When recovering from my delivery I was amazed that each day I was brought a menu to choose my day’s meals from. I thought I was doing pretty well until I heard that our French counterparts can enjoy a cheese course with their hospital meals. How very civilised.
There is another priority of French postnatal care that is somewhat different from our own.
Did you know that part of the French government funded postnatal care is a vaginal toning service? And it’s not just some French woman lecturing you about doing your pelvic floor exercises there is actual coaching, equipment and digital collating of your efforts involved.
It’s pretty considerate of the French government if you ask me. Since the mid-eighties the vaginal tightening, called la rééducation périnéale, has been paid for by French social security. It was introduced many years before, apparently to boost the birthrate (presumably because postpartum women could begin trying to conceive again more quickly) after the World War II had impacted massively on the country’s population.
The “re-education” involves, as Claire Lundberg an expat mum wrote in the Slate, a ‘kinesitherapist’ inserting two fingers into the post-partum vagina and teaching exercises to strengthen their muscles.
She goes on to explain that there is also a “biofeedback method” that involves an electronic device that according to Lundberg resembles “a little dildo with electrodes coming out of it”. The device is inserted in the vagina, then hooked up to a laptop that records the force of your internal contractions.
“You can watch how hard your muscles are working on the screen and even play little video games using the sonde as a joystick,” she explains. “I played a Pole Position game at my last session, and a friend played what I can only call Cooter Pac-Man.”
It’s a powerful image.
There have been suggestions that it is a slightly sexist practice. Janine di Giovanni wrote in the Guardian that she was told it was “for her husband”. Like some kind of chummy gift from the French government for her man presumably delivered with a wink and a cigar.
I do feel the idea that it is a sexist system is a tad hysterical. Lundberg notes the benefits for new mothers, “la rééducation significantly reduces incontinence and pelvic pain at nine months after giving birth.”
Di Giovanni also recounted how she was offered free “abdominal re-education”:
“I was prescribed a private trainer, paid for with taxpayers’ money, to help get my stomach back in trim. This is, of course, the reason all French women fit into skinny jeans a month after giving birth.”
Catty? Yes. Jealous? Totally.
Personally I would love if Enda would spot me a personal vadge and abs trainer. The postpartum period can be hard on us psychologically, our lives are suddenly unrecognisable to us and so too are our bodies. Many would argue that the French are putting unfair pressure on new mums to bounce back after childbirth but I think it is a pragmatic approach. They are acknowledging that a new mother’s body has just been through a profound event. What’s wrong with helping mums to regain their fitness and with it body confidence? It’s not just a matter of looking better for our partners nor is the taxpayers money going towards a superficial cause. It is a system, I believe, that cares for women’s well-being during a vulnerable time and can contribute to a happier population.
What do you think of the re-education? Is it sexist or enlightened?
