Oh, I understand what their goal is. I'm just not the mom that's gonna talk about decorating. I know that they want simple things that can make money, and in what I have to offer are a coupple of those, and maybe they'll help - who knows. But, I just can't ignore the broader issues. And, as of yesterday, only me & one other mom said they were comming, so it looks like I'll have time. haha
I'm the mom that got treated pretty poorly as a midwife client because the hospital was assuming I had no prenatal care (that is what they thought midwifery care was - nothing). I'm the one that had to argue with a nurse, the OB & a pediatritian (not even my own) about how "I was putting my baby in danger" by refusing eye ointment. I'm the one that had to sign waiver after waiver about Vit K & Hep B. I had to answer "Can we break your water now - it'll really move things along?" 47 times (no mention by them of the cord prolapse they were so worried about when I told them I was having a home birth). I had to remind everyone in the room exactly what they couldn't do (again) before I felt comfortable enough to push out the baby. AND I still think I had a "good" hospital birth experience for the area. That's just sad. It's sad that women have to feel like they're gearing up for battle to walk through the doors of a medical treatment center. It's sad that when I started that pregnancy & was planning a hospital birth, I was working on hiring a doula who I thout was "vigilant" enough about natural birth. I was working on an extreemley detailed birth plan before I started picking out names. It's even sadder that many women don't even have the option of a hospital birth because (in most cases) they've already been supremely screwed over BY the same system who gave them the "failure to wait" C-Section in the first place, so now their choice is homebirth or dangerous, unwarranted repeat CS. It's sad that I have to hear women asking questions of me, THEIR HAIRDRESSER, about why the things that happened to them did, because I'm the only person they know who knows anything about all of this & will give them a straight answer (No, honey. 12 hours isn't too long to labor for your first baby. I'd have had a party if mine had come in 24. I know you feel cheated, and the fact that you & the baby were ultimatley ok isn't the end of it. The way you could have known that your baby was getting enough milk was.... If you saw fluid leaking from your heavy hard breasts, your milk came in.) I pass out about 10 LaLeche League & ICAN.org cards a week. There's a serious gap here in women's healthcare. So, while they'll pour over the bedspread fabric swatches, and the type of wood for the armiores that hold the monitors for at least a week, I figure I have about 45 minutes to bring up a bunch of things that they'd like to keep swept under the (new, home like) rug. I'm not expecting them to embrace homebirth, the anti-vax stand, CD all infants (but, God, how freaking cute would THAT be?
) and abandon artificial milk distribution, but I DO expect some kind of meaningfull improvement.
The hardest thing for me is to remember that this is for a hospital. I can't do anything about what the OB's do. Well, that turned into a vent, didn't it? I feel better now. Maybe I'll print this entire thread & read it to them. haha
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