<I may be in the minority, but I find the idea of giftpaks superfluous.
Where
else does one go in a hospital and get a gift? What do they give to people
on orthopedics? A bottle of calcium pills?  It seems so ridiculous to me
when I really stop and think about it.  Is there any other
department/specialty in a hospital where a patient who leaves gets a present
or gift?

Kathleen B. Bruce, BSN, IBCLC co-owner Lactnet,TLC, Indep. Consultant>


Remember, childbirth is not an illness,  it is a life passage.  Unlike
illness and injury that bring most people to the hospital, childbirth is an
event to celebrate.  Traditionally women gave birth at home. It has been
happening for thousands of years. It is only in this century that women
started going to the hospital  (where the sick and injured are cared for) to
give birth. For many women, home is still the place where birth takes place.
 Birth is unlike the other situations that bring one to the hospital. Yes, I
agree, the gift is the baby!

The celebration of birth and the giving of gifts crosses cultures. Here the
big celebration takes place on the baby's first birthday.

When I brought my son home to San Francisco for the first time at the age of
2, several acquaintainces and former colleagues slipped him money. These
people were from the U.S., Iran and Romania, and in separate and unrelated
instances slipped him dollar bills.

In the U.S. we celebrate birth every year on our birthdays.

At risk of sounding terribly cynical,  I will add that I suspect  the
hospital "giftpacks" are a means of exploiting this important cultural
ritual to plant the seeds of enticement for the budding capitalist consumer.


Lisa Boisvert-Mackenzie, Midwife
East Caroline Islands, Pacific Ocean

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