Neonatal Nurse Puts Preemie in Her Pocket and Takes Pictures

JeanneSager — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:57:00 GMT

A nurse on the neonatal unit of an Israeli hospital is facing disciplinary action after photos of her holding a premature infant girl in her pocket landed in the hands of hospital adminstration. The hospital's director general has her back, saying the photos were taken as part of a presentation to be shown to parents of preemies.

Most troubling here, no one seems to know whether the baby girl's parents were aware their daughter was out of her incubator and slipped kangaroo-style into a nurse's scrub pocket or whether they agreed to have their delicate baby used in the photo the hospital said was supposed to provide a bit of humor in the presentation. What's funny about a teeny weeny baby struggling to survive catching the creeping crud from a nurse's dirty pocket?

The nurse is said not to have initiated the photos - she was simply doing what she was told. A veteran of more than a dozen years on the neonatal unit, you'd hope she'd have more sensitivity and just plain sense.

Do you think she should be disciplined or should the punishment be levied on the boss who passed down the order?

Source/Image: YNetNews

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IVF Moms Feel Less Confident

Amy Kuras — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 20:33:00 GMT

As someone who went through infertility, I should probably be up in arms about this study done in Australia that shows mothers who went through in-vitro fertilization (IVF) were less likely to feel confident caring for their babies.

But I'm not.

For one thing, the study didn't say these mothers were objectively worse at caring for their babies, just that they felt less confident doing so. And also, anyone who has been through the infertility rollercoaster will tell you, it can do a number on your self-esteem, like this: "Crack whores have babies! Mean people have babies! BRITNEY FREAKIN' SPEARS has two babies! Why can't I have one?"

Add that to the potent hormone cocktail of pregnancy and birth, and that's a recipe for feeling a little shaky when you're finally handed a beautiful little vulnerable newborn and told "go home."

Of the 183 mothers in the study who had gone through IVF, more than half felt anxious about baby care when they took their baby home from the hospital (to which I say, only HALF? Did they make sure the epidural or whatever feel-good drugs they use had cleared from the other half who said they were just fine?). At 18 months a third still did not feel totally confident and 17 percent had been admitted to a residential early parenting center.

(Yes, a residential early parenting center. Apparently new parents in Australia can stay for a few days at these places, and get expert help with sleeping and feeding difficulties. And it's free under their national health care system. I could weep…)

Study author Dr. Karin Hammarberg said it's important all mothers to be knew that having a new baby could be isolating and exhausting, and that needing help was, as she put it, "normal and universal."

To which I can only add: Amen, sister. And, I love Australia.