Now I'm Scared

Yesterday the fire alarm went off at work, so my customers and I found ourselves hanging out outside the building while the firemen sorted through the building. Most of my customers were either pregnant or just had their babies, so we got to talking about prenatal care in Germany. I'm pretty sure I will be referred out to see the German doctor on the economy, because the military heath care system is overwhelmed by the sudden baby boom. From what I've heard, the actual prenatal visits are always wonderful. The Germans are very meticulous about their patients. Delivery on the economy, on the other hand, seems to be unanimously herrendous. I had one poor customer, who just delivered her baby a few weeks ago, telling me that they just gave her a room with a bed to stay in during her 2-day labor without any kind of pain medications, IVs, mother's or fetal monitors. After two days, they decided that the baby needed a little push, so they put her on patocin for another 8 hours. Since there was no progress after all these, they put her completely under and cut her open from hip bone to hip bone. She now has a scar that is over a foot long and couple of inches thick and is completely numb around her belly. They wouldn't let her husband stayed in the same room with her without paying for his "room fee." They never even gave her any pain medications after the c-section and refused to feed her anything besides some tea because it was believed that it was better for breast milk. After a couple of nights in this medieval time hospital, she checked herself out and nursed her pain with some Tylenol. Just hearing some of the stories is enough to make me want to upchuck.