Among all the things I’ve done in Medical school this year, none has brought me greater satisfaction and joy than ‘catching’ babies. For our one-week rotation under the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit service, my group was assigned to man the nursery area during our duty days. The job is very straight forward. After the obstetrician successfully facilitates the delivery of the baby (with a sometimes with a sonorous declaration of Baby Out!), the nurse would then carry the baby to our turf. As soon as the baby is placed on the basinet, we go down to work – we warm the baby using the droplight, suction the nose and mouth for fluid left over from the birthing process as well as assess the over all health and well-being of the child by weighing, measuring and examining the general anatomy of the newborn.
Most of these young ones are relatively healthy with little or no medical concerns. These babies are almost immediately ‘roomed in’ with their mothers so that they could breastfeed as soon as possible. The mother’s milk after delivery (colostrum) is said to be rich with minerals and other substances that could bolster the baby’s immune system. Those who aren’t doing well after a few minutes of observation are put under close monitoring. If their vital signs don’t improve and clincal symptoms persist, we transport them to the actual NICU so that they’ll be given the care their conditions require. Premature babies as well as underweight are usually the ones shipped to the NICU.
I don’t know about you, but seeing an almost inactive little person clad only in blood and gunk cry, kick and grunt for the very first time in the outside world is an exhilarating experience. Cradling an infant in my arms is an amazing and absolutely exciting experience. I still think about the possibility of tripping, slipping and accidentally dropping the fragile baby on the floor but I really think that being one of the few people to ensure that the baby is off to a good start in life is a great privilege.
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Ang ku-cute nila! Galing. Ansarap siguro ng pakiramdam ngtrabaho mo.
Pwede ka na maging daddy!!
Wow.
"I still think about the possibility of tripping, slipping and accidentally dropping the fragile baby on the floor"
This is always on my mind too, that's why I never carry babies under 6 months. I'm too scared I might drop them or break their bones haha
Every child I gave birth to, I just involuntarily tear…They are tears of joy.
For some reason, the sight of grayish babies and their malformed heads bother me more than the actual births themselves.
Episiotomy? Hell, yes! Placenta? Bring it over! Fresh-out-of-the-oven-newborns? Maybe later.
[b]Ruth[/b]: Dude, go to NICU. Look for cases of twin-to-twin transfusion.
I loved this article, but why are you flipping him the bird in the second picture? XD