Babies are expensive, y'all. They have been since forever.
In recent years, that's only gotten worse with so many things in shortage—like formula and childcare. Even if there isn't a shortage, there are major delays in shipping/receiving, inflation, rising fuels costs and labor shortages impacting cost and availability ... it's a lot.
Plus the cost of the labor and delivery itself is astronomical—in some places it can cost a million or more just to have the baby, much less raise that baby into adulthood.
So when Ben Martin became a father, he decided his family was 100% getting their money's worth from the hospital—especially since they'd just had twins.
He took every diaper he could find, every wipe, every everything and posted a TikTok of himself doing it with the popular "nobody's gonna know" sound.
The video caused a bit of a fuss.
People couldn't decide if Ben was smart to take everything or shady for "stealing."
Nurse and TikTok personality, Miki Rai, decided to set the record straight after seeing the misinformation people were sharing in the comments.
So she stitched the video—a TikTok tool that allows users to video react to another video by "stitching" the original clip and reaction clip together.
Her post started with a shot of Ben stuffing things from the hospital room into a bag. It then switched to her clip, which she opened with a heavy hitter of a sentence.
"Umm, you know that's illegal, right?"
Except it's not.
Miki goes on to explain:
As a nurse, she has to throw away everything left behind in the room when patients leave.
It's a sanitation and potential contamination issue otherwise.
In the video Miki encourages people to please take everything there is to take.
Interestingly, the clip was posted two years ago and is just now gaining in popularity.
Seeing the arguments starting up again, we got an update:
She still stands by that original clip and encourages family to take as much baby care stuff as they can find in the room.
There is one update, though.
In 2022 she encourages parents to ask for extras if they need them, most of the time hospital staff will be happy to load you up and send you and your incredibly expensive bundle of joy home with a little head start.
Fellow Healthcare workers—and experienced patients—chimed in to confirm for anyone still confused.
@mikiraiofficial/TikTok
@mikiraiofficial/TikTok
@mikiraiofficial/TikTok
@mikiraiofficial/TikTok
@mikiraiofficial/TikTok
@mikiraiofficial/TikTok
So new parents, make sure you know your hospitals policies—for example, hospitals in the Philippines don't do this—and then take advantage of every single one you can.
They're there to help you.
Take.
Every.
Thing.
@ColoradoNana6/X
@nogg_the/X
@imduckymex/X