PARIS

I HAD a chance to think about the American health-care debate recently, while I was undergoing a procedure that’s mostly paid for by the French state: re-education.

This has nothing to do with adult learning, or with those work camps organized by the Khmer Rouge. It’s a girl thing. After a woman has a baby, perineal re-education shapes up her stretched-out birth canal. It also strengthens her pelvic floor for the next child, and helps keep her from leaking a little bit every time she sneezes. My doctor prescribed 10 sessions of it after my daughter was born. (American doctors typically suggest just doing some Kegel exercises, if anything.)

Where do America’s presidential hopefuls stand on re-education? I think it’s safe to assume that no Republicans would think the government should meddle with my pelvic floor. But if a Democrat wins the White House next year, the United States may be on the road to having a national health system à la française. Could re-education be far behind?

In France, making mothers good as new is a matter of national interest. The state health system pays 60 percent to 100 percent of the cost of re-education for all women after they give birth, and private insurance plans typically cover the rest. I finally solved the mystery of how Frenchwomen fit back into their skinny jeans six weeks postpartum: the state pays for abdominal re-education too.