You know you were (are) a Google Reader addict when you get back on after giving it up for Lent, and it's stopped counting new posts after "1000+". If I was going to be really true to my Lenten vow I would have marked them all as read and started afresh. But I did skim some of my faves. So while these links are probably old to everyone else, here are a few that jumped out at me:
Navelgazing Midwife on Touring L&D suites around the country and wondering what they say about what patients want...or are supposed to wait. I commented about how often hospitals seem to advertise "private rooms"... even in pretty dingy public hospitals I have yet to work with a doula client who got anything but a private room, whether L&D or postpartum. Is this just an advertising gimmick?
The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine on audio galactagogues for mothers of babies in the NICU. I want to hand out little MP3 players to all the pumping NICU moms I see! It made me wonder whether a Hypnobirthing/Hypnobabies type of track targeted especially to NICU moms to listen to before or during milk expression would be helpful.
Alanna at Blood and Milk on how "helpful" postpartum visitors are a lot like "helpful" aid organizations.
Via Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog, a NY Times article on the deadly consequences of cultural beliefs that deprive babies of breastmilk in developing countries.
I don't think private rooms are an advertising gimmick at all. I guess this depends on where you live and varies wildly, but my insurance would not pay for a private room and it was an additional $300 per night. There were very few private rooms available and most women end up with a roommate. My cousin had her two kids at the same hospital as I did and couldn't afford the private room and had a roommate both times, even though she was recovering from a C-section.
ReplyDeleteInteresting! Is this common in your area? I've been wondering if it's a regional thing, and I've just never worked in parts of the country where private rooms are still uncommon.
ReplyDeleteIt could be, I have an online friend who lives in Georgia who was shocked that women still had to room in at the hospital here (South Florida). It could be because the cities in the tri-county area are so densely populated and there are so many women having babies? I know most of our hospitals deliver a lot of babies every year.
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