Carol Brussel writes of rather brutal care of newborns that creates oral
aversion and asks
<< what happened? >>

Check out the writings of anthropologist Robbie E. Davis-Floyd.  I don't have
her URL handy but she's not hard to find.  Also in bookstores.  Her field is
birth but what she observes affects breastfeeding too.

She's looked at birth in several cultures and noticed how birthing rituals
reflect the values of the culture.  Ours is technological and our birthing
rituals acculture the participants to the value of dependency on technology.
For instance, the laboring woman who objects lying flat on her back with a
fetal monitor on her belly is likely to be told that it is for the health of
her baby, even though the physiologically unnatural position may result in
reduced blood flow and increased risk of fetal distress.  The baby who
objects to orally invasive procedures 'just doesn't understand that it's
being done for his own good'.  Dependence on technology is a cultural good.

Please note that this is not doctor/medical bashing.  If anything, it is
cultural bashing but I don't think it should be dismissed as 'bashing'.
Apparently we've got a some serious problems with birth and breastfeeding due
to the cultural factors.  Mothers are as likely to ask for technological
interventions as HCPs are to offer them.  And almost everyone resists
research that doesn't reinforce the benefits of the technological.

The current issue of the electronic Midwifery Today has an article on the
superior safety of home vs. hospital births after controlling for risk
factors.  We've known for years of the 'cascading effect' of interventions as
one intervention leads to the next -- each with it's own risk, however slight
-- and still it goes on.

Various movements, such as holistic medicine, have been unable to make much
of a dent in the technological standard.  My guess is that one major obstacle
is insurance liability.  HCPs want to be able to prove that they did
"everything possible" in those cases where outcomes aren't good.  Next major
obstacle -- the removal of control from patients and their HCPs to personnel
and policies of insurance companies and gov't regulatory agencies.  (Medical
Savings Accounts, anyone?)

Alice Martino, MOM
volunteer with a breastfeeding support group
mailto:[log in to unmask]

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