> As long as we're fantasizing, wouldn't it be lovely for an obstetrician
> to see a baby delivered over an intact perineum?

For what it's worth, when my daughter was born (she'll be 6 on Monday) I had
a rather elaborate birth plan that included, among other things, no
episiotomy.  My plan was followed, to the letter, thanks to my compassionate
nurse, and the OB, who I had never laid eyes on before, did not cut me (the
nurse saw to it that he did not).  My breastfeeding requests (no bottles,
pacifiers, etc) were also followed, albeit with a bit of amusement from the
staff.

This was a military hospital and my postpartum nurse (male) actually shook
my hand because I delivered an 8.7 pound baby with no stitches.  The
corpsman assigned to me had never seen a postpartum woman before (much less
cared for one) and he stood in my room and watched me nurse my new baby and
told me what an amazing thing he was seeing and how much he was looking
forward to the upcoming birth of his first child.

The rest of my stay went downhill a bit for a variety of ludicrous reasons
and my third child was born at home (9 pounds and another intact perineum)

Kathy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kathy Koch, BSEd, IBCLC
LLL Leader, AAPL
mailto:[log in to unmask]
"Parents are often so busy with the physical rearing of children that they
miss the glory of parenthood, just as the grandeur of the trees is lost when
raking leaves. ~Marcelene Cox ~