Jennifer, 
 
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.
 
When the unit is busy, I sometimes "catch" babies to help out (NRP  certified 
and all). Have you seen a hospital birth lately? The lights are soft  and 
unless family members are making noise, it is quiet. Babies are only  rubbed with 
a towel on our unit if they are not breathing, in which case they  need the 
stimulation. So far, I haven't noticed that babies actually care when  you give 
them the vitamin K shot. They protest over footprints much louder, and  it is 
the parents who insist on those.
 
This issue is not black or white. Hospitals are necessary, even if  
everything that we do isn't. Homebirths are not a possibility for everyone, but  it is 
nice that it is a possibility for those who want it, and qualify for it. 
 
Blanket statements are seldom true. Regarding hospital births and home  
births, one is not good, the other automatically bad. Horror stories from either  
practice could be cited, but we shouldn't do that here. Practices on both sides 
 can and should be improved.
 
Margie Forrest, RN, BSN, IBCLC
The Lactation Corner @ Palms West Hospital
Loxahatchee, FL
 
In a message dated 4/8/2006 5:55:43 AM Eastern Standard Time,  
[log in to unmask] writes:

All  these departures from what normally 
happened at a home birth have  profoundly altered the experience of 
birth for the baby. Babies protest  being jabbed with needles for blood 
samples and vitamin K shots, don't  like to be turned upside down, 
rushed through space, and handled by  different people. Their skin is 
extremely sensitive and they complain when  rubbed and cleaned. We have 
been making them angry, afraid, defensive,  sad, and confused--for the 
greater part of the  century."





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