Kathy says,
<< I'll bet if you did a careful study of hospital vs. non-hospital, medicated
 vs. non-medicated, etc., you would find that most of it is due to
 medications and stress of being in the hospital.  In most "traditional"
 cultures around the world, where mom is not medicated during labor/delivery,
 and where she gives birth in a safe, secure place surrounded by people she
 has known all her life, loves, and trusts, that you don't find this
 fogginess. >>

One of the reasons I posed the question in the first place (r/t Reva Rubin's
excellent studies and the relationship to medication) is that when I worked
in the alternative birthing center, I don't remember seeing this sort of
fogginess.  Moms seemed to be able to "take hold" very quickly.  They
remembered instructions, and seemed to be quite together.  Of course, there
was no medication, no separation of mother and infant, and virtually one on
one nursing staff to family ratio, though it might be one on two during the
postpartum stay.  And all our moms went home in less than 24 hours.

How many of us working with mothers and babies today *consistently* work with
mothers who have NO medication beyond a local to repair a minor laceration?
Sure, those of us that see moms in the hospital see a few mothers that don't
have meds, but as I posted to someone, I would betcha that at least 85% of
the mothers I see have something in labor -- either Stadol, Nubain, or an
epidural, or a combination thereof.  I don't remember feeling foggy after my
babies were born -- spinal with the first (breech), but no meds with either
of the other two.  And I still remember, 25 years later, a LOT of what went
on postpartum (including some rather ugly comments by the OB), and the lack
of teaching (after all, I was the instructor for maternity in the school of
nursing!).

So I still wonder if a lot of the inability to process information is at
least in part due to the amount of medications most mothers get during labor.

Jan Barger, RN, MA, IBCLC
Wheaton, Illinois
www.bsccenter.org
So many books, so little time!

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