More on Life in Sweden - Adventures in Lagom

[pennswoods]

I went out last night with a bunch of expats and learned quite a few interesting new things that hadn't experienced before. But there are others that do keep coming up regularly and I thought I'd list a few of them here:

1. I learned last night that when you give birth in Sweden, you are not allowed to leave the hospital until you pass a breastfeeding

Comments

[pennswoods]

I probably shouldn't generalized from this example, but this experience really seemed to have traumatized this Spanish woman I met. Her child is 9 and she's still not over it.

My various responses to this post

[clevermanka]

Re: My various responses to this post

[pennswoods]

Christ on a cracker has he gotten better with age. Damn!

Oh wait, that wasn't the point was it. :D

Re: My various responses to this post

[clevermanka]

I will engage any point that references Tom Hiddleston's hotness. Not picky. Not picky at all.

Re: My various responses to this post

[pennswoods]

Goddamn. You know, it's the leaning out of the face that really does it for me. I don't have time anymore for baby-faced boys.

[stgulik]

Learning to breastfeed was trickier than I'd thought it would be. The hospital wanted to send me home 12 hours after the baby was born. I faked symptoms of anemia so I could stay an extra 12. During that time I had a lesson in breastfeeding so I managed to be better prepared by the time I left. I prefer Sweden's policy.:-)

[pennswoods]

I think it's good to have this training and help. But the experience seems to have really traumatized this Spanish woman who just wanted to be allowed to go home with her baby where she wasn't constantly being watched to make sure she was going to be a fit mother. I wonder if her experience was just really weird.

[iibnf]

2. What about if she doesn't know? Or if she was raped?

[pennswoods]

I wondered about that too. I am sure there are also other laws in place to account for this, but I don't know.

[opaljade]

I enjoyed reading your list… makes me want to try on a new country for a bit. ;D The 'lagom' philosophy was particularly interesting. It ended up being our topic of conversation at the breakfast table.

[pennswoods]

Lagom is an interesting policy. It's a bit frustrating though when you're looking for something (e.g. a certain type of spice for cooking) and you just cannot find it because lagom definitely influences variety. There's a kind of homogeneity here that I haven't encountered anywhere else I have lived.