In a message dated 2/20/03 1:24:33 AM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:


> for anyone to share a room with a stranger.

Dear Friends:
     A doula gives us a lovely list of things that will help new mothers, and
compares a L&D unit to a correctional facility. Nice analogy.
     However, having started my hospital career in the days when there were
2-bed,   4-bed, and even 6 and 8-bed units, I am not so sure that every
mother in a private room is a good thing.
     After a day in the hospital, I realized that I didn't see anybody. I was
going from room to room doing my work, as were all the other staff. Funny to
feel isolated inside an institution.
     At Booth Maternity Hospital, and in some other facilities, there were
options for putting a multiparous woman in with a primiparous one, especially
if the multip had good breastfeeding experience. I know this sword can cut
both ways, but I don't see a lot of benefits to isolating mothers from each
other. It sends a message of self-sufficiency, and models an isolationist
mode of life. I don't want new moms to feel isolated; and they can't be
self-sufficient without great cost to themselves.
     Plus it was terrific as a nurse to sit in a room with several mothers
and discuss a topic all at once, such as car seats or breastfeeding. Much
nicer than me giving that same information out 4 separate times to isolated
women. Women learn well in social situations; Belenky et al in their classic
work "Women's Ways of Knowing" talk about the pajama party approach to work
in the preface of the new edition.
     What do you all think?
     Warmly,
Nikki Lee RN, MSN, Mother of 2, IBCLC, CIMI, CCE, craniosacral therapy
Adjunct faculty, Union Institute and University, Maternal and Child Health:
Lactation Consulting
Supporting the WHO Code and the Mother Friendly Childbirth Initiative

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