Dear Judy D (nonono, not Judy #2!), Your responsibility is awesome and if
I in any way intimated that you should shirk it or shortchange your young
charges, I am sorry that I was misinterpreted. One does the best she can,
no one can be God. We wish that we could forestall every bad outcome, but
we can't. I also think that it helps to stop and think sometimes
that, especially in medicine, and especially in childbirth and the
neonatal period, less is more, and the opposite, that more is less. One
thing that has greatly disturbed me lately, sitting in Israel and
watching American trends, and that is birth interventions
and technologies becoming routines in order to "protect" the health care
giver first of all, and not being at all positive that such and such is
actually better for the patient. Oh, I understand very well your anxiety
over having to "defend" your protocol; this is what the American culture
has gotten to, sadly, in my opinion. I saw C-section rates go from 10% to
50% in the States, because vaginal childbirth, suddenly after a few
million years, became dangerous and OBs "had" to protect themselves from
lawsuits and do a section. What will happen when OBs start to be sued for
death, morbidity or permanent damage after a section? I wonder how women
will give birth then. I
can very easily imagine protocols being written (not by you, but by less
caring and imaginative people), where breastfeeding will become dangerous
(baby's not latching! baby's losing weight! baby's not sucking
properly!etc!) and the hospital staff will "have" to protect itself and
breastfeeding, like vaginal childbirth, will become endangered.
Obviously, this is one of my soapboxes. Please, everyone, do not take
this personally. You all have very difficult and responsible jobs, you
take flak from all sides. Just remember that sometimes less is more and
more is less.
The out-patient clinic to follow-up in the first few days after discharge
is a very good idea - why not push for it hard? I don't see it as a
bandaid at all. The major surgery you speak of, Judy D, is changing
attitudes more than anything. And the OBs aren't the only "guilty" ones!
By no means. Women who don't understand what it's all about and run for
their lawyers are a tremendous threat to better health. MORE EDUCATION! The
States has gotten itself into a really bad cycle, and there are no easy
solutions, but the best start is educating the public and the medicos.
Finally, I'm 49, so you're right on about Judy Garland, but wasn't there
also a Judy Halliday then too? from Judy K to Judy D with best regards