A friend of mine gave birth to her first child in England and her second child in France. She told me that the main differences were that the French never treated her as if she was ill while she was pregnant and after the birth, they focused on keeping her comfortable and guiding her through the breastfeeding process.

Her experience in England was of being treated during pregnancy as a less-than-perfect vehicle for child delivery and being expected, after the birth, to accept discomfort as her lot and to discover if she had what it takes to be a mother.