Sometimes I wonder what my son’s first year would have been like if he had been born in my native Germany. Or what my first year as a mother would have been like.
As a German expat and mother of a one-year-old living in the U.S., I find myself constantly torn between family policies and attitudes on both sides of the Atlantic – and I often wish that it would be possible to combine the best of these two worlds.
American moms are tough – because they have to be. This starts at giving birth. Most pregnant women in the U.S. work until at least a week or two before their due date. Once labor sets in, most are in and out of the hospital in less than 48 hours.