Dear Lactnetters,
My brother brought his wife and their first baby, Ethan home from hospital
in Surry, UK today.  They are both American-born, but have lived in
Guildford for about 10 years.  Through the wonder of e-mail, we keep in
close contact -- I even had baby pictures by the time Ethan was 18 hours
old!
I have no way of knowing whether their experience was typical, but if it
was, then the UK is *way* ahead of US in maternal-child care surrounding
birth.  From the close and supportive care their midwife team provided
prenatally, which continued even after it was decided that an operative
birth would be required (due to maternal thrombocytopenia and persistent
breech position), through the flexible length of stay, new parents Karen &
Jeff seem to have gotten just what they needed.
After delivery, Jeff was handed Ethan and sent to the recovery room "to
soothe him" while (unconscious) Karen was stitched up. Karen kept baby
Ethan with her throughout her hospitalization, and she tells me that *no
one ever* once suggested that she should A: send him to the nursery so that
she could sleep, B: put him in his bassinet because keeping him in her bed
was dirty/dangerous/inappropriate; C: offer him a supplement of any sort or
D: give him a pacifier.  In my area, every one of these things would almost
certainly have come to pass -- even though the mother would have spent only
1/4 as much time in the hospital!
I feel that the low-key, "you know what's best and you can probably handle
this just fine on your own but if you need a hand just buzz" kind of care
they got was a real morale-booster.  They came away feeling that Ethan was
theirs, that they could make good decisions about his needs, and that they
were competent to be parents.  Too few of the moms I see a few days after
birth have that sense.
Any comments?  Do other American LC's feel the same way about birth care
here?  Do those of you in the UK feel the way I do about birth care
*there*?  Is the whole thing related to the fact that all health care
practitioners in the US have to keep in the front of their minds the fact
that they could be sued?  We seem to have the attitude that it would be
better to take over, and insist on the most risk-free possible *short-term*
course, and then leave patients to manage on their own once we are safely
out of the picture.  Maybe I have a jaundiced view...
I am not hospital-based, but work for a group of peds.  As a result of some
frustrating experiences and flack related to our new "formula-unfriendly"
standing orders for breastfed newborns,  I requested copies of all policies
related to feeding and teaching used in the maternity dept. we are involved
with, but they are "too busy" right now (past 3 months) to respond.
Thanks to those who e-mailed me re: ectasia.  This seems to be a murky and
little-understood condition.  I'll be off to the "breast doctor" tomorrow,
since it appears that I have mastitis!  (10 years after weaning my last
child; I nursed three without ever experiencing significant plugged ducts
or any mastitis!  Go figure...)
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