I have the belief that we live in a very “me” oriented society, in which many just think about themselves and not too many others, if any others. That said, as a labor and delivery nurse, I have noted that there are a great many women these days who are not happy being pregnant (even those who have planned the pregnancy), and that “glow of pregnancy” is viewed more as a scowl. As many of my readers know, I normally do not share work related topics, but I have to tonight.
I had a patient come into labor and delivery tonight who was 34 weeks pregnant contracting and when I assessed that she was indeed contracting, I told her my plan was to start an IV to hydrate her, and hope that it might stop the contractions. Her immediate reply, “I do not want another 8 pound baby, so if it is labor, then I do not want it to stop”. I immediately explained that at 34 weeks she was still considered premature and that the baby might have respiratory difficulties. I have plenty of friends who had premature babies and they did fine”.
When I run across people like this who have little regard for the baby they are carrying, I want to grab them and shake sense into them. BUT of course, that might not go over big with the patients or the hospital bigwigs. Why are people so selfish? What makes them have little regard for another little human being? Why can’t women accept the fact that pregnancy is not something to be rushed through? I seriously do not get it.
I can understand being frustrated. I can understand the desire to end the pregnancy when you feel huge and swollen and miserable, but when you are 34 weeks, and your little one is depending on your for a few more weeks, and you have that opportunity, and you throw in the towel...I simply do not understand that selfishness. Pregnancy does not come with a fast service option.
Thank you for reading.
1 comment:
My first daughter was born at 34 weeks, after 2 weeks of trying to stop the labor. I did everything I could, and stayed down completely. I would NEVER want to let my baby be born that early if I could help it! That is so sad that that woman was so careless of her baby's health! I met other moms who were supposed to be on bed rest, and said they "just couldn't". I wanted to shake some sense into them too! One of them ended up having to drive 2 hours back and forth to take care of her older children and her sick premature baby in a specialty hospital. I'm sure that was SO much easier than laying down for a few weeks! Anyway, I'll stop ranting... I'm completely with you on this one. Luckily my daughter is perfectly healthy now, but it was a tough start.
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