The trouble is they're so transfixed they cannot see the danger. When I've mentioned it, I was poo-pooed. But watch the video and read the LifeSiteNews account carefully. Both babies are being almost completely submerged - by one nurse. That's right - one nurse between the two of them. She has only one hand to devote to each child. As most folks know, babies squirm! And these particular babies are wet, to boot! It only takes a few seconds for tragedy to happen! What were these people thinking? Maybe I should ask "were they thinking at all?" Were they so eager for a "touching beautiful moment" that they were willing to suspend caution and common sense?
This happened in France. I cannot imagine this happening in an American hospital without that nurse being tossed out on her hiney and perhaps being stripped of her license. I love babies. For that reason I deplore the dangerous situation in which these little ones were placed.
This, however, is not the first time I've seen newborns treated like gazingstocks at the expense of their comfort, dignity and safety. About 10 years ago, I started seeing pictures like the one on the right. Actually, this one is more benign than some of the others. At least this child is wearing a diaper. I recall seeing the babies suspended in fishnet baskets without one stitch of clothing between them and the netting. In other words, they were treated like a sack of potatoes or onions - so that we could all have "cute-attacks". By the way - this particular picture was NOT a "photoshop" job. He/she really was suspended in the air. I trust that there was a mattress underneath this babe in case the rope at the top became undone.I'm not sure what caused so many folks not to recognize the danger to those twins. Peer pressure, perhaps? Someone saying, "How lovely!" caused them to "jump on the bandwagon"? Not reassuring!
Interesting comments, for when I saw the still picture late last night on lifenews, I thought it wasn't real. It really looked fake when it was still. So, I clicked on it to see the video, and it said the video was removed. Obviously, I'm not missing anything. God bless you and your loved ones!
ReplyDeleteThey looked so premature that I got the impression that they weren't squirming much.
ReplyDeleteThey obviously were moving so there was some risk. I cannot see any real tangible, objective benefit from that action that was at least commensurate with the risk. I think that was unconscionably cavalier on the part of those folks who had oversight over the children.
DeleteI think that you are right about the photo shoots that use tiny babies like mannequins for cute affects. They do often look uncomfortable and many set-ups seem demeaning to the child. If they are also dangerous, that is another reason to point out the potential for abuse. Babies are adorable, but they should be protected and respected, not commercialised.
ReplyDeleteThe bath that we saw on many websites was a modified version of the Lamaze bath. Although I felt a bit nervous about running water over the child's face, take note that newborns have a gasp reflex and do not insuflate (inhale into their lungs) water the way older children/adults do. Tiny infants are great underwater swimmers! The therapist proceeded with care. She held the twins firmly but gently with their faces out of the bath at all times. She was attentive to their movements. Water made them buoyant, quite light and relatively easy to handle for a nurse who deals with assisting patients and performing massage therapy. If you watched the entire twin video and some of the "singleton" videos on her site, you would have appreciated the care and expertise of this woman who is attempting to give these infants an experience of gentle birth and loving, calming touch. In the explanatory text of the video, the nurse therapist cautions parent viewers not to attempt the bath as it is a specialised therapy. No one was trying to promote dangerous stunts here. I think the millions of people who viewed this video were amazed at the obvious tenderness, humanity and beauty of these tiny children and it may have softened hearts and opened eyes that insist the unborn are not really human.
Proceeded with care? I beg to differ. One nurse per baby, with both hands devoted to one child. There was no good reason to expose these babes to even the slightest of risks.
DeleteThis lady, Sonia Rochel, isn't a wacky, dangerous "nurse" but an expert therapist and the inventor of this technique. I really don't think she expected this video to go viral and she gave a very modest and cautious interview. You asked if there was any benefit to the popularity of the video and I did suggest one in terms of the millions of people who saw the video and the humanity of the newborn. No babies have been killed or harmed by this technique, in fact, they have experienced gentleness and tender care. Here is a link to another one of her videos that has info about the technique in the explanatory notes in the description box:
ReplyDeletehttp://youtu.be/OPSAgs-exfQ
God bless you for your love of babies!
That benefit, in my opinion, is not commensurate to the risk involved to the babies. There was no reason whatsoever not to have each baby handled by his/her own nurse, rather than one person holding both of them.
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