Ambrose-a-rama, Babies, and the Chinese

I was summoned back into the doctor's room with the English speaking nurse. The doctor started talking and the nurse translated for me that I was pregnant. Then she asked me, "Do you need this baby?"

What an odd question, I thought. Did she confuse the English words "want" and "need?" I remember hearing other kids' parents telling them that they had their wants and needs confused when the kids told them they needed some outrageuosly priced thing. Was she really asking me if I wanted this baby? Would I admit that at the age of 35 I was so human that, yes, I think I need this baby. Not just want, but need. I think Randy does, and I especially know that Myles does. But she probably really meant "want" and that in turn really meant that the doctor was ready to schedule me for an abortion if my answer was no.

I just told them yes, this baby was wanted. The doctor wrote something in a booklet I was supposed to bring with me everytime I returned to the hospital. The hospitals (and my dentist here) do not maintain records. Every patient is responsible for keeping track of their own medical records in these little booklets. There would be no appointments, no referrals to a recommended OB with privileges at the hospital. I knew it couldn't be just like the US, but I didn't realize it would be like this. The doctor wrote out some notes in my booklet and gave me a box of folic acid "for the baby's brain." The nurse told me to come back in about three weeks for an ultrasound, though later I would wonder if she really was supposed to say three months. When I did return, there was much confusion about my being there so soon, and even after paying the 100 RMB VIP charge and the ultrasound charge (another few hundred RMB), she said they were too busy to see me, and that they might not be able to see anything anyway, so could I come back the following week?

An interesting saga is unfolding for those of us who keep up with Ambrose-a-rama.

Jen is pregnant and encountering some astonishing attitudes as she goes about searching for the right fit in health care for pre-natal care and the birth of their baby. Follow them and see what they find. So far she has chronicled: "Do You Need This Baby?", "You Have the Lowest Birthrate in the World?", and "What You White People Want".

Fascinating. And, of course, also sad.