Healthy MOM™
Did you know that when doctors and nurses talk about your
pregnancy's "Due Date", they refer to that magical day as your
"EDC"?
So, just what is EDC code for?.... Estimated Date of
Confinement!.... That's right! CONFINEMENT! Welcome to
Parenthood!
Back in the "Old Days", having a baby signaled
the beginning of a period where the mother would most likely be
'confined' to the home as she cared for her newborn and herself.
Other women in the family would rally around to cook, clean and
support her in her transition to motherhood. I actually know of a
woman who in the 1940's, was not allowed out of bed for
30 days after delivery…..!
Yep! That meant using a bedpan as dictated by her private duty
nurse!
OK… That is just a bit absurd , extreme, and not really
healthy…
But nowadays have women taken the experience of motherhood to
the other extreme?
Women are so amazing at managing every single aspect of their
lives. And life can include a job, kids, grandparents; not
to mention supporting a partner in their endeavors. Unfortunately,
that often means she will take care of everyone else first, and IF
she has anything leftover for herself… Well, that's a bonus! This
kind of "I can do it all" thinking is also a set up for depression
and anxiety.
I wonder if we can't find a happy medium between the confinement
idea, and what I call the "I'm dancing as fast as I can"
phenomenom…
…..by the way…. The woman who was not allowed out of bed for a
month after giving birth to her first child, was my mother…..
Meet Healthy MOM™
Kay Yanit, RN,BSN,CLNC is a mother of two beautiful and smart
daughters Keenan and Lindley; and of an equally beautiful and smart
'almost' son-in-law Eric. She has worked as a Pediatric ICU,
Neonatal ICU and Labor and Delivery nurse for 30 years. She
currently works with moms and babies at the Women's Health &
Birth Center at McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center in
Springfield, Oregon. You can reach Kay at
541-741-4649.
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