Margie writes:
<When was this written? I was in nursing school 28 years ago, work in an
LDRP
unit now, and have never seen a baby turned upside down or held by it's feet
after delivery.>
That means you are thinking in terms of people now 28 years old or younger.
My historical perspective on birth practices began in 1948 in nurses
training.
Less than a year after graduation, I began my 44 year stint in all areas of
OB.
I started out in newborn nursery, and soon transferred to L&D for 9 years.
There was very little actual research on such topics then, and the things I
learned in nurse's training were routines that had been going on for decades
since babies began to be born in hospitals. I felt myself captivated by
the ideas of Grantley Dick Read, and the work going on at Yale New-Haven
Hospital in rooming in. I talked the supervisor into letting me be the first
mother in our town to room in 54 years ago, and finally "made it" to
"natural"
childbirth with no anesthetic or repair with my 5th child. The struggle to
help
integrate these ideas into practice has made for a controversial and
stimulating career!
So when I have read impressions of psychologists in the organization whom
Jennifer quoted, it has made me think of those babies I saw then. They were
effected by twilight sleep, general anesthetics, being held by the feet and
slapped on the behind to "stimulate" them to breathe by crying, chilled by
being bathed vigorously in the delivery room and separated from their
mothers,
often for 24+ hours, and then, only taken to them for 30 minutes 5-6 times a
day,
swaddled tightly, so as not to pick up germs from their mothers, I am
thinking of
people the same age as my own children, from mid 50's on down to mid 30's.
This age group of course is well represented among those (of us) who have
benefited from years of psychological counseling to deal with some things
we carry with us from our family of origin.
Many, many people in this age group are the "movers and shakers" in today's
society.
Sometimes when such thoughts cross my mind, I abruptly awaken myself
from idealization with the questions such as "I wonder how the people who
have carried on various genocidal horrors over decades were born and fed
and cared for as infants??? Many no doubt born at home with loved ones
in attendance and without technology and breastfed for years.
All of life is so intertwined. I didn't realize when I was smack dab in the
middle
of my hospital culture, that so many of my thoughts about the "heroic"
things
I was engaged in in the middle of night while many patients and other HCP's
were asleep were mainly expressions of my own desire to "do the very best
I could with the situation I was in at that moment in time."
Same thing with my own parenting. I am amazed at how little I understood
back then, and I certainly understand many things much better now..
I continue to try to forgive myself and keep moving on to do
better in the future as my roles in life change. Keeping an open mind is
not without sacrifice but it's part of gaining wisdom.
Jean
************
K. Jean Cotterman RNC, IBCLC
Dayton, OH USA
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