How is it that we can argue in one breath that the post-partum mom has such an acute memory of her birth experience that she is able remember tiny details decades later and yet we can also argue in the same breath that she is prone to misunderstanding what has been said to her by HCPs. When I worked in hospital, this was one of the most rampant self-serving arguments I heard over and over again. It's like a myth that has taken on a life of its own. While some folks just don't seem to ever hear what is said to them, most I think are pretty competent to do so. I think what is more likely to be true is that mothers get so much conflicting information all at once that they may not know how to sort it out or how to determine which is useful and supportive or even who said what--but that doesn't mean it wasn't said. 

Somehow, when there is any single example that justifies a certain
behavior common in the system, that one example becomes the argument to
justify every other such scenario. So, b/c there might be any mother
who misunderstands, any mother who benefits from an induction or a cesarean or
any baby who needs a supplement or any mom who needs an ABX for that
matter, then it must be justified in every other case. As common sense would prove such a thing false, I wonder how this kind of shared unconsciousness has become so acceptable?


In hospital, I found meetings in which such conversations about moms took place to be very betraying of the mother's trust in her HCPs and in the system (a trust which I, of course think is ill-placed, albeit one avidly encouraged by the system itself). I felt that rationalizations were being used to recreate her history and her experiences for the sake of a system that values itself more than it does those it claims to "serve".

I know that these midwives might not have told the mom that no one "ever" needs ABX for mastitis, but I also  know there is great damage in recreating the mother's history in the records of her birth as if nothing is lost to her, and the protection of the status quo is all matters. So, much as I personally trust Jaye's opinions and experiences, I do want to caution us against jumping onto the "mothers have post-partum brain damage" bandwagon.



Jennifer Tow, IBCLC, CT, USA
Intuitive Parenting Network LLC

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