Thread by @lymanstoneky

This survey report has some clear typos in it, and the methodology is a convenience sample, so, caveats.... but the cross-cultural gaps it shows in birthing norms are interesting nonetheless. drive.google.com/file/d/1Kn1CQg…

Especially comparing Europeans and North Americans, two groups which should both have pretty similar access to the sampling frame, a pregnancy tracking app.

North American women are more likely to say the father of their child is highly involved in the pregnancy:

also, note that they truncate allllll the axes. so, yeah.

But European women aren't necessarily sad about this. They're the least likely to say they want more support from the dads.

When it comes to birth partners, Western European women are a lot like North American women.... but wowza easter europe!

This difference gets even bigger when they add a control for "will he ACTUALLY be your birth partner?" because in NA, he actually will be, in Europe, that's just mom's wishful thinking.

And then the gap grows even more when they ask moms what they MEAN by birth partners. North Americans mean "he will be IN THE ROOM." but many women elsewhere mean "in the hospital."

Anyways, sampling issues noted, it's kind of a fun little glimpse at how the actual experience of childbearing differs across high-income societies.