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Speculation on Fetal Awareness
letters Speculation on Fetal Awareness What is this place that I’m in? It’s like a cave, and yet it’s not. I feel like I’m floating, moving so weightlessly through space that I can barely control my movements. The walls of this cave feel very smooth under my fingertips, almost like a fine silken material. I feel very comfortable; the temperature is cool enough yet not too cool that I need additional clothing. There seems to be an overabundance of food, probably more than I could ever possibly consume. The only thing that creates some concern for me is the lack of spaciousness. I have very little room in which to move around. But, I guess I really don’t need much room; not when everything is within my hands’ reach. I am beginning to feel some gentle vibrations. They seem to be so very far away. Could it possibly be someone singing? Why I believe it is. I can hear it a little more clearly now although it’s so faint that I am unable to distinguish the words. It’s such a warm soft voice of someone communicating love. The sound is very comforting to me. It makes me want to sleep, and dream of daffodils and butterflies in flight. I doubt whether I can remember ever feeling so safe and secure as I do right at this moment in this strange new place. I am beginning to sense some change in my utopia. The air is becoming ever so slightly cooler, and no longer do I have the feeling of weightlessness that I once had. No longer can I move around and explore as I could when I first discovered this place. I am beginning to feel so much more confined, almost as though the walls are moving closer together and projecting me forward. Through the small opening of the cave I can see some light; it frightens me to be so unsure of what lies beyond, what lies ahead. I wish that I could stop this strange force but I no longer have any control. I have relinquished all March/April I979 JOCN Nursing
of my strength to this force and must move in the direction in which it demands. The outlet seems to be narrowing now, and I am forced against one wall then the other. And the light, it’s much, much too bright for me to bear. What’s this I feel? Someone with very cold slippery hands is turning me, twisting me one way then another all the while, pulling and tugging so hard that 1 feel like I might explode. Please let go of medon’t you hear me, don’t you understand me? There is a very sharp draft of cold air, so cold that my body is shaking uncontrollably. Now those large cold unfriendly hands are slapping me so hard that I can’t help but cry out with the pain. This place that I’m in now, what is it? The brightness blinds me, the noise frightens me, and all of these strange people with bizarre language terrify me. Please, please let me go back to my cave where I felt so safe, please just let me go back there. Now these people are yelling and crying-they repeat the same words over and over again: “It’s a boy, it’s a boy”! What does it all mean? Someone is holding me now. She’s nice and warm and her voice is so soft it reminds me of the voice singing. I can feel my body begin to relax, the tension is leaving me with each gentle caress of this person. Maybe this place won’t be so bad after all. JUDITH
HACK,RN
Southfield, Michigan Grieving Fetal Demise I would like to take this opportunity to thank the author of “Who Helps? Coping with the Unexpected Outcome of Pregnancy” (July/August 1978) for doing a fine job of concisely addressing a concern that has long been near and dear to my heart-support for grieving partners and grieving nurses following fetal
demise. Having been in the OB specialty for 10 years, I have constantly been appalled by the lack of awareness of the need for support for the nursing staff with whom this burden rests on a day-to-day basis. At Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, we practice primary nursing which allows for the development of a very deep relationship between nurses and their patients. Primary nurses need a great deal of support in a crisis such as this. Support for these nurses comes from peers, nursing and educational specialists, and psy’chiatric clinical specialists. Ms. Scupholme does a fine job of describing the role for nursing and indicating the importance of attending to the needs of nurses in this role in order to prevent an exodus of expertise from obstetrics in response to lack of support for these nurses. I am pleased to see an article in JOGN which expresses obstetrical nursing as something other t h a n a happy environment absent of challenge. As obstetrical nurses know, the nurse is the member of the health care team who wipes the tears of these couples.
MAUHEENMCRAE,HN,M S N Educutional Coordinator for OblGyn Nursing Nursing Education and Research Beth Israel Hospital Boston, Massachusetts Breastfeeding I was delighted to read two excellent articles about breastfeeding in the May/June 1978 issue of
JOCN. Lee Parsons, author of “Weaning from the Breast”, displays a clear and accurate understanding of the needs of the weaning mother, the breastfeeding infant/child, and the nurse dealing with nursing families. I’m certain that fiurses who study this article can be more effective in
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of my strength to this force and must move in the direction in which it demands. The outlet seems to be narrowing now, and I am forced against one wall then the other. And the light, it’s much, much too bright for me to bear. What’s this I feel? Someone with very cold slippery hands is turning me, twisting me one way then another all the while, pulling and tugging so hard that 1 feel like I might explode. Please let go of medon’t you hear me, don’t you understand me? There is a very sharp draft of cold air, so cold that my body is shaking uncontrollably. Now those large cold unfriendly hands are slapping me so hard that I can’t help but cry out with the pain. This place that I’m in now, what is it? The brightness blinds me, the noise frightens me, and all of these strange people with bizarre language terrify me. Please, please let me go back to my cave where I felt so safe, please just let me go back there. Now these people are yelling and crying-they repeat the same words over and over again: “It’s a boy, it’s a boy”! What does it all mean? Someone is holding me now. She’s nice and warm and her voice is so soft it reminds me of the voice singing. I can feel my body begin to relax, the tension is leaving me with each gentle caress of this person. Maybe this place won’t be so bad after all. JUDITH
HACK,RN
Southfield, Michigan Grieving Fetal Demise I would like to take this opportunity to thank the author of “Who Helps? Coping with the Unexpected Outcome of Pregnancy” (July/August 1978) for doing a fine job of concisely addressing a concern that has long been near and dear to my heart-support for grieving partners and grieving nurses following fetal
demise. Having been in the OB specialty for 10 years, I have constantly been appalled by the lack of awareness of the need for support for the nursing staff with whom this burden rests on a day-to-day basis. At Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, we practice primary nursing which allows for the development of a very deep relationship between nurses and their patients. Primary nurses need a great deal of support in a crisis such as this. Support for these nurses comes from peers, nursing and educational specialists, and psy’chiatric clinical specialists. Ms. Scupholme does a fine job of describing the role for nursing and indicating the importance of attending to the needs of nurses in this role in order to prevent an exodus of expertise from obstetrics in response to lack of support for these nurses. I am pleased to see an article in JOGN which expresses obstetrical nursing as something other t h a n a happy environment absent of challenge. As obstetrical nurses know, the nurse is the member of the health care team who wipes the tears of these couples.
MAUHEENMCRAE,HN,M S N Educutional Coordinator for OblGyn Nursing Nursing Education and Research Beth Israel Hospital Boston, Massachusetts Breastfeeding I was delighted to read two excellent articles about breastfeeding in the May/June 1978 issue of
JOCN. Lee Parsons, author of “Weaning from the Breast”, displays a clear and accurate understanding of the needs of the weaning mother, the breastfeeding infant/child, and the nurse dealing with nursing families. I’m certain that fiurses who study this article can be more effective in
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