Americans' Shocking First Experience In A German Hospital! - Having a Baby, Price, Medication... 🇩🇪 

Have you ever had a GOOD hospital meal?? 😂

You have forgotten one important thing - infant mortality in the USA is almost twice as high as in Germany (source: Wikipedia). THAT makes a big different. Not the meal.

For a german, it's interesting hearing you talk about "delivery" all the time, instead of birth. Sounds like putting the mother in the role of a delivery boy.

I'm just blown away from the high mother and baby death rates in the US(the highest in the western world). It just show that good care, public health insurance and maternity leave like you experienced in Germany can save many lives.

Ok, i work in german hospitals for the last 20 yrs. so some things towards the food: If you cook food in a german Hospital, you have to heat everything to 100° C to secure, that theres no contermination on the food of any kind. So Pasta is usually overcooked, potatoes are overcooked and so on. Everythings cooks way longer, than you would do at home. Also, the food arives at the ward mostly 30-60 minutes before serving. So anything crunchy will be steamed in its own juices and become soggy. The Omlett with the salted potatoes and the spinach is btw. a typical german meal i grew up with as a kid. Oh, and the sugar is for the tea youre goin to make yourself for lunch ^^

In Dänemark the midwife is the specialist, too. And their education is intense and long. Almost as long as the doctor. The doctor comes at the scene in case of abnormal situation, c-sections etc.

The thing concerning midwives and doctors is, that midwives are highly training in delivering babies, while a doctor is there to observe in case something really bad happens. Midwives leave the room, and keep checking in, because they have no real reason to stay in the delivery room. Expecting parents are expected to have visited a course about what will happen. (Many expecting mothers also dont want to be observed all the time by some random people even if they are healthcare professionals)

Herzlichen Glückwunsch! Baby gesund, Mama wohlauf und Papa überglücklich - einfach toll! Genießt die Zeit!

1. Congratulations! I hope your child will bring you lots of joy! 2. Hospitals have around 7-8 Euros per day for the whole food of one patient. Usually they make acceptable lunch. I'm a german physician and during my 8 years in our hospitals I got to eat the same meals as the patients. Mostly thye were good, but there is always some exceptions to the rule. There also is some differences between hospitals. 3. Midwifes in Germany are great! They will not only deliver babies, they care for mother and child months before birth and sometimes do this also for some weeks after birth.

Hey, I‘m a German ObGyn doctor working in obstetrics daily. Feel free to ask me anything in response to this comment. Some input by me: We are generally very welcoming towards epidurals. Sometimes, there are situations where we just know it makes no sense. For example, if you wish to deliver under water. Or when the baby is just about to come. Sorry to hear about the bismal food, which looks like what I saw in hospitals like 10 years ago. Trust me, there are much better ones out there 😬

Hey, German girl here :) The sugar is for the coffee. Most Germans drink coffee after Lunch, that's why hospitals almost always have a shared coffee machine for the patients :)

Congratulations! I'm an American who had a baby in Germany on Christmas day 2021. I agree with everything you talked about in this video. I ended up having an emergency csection and sadly couldn't get a family room so had to take care of our baby by myself. I do not know German and had to use an app a few times with different midwives but overall most knew English. Also it's been 6 months and I've hadn't had to pay anything for my 4 day hospital stay.

When I was at college in the US, I needed a root canal done. As it turned out my mandatory US insurance only covered “accidents”. It was cheaper to fly to Germany and back, and get it done for free. Paying, what, around 30k for a birth? Skin contact afterwards (holding it) an extra fee? That’s just unimaginable to me. 🤯

My wife and I split our Elternzeit after our son was born - so each of us had seven months with him at home, me (obviously) having the later 7. It has been a really great experience I can highly recommend. Being there 24/7 when he started to conquer his world from sitting up over the first steps up to the "Eingewöhnung" at the Kindergarten was quite a voyage :)

Just an aside regarding food: I stayed in a Swedish hospital for 10 days and I GAINED weight. The food was fantastic. Plus in Sweden, if you are mobile, you join other patients in a dining room, so you have some social contact. We were served breakfast, lunch and dinner plus snacks (pastry or sandwiches) three times a day.

As a German, I have to say that it is actually perfectly normal in Germany to have a hot lunch and cold dinner. Have you ever asked where the American "Abendbrot" for cold dinner comes from? That's just German for dinner XD Coincidence? ;) But good hospital food... warm? It's a commercial kitchen.... they cook a lot, but rarely good...

Believe me. You saved him a lot of problems by dropping the IV. I work in IT and all databases I deal with only have the option to save first and last names when it comes to storing usernames, and sometimes those just have to match their legal names to perform certain operations. Names with IV, however, often cannot be entered into a lot of applications because this is considered an incorrect entry and then he would be stuck.

Three things occur to me: Congratulations on the expansion to your family! Sorry about your hospital food experience. The last couple of times I have been in hospital for surgery, the food has been excellent. Of course, the one clinic had a deal with the 5-star hotel next door and got its meals from the hotel‘s restaurant. Perhaps not the norm. :-) The fact that Dumbledore and Gandalf are both called wizards is misleading. Dumbledore is a human with special gifts and actually does magic. Gandalf, however, is a Maia, an eternal being created in the Timeless Halls before the beginning of the world Arda who has taken on a physical human form to perform a mission on behalf of Middle Earth, and he does not do „magic“ like Dumbledore. They are both wonderful characters in their world, but simply cannot be compared. See what happens when you ask a pedant questions like that?

The sugger is for Tea. On every floor in Hospitals in germany are tea kitchens where you can get hot water and tea bags or sometimes Coffee. ;)

I can see the happiness on y’all’s faces. Glad the whole process went well and hopefully you’re enjoying your time with your new family member:)

I'm a German and my wife (a Filipina) had our 3 kids in a German hospital. - about doctors involvement - yes, midwifes run the show in the delivery room, but the doctor is superior. If problems arise during birth, both the midwife and the doctor switch roles. This means the doctor or his team take over while the midwife supports it. Usually difficulties can be discovered prior to delivery, thus certain preparitions are made. This includes pediatricians and necessary NICU units - if that may be necessary. Thus - the way it goes - is usually decided upon normal delivery or problems being suspected. BTW midwifes are considered coaches for anything concerning late stage pregnancy and first period at home. If a lady has no experienced female support, midwives offer such support. But those midwifes are not bound to a hospital. Rather they are bound to the area they are serving. (Which makes it a different set of midwifes.) - about procing - usually being in a hospital (normal rooms up to 3 people) will be paid for by our health insurance. But we have to pay a prescription fee of about 10 Euro. I don't recall that for the delivery. Child birth is something very special - even for insurance - thus it could be that the prescription fee is not requested in this case. - family room - We didn't have that. In fact I was excluded from the waiting area in the maternity ward. I was only allowed to join my wife in the delivery room when delivery was closing in. This was done in order not to upset the other ladies in preparation of their birthing. Just after birth the newborn is taken away for a few hours in order to give the exhausted lady some really needed rest. (My experience is 30 years ago. There might have been some changes.) - food - yes, it is not the best. But you should remember that many people have diatary requirements. A cantina cannot fullfill such requirements. Thus you use the lowest common ground. The food you get should not cause any health problems. The sugar, I don't understand. Usually that is added for the tea - no more. Mineral water and tea should have been available in abundance - without extra fee. Often relatives bring along fruits or small bakery stuff to supplement the food. Usually you know by then which food you can eat without causing a problem for mother and / or child. - prisoner - If you want to stay and especially for the ladies after a long delivery, resting is paramount. But for everyone going to a hospital I would suggest, bringing along an e-reader, a tablet or a laptop (tethering to your cellphone should be possible where an internet connection is NOT provided). BTW the TV is there for a reason. Usually there is a spot in the hospital wher you can buy snacks and magazines (not a full spread, but at least something). Especially if you are a busy person, get something along to keep yourself busy. - naming rules - They really exist to prevent names that may cause harassment in the kid's later life. But usually foreigners are not fully subjected to German laws. Often the city office is NOT fully schooled in the options. (The office doing it is the "Standesamt" where you declare birth, marry or get a death certificate.) Each state in Germany has a main office for this at the state capital - where the other offices ask for help (usually). If the office refuses your wishes, you can ask for a later change by court. In your case military US offices might help those local German offices to see the light. As you seem not to stay in Germany for the rest of your life, they should have been more lenient toeards the customs of your own country. - citizenship - Yes, you are right about your kid. And NO you are wrong about dual citizenship. According to German law kids can have the citizenship of their parents if all laws (German and foreign country) allow it. I have already mentioned that my kids had a German father and a Phillipine mother. Thus my kids inherited the German AND the Filipino citizenship. France allows the same. Dual citizenship is not common, but it is not impossible. As you mentioned German law recognizes citizenship according ancestry. - government benefits - this "parental holiday" (my naming) is currently up to 3 years. But you don't know additional benefits. I'm an insurance guy and thus I will fill you in for those. In the old age pension insurance the mother will currently get 3 years of paid old age pension insurance. This is given to every mother even if she does NOT take the holiday. An additional 10 years are given for education and increasing the pension. That is not improving that much, but it is added because mostly ladies have to restrict themselves in their jobs for about 10 years if they care for their children. Working half a day is such a restriction. This benefit is thought as some exchange for this care that you provide. This rules were inacted retrospectively. Thus my mom (currently 92 years old - kids from 1956 to 1962) gained a higher pension as well. Birthing children is not easy and giving care is not easy either. Usually this information is automatically passed via the city office to the old age pension office - thus you don't even know that it is done (but I'm an insurance guy and thus I knew. I prepared the pension applications for my parents as well.) - children care or Kindergarten - usually kids are placed in such care with age 3. If you need somebody before that you organize privately something called Tagesmütter. Something like a professional grandmum but with papers allowing her to do it. Most states have declared that having a place for your kid is a fundamental right which you can claim. But it is best to walk to such a place as soon as possible and explain: "Hey I live there and I want my kid to be with you in xx months." Thus you will be on the list. Should be NO problem. My 3 kids were treated that way. School is something that the local town invites you and the kids for. Remember you are a registered citizen in your town and thus is your kid. - stroller - we have some where the baby seat of the car could be used instead of a full bed. For your purpose that seemed to have been a better solution. On the other hand the version you have shown, the bed can be replaced by a seat. I have been to the Philippines often and my kids were at least 18 months when we did that. I have experienced younger kids on planes, they were just crying and refused to be calmed down. They simply cannot stand the environment. That may be no problem if your kid is used to noise and sleeps easily. Older kids can be made busy with lot of things, but being 2 parents helped a lot. As we have been flying with Asian airlines mostly, the support via the female staff was extraordinary. They just LOVE kids. I'll post this now and will add some more details as I continue to watch your video. I try to be most accurate, but remember my memories are from 20 to 30 years ago. Medicine and procedings may have changed. I will add if I see any changes that are important. - I did not see big changes and I added my experience and knowledge.

Congrats to your baby! The last two times I was in a german hospital the food was surprisingly good. It really depends on the hospital. In germany everything around pregnancy and birth is paid by the health insurance. Usually you would have a 10€ co-payment for every day staying at hospital. Only when giving birth you don't have to.

As to the legacy name, I worked in a bike shop where we took peoples names and addresses for warranty and recall purposes and one time I sold a new bike to guy who was the 5th in his family to have that legacy name. His pregnant wife was with him and I asked them if they were having a boy and whether not they were going to name him the 6th. The father-to-be said "funny you should ask, last night was my father's birthday and everyone in the family was there for the dinner and cake. My sister asked if we were going to name the boy the 6th. His response was absolutely not." He said there was a hush in the room and his parents didn't talk to him for the rest of the night. Don't be those parents in 30 years if your son decides to break the tradition.

Congrats for the birth of your child. Glad germany has gotten such a good verdict from you. So we get ready for number 2 !

As someone working at a german hospital and sometimes eating the same lunch as the patients, the food can be quite hit and miss. Some dishes can be quite good, some are damn bland. But it might be that the quality in our hospital isn't too bad.

As someone with a long parental illness and hospital history I've seen quite a lot different hospital meals in different hospitals in germany. And they mostly are... not good. The hospitol food is a running gag in germany. But in fact it depends heavily on the hospital. The most have quite cheap food, coming from a central distributer and then warmed in the hospital kitchen. But some hospitals (like the wone my wife gave birth luckily) have an own kitchen providing quite good meals. Oh, and the Elterngeld paperwork is equally confusing for germans. Like every german paperwork.

Actually, the sugar is for the tea that is served with the meal or afterwards. Usually you can have tea with every hospital meal. Which for the most part is as bad as the food.

Back in 1984 , I was a military wife. Our baby was born in a german hospital due to him being a premie. Let me tell you that was a trip!! At that time my son was granted dual citizenship. I could write a book on that experience. LOL!

Congratulations you two! I am happy that everything went smoothly and both mother and baby are healthy ;) It’s always so uplifting to read about or watch positive birthing experiences! I delivered my little one last September with a midwife in a birthing center and went home 3 hours after the delivery. It was a beautiful fast birth without any pain medication or problems.

Herzlichen Glückwunsch !! Alles Gute Für Die Zukunft Eurer kleinen Familie !

I think we have different understandings of how Leacy Names work and that's why our authorities are struggling with that. You often have an inherited name here - especially with old farming families. Since 1615, for example, the first son has been named Xaver, because the first free farmer in the family was called Xavier. But at any given point in history you have a maximum of four Xaviers on the farm and for that the first of the four has to get really old. People can easily tell these four people apart, not only because of age but also because a different middle name is often given or because and in many areas it is also common to use the farm name as the name for the actual farm owner in the family. So it may be that your name is Xaver Clemens Maria Oberhuber on paper, and you were called Clemens as a child, everyone in the village addresses you as Hollerer because your farm is Hof Holler. ... and if you then also have a striking physical feature - like red hair - and a special knack for horses, people will call you Hollerer Ross Fuchs and not as Xaver Oberhuber XVI. ... and when your mother calls for you with your full official name, you know your in trouble.

Congratulations on the new family member and good luck for the little family! I hope you all stay healthy and safe 😊

Congratulations on your little one! I’m a Canadian who had a baby in Germany back in 2019 and can also confirm that the hospital food was underwhelming. Right after giving birth, I was starving after 24 hours of labour and they brought me a couple slices of bread and cheese. As far as the KITA goes for us, our child will just be going now in September. We were in the process of moving to Dresden this spring and I only applied a couple of months ago. Of my 3 choices, only 1 contacted me back with an open spot, so we did get lucky, but I wouldn’t worry about it too much. All the best to your new little family!

About the whole legacy name thing: You can only give your child a second name, which would be between your first and last name. But even then, "III" would (obviously) not be a valid name. It's different when you're born somewhere else and immigrate - you already have your names which may not conform to German naming policies. But nonetheless, they have to be entered into your German passport as they are.

As a German that is used to the fact that the most important and basic things get covered by our insurance I would be really interested what you have to pay in the US.

Congratulations! A sweet baby boy!😍 Reg. the hospital food: It's super different depending on the hospital. In the birth clinic where I was having my baby, for example, breakfast was a buffet and you could get rolls, cereals and fruit basically all morning until lunch was served. I've noticed one thing about the lunch though: The day before I gave birth I had the regular meal, which was decent, but afterwards they changed it to the "breast feeding mom" menue (you know, without onions, garlic etc.) and that was just awful. Our midwife literally saved me from developing a postpartum depression. My son had a newborn sepsis and was moved to the IC unit for babies on the second day, while I had to stay in my room for the postpartum care. (My husband got to stay with our son.) I moved in with my son two days later in a normal room in the childrens clinic (he was still given antibiotics), but I felt somehow disconnected to him, as if he was not my baby. My midwife came to see us in the clinic and, of course, when we we're at home later. She saw the signs that neither me, my husband or my mom realized at the time, and she helped us so much.

to my understanding the only things we paid for in terms of our third baby's birth in germany was the family room. (72€ a night for 3 nights). That was it. TOTALLY worth it.

Regarding meals: my daughter gave birth in Karlsruhe 7 months ago and she could choose from 2 alternatives for each meal, but due to Covid restrictions, the restaurant was closed and family rooms were not available

Congrats on the baby! Well, in my experience hospital food in Germany isn't bad at all. I've been to the hospital twice so far and I loved the food.

Congratulations to your Baby!! I can see the HAPPINESS in your faces....

I'm pregnant myself at the moment (5th month) and I'm really excited about what the experience will be like. I'm 23, my partner is younger than me and it's my first baby. But we're both looking forward to receiving our sweet little human and I can only imagine how it will feel holding him or her in my arms for the first time, realising 'This is my baby and I'm his mom' 😍♥️

8:30 No, you can't say that in general. Hospital food is different in every hospital and in some it is bad and in some good. Then you have to remember that in a hospital they have to cook for many clients and most of them have to follow diets that don't allow the use of spices. For example most people with cardiac and circulatory illnesses are not allowed much salt. That is why I always have a travel set of spices with me when I'm in hospital. It has the diameter of a soda can and half the height and has 6 compartments with different common spices like salt, pepper, paprika,.... And btw - for the money they want in an American hospital it should a high class menu like from a restaurant with Guide Michelin stars.

After our kid was born, we also chose the whole 14 months Elternzeit, but with my wife going for 12 and me taking my two on the first two months already, so we could both be at home. A colleague of mine and his wife split theirs into 7/7. All pretty flexible and not that complicated. For every month of taken Elternzeit, the respective parent will receive ~67% of their after tax wage, based on the average of the last 12 months before applying. But there is also a minimum you will definitely get if the average would fall below - in case you were unemployed or simply housewife/-man without a job.

As I gave birth to my two sons, 1979 and 1981, I stayed in the hospital for 10 days. For a cesarean birth it was up to 14 days. So nowadays it is much shorter. What they told me was it takes time to recuperate and if I went home I wouldn't get the rest I needed for recuperating completely, as I would start doing chores, etc. I must confess I really loved the time of my second birth, as I had my mom and my mother in law taking care of my oldest child. Just imagine, 10 days resting, reading and listening to music in my old cassette recorder. Lovely!!!!

I had a really bad day today but your video put me in more than just a good mood. congratulations on your baby! I'm very happy for you both and I just had to smile the whole time of the video. The sugar at lunch is for afternoon tea or coffee.

Keep in mind: Giving birth is a very normal, natural process. For hundred thousand of years babies were born without anyone overseeing the process or maybe just relatives or the village eldest. Of course there are risks but unless there is an emergency situation, that's less than one out of hundred cases, I fail to see the requirement for having a doctor being actively involved in that process; it's actually not a medical process.

With the legacy name: It is really uncommon in Germany for a father to give his son his name. Actually, nobody really does that, except for really conservative or rightwing people, at least since WWII. (And I personally am so glad!)

My son and his wife live in France. They had twins and one had to be transferred to a specialist intensive care because he was poorly. It was a 24/7 intensive care and as my son does not speak very good French the hospital provided a translator. Cost - nothing! Quality - world class! Baby - now 3 and doing brilliantly!

Sorry to hear about the food. All my experiences in Swiss hospitals, along with those of my wife and our daughter (who's a doctor) have been, that the food quality was between good and very good. Emminently edible. I even missed the ordering time for my first breakfast and lunch as I was delivered to the hospital at 3 am and was in Angioplasty until around 5 am. So they asked me what I wanted which for breakfast a good hour later than normal was more than I could eat after a heart attack. Lunch, then I ordered on-the-fly on the light side. Dinner then was "normal" and was light because ... in Switzerland the main meal is at lunch. BTW - pricing: My total bill for 5 days in the hospital, 2 of those were in intensive care was CHF 16,600. The insurance paid for EVERYTHING except for the deductible for that year. Since I'd had quite a few appointments and such during the year, this was low. Plus there was a CHF 15.-/day "solidarity charge" to help defray the costs of the rare patients who do not have insurance - mostly foreign tourists. (No one is refused care for not having insurance) So my out of pocket costs were a grand total of CHF 149.- Language: No problems. My German is fluent, but many doctors seemed to want to practice English. So I complied. In fact, I even had to say that they could speak Swiss dialect, inasmuch as I understand that too, but it's kind of a natural reaction, that if a Swiss person hears someone speaking High German, the reply in Swiss High German.

Congratulations! I had a severe heart attack 3 months ago, stayed 5 days in intensive care and another 2 normal. The food was actually way better than I expected, the whole week through. Btw. the Schnitzel you mentioned was actually a chicken escalope ("Hähnchenschnitzel"). No wonder it wasn't at all like a typical Schnitzel.

Herzlichen Glückwunsch!!

Hospital food is interesting in the US. We had our first child in city A, hospital food was fabulous. Food you'd get in an upscale hotel. Just mind blowing. Wife had some complications so we had to stay a day longer than normal for a c-section. We both were so glad to finally be able to get home, none of us got any sleep as my wife was constantly (every hour or two) checked upon by nurses day and night. Then, 3 years later we had our second child, same hospital chain but now in city B (same state) as we had moved. Absolutely horrible food, barely edible. Luckily, no complications this time and she was allowed to go home a day earlier than normal. Also didn't get much sleep, so we were glad to be able to go home as early as possible. My wife did hire a midwife for the second child as she wanted a VBAC, we had to pay ourselves but it was well worth it. This was 10 years ago.

Congratulations on a healthy baby and a great experience!

It all starts with the hospital meal. Nobody said having kids is easy.😂

Congratulations, I really hope that all the three of you are happy (and healthy, of course)

Midwife’s also do the care all the time during pregnancy. I appreciated this a lot, because it is much more human than a doctor taking care of pregnancy.

Herzlichen Glückwunsch! Alles Gute für Euch drei und viel Freude :-)

If you think German hospital food is bad, don't go to the Czech Republic. It's been a few years but I was in hospital in Prague for a week and friends brought me food AND I had to bring my own toilet paper!! The best part, however, was that so many people spoke English. That was amazing!

the quality of food is different in different hospitals. there are some hospitals with actually really good food.

Swede here, my partner and I had our first child born in week 29+3 last November (2023) with an emergency c-section after my partner developed preeclampsia. We both had to stay at the local Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for about a month. We later transferred to the Neonatal Care Unit (NCU) for another 2 months, totaling a bit over 3 months in the hospital and away from work. I could not begin to imagine the amount of stress if we had to pay for that stay and not get our income at least almost covered by the national insurance fund. My partner also had what we call pregnancy insurance that gave her additional monetary means above the national insurance fund. Here all healthcare services are free for everyone under the age of 18 and in the end, it cost us nothing out of pocket, however since I earn more than the national insurance fund covers I lost about 15% of my monthly earnings. Since many Americans always default to either "wait time" or "taxes", last year (2023) the sum of ALL taxes ended up at just under $22,000, Remember that is income tax, communal tax, and ALL other tax forms we have here.

Nice to have a new little person into this world. ♥

Congrats on your Baby! ❤️ When my son was born, almost 20 years ago (holy sh*t), I was served beansoup for lunch. I couldn’t eat it, because I went into labor. As I came back into the room a few hours later, the soup was still there. Until then, I only didn’t like beansoup, afterwards, i absolutely hated it.

Congratulations! so happy for you. Donni3 your hair looks great!

all the best to the 3 of you!

Congratulations on the baby. Three shifts of midwives, sounds like the bith of my oldest son. There was one midwife plus one doctor at the moment of birth. Very soothing atmosphere. Hospital food highly depends on the hospital. Luckily didn’t need to go to a hospital for decades now, but I saw the situation at visits.

Hi y'all, congrats! I'm so happy everything went fine. Hospital food - it depends on the hospital you're staying in. I had a c-section 23 years ago in Mannheim Klinikum (I chose this particular hospital bc I had a risk pregnancy with twins and at that time this hospital was the only one in a 25km perimeter around my home where the neonatology was in the same hospital as the maternity ward, so I went there "just in case" sth went not to plan). They had a big buffet in the foyer of the maternity ward (like in a hotel) for breakfast with cereals, rolls, sweet buns, jam, honey, eggs, cold cuts, and cheese. Lunch and dinner were pretty good (excellent for a hospital). Westpfalzklinikum is notorious among my relatives who live not too far away from K-town for having bad food. CU twinmama RQOTW Neither - it's Vilgefortz von Roggeveen, it took a witcher, a sorceress, and a higher vampire to defeat him... (sorry for any spoilers of the novels)

Congratulations for your Baby! 🥰 Most of German hospitals have a budget between 2,50 - 4 € per day and patient to serve breakfast, lunch AND dinner, because most of the money they get from the health insurances is invested in medical equipment and staff. If you compare it with american hospitals where you have to pay thousands of Dollars for ambulance, hospitals or seeing a doctor, the meal should be the least thing to critizise. They are hospitals, no hotels, financed by welfare.

Congratulations!!! 🎉 I’m very happy for you both. I’m glad your delivery went well and you have a healthy baby boy. I’m due in October with my 1st. I’ve struggled with finding a Hebamme, they seem to be on a short supply in Munich. I’ve decided to do a birth preparation class online. I was told a hospital will have midwives around the clock so it’ll be covered. For the afterbirth care I’m planning to register with an ‘emergency Hebamme’, I can only register in 34th week with them… we’ll see how it goes… My experience with German hospital is positive (I went in for an operation), except the food… I can confirm the food was not what I expected but ok for 2 days… all the doctors spoke pretty good English, with nurses it was a different story but I’ve managed..

Congrats to both of you and welcome to this world to your little boy. Sidenote: that new haircut looks really good on you.

Congrats to both of you and welcome to your son! Donnie's new haircut looks good. Gandalf rules!😀

The doctor will only help if it’s a medical emergency and the midwife assists the mother for several weeks after birth and that’s free of charge.

Glückwunsch ihr drei! Schön, dass es euch gut geht und dass Aubrey sich so gut fühlt, dass wir sie in einem Video sehen können! Bin mal gespannt, ob ihr beim Konsulat in Frankfurt noch was zu der Sache mit dem Nachnamen rausfindet. Klingt sehr deutsch die ganze Geschichte. Und Gandalf natürlich. =)

It’s been a few years for me, but my eldest daughter was born in the hospital, with only an assistant present during the delivery. We went there in the afternoon, stayed until the next morning, and went home with a new human being. My youngest daughter was born at home. The midwife (and a GP who was still training) arrived a couple of hours before the delivery and they left an hour or so after the delivery (at 01:30). After both deliveries, the midwife (another one) came the morning after for a couple of hours to help out. She helped us for about a week. Costs for child birth is free where I live btw (Netherlands).

I work in a hospital and we usually get the same food as the patient and it is pretty good. There is also frontcooking. It really depends on the hospital and I have no idea why they gave you a package of sugar for lunch 😂 Btw our midwifes are highly qualified. They know what they are doing and I know there are horrible birth stories, but I never heard one among my friends. Midwifes and hospital staff really make an effort to make sure parents (especially mothers) have good experiences. Okay, regarding the name. It is meant to protect children. Some names are associated with negative things and to prevent bullying, but I don't get why you can't, but I don't get how IV would harm your child. It isn't true you need "German blood" to get German citizenship even if you're born here. I have a friend, whose parents are from Vietnam. She and her brother were born in Germany and the parents could choose whether they got German citizenship or not. They chose German citizenship and my friend is German. Who cares where her parents come from? But she was born in 1989. Maybe it is different now. Anyways, congratulations! Looks like mother and baby boy do well ❤️ You seem to be so happy!

Congrats you two. So glad everything went well. Wish you all the best with your little one. Especially man many wonderful memories 😊 P. S. You used "Passierscheine A38" for the burocracy part, love the origin of it, so many childhood memories. Also interesting fact: there was a period of time, where we were able to have dual citizenship. I don't remember why they went back on it, but at least for me, born in '86, I have dual citizenship as a Austrian-German.

Congratulation to your baby! About the food: When I was in the hospital in Heidelberg (Chirurgie) and Stuttgart (Robert-Bosch-Klinik) the meal was not as good as in a Restaurant, but it was okay. And I had the options to choose between three meals. In Stuttgart I was also asked, what I wanted to eat for breakfast (bread or breadrolls, sausage or jam, coffee or tea and so on). I couldn't complain about the food at either hospital. But the worst hospital food I've experienced in Spain. There it is normal that family members cook for the patients every day.

What an awesome video and a nice haircut as well. My family and i got the popcorn out and watched this video about three days ago and I had just realized that I had not commented yet lol. I am so glad that everything had worked out with the midwife aa well as the hospital. Sorry to hear that the food wasn't "awesome" while yall had stayed in the family room. As you know my food experience at the hospital in Garmisch was no less than steller and I had figured that it would be the same across the board. Anyways, I am glad that Baby Donny and all are doing well. We are so happy for yall here in Georgia . We can't wait to see Baby Donald grow. BTW, yall are glowing in this video :).

From the comments I thought you’d tried to name your baby Dumbledore or IV (first name)! Glad I watched the whole video 😂 The legacy name thing isn’t really a thing in the UK either. It’s not unusual for you to be called James McDonald (for example) and your father, grandfather, great grandfather etc etc to have been called the same, but we don’t number it. I’m not sure if numbered titles even get registered on the birth certificate as a title is often what you inherit rather than born with. I can understand the confusion from the German authorities (a bit annoying that it’s clearly possible on the system though considering your own driving license has it!). Congratulations to you both!

Legacy names are just not a thing anymore in Germany. A few decades ago it was still common to name your firstborn son the same as the father (and probably the grandfather), but even in those cases there were never any numerals involved. And nowadays that tradition is pretty much dead.

We had everything. Baby in a Hospital, Baby in a birthhouse, Baby at Home. Always with a midwife. I guess we really trust these beautiful women 🥰

I am german and I gave birth there twice. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way, cause of all the benefits and help you get before and after giving birth. I gave birth in different towns and each time I did have a handful of midwives in the room. First birth was induced and I wish there would've been the option of getting a epidural, but it really was only reserved for women who needed a C-section. One thing that's very different is that in Germany they're hesitant to give you a C-section if you don't need it, cause they believe in giving birth the natural way due to the bonding hormones that are being released. I stayed 3 days as well both times and I was grateful cause they really made sure that you and your baby are bonding the right way. With my second child I experienced bladder weakness, which scared me, cause I'd go to sleep abd woke up with my sheets being soaked. Thankfully I was right there in the hospital and didn't have to go to the ER. And that's kind of why they make you stay for a couple of days, in case you do end up having these issues right after giving birth. First time I had a huge room to myself and the second time I was in a smaller room with another new mommy, but that didn't bother me at all. As far as citizenship goes, when I gave birth the first time her dad wasn't in the military anymore and he didn't have german citizenship, my daughter was automatically german due to me being german and his name was just added to the birth certificate. He did have to officially accept that he's her dad and sign the notarized letter. The second time when I gave birth to my son, his dad was active duty military and we had to get his American birth certificate from the military after his german birth certificate and name application was accepted and ready. He now has a American passport and my daughter has to redo her greencard every 10 yrs just like I do. We now have been living in the USA since 2004 and even though we both could apply for American citizenship, we both are germans at heart and we're hesitant to give up our german citizenship. Other than that my daughter has been going to school and college just like everyone else here in the USA. She's worked here ever since high school and since she can do everything a American does, she is in no rush to give up her german citizen and I don't blame her. The both of us still have our german passports, so traveling back home is easier. Germany is a lot more strict when it comes to citizenship and that's another reason why we'd like to remain german. If anything ever happens and we'd have to end up staying there for a while then we don't have to worry about all the hoops you'll have to jump through in Germany. Immigration in Germany is a nightmare and they're so friggin strict. The hospital food sucks everywhere 😆 And it'd true, in Germany our biggest hot meal is lunch and for dinner we keep it simple and light. Usually bread, cheese, sandwich meat aka cold cuts and to drink we have tea for dinner. In America it's the dinner that is hot and the biggest heaviest meal of the day. Oh yeah, in Germany we usually have soup before lunch and/or some salad as a pre meal. Everytime I'm in Germany, I eat more but I lose weight and when I'm back in the US, I gain weight and it's so annoying 😆

So, I had my (first) baby 3 months ago in a Munich hospital. It was a C-section, so I had to stay 5 days. The care was amazing and also during the birthing everyone was very nice to me. I had to share the room but I didn't mind (though the first bed neighbor was a bit crazy 😅). The food was ok. It wasn't great but at least edible. I agree with you that it was a very good idea to bring additional snacks. I had been told that before, so... xD

First: Gandalf. Second: No, I was only in hospital as a child and I was never a picky eater, but... no taste, bland bread and the weirdest pudding I have ever tried. Third: A question: Did you take baby classes and was Donnie also there? I heard it is something like a crash course on diaper changing and breathing. And finally. Congratulations

Congratulations to your new baby! I hope you have a great time settling in. Haha, yeah, the hospital food really isn't that great in Germany, but I think that depends on the region. One of my friends was in hospital in Bavaria and sent me a picture of her food, saying it was quite good. Gandalf of course! :-D

Congratulations to you and all the best for your family 💐❤️ You really got me at 14:42, that's exactly what the paperwork felt like with my children 🤣🙈

firstof all: CONGRATULATION again! second: Good to see you again Aubrey! third: couldn`t you name him Donald the short one? 😂😂😂😂 (Yes i know, german buerocracy is like german hospital food - horror!) btw best wishes to all of you and thousands of beautiful, lövely moments. feel hugged Michael/Hannover

Congratulations to your new baby boy! Glad to hear that it went well!! Your experiencesoundsike mine here in Sydney, Australia. There is a midwife present at birth here as she was with you. All midwives were amazingly supportive and calm. We also were left alone for stretches of time, but it was clear that she would come in if called. I stayed at hospital between 10 hours and 7 days after giving birth, due to baby needingtobein NICU. Food varied with each child- my husband brought me take away food once a day. Costs at each birth: we had to pay for parking. Unfortunately no midwife visits here, that would have been great! Elternzeit und -geld leider nicht mit Deutschland zu vergleichen. Are your parents visiting soon? They must be keen to meet your little one. BTW: firstborn boys often were given the same first name as their dad in the past in Germany, with a different middle name. Not very common anymore. Dumbledore of course

Allerherzlichsten Glückwunsch an Euch 3! Und Gandalf - gar keine Frage!

The fact that an american knows about Passierschein A38 is funny as hell!

Congrats you both :) donnie your hair looks great :)

American here: had 2 babies in the states. Vanderbilt in Nashville has midwives and the doctors typically only intervene if assisted delivery is needed (forceps, vacuum, c-section etc). I only had midwives both times :)

I think in Germany the birth of the baby is more a personal thing so that's why the lack of staff,or lack of involvement. I think a lot of women give birth at home and just have an overall better understanding of birth.. I feel like in the US people perceive it as some kind of service they need to receive,so they want as much service as possible,as if it's not something what you need to be doing on your own(since it is clearly a child emerging out from your insides) My birthing experience in Germany was not nice at all,but my first baby I delivered at home in the Netherlands and that one went much better,it was very calm and just perfect. In Germany I found myself in a hospital where only one person spoke english and it was a male nurse,and sadly at the time i was new in the country so i spoke 0 german and i also requested no male attendees because of my other health conditions..I suffered complications so there was a bunch of people in the DR and also it a was a teaching hospital so they tried to usher some 12 students into the room which was denied by me and that somehow didnt help me since they were upset that they couldn't teach their class as I was struggling to deliver my baby... so it really sucked,but it was still much better than what I would be receiving for care in my home country.

I'm Dane and my husband is Austrian. Our daughter was born in Vienna. It cost us 20 Euro, because I had to stay 2 extra days because I bled and had to have transfusions. (We were only charged because I stayed longer than the allotted days). Later I had our sons (2, one at a time) here in Denmark. Even though I had to be operated on after birth 2, neither deliveries cost us anything. In Austria you deliver as if you're as if you are having Cesarean cut. I didn't know that, but Austrian girls do. In Denmark you're being given both food and drink (light sandwiches and juice) during the delivery. (They were born 1985, 1988 and 1993, things may have changed since then. But my husband didn't stay during the night. But there were no designated visiting hours).

Nice haircut! I'm not a wizard expert and can't really comment. I was surprised to hear you state the Germany doesn't allow dual citizenship. I am not sure what the issue is with your baby, but my husband was borne in Germany and became a US citizen about 15 years ago. In the process, he lost his German citizenship because of the current Germany rules and regulations at that time. About 7-8 years later, those rules changed, and he applied with the German authorities to have his Germany citizenship restored. The process was cumbersome (among other things, he had to write "the story of his life" in broad strokes and BY HAND (!) and he had to provide 10 German contacts living in Germany who would vouch for him. The authorizes did actually call a couple of his contacts to check. The whole process took almost three years, but he now has dual German-American citizenships.

Congrats and all the best to the three of you. First Things First: the best Magicuser ist of course Rincewind 😛 About that dual citizenship Thing, and you might have covered this at some time, while Germany generally does not Accept dual citizenship, there are (Lots of) exceptions. For example a friend of mine was born in Texas, while her (german) parents worked there. She lived in Texas for about 2 years and the Family moved back to Germany. She has German as well as US citizenship, as she was born to german parents, but on US soil. So consequently although she lives, works and pays taxes in Germany, she has to fill out a crapload of IRS paperwok every year.

When it comes to baby items, the one thing I can't recommend enough is a "Stillkissen" (nursing pillow?) Its a long pillow filled with tiny styrofoam balls. It makes holding the baby during nursing a lot easier and you can make a little nest for your baby to lie in so it can not roll away from where you put it. this is especially good if you are really tired but want to cuddle with your baby. Every parent falls at least once asleep while the little one is not in a very safe position. Putting your child in a little nest cuddle up to the nest and then falling asleep is a lot safer than holding your child on your arm and falling asleep. By the way I removed the tiny syrofoam balls from our pillow and replaced it with extra tiny balls, wich makes the pillow softer and quieter. And finally: Gandalf all the way.

Herzlichen Glückwunsch! 💐

I want to give you a short correction on the ius soli: if at least one of the parents lives at least 8 years in germany and has a permanent residence permission, the child will get the german citizenship.

75€ for the room a night and that's it, that's wonderful! A quick google tells me it's 13k in the US and that's if you don't need a c-section

16:48 the pictures 😁 Congratulations on the arrival of Donald IV (!) aka Passport Three. 😃