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Re: Maternity hospital staysFrom: CheriVH@aol.comTue May 14 12:52:46 1996
I believe that women are being sent home with inadequate support, but I don't believe the solution is longer hospital stays. The more cost-effective, and (I believe) more practical approach would be home visits for several days postpartum by trained health workers. These could be midwives, nurses, or even professional doulas who could assess the health and educational needs of the mother and the newborn. Problems with infant care, breastfeeding, and adjustment to parenthood could be more easily identified and more directly addressed in the mother's own environment. Hospital-based teaching and needs assessment takes place in a setting which is, by definition, artificial and contrived. These health care professionals could assess the baby for jaundice and feeding difficulties. The visits (which could generally be accomplished in an hour or less) should be provided by HMO's and insurance companies. Hospitals are not good places for healthy women and babies. There are risks of nosocomial infection in the nursery, confusing and conflicting information given by the variety of nurses and other personnel encountered by the mother, sleep deprivation due to frequent interruptions by staff and roommates and due to the unfamiliar and unrestful environment, and (let's face it) the generally unpalatable food which does not encourage the new mother to eat well. We've lost a lot of support for new parents in our mobile society because of the often great distances between extended family members and the new parents who need them. Mothers, sisters, and other traditional support people often work outside the home and can not come to assist after the birth. We need to encourage the new mother and father to gather their personal resources and ask for practical household help from friends and family members. We also need to provide home health care by well-trained professionals during those first few critical days. Cheri Van Hoover, CNM Kaiser Hospital Redwood City, CA
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