Re: postdelivery bonding and baby care
From: Jamie (ajfields@pine-net.com)
Sun Jun 25 09:15:59 2006
Bravo!
At Sat, 24 Jun 2006, Charon Gentile wrote:
>
>My residence program also trained Midwives. Touchy, feely deliveries were
>standard. When I came to southern Louisiana, I just about had to stand next
>to my patients to prevent enemas, shaving and betadine prepping from the
>umbilicus to mid thigh. I can't count the number of complaints made against
>me because of my refusal to allow the nurses to follow their standard
>practice. A review panel was called because I do almost all deliveries
>without breaking the bed apart and allow family members to support the
>mother's legs instead of using stirrups. To prevent the baby from being
>taken by the nurses, I would not cut the cord.
>
>Eight years later, almost all the deliveries are done this way. Shaving is
>no longer done. Only one physician insists that his patients receive enemas
>on admission. Many of my patients are referred by the nursing staff because
>"it is like delivering with a midwife." The nurses have become accustomed
>to how I do a delivery and they no longer fight it. A good percentage of
>them have also become my patients.
>
>If I do a c-section, the baby is taken to the nursery only for clear medical
>indications. Otherwise, the infant is held by a family member until the
>surgery is completed. If the mother is stable, she carries her infant out
>with her on the gurney. On the rare occasions that a general is done, the
>infant is usually kept in the operating room until the mother is awake and
>can see him/her. If at all possible, she still carries the infant out. The
>patients are very happy with this method; especially mothers who delivered
>when things were not done this way. Many can not believe that they will not
>have to wait hours to see their babies.
>
>The hospital has been trying for the last five years to meet the criteria to
>be certified as "Baby Friendly". It has not happened because many still
>insist on doing things the way it has always been done. The hospital had to
>abandon couplet care because some physicians felt that one nurse could not
>take care of both the baby and the mother. So of course this leads to
>territorial behavior. The nursery nurses want the babies in the nursery.
>The nurses taking care of the mothers know little about the infants. It is
>frustrating to always have to track down two different nurses during rounds
>so that I can check on the mother and the infant.
>
>--
>Charon E. Gentile, M.D. FACOG
>
>Houma, LA
>
> _____
>
--
JFields, RN, BSN
|
|
