Mother told to clean own room after caesarean

I just don´t want to read another article about Sweden being one of the best countries in the world. I would have refused to clean out my own room, isnt this why were are paying so much tax?

And the guy who got tired of waiting and stitched up his own wound got in trouble. Go figure. You'd have thought he'd get commended. Do-it-yourself health care.

What is the real cause of this, is it lack staff or more likely lack of funds.

When you have conservative governments this is the policy they work with. They are well known for this all over the world, cut spending on health and education. The reason behind this is they want to pay for their own health and education, but do not want to pay for others. These people have money and can afford this type of luxury life. They want to cut costs on health and education to pay for their tax cuts. What happens real people suffer?

a CONSERVATIVE government in Sweden??? You must be joking!!! Lefty Marxist more like.

This is what happens when they make laws like IPRED and FRA (with a lot of prodding/bribing from the music and movie industries) then allot funds to enforce those one sided laws that only serve offshore corporate scumbags rather than use those same funds to do some good, create more jobs, fix things that even Stevie Wonder can see is broken.

But then, they dont want to upset people who have enough power to buy judges; like the judge who oversaw thepiratebay trial... and the judgess who oversaw thepiratebay appeal and ruled that a judge with clear ties to the copyright industries and the industries lawyers is unbiased!

Money talks and...

I have never seen a hospital system like in Sweden.The worst management systems in hospitals are in sweden.I am from so called 3rd world country but its far more better than sweden.

Some people here really do have chips on their shoulders...

@Great Scot: "when you have conservative governments this is the policy they work with.">>BULL KAKA. The horror stories my family members experienced during Soc Dem administrationS far surpass this. There isn't enough space here to tell them -- they started before I moved here 27 years ago...

this is bull''''! There are people out there looking for jobs. HIRE SOMEONE!

More likely 75% of the staff were on their summer vacations

Still not understand the summer vacations here. There are profesions that come with some social responsability. It is sad that some people are studying medicine only to make money.

And why am I not impressed to know that all this is happening under the Moderaterna administration. C'mon Filippa, what exactly did you do for us during the last 4 years? should we vote for ur husband so you still get a salary to do nothing and he keeps on his dirty business while driving Sweden into the American nightmare?

is Sundsvall in Sweden?

not all hospitals are bad in sweden....BUT, after two years of not being able to pin-point what was wrong with me , the doctor here in värnamo told me that there was nothing wrong with me and it was all in my head! It turned out I needed an operation to repair my heart valve!

This takes the whole do it yourself Swedish Ikea syndrome way too far.

Russ, you're right, people are looking for jobs, and honestly you don't need a medical degree or nurses diploma to clean a room properly. You just need gloves, a sponge, and cleaning agents. But people require stupid things when it comes to applying for a job. Going through Arbetsformedlingen's "platsbank" site yesterday, I saw an ad for a dishwasher that required "documented training and experience of dishwashing". Who goes to school to learn to wash dishes?!

Anyway, this story is very sad. I'm glad though that they would rather ask a patient on the way out to help with her own room, than leave a mother who's in labour to go clean it themselves. In my opinion they picked the lesser of two evils.

@Youdee

Why don't you face the truth, it is a well known fact that conservative governments always make cuts in health spending. It is always been known that Sweden had one of the best health systems in the world. This was bought about by successive Social Democratic governments. It is only now that the horror stories have started, you can also add the man who had to stitch himself up only last week. Sweden have slipped right down the list, to be exact over the last four years. In this case, if they are short of staff then employ people?

The problem is the current set up in hospitals in Sweden, they use nursing and medical staff for everything. What they need is other staff who are not medical staff such as cleaners, administration, cooks etc but the current laws require everyone to be medical staff. It means you end up with many people looking for work but un able to work in the hospitals because they are not medically qualified to be a cleaner. Also budgets are a problem for all medical facilities.

And yet we could spend 200 Million kronor on a wedding this summer.

@ Rishonim :- Yep & don't forget all the money wasted on refugees & immigration.

@flintis. Don't get me started. Sweden has become the waste land to those seeking to drain the society.

Poor mum. Stupid staffs.

@Flintis - I agree that they use alot of money on refugees, but I can't agree with other immigrants, like love or work immigrants. I don't get a single pretty shiny öre from the government.

My man and I had to prove our financial status before I was allowed to move here. When I was renewing my visa, we had to send his tax information in with my application. They wanted to see how much money my man made and paid taxes in.

Wow, Sweden's lucky that this story didn't pop up when the 'voted best in the world' committee were evaluating countries.

HAHAHAHA BULLS**T I'd like to see somebody try to tell me to clean up my own room after a serious operation !!! My sister had a cesarean section and I mean that is a HUGE cut that goes right into your "innards" I don't even think you're supposed to lift anything or bend over for 2 weeks !!!! SWEDEN has one of the highest tax rates on EART

Only in Sweden...

No other government in the world would be allowed to get away with charging so much tax and having a healthcare system like this. It's beyond ridiculous!

There's no way lack of money can be an issue with all the taxes they take in. The medical equipment here looks like it's from the 70's, the quality of treatment is worse than it is in a 3rd world country and they don't have enough staff to even begin to cover basic needs so where is all the money going??

I would've told them to go to h#ll if staff at a hospital told me to clean up after myself.

Most likely half or more of them were on vacation. I'm all for vacations but the morons in the public sector here need to realize that you can't almost completly shut down operations for 3 months during the summer just to insure that everyone has time to get sh#t-faced everyday for a month.

I've run into a similar thing with school and CSN. They've screwed up my payments so badly that I haven't recieved anything for 3 months now. I don't get socialbidrag or anything and only have 2 part-time jobs so that little bit of money makes a huge difference. My sambo and I have called literally 12 different people multiple times but EVERYONE has been on semester. The only response we got was sorry we can't do anything again and again.

People are in desperate need of jobs here, immigrants and swedes alike, freaking hire people!!!

Dont really know what the big deal is?

We had to do the same thing in Lulea.

The husband/ father would have been there because he gets 2wks off straight up for birth then a shared 480 odd days off to look after the baby!!!

Put a couple of towels sheets in a bag on your way out to collect where your real tax dollars go!!

Talk about having no idea and barking up the wrong tree!

Fantastic incentive to never get sick (or have kids) and stay out of the health care system. I've heard nothing but horror stories about the health care here...I'm beginning to think they might be true.

It's good to see that some people are raising the question of where has all the money gone. This current government in Sweden has been making huge amounts of cut backs, primary in health. The government has also been selling off state assets. The government must be loaded but no its not. This money has been used to make huge tax breaks for the better off. It is true that Maud Olofsson made the statement on TV when she was elected "now we can all be rich", a statement that many other right wing positions like to hide away from. She is now continuing, wanting to urge Sweden to sell off sections of state-owned energy giant Vattenfall.

great scott - i've seen you get confused as to what "ER" stood for. so you can understand my doubts about your expertise in the healthcare industry.

you should see a maternity ward in the USA - it looks like youare saying at the hilton. funny - that has even less goverment funding than this ward in sweden.

This is totally fine. If these women don't want to change bed clothes or daipers or hear screaming in the night and all the rest then they just shouldn't have babies. The hospital has too much to do and not enough people to do it, get over it already and help.

Woman who have had caesarean section are NOT physically disabled,she is able to clean her own bed and pick up some dirty clothes. And whats the problem that the FATHER assist ? The Swedish hospital is not a some kind of five star hotel!

Great Scott->

I've been here for a little over two years now and I don't understand what you are talking about when you say "tax breaks for the rich." I work as an engineer and yet the government takes home far more of my salary than I do. In fact, my salary before tax is significantly lower than my colleagues in Germany, UK and USA receive for doing the same job. How does that make Sweden a safe haven for professionals or the rich?

When I ask for a pay rise, my company wants to offer me more vacation or some other non-taxable benefits instead - of which there are very few in Sweden.

The health care system here is almost as bad as the NHS in the UK, but at least in England, the general population recognise the failures of their system. The Swedes are brainwashed by their government and useless journalists into thinking that the whole thing is peachy.

On that note, lets take some more vacation and pay some more tax. Hurrah!

I used to work with a Swedish company and always laughed about the ridiculous tax rates and wondered how long it would take for people to realize socialism never works. Keep going down the path you are on and you will get nothing but a bankrupt country and worse health care than you can imagine.

We here in the USA are already sick of Obama and socialism and we will soon reverse the healthcare system that you have to go back to the best health care delivery system on the planet.

Guess the Dems had a provision in Obamacare for Sweden too. I suppose the non-stream media just chose not to tell us. (Oops! Does that mean I'm racist?)

Something we can all look forward to with Obamacare on the way.

A very basic requirement in any hospital is cleanliness. Patients in various stages of ill health, discharged or not, do NOT make good maids. Bending, stooping, lifting, stretching-- all physical actions needed to effectively clean, all very bad - unadvisable if not impossible- for people recovering from having their bodies cut open from surgery. Whoever had the bright idea of making patients clean their own rooms needs to be fired from their current job and hired on as much-needed janitorial staff.

welcome to Obamacare

Great Scott, you haven't a clue what you're talking about. I was born and raised in Sweden. Swedish Health WAS great. The best, bar none... back in the 60's. For several decades, the wait for anything has been too long, sometimes as long as 3 months. You can't get this test and you can't get that test. Too expensive doncha know.

What has changed? The enormous influx of refugees and immigrants that are stressing the system to the max. Taxes may be high, but not nearly anywhere enough when too many don't pull their weight. That's MHO... and yes, I know that's politically incorrect. :D

On the bright side she was provided with a midwife to help her in the delivery of her child.

@Great Scott:

Your'e kidding me right? This is a conservative problem? You are pretty clueless. Sweden has long been held up as an example of how wonderful nationalized healthcare is and that my friend is the epitome of liberalism. Stop misleading people about your opposition or at least become informed on the issues before you post. Better to keep silent and have people think you're stupid than post something that removes all doubt.

Where has all the worlds money gone ???

The Rich have stolen it, and WE need to get it Back !

Well cleaning your own room isn't as bad as dying in the waiting room at the ER (wonder where that happened...). In the US mothers get kicked out of the hospital after 1 day (average) after a c-section. Cleaning up your room seems odd, but at least better than no healthcare.

@great Scott Tax breaks for the rich? Yet another uninformed statement of yours. So-called tax loopholes—deductions and exclusions that reduce one's tax liability—are mainly used by the middle class, not the wealthy. The largest tax expenditures are the exclusions for pension contributions and health benefits for workers. Among the largest deductions are those for mortgage interest and state and local taxes. In 2005, taxpayers saved $62 billion in taxes due to the mortgage interest deduction, with 72 percent of that going to those with incomes below $200,000. The child credit saved taxpayers $46 billion—almost all of it claimed by the middle class. Just $8 million went to those with incomes over $200,000. In fact there is a provision designed specifically to prevent the rich from utilizing too many tax breaks called the Alternative Minimum Tax. Guess what? The AMT has now hit the middle income tax payers. In 2005 the AMT only affected 1.3% of taxpayers whose income was between $50,000 and $100,000 but in 2006 it affected 43% and in 2007 it rose to over 50% for taxpayers in this income bracket. I'm sorry folks but making $100,000 a year is not wealthy and $50,000 is much too close to what is defined as the poverty level in this country. This illustrates the problem with all liberal "soak-the-rich tax proposals", eventually they end up taxing the middle class, too.

When did Sweden initiate OBAMACARE there? I hear it's all FREE and top shelf care

The ignorance I am reading here is just staggering. People actually think that because they live, they should just receive everything. No, you shouldn't. Every individual works and does his share, and the private sector provides needs based on the market. This is what works. Government provision means only that your taxes go through the roof, that people have a disincentive to work and achieve because it is all being done for them, and eventually government runs out of money because the socialist system is unsustainable.

Stop hating the rich. Stop envying the rich. Just stop it. It is ignorance. There are problems in every system. There are no utopias. Get into reality, people. What is in the atmosphere that people are breathing that is causing them to want to go willingly into a form of socialist tyranny with a system that has not succeeded anywhere and simply cannot succeed? It's like a form of mass mental instability. Pardon me if I don't care to go along with you into that fantasy land.

If this hospital was so short staffed they are responsible in notifying any patient AHEAD OF TIME that this kind of treatment will be expected from the patient and let that woman decide whether she wants to clean up after undergoing a cesarean operation. They should be sued for not notifying patients ahead of time

At least the mum didn't have to stitch herself up.

I mean, you just have to look for the good in everything.

@kajsa1: "In the US mothers get kicked out of the hospital after 1 day (average) after a c-section."

You have no idea what you are talking about. In the US standard stay post delivery is 2 days for a vaginal birth, 4 days for c-section. A hospital or doctor who "kicks out" a woman before the standard stay has elapsed opens himself/herself up to unimaginable liability that it would make your head spin. Get your facts straight!

Being the mother of 2 (ages 2 and 4,) in addition to having surgery twice in the past 3 years, I am very familiar with medical care and hospitals n the US.

To Kajsa1

Are you kidding me about mothers being kicked out after 1 day post c-section in America. Have you ever had a child in America? I did and guess what?? It was the best possible experience. I did not have to leave for 2 days ( I could have stayed longer if I needed to) and I did not have to clean my own room. Post c-section mothers automatically can stay 3-4 days depending on how they feel.

Please do not speak about something you do not know. We in America have the best health care in the world despite what some socialist newspapers say. Our doctors and nurses are very highly paid and our patients are treated with the utmost dignity and respect. Even if they are drugged-out and high and have no insurance. Please do not disrespect my country or our wonderful health care system.

Of course our health care will be among the worst in 2013 after ObamaCare plunders our system.

In 1976 I had a Caesarean at an Army hospital, free government health care in action, and had to make my own bed. I knew that before I went in that this was expected.

I believe there is more to the story than meets the eye. There is nothing wrong with telling a perfectly well patient to put their bed linens in the basket. I think the patient is just looking for attention.

Ponzi schemes, whether they are run by a government or private sector, always collapse. When the economy shrinks, they have a tendency to collapse more quickly.

Socialism fails when you run out of other peoples money to spend.

Paraphrase from Margaret Thatcher

Mrs Mori

FYI I live in the USA but was raised in Sweden. You do not have your facts straight. I had a c-section and would have been able to stay another night (but choose not to). I don't think it is bad to only spend one night. I am a RN and I do have experience with this. I work as a recovery room nurse. I have experience in many different departments. You DO get a longer stay at the hospitals in Sweden, you do have more ability to be with your infant after delivery as well. Personally I believe people can recover at home safely and that we often spend to much money putting people up at the Ritz when simple instruction and motivation could get them home for a safe recovery. Yes perhaps certain hospitals and doctors recommend a longer stay after birth but please educate yourself on the insurance comapnies...they dictate your care. Perhaps your deliveries were prequalified for a longer stay, very unusual. We send back surgeries home the same day (sometimes two level back fusions ). We need to look at where our money is spent. You need to understand that it's the insurance companies that dictate your healthcare (in Sweden it is the government....you choose).

@kajsa1:

Having an insurance company refuse to pay beyond the standard 2 days for vaginal delivery and 4 days post c-section is very different than, "[i]n the US mothers get kicked out of the hospital after 1 day (average) after a c-section." YOU madam asserted that hospitals are kicking out patents 1 day after c-section, which is complete and utter hog-wash. Both the treating physician and hospital would be facing law suits as far as the eye could see. Oh, by the by, I've made a living of suing hospitals, doctors and insurance companies, so I know a thing or two about standards of care and insurance coverage.

"I could have stayed another night (but chose not to,)" is very different than hospitals kicking out patients. YOU made a choice, not the hospital. Again, you didn't get KICKED OUT.

As far as staying longer in the hospital post delivery in Sweden, I do not know, but YOU stated that women are kicked out of American hospitals. So back it up.

I do not know of a single hospital in the US that separates mother and baby post delivery. From my own experience. I roomed in with both of my boys from the moment of birth until I left the hospital. How a mother could have the ability to be with her infant more than continually being in the same room post delivery, I do not know.

You mention my deliveries being "pre-qualified" for a longer stay. Eh, no. It is standard practice among insurance companies (at least the ones in California,) including government run insurance (Medi-Cal,) that all women are given the option to stay the proscribed 2 to 4 days, depending on the type of delivery. Any doctor, hospital, or insurance company that prevents a woman from staying the proscribed 2 to 4 days would be slapped with a lawsuit.

YOU believe people can recover at home safely. Interesting, where exactly did you go to medical school? In which state are you licensed to practice medicine? There are reasons women stay in the hospital post delivery... they are called COMPLICATIONS, you know things like infection and hemorrhaging. There are also surgical procedures or conditions that require observation and labs to be done post-surgically. Or are patients who stay taking advantage of the luxury accommodations?

In the US insurance companies do not dictate care. They may not pay for something that is not covered, but you have the option to pay for the treatment yourself. I've done this in the past. I'd rather have the option of paying for a treatment myself than have the government make the decision for me by banning the treatment. If you do not know what I'm talking about. Do a little research on the cancer drug Avastin that the government is trying to decertify because it will be too expensive under Obamacare. Is it even available in Sweden? That is what happens when government chooses.

Mrs Mori and Kajsa1

I think I am a perfect medium between you two. I am an American and had my first child in a typical US hospital. It was a standard induction that lead to a C-section. I stayed in a Ritz-Carlton-like hospital room for 4 days. I never had to want for anything, except for my baby. My baby was in the NICU for the first week of his life since he had fluid in his lungs after delivery (normal complication from C/S delivery). I hated it. The whole ordeal was too medical and nothing at all like a normal biological process. My doctor simply did not want to wait for a 1st time mom to push out a baby with an OP presentation. According to the monitors my baby and I were fine. It was 330PM and the doc still had to make his rounds at his other hospitals. What doctor has time to wait for a mom to spend 3 hours pushing?

The nasty thing is that in the good ol' USA most OBGYNs do not give VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) serious mention. Usually their medical malpractice insurers and the hospital they have privileges at put limits on what they can do. 90% of women that have C/S in this country go on to have a repeat C/S with their subsequent pregnancy. The research clearly points to VBAC being a safer option than elective repeat C/S. In most countries around the world VBAC is standard. Not here. I had to give birth with a homebirth midwife when I had my 2nd because I knew if I went into an American hospital I would more than likely be sectioned again - only because liability would be lessened not for genuine safety.

We may have the fancy hospitals and every drug at our disposal, but it doesn't equal better outcomes. Sometimes less is more. My homebirth was perfect because I got individual attention, drugs when they were truly warranted and I got to recover in my own bed - all for a fraction of what I would have paid for a hospital birth.

If the average American OBGYN has a 40% C/S rate don't you think that their skills in relieving things like shoulder dsytocia and surprise breech would become compromised? Who would you rather have a vaginal birth with, the OB that has the 5% C/S rate or the OB with the 40% rate? More isn't always better.

would it be considered beyond the pale to advise a man who had a major abdominal surgery to clean his room 48 hours after surgery? at all?

A US vet friend tells the story that one day as he was at his guard post a local woman was walking down the nearby road. As he watched she sat down next to a tree, gave birth, nursed the infant for an hour while she rested, and then got up and started walking down the road again. Never underestimate a mother.

@Mrs Mori

My wife had 2 C-sections in two different states. First one was an emergency C after pushing for 8 hrs. She was sent home after 2 days from a prominent hospital in the nation's capital. She wanted another day to recover but the hospital said no when our insurance company said no. We paid over $12K out of pocket for that one even though we had "premium" insurance coverage.

I'd say the room was about as clean as a rundown Motel 6 and had her mom (a neo-natal resuscitation nurse) not been there, things might have been much worse. She was separated from our son for about 6 hours (during which time I stayed with him).

Our second was born in the only hospital in a small rural town in the West. Attempted V-back, but ended up a C section. We were sent home after two days. A much nicer room, but not quite a Hilton -- more like a clean, sterile doctors office. We paid $9K out of pocket for that one, on top of a good health insurance policy. Wife was freaked out about staying another day and racking up more costs, so she opted to go home. This time, the hospital would have let her stay if we'd wanted to. Son was separated from mom for about 6 hours here as well, (I got to be with my boys before their mom did it both cases).

This summer, friends have had a rash of births, two "natural" and one C. The naturals were sent home within 24 hrs. One clearly was not ready, but her husband was in Kuwait and their insurance would not pay for more and the hospital figured that since he was enlisted, they couldn't cover any overage. I picked her and her baby up at the very last minute (around 11 pm), took them home and got them situated, and friends returned the next couple of days to provide post-natal care. She was depressed and had some health issues relating to the birth that required careful attention for the next few weeks, so we all made time to see that she, her 3 year old son, and the newborn, were taken care of.

The other two, (C-section, sent home after 2 days, and a "natural", sent home after 1 day), were uneventful as each mom had husbands at home, (who had to take vacation time to care for them).

I'd say it's very infrequent that moms with C-sections are allowed 4 days in hospital after birth here in the US, and I think 1 day after is the norm for vaginal births unless there are some kinds of complications.

I would gladly have swapped out changing some sheets for the $21,000 I paid for the births of my two sons. Hell, if someone will pay me even a couple grand to change sheets, I'll change professions.

If "Obamacare" is going to do that, then I'm all for it.

Utopia does not exist in Sweden, USA, Cuba or anywhere else. 90 to 95 percent of healthcare is good enough, but then there is no story in that for the media. Some of you are like vultures feeding off scraps of media news, that they love to publish to drum up attentipn to their web sites and newspapers. Sweden is à good country, but just like you and me and other countries, we have big flaws. Most politicians play to the audience as they are in it for the power, fame etc. The fact is most of us don't want a radical politician to take the reigns and really deal with the core issues. Ask every politician that has existed and I guarantee that all of them say they want better education, hospitals etc.... But they lack the will and too scared of failing, so the issues continue. Goodnight!!