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This site is a member of WebRing. To browse visit here. Thursday, November 18, 2004 I thought we didn't do things like this any more The previous post about the proposed EPA study brought back some painful memories. Many years ago, I worked for the short-lived MIC program (Maternal and Infant Care, a precursor to the current WIC). MIC reached out to women with high-risk pregnancies through pre-natal clinics in county public health facilities. A team consisting of an OB-GYN resident, a nurse, a lab technician, a social worker and a clerk traveled to the clinics, visiting each one typically twice a month. The women and their infants were followed for a period of two years, with not just medical care but nutrition information, psychological counselling, and birth control assistance. In the economically-depressed rural counties of the state where I lived at the time, this was the only pre-natal care many women ever had, and the only pediatric care their children received. But there was trouble in our office with this rosy scenario. One of the OB-GYN residents was a staunch Catholic, and he didn't think the social worker ought to be teaching the women (mostly young, mostly unmarried) how to avoid additional pregnancies. Sterilization was okay, though, and if a new mother asked for a tubal ligation, he would approve the procedure. His reasoning baffled me (especially as a former Catholic), but there it was: birth control through sterilization—good; birth control with pills or diaphragms—bad. He was consistent, I have to admit. What he really preferred was a complete hysterectomy—no chance of the lady changing her mind later, I suppose, and asking for her tubes to be untied. His diagnoses could be truly creative, considering that the teaching hospital where the sterilizations were performed did have a standards committee. Too high a rate of hysterectomies for no good reason would have been likely to trigger someone's bullshit meter. What amazed me, in looking back on this from the vantage point of later years, was that no one on the team took issue with him. That may possibly have been because he was the only male on the team, and also possibly because the social worker, the person who was actually dispensing the birth control advice, was black. He was the doctor, the man, the white man, the one everyone was trained to defer to, and the most that ever happened was the occasional snide remark about his preference for sterilization, and a round of uneasy glances that followed. One day he went too far. A twelve-year-old girl had given birth to twins, and this resident somehow talked her into a complete hysterectomy. I'm sure he didn't explain to her that she would never be able to have another child, or that she would go through menopause, with all the accompanying problems and health issues, at an age when most girls were just beginning to menstruate. I have no idea how he talked this girl's mother into going along with it, or if he even bothered to try. All I know is that when the girl's medical records came across my desk a couple of weeks later, they contained the notation that she had given birth to twins by Caeserean section, and that (in more precise medical terminology) her reproductive organs had then been removed. The social worker must have seen my appalled look, because she came over and said in a low voice, as if afraid someone else might hear her, "That little girl oughtn't to have had two babies at her age, but how could they do that to her?" I remember that she just shook her head, looking defeated, and added, "I know that doctor doesn't believe in birth control, but how could they do that to a twelve-year-old girl?" And now to the point of this narrative: "they" could do that because of the religious beliefs of the person in power, and the reluctance of everyone else, including myself, to stand up to him. Welcome to family values, American style. posted by Liz @ 11:08 PM | The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section RSS Feed PERSONAL Send email toliz at life-as-a-spectator-sport.com Home I'm a mother, grandmother, a computer professional, Democrat, Christian. I welcome politely worded comments and email, my spam filter throws the rest away, so don't bother to flame me WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT' "If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart. THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3 KNITTING BLOGS Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits FINISHED PROJECTS -------FINISHED IN 2006------- Peruvian Cap Tutti-Frutti Socks Shelley's Socks Carol's Socks -------FINISHED IN 2007------- Chain Link Socks Baby Surprise Jacket Valerie & Friend Baby Bonnet Rainbow Baby Socks Girls Pixie Hood Mitred Square Heart Red & White Socks Coffee Cup Pot Holder Nubbins Dishcloth Garterlac Dishcloth Suede Booties Kate's Socks Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap Half Thumbless Mittens Red Mittens for Akkol -------FINISHED IN 2008------- SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE -- Blogs and websites -- Causubon's Book Club Orlov Food Storage Made Easy From the Wilderness In the Wake Listening to Katrina Survival Topics The Modern Homestead The Oil Drum Notes from a Hillside Farm -- Mailing Lists -- 12vdc Power Living on the Land Rainwater Refrigeration Alternatives Old Ways of Living POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES The political sites have moved BOOKS I'M READING How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising ARCHIVES February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002 Feedjit Live Blog Stats
The previous post about the proposed EPA study brought back some painful memories. Many years ago, I worked for the short-lived MIC program (Maternal and Infant Care, a precursor to the current WIC). MIC reached out to women with high-risk pregnancies through pre-natal clinics in county public health facilities. A team consisting of an OB-GYN resident, a nurse, a lab technician, a social worker and a clerk traveled to the clinics, visiting each one typically twice a month. The women and their infants were followed for a period of two years, with not just medical care but nutrition information, psychological counselling, and birth control assistance. In the economically-depressed rural counties of the state where I lived at the time, this was the only pre-natal care many women ever had, and the only pediatric care their children received. But there was trouble in our office with this rosy scenario. One of the OB-GYN residents was a staunch Catholic, and he didn't think the social worker ought to be teaching the women (mostly young, mostly unmarried) how to avoid additional pregnancies. Sterilization was okay, though, and if a new mother asked for a tubal ligation, he would approve the procedure. His reasoning baffled me (especially as a former Catholic), but there it was: birth control through sterilization—good; birth control with pills or diaphragms—bad. He was consistent, I have to admit. What he really preferred was a complete hysterectomy—no chance of the lady changing her mind later, I suppose, and asking for her tubes to be untied. His diagnoses could be truly creative, considering that the teaching hospital where the sterilizations were performed did have a standards committee. Too high a rate of hysterectomies for no good reason would have been likely to trigger someone's bullshit meter. What amazed me, in looking back on this from the vantage point of later years, was that no one on the team took issue with him. That may possibly have been because he was the only male on the team, and also possibly because the social worker, the person who was actually dispensing the birth control advice, was black. He was the doctor, the man, the white man, the one everyone was trained to defer to, and the most that ever happened was the occasional snide remark about his preference for sterilization, and a round of uneasy glances that followed. One day he went too far. A twelve-year-old girl had given birth to twins, and this resident somehow talked her into a complete hysterectomy. I'm sure he didn't explain to her that she would never be able to have another child, or that she would go through menopause, with all the accompanying problems and health issues, at an age when most girls were just beginning to menstruate. I have no idea how he talked this girl's mother into going along with it, or if he even bothered to try. All I know is that when the girl's medical records came across my desk a couple of weeks later, they contained the notation that she had given birth to twins by Caeserean section, and that (in more precise medical terminology) her reproductive organs had then been removed. The social worker must have seen my appalled look, because she came over and said in a low voice, as if afraid someone else might hear her, "That little girl oughtn't to have had two babies at her age, but how could they do that to her?" I remember that she just shook her head, looking defeated, and added, "I know that doctor doesn't believe in birth control, but how could they do that to a twelve-year-old girl?" And now to the point of this narrative: "they" could do that because of the religious beliefs of the person in power, and the reluctance of everyone else, including myself, to stand up to him. Welcome to family values, American style.
The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section
RSS Feed
PERSONAL
WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT'
"If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart.
THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME
Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3
KNITTING BLOGS
Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits
FINISHED PROJECTS
SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE
POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES
BOOKS I'M READING
How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising
ARCHIVES
February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002
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