Beratung

While we're pretty used to most of what this area has to offer and aren't nearly as amazed by things after two-and-a-half years, every now and again we still encounter something that is so different from home that we can't believe it. In this case, after already enjoying the luxury of a five-day stay in the hospital after the birth, now we've taken advantage of something here called the Mütter- und Väterberatung (which basically translates as "mother and father advice").

It turns out that basically every community has at least one of these, and you can take your baby--without an appointment--to get weighed and ask all kinds of advice from a nurse, basically for free (20 francs for the year). Gretchen has been twice already (which is how we learned today that Munchkin gained 300 grams this week...I have no idea what that means). The nearest thing we have back home is probably the free clinic, which tends to serve low-income clients and has a certain stigma about it. This, on the other hand, serves all mothers and is really an amazing resource. I can't help but wonder if all those politicians who claim to be so concerned about "family values" would be willing to support something like that in the States (and I think I know the answer).