When I gave birth (almost 10 years ago), we weren’t given a private room as requested. I had to share a room and my husband (Finnish) was only allowed to stay during visiting hours which was just a few hours per day. I basically had to fend for myself in a hospital where most of the nurses didn’t speak (or refused to speak) English. I wasn’t told that there were snacks available for new moms to help replenish the energy spent from breastfeeding. I was also never told how to check if my child was able to get milk from me.
A starving newborn and half starved new mother should never happen in a hospital.
Fortunately, towards the end of our 2nd day a nurse who spoke English was horrified when she checked in on me and the baby and gave us the nourishment we were badly needing.
Giving birth is already a traumatising experience. Recovery shouldn’t have these extra stress and discrimination.