100 observations in 100 days
March 14, 2019
Today I went to the hospital, the day
after we had a day-long course for the project I've been involved in
for the last two years: Montessori 0-6 months in three hospitals and
3 clinics in Abruzzo, Italy. Abruzzo is a region that has very little
international tourism and many earthquakes so you may not be familiar
with it. Abruzzo has 131 kilometers of Adriatic coastline and
mountainous regions known as the Appennino, made up of two areas, the
Grand Sasso and the Maiella. It is an incredible part of Italy but
little known. Like Naples, it has a southern Italian culture. Life
moves according to a rhythm that is not modern nor logical.
I changed my shoes, put on my white
doctor's jacket, took my notebook and went into the first room with
blue ribbons on the door. There was a chair next to the door and my
first thought was that I would sit down there to observe. I presented
myself to the two moms sharing the room and asked it I could observe,
said that I was doing research and one of the two greeted me with “I
saw you at the clinic when I took the prenatal class.” So I went
over to her and asked how she was doing. “I'm so disappointed”
she said, “I was supposed to go home today.” Her little one, who
I will call Francesco (not his real name) was a little bit yellow, with an elevated bilirubin level.
I spent an hour with her and Francesco,
and she was grateful for the company and my assistance. The nurses
and midwives all have a "busy" schedule and don't ever linger just to
listen. They respond when the mom's call with the bell but have one foot out the door the whole time. When I visit I am
prepared for a one hour observation per room each time, whether I interact or
not. I come in and ask if it is alright with them if I observe and if
they invite me to interact, I spend time working with them. Usually
they are concerned with how to breastfeed and I do what I can to help
them, though I do not have a formal training.
Today was a success. Mom was concerned
because Francesco was sleeping and not wanting to attach to the
breast. “Jaundiced” meant he was (her fear) overly sleepy and not
healthy. I asked if I could undress him and play with him a bit to
see if the stimulus would wake him up. I explained that with a
jaundiced baby the more he nursed the better... after undressing him,
we could see if he wanted to latch on, to see if cutaneous
stimulation helped. We spent a half hour talking about states of consciousness, newborn observations according to Brazelton and much more. Finally I said, since
he seems to be sleepy, you could just put him next to your breasts
while he sleeps. We set him down there and immediately he began to
turn his head from side to side and open his mouth, searching for his
mother, searching for the breast. Placing him in a position where he
can latch on, he opens wide and does just that.
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