You may be right about people in rural areas-there is a reason most people live in them, and it isn’t to have more oversight, concern, etc. It is to be left alone to live a (usually) close-to-nature, hippie-but-conservative life without interference. It is a totally different world from SA, just over 30 miles away.
Most of the kids out here are homeschooled or in private schools, and there are a lot of home births, too, with a nurse midwife.
My cub was born with the military, so I’ve no idea what goes on in the civilian ones, but my doc said I could go home after less than 24 hours, and no one asked me a damn thing-I picked up my kid, got in the car and went home to rest. That was a long time ago, so I’ve no idea what may have changed.
I agree that story sounds like the parents are paranoid, but with what goes on today, but considering some of the stuff that goes on, maybe we would be, too.
it is fine to eschew contact and want a more isolated existence, but it really pays to be informed about what goes on in the rest of the world and to be somewhat savvy. there are not black helicopters in EVERY sky. i think someone in the thread pointed out that if there is no pediatrician on staff at the hospital, they are covering their behinds by requiring that you have one for them to refer the baby to in case of a post-birth emergency. now where i live, there is no hospital that does not have a pediatrician on staff, but i would prefer that a pediatrician of my choosing be contacted in an emergency, so i had no problem giving them the name.