Having clinicals two days in a row means that the possibility of getting to see the same patient is highly likely. Yesterday I helped take care of a young, teenage mom who was about to go in for a c-section. When I walked in her room, she had a pretty flat affect....not showing any outward signs of excitement about the new little miracle about to come into her life. Sitting in the room was also the soon-to-be grandma. She made the comment, "Well, I already take care of 3 grandkids, what's a 4th?" Once again, no excitement....no joy...no anticipation...."just another mouth to feed" kind of comment. Yesterday I let that encounter with the family not phase me in the least because I figured the mom was nervous...or scared...about what was to come. After all, she is a young teenage mom.
I was assigned to this same patient today. Except this time when I saw her, she had a BEAUTIFUL baby girl in her room with her. I was so excited for her....she showed no emotion. Once again, I made excuses for her...you know, things like "it's just early in the morning" and "she's just tired". But this is the way it was all shift. The mom didn't want to hold the baby...feed the baby...nothing.
Infact, I went into her room one time because the baby kept crying and the mom was completely engrossed in Hannah Montana. She was so "into" the show that she was ignoring her crying baby and wouldn't have a conversation with me. SERIOUSLY?!?!?! Hannah Montana?!?! This is one of the MANY ways to tell if someone is TOO young to have a baby!!!
The rest of the day was more of the same. Each time I went into her room, I tried to encourage her to hold the baby. If she did hold the baby, she would just put the baby in her arm and continue watching TV. She didn't talk to her or even look at her....she wouldn't call her by her name.
It was heartbreaking and frustrating....especially for this precious baby girl. She came into the world yesterday as "just another mouth to feed"...no one really excited about a little miracle being brought into the world. I prayed for her all day today....that she would know the love of her Heavenly Father. This baby is loved more than she will ever know, and I pray that one day she comes to know the One who loves her so much.
3 comments:
This is so sad! You have such a tender heart and what a sweet thing to give to that little girl. You are probably the first person to lift her name before the Lord. You are going to be a WONDERFUL nurse and I hope whenever I get medical care, I have someone like you :)
My husband and I are currently training to be foster parents, from what the grandmother has said and the way the mom is acting. You may want to consider calling cps. If the baby is already being neglected in the hospital then think of what may happen once it goes home.
This is terrible! How can you be so uninterested in a precious new life?!?! Brian was talking about how there should be a screening process for women to have babies, and I agree -- this is exactly why! One patient I saw on L/D had a young boy in there with her, I mean, YOUNG. Couldn't have been older than fifteen or sixteen! Just sitting there, texting on his phone. It was all I could do to not say anything. Guess we just have to learn to look the other way.
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