! Happy family!
Healthy pregnancy Healthy birth, Healthy baby, Healthy experience, Healthy bank balance, job done, well done!
Congratulations Schaefers on the new addition to your family!
Obviously the service was not perfect in part because of Covid 19 but do you feel that not having to pay affects how you perceive the service you got? Would you have expected better if you had to pay? Do you think it's good you get good value for money?
I don't think there is any such thing perfect, everyone in the Uk receives the best care possible if you want to pay privately you can, it is different to the US, with NHS you don't leave the hospital with a huge bill.
Congratulations on the safe arrival of your beautiful baby girl x x x x
Danielle, you're the most stoic woman in existence! Congratulations.
Beautiful video, congratulations :) i'm glad you seemed to have more positive than negative experiences :)
And you didn't have to pay for the privilege of holding your own baby.
12.5% National Insurance, 20%vat, £8.00 a gallon for petrol. If you think we’re not paying for it! You need to educate yourself.
@@kellyk5946 and they dont pay taxes in the US? plus health insurance, then the co pays on top. We all pay but you pay a lot less in the UK
@@kellyk5946 Oh dear. you need to educate yourself. USA citizens also pay taxes Federal tax, State tax and Sales tax, but they also require health insurance. And depending on how much you pay that insurance may not cover them for certain things like the privilege of holding your own baby. The whole health system in the USA is a scam set up for the benefit of shareholders of insurance companies, hospitals, and drug firms and the Patient is the mark.
@@kellyk5946 Petrol is £4.60 a UK gallon the moment, where did £8 come from?
@@arnolfini1434 I think he meant 8 dollars a US gallon. However that's not his biggest mistake by any means.
Well done, she's an absolute cutie and glad your experience was a positive one, now for the hard work 👶🍼🧸
Congratulations ! To you both. It is a special situation in this country at the moment, I’m sure it will be different for number three. X
Congratulations. Glad everything went well in delivering happy healthy baby.
Congratulations guys. Thank you for sharing and welcome to the little one.
Congratulations! Danielle you are an absolute champ!
Hospitals have completely changed over the last few months. Lots of things that mean a lot to people, such as open visiting and volunteers to greet people in the hospital, have been stopped to decrease covid risk. There will also be lots of behind the scenes changes with appointments, scans, staffing etc that will be affecting all your care.
These are hopefully all temporary changes!
Thank you for sharing. Interesting to hear differences/ thoughts as always, but Congratulations to you peeps. Hope Mum and the little one doing well.
Oh my gosh, you were amazing, you did so well! And now your precious child is one year old!
The ideal birthing scenario in Britain is that you see your midwives frequently, they support you through your labour and the birth and you rarely see a doctor/obygyn. If there is any problem with the baby during pregnancy or labour doctors will appear like magic to put things right.
I had a wonderful pregnancy with DS1 and labour seemed fine, but at the very end he became distressed - the cord was around his shoulders so no oxygen. When I realised that the room was suddenly full of doctors I knew things were bad. :- ( (Everything was OK in the end).
In England, no doctors = you and baby are healthy and happy.
Gratz and all the very best for this New Year... and I'm sure she won't grow up to be a tree. 😁
Stay safe guys!
God, this is embarrassing.
You know when you log into YT and you get recommended vids. I just assumed this was new. I just saw the date on the vid. Sorry! 😊
Congratulations! Just wanted to clarify that in the UK we actually discourage pregnant women form lying on their backs as it can increase their risk of aortocaval compression and compromise the blood supply to the placenta!
congratulations on the birth of your little one, i only started watching your page last night, and thought this was an older post and then noticed the date, how fab. we have 4 kids who now range between 20-32 years of age, i remember when they were born it was just the most exciting time of our lives, hope you have the same experiences. i also work for the NHS, and thank you for such positive comments, the heating seems to be a uk wide problem within the NHS, although i work in wales so don't mind the heat, hope you have a quiet few days to yourselves and enjoy it, oh and get plenty of rest
Just realised they probably didn’t like you going off the unit because of the covid risk, the midwife who said you could go for a walk probably forgot about it, which seems odd but if you are not on a covid unit is actually very easy to do as it is so alien to us all, I should of realised when I saw they were wearing masks.
Danielle, you are ahmazing!!! 👏👏👏 That was beautiful. Elowen is perfect 😍
Thank you! We think so too!!! We're in love
You were not in a normal situation. Firstly, the staff are trying to shield you and your baby from Covid and second, this was the hottest May and early June on record in the UK. Congratulations!
This current weather, cold and wet, is what we normally get and it will probably stay like this until Autumn ⛈🙂🌧☁️⛈🌩🌧
Brilliant news! I'm very pleased for all three of you.
Thanks David!
Congratulations, health, happiness,and very best wishes to you all
UK hospitals don't generally provide those extras you were expecting because it's publically funded. I guess your Heath Insurance in the states includes all of that, considering how much you have to pay for insurance, the NHS is free.
Congratulations D and M. What a pity about the mix-up over walking about, because that is the best thing you can do to encourage your labour, gentle walking about and frequent changing of position. A rocking chair is a good substitute, if you are getting tired. And even if you are on a monitor, you can still stand up and 'walk on the spot'. Anything that keeps your baby's head bobbing about against your cervix helps to maintain contractions. I'm adding this info here, in case there are some mums-to-be reading your channel. I'm sure there are! What a story to tell her when she is bigger - you were born in the middle of the famous Covid crisis. I am sure it will be in the history books. Peter (retired midwife).
Congratulations on the birth of your second chold 💕 by the way... You probably know this but it is called "breaking the waters" because there are two sets of waters ... The Chorion & the Amnion waters.
Enjoy your babies... I"m sure they will enrich your life as nothing else quite can. 😀💕
Thank you all for sharing your journey with us. xx
Wonderful news and very interesting video. Congratulations xx
Congratulations! Am so very pleased for you & thank you for sharing. BTW how do you spell your baby’s name?
We spell it the traditional Cornish way - Elowen.
Thank you!
My midwives have both said that to give birth on your back is not a "natural" position and it's more painful as it actually squashes the exit route smaller as your pelvis can't move as much to help accommodate the baby moving. Congratulations and I'm glad you had a safe a good experience in these difficult times. We do love our wonderful NHS x
As someone who gave birth in the UK I can say that the appearance of a doctor meant there was a problem (ended with a cæesarian) while a midwife means everything is going so right for you and baby. Midwives have been the experts for centuries, which is as it should be, and for centuries a doctor on the scene has meant trouble for mother and/or baby. I would hate to live in a country where it was assumed every birth would mean a medical problem for mum and/or baby so the doctor must be on hand, very insulting to all fully trained midwives. While lack of unnecessary staff such as auxiliaries and desk staff would be due to the virus rather than a normal occasion.
Congratulations and have fun with the sleepless nights (from a mum whose daughter slept through the nights from a couple of days old).
It’s amazing how much better the standard of care is in the UK vs US. Everything you have to fight for with a midwife (CNM) in the US is basically standard there.
The continuity issue is definitely down to covid.
They keep it warmer because of babies, and it can get soo hot in the children's wards.
I think due to the Pandemic all the non essential staff (e.g. receptionists and hospital volunteers) have probably either been furloughed or let go, still I'm surprised there weren't any direction boards in the entrance area. With the possible exception of A and E (ER) I think in the waiting areas for most hospital departments and certainly outside in the hospital grounds there are signposts for most other departments and 'points of interest' for hospital visitors. Also (and again this might just be because of the Pandemic) I think because with the exception of premature or particularly complex births the expectation in British maternity hospitals and ward is that at most mother and newborn(s) will at most say 24hrs, whereas from what I understand from videos like this (and articles about giving birth) that have been done in the US (state dependent obviously) that due to the whole registration of the birth aspect you can be in the hospital for several days if you haven't picked a name which may explain why the hospital provides quite alot of what (you and) baby may need. In the UK you can register the birth (for free) at the registry office local to the hospital where the baby was born up to 6 weeks after they arrive, after 6 weeks you have to pay a small fee (I think it's about £5-10) to register but on receiving baby's birth certificates (you get 3 as standard; 1 for you, 1 to be sent away to the Government for any additional documentation you may need (I.e passport, school registration etc.) and the last to be sent (on the Express understanding that it needs to be returned) to grandparents if they wish to set up savings accounts for them) you get vouchers for one of the big supermarkets' baby club