I just had to share this because it is so ridiculous. My boss is scheduled for a C-section on Jan. 21 for her third child. She got a letter from the hospital that says her baby will be born on Jan. 21, which is kind of cool, right? Then at the bottom of the letter in big, red letters it says that if you don't show up for the surgery, there will be a $500 charge that must be paid before they will perform the procedure.

Do you really think they have a problem with people just not showing up for their c-sections??? I laughed so hard that I almost fell off my chair.

Well, you never know. Maybe they've had a lot of women who didn't like the date chosen for their kid's birthday LOL. Maybe it's the b-day of an ex or something.
Seriously, I don't know much about the American system of having to pay for everything but maybe it's a way to ensure the doctor isn't going to show up for nothing. Time is money after all.

Most doctor's charge for missed visits if you don't cancel at least 24hrs in advance and thats without the scheduling of surgeons, anesthesiologists(is this even spelled right, lol), etc. I could see it costing the hospital hundreds if you decided to not show up. However I would definitely want some control over the day chosen.

Those things are not really necessary because every parent would love to have their own child. I wonder why the doctor said that. As if he’s not thinking. It looks like he don’t really trust the couple.

This from what I know is because the hospital has already taken the time to schedule everyone for that C section. The nurses and doctors and pediatricians that will all be there on time. It does make sense to me.

What I can't imagine is that any woman who is full-term not wanting to have the baby! The last 6 weeks seem to take forever as it is so I just can't fathom wanting to delay it. I believe the woman has some control over when the date is set when they are scheduling the C-section. My boss had some say on which day within a week of her due date.