I didn’t want to imagine Charlotte having to be like single teenage and early 20s welfare moms who have to use “the system” partially because of their ages, and we end up having to “pay” for their babies.

Sadly in my area there are too many welfare moms, who would probably love to get jobs to be successful & get off the system, but sometimes feel that they can’t because they think they can’t afford the priveledges the system offers, such as health insurance & “free” food. (Then there are people who skirt around the system by never marrying but might as well be, so that they can claim themselves on one tax return, their pseudo-”spouse” on another, and still keep their kids on the “system.” Sheesh!) Okay I’ll leave my soapbox now.

Autumn-

I’m not an expert or anything, so maybe someone else can chime in. But I believe in the UK, they have a thing called universal healthcare. Basically, people over there pay much more in taxes than Americans do (like 50% of their income). A lot of that money is used to pay for the universal healthcare plan which every citizen is entitled to. It isn’t like here in the states where some people have health insurance and then the people who don’t have to get medicare/medicaid or go to free clinics. Over there, everyone gets free healthcare but there are a lot of downsides to that too. Sometimes they have to wait a really long time to get seen by a doctor or they can’t choose their own doctor for example (they have to use whoever’s available). In Charlotte case, by going private, I think her mom means paying for her own doctors/midwives so she can use whoever she wants and deliver wherever she pleases (in other words, she’d have the birth of her choice but she’d have to pay for it).

LOL That’s cool that she wants to go natural with her child’s birth, and given her age and barring any complications I could see her delivering naturally, still though I could see her using an epidural if she needs it.

One question I have is about the private vs NHS thing. When they mentioned that, did they mean her using a private hospital or midwife vs. delivering in a public hospital? Or is the UK NHS system almost the equivalent to using Medicare/Medicaid in the US? (If it is like the Medicare/Medicaid system in the US, then imho it wouldn’t be fair for Charlotte as a celebrity to make the tax payers pay for the birth of her baby, since she could easily afford health insurance. Otherwise, if NHS just means using a public hospital just like anyone else her age, that’s perfectly fine. )

I’m also Welsh so I find this hilarious, and who knows… maybe she will get a natural birth. Lots of women do it after all (not everyone screams for an epidural). My mom went completely med-free both times she gave birth. We’ll see what happens I guess. Charlotte seems like a pretty strong person.

lol – they all say they want a natural birth in the beginning but once those labour pains hit she’ll be screaming for an epidural!
Good luck to them both though

I am Welsh myself and I think that is it great that she wants her baby to be welsh as well. It also makes sense since the English and the Welsh dont get along, and since both of them are welsh, so should the baby!

Good on ya Char.!