Television
I’m surprised that I haven’t seen more of an uproar about ER’s treatment of extended breastfeeding. Last week, they had an episode where a mother came to ask for a place to nurse her child. They pointed her to a private location, at which point her child (who was about 6) came up to tug on her arm and say “Come on, Mom. Let’s go! I’m starving!” Then all the nurses and doctors snickered and exchanged looks. As if that’s how extended nursing goes…
Then ER ran an episode with a breech birth. OF COURSE the baby ended up brain damaged after getting stuck in the birth canal. The weird thing was the ob doc was not totally opposed to the mother trying to give birth vaginally, but the ER doc was just absolutely insistent that she ought to have a c-section. When he tried to coerce her into a c-section one of the nurses started giving her all the risks, and she changed her mind. There as a brief discussion about “informed consent” between the doctor and the nurse.
In other media news, there is a new show called “Close to Home” on CBS, I think. It was very positive in the breastfeeding realm. The mother, who is a lawyer, even got them to bring in a mini fridge to her office after she put her pumped breastmilk in the common refrigerator, and the boss almost drank it. I was a little irked at how much stress they put on the idea that a 3 month old should be sleeping through the night but, all in all, it was favorable towards nursing.