In a message dated 2/5/2004 1:14:43 PM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
But again, the whole mentality that hospitals have to give something or that
moms should expect some kind of  "gift" is an unfortunate current attitude.
Dear Friends:
    I can understand this point of view.
    However, from another perspective, don't people want to give a gift  to
mark a significant life passage? People give wedding gifts, birthday gifts,
anniversary and graduation gifts. I know this basic feeling has been overly
commercialized, but I believe  its roots are genuine.
    Don't new mothers need celebration and honor?  Many cultures on this
planet treat the new mother in a special way; the US doesn't.
    I remember in the early 90s, the new mother and her significant other got
a fancy dinner, with a tablecloth and a selection of nice entree, on the
night before hospital discharge; this was at Osteopathic Hospital, before the time
when medicine went corporate in Philadelphia. That might have been the nicest
dinner a new set of parents would have for quite a while!
    I don't begrudge gifts for the new mother. I just wish the gifts were
truly useful: a nice set of fancy soaps and bubble bath, a gift certificate to a
nice restaurant, a sling or some other infant carrier.
    warmly,
Nikki Lee RN, MS, Mother of 2, IBCLC, CCE, CIMI
Maternal-Child Adjunct Faculty Union Institute and University
Film Editor, Journal of Human Lactation
Support the WHO Code and the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html