My passion blog for the upcoming semester will follow the typical person living in two different countries, France and the United States, from birth until death. I’ll explore the discrepancies in healthcare between most other modern European nations and America, highlighting changes that need to be made in order to make healthcare for our citizens more affordable and accessible.

My first post begins at birth, and the events leading up to it. Already, the French baby has a distinct advantage over the American in terms of life expectancy. The Parisian can expect to live a life of almost 83 years, on average, whereas the New Yorker plans on surviving just under 79 years. I’ll eventually show the differences in quality of life that cause the 4 year gap in future blogs.

We will follow the experiences of two pregnant women. One is a French citizen in Paris, the other an American woman living in New York. These women are friends that share their prenatal experiences with one another, and the experiences are highlighted in this NPR article. Like the early advantage of lifespan, the French mother already is taken care of far more than the American.

Since the onset of her pregnancy, the French woman has seen numerous home visits from nurses. In most of Europe, a pregnant woman is to be taken care of. She receives weeks or months off from work on paid maternity leave to rest and prepare to give birth.

The main costs of childbirth are the ones incurred during the visit to the hospital to actually deliver the child. Anesthesia, materials, labor (pun intended) costs, and the room fees add up. Fortunately, 70-90% of the costs of these visits are covered under the National Insurance program for French citizens, and the rest is typically covered by a small supplemental private insurance plan that most French citizens opt into. These plans are purchased from private healthcare providers and are heavily regulated by the French government in order to guarantee affordable coverage outside of the main national plan.

Quite the opposite happens in the United States.

The American woman had numerous complications during her pregnancy, therefore accruing thousands of dollars of hospital and specialist costs to sort them out. When she tried to get insurance through her husband’s policy at work, they furiously turned her down, stating that they “don’t insure a house on fire.” Preexisting conditions apparently include being pregnant and needing care. In America, that is a legal act, but only justifiable to the money earned in the transaction.

The for-profit motives in American healthcare degrade mothers’ quality of life and force unnecessary financial peril upon poor mothers. The French system of a public option for healthcare, especially during childbirth, is the main reason why infant mortality is almost twice as high, at 6.1 deaths per 1000 births, compared to France’s 2.9.