i have a little thing with a friend, when i send him questionable jokes, i
apologize for possibly offending his "delicate male sensibilities." i
apologize for offending those who work in hospitals and are passed over by
mothers waiting for me to arrive.
in the specific case i was talking about, the baby was born and put to the
breast and did not nurse. ohmigod! an emergency! you know, they are supposed
to immediately, and if they don't, then they get "help." around here that
consists of forcing the baby's mouth onto the nipples, pouring formula on the
nipples, teasing with a bottle, all kinds of rough stuff to be done to a
human so new that they are incandescent. i feel sick describing it, it
reminds me of seeing it happen.
so after 20 minutes of "trying" to breastfeed they were ready to move on. it
was time for the mom to go to her room, and the baby to go to the nursery for
her bath. there was no feeling on the part of any staff members that more
time should be given to this dyad. when i did arrive, and they were nursing
nicely, the parents were sharing a lovely moment with the baby; my best
assistance to them at that point was to usher out the OTHER family members so
the parents could enjoy the baby a bit. open hostility was shown by the
particular nurse that was around, because she HAD to do the other stuff.
now why does this happen? the details of this incident are not so important
as what it signifies. obviously the idea of breastfeeding right after birth
has been recognized as important. but, if it doesn't happen immediately,
interventions are begun, and truly horrible, inhuman and inhumane ones. why
is this? because we believe we have to give it as much effort as possible,
and merely standing back and waiting is not the usual mode. the normal urge
is to DO SOMETHING.
and why does this end so quickly? that is, why are staff so ready to move
forward with the things that separate mothers and babies? because we have
BOTTLES OF FORMULA. there is nothing crucial about whether the baby
breastfeeds or not, because its merely an option. if breastfeeding were
really the only way this baby was going to survive, that first opportunity to
connect with the mother would not be dismissed so easily. if breastfeeding
were really recognized as a basic human right of mothers and babies, then
nothing else would happen (except for medical necessity) until breastfeeding
happened.
and certainly not the almighty holy bath!
carol brussel IBCLC
still typing nursing instead of breastfeeding - its shorter!
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