PoinT of VieW
An obstetrician reflects on what it's like to deliver a baby.
and wife. This is one of the most
o me, the most amazing phe-
intimate times in their lives, and it is
nomenon in nature is a new-
:
a privilege to be allowed
born baby.
to enter that realm with
Programmed into that
them.
helpless, slippery, squirm-
As the baby is being
: ing 7-pound package are
born, the head usually
all the instructions for
emerges
first. From its jour-
growth and maturation for
ney through the birth
the next 80 years or so. In
canal,
it often is mis-
his or her genetic code are
shapen into a "cone-
a toddler, a small child, an
Dr.
Jerrold
head," which becomes
adolescent, a teen alter, a
Weinberg
round in a day or so. Then
young adult and even the
Special
to
come
the shoulders, the
entire process of aging.
The
AppleTree
second-largest part of the
What's it like to deliver a
baby. From the shoulders
baby?
down, the baby is much smaller, so
Since very few deliveries are
the bottom half of the infant squirts
planned, a trip to the hospital for
out quickly.
I me involves interrupting whatever I
At this point, the umbilical cord,
have been doing, including sleep-
connected
to the baby's navel, is
ing.
seen
hanging
loosely. Sometimes
During the labor, I like to study the
we hand the scissors to the father
relationship between the husband
and allow him to cut the cord.
Jerrold Weinberg is an ob-gyn
With modern ultrasound testing,
with DMC/Sinai and a vice presi-
we often know the sex of the baby
dent of Temple Israel. He also
before he or she is born. If there
brought into the world both daugh-
are anomalies, like club foot or cleft
ters born to AppleTree Editor Eliza-
palate, we often know that, too. But
beth Applebaum, who had no
I am still bound by old habits.
problem calling her doctor in the
When I started in practice 25
middle of the night when it was
years ago, there was no ultrasound.
time for her first baby to "squirt
All we knew about the baby (or
out."
I babies) before birth was that it had
I a heart beat and its approximate
I size. Often, we didn't even know if
there were twins. So in those days,
just before delivery, I had tremen-
dous apprehension as to the health
1 of the newborn. Even today, the
I strong cry of the new baby is as
I much a joy and relief to me as it is
I to the parents.
As I leave the labor room, I usual-
! ly glance at the baby, often being
weighed, tagged and finger print-
ed. Wrapped in a generic blanket,
I it seems to have no personality or
I identity. But I always have the same
I thought: when my two daughters
I were born, they looked like that,
too. And then over the days and
weeks and years that followed they
developed into unique personalities.
Just like a snowball rolling downhill,
as they grow they are affected by
everything they touch.
Therefore, this new father and
mother have begun an adventure
I that cannot be explained as they
I witness the "generic" baby become
a real human being.
The next time I see these babies is
when their mothers come in for their
six-week checkups. Most often, the
girls will be in pink and the boys in
shades of blue, thus making their
usual lack of hair unimportant.
Attending obstetrical deliveries
never becomes routine. The most
profound emotion is relief, when
everything has gone well — and
then happiness for the family.
To quote Rabbi Paul Yedwab,
paraphrasing another famous
quote, "There are no atheists in the
delivery room." ❑
Do you have perspectives on
parenting or on child care that
you would like to shore with
readers of The AppleTree? If so,
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6/5
1998
73