pepperflake
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- Mar 19, 2008
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I love seeing the differences in culture on this board. The fact is, the US has higher mortality rates than the UK- both for children under age 5 and maternal mortality rates.
Starflyr, you are seeing mainly one side of the entire bell curve. It would make sense that you wouldn't be seeing all the healthy kids who are exposed to all kinds of germs and who have immune systems of steel. Why would you? It would be easier to be all gloom and doom from your perspective. It's unrealistic to isolate mother and child for 1-2 months. We have to go grocery shopping, pay bills, go to the bank, take our other children to school, visit family and friends, live our lives, etc. I think its completely unfair to blame parents if their child does get sick. I'm sure the majority of parents do the best that they can realistically.
I had my first daughter right outside Savannah, GA, in the US, and we left the birthing center 5 1/2 hours after she was born and nothing horrible happened to either of us. If I could, I would go back to the same birthing center for my upcoming labor and delivery, instead of the hospital I will be forced to go to because there are no alternatives, i.e. no midwives or birthing center locally. I've exposed her to other people since birth and she has always been one of the healthiest children I know. The sickly children I know have mothers that carry Lysol and hand sanitizer everywhere they go. These are the children I see that have to have ear tubes, who are always on antibiotics and are going to the pediatrician 2-3 times a month. It's sad. I can't see shielding my children from the real world with real germs.
Obviously, don't let sick people touch you or the baby. Take sensible precautions, be smart about it, but I see no reason to feel like a failure if your baby does get sick during the normal course of life. We don't all have the luxury of keeping our babies isolated. In fact, the local health department wants to see my baby within 6 weeks for a checkup for the WIC program. I don't have a choice in the matter. I would really rather not take her there, ever, but I don't have that luxury. Guess it will be my fault if she gets ill.
Starflyr, you are seeing mainly one side of the entire bell curve. It would make sense that you wouldn't be seeing all the healthy kids who are exposed to all kinds of germs and who have immune systems of steel. Why would you? It would be easier to be all gloom and doom from your perspective. It's unrealistic to isolate mother and child for 1-2 months. We have to go grocery shopping, pay bills, go to the bank, take our other children to school, visit family and friends, live our lives, etc. I think its completely unfair to blame parents if their child does get sick. I'm sure the majority of parents do the best that they can realistically.
I had my first daughter right outside Savannah, GA, in the US, and we left the birthing center 5 1/2 hours after she was born and nothing horrible happened to either of us. If I could, I would go back to the same birthing center for my upcoming labor and delivery, instead of the hospital I will be forced to go to because there are no alternatives, i.e. no midwives or birthing center locally. I've exposed her to other people since birth and she has always been one of the healthiest children I know. The sickly children I know have mothers that carry Lysol and hand sanitizer everywhere they go. These are the children I see that have to have ear tubes, who are always on antibiotics and are going to the pediatrician 2-3 times a month. It's sad. I can't see shielding my children from the real world with real germs.
Obviously, don't let sick people touch you or the baby. Take sensible precautions, be smart about it, but I see no reason to feel like a failure if your baby does get sick during the normal course of life. We don't all have the luxury of keeping our babies isolated. In fact, the local health department wants to see my baby within 6 weeks for a checkup for the WIC program. I don't have a choice in the matter. I would really rather not take her there, ever, but I don't have that luxury. Guess it will be my fault if she gets ill.