NICU
signout | October 28, 2006The other night, I started writing about one of the things I hate about the NICU, which is that no one there talks about death. I didn't finish it, so I didn't post it, thinking I'd get to it the next night.
The following morning, instead of our usual attending rounds, we had a "debriefing," which is basically a meeting of everyone in the NICU involved in the care of a patient who has died. As these things often are, it was a lovely example of the support that people can show for each other at moments when they question their own actions and motives. But beyond that, the session helped me…
signout | October 21, 2006Today, I admitted a week-old baby whose mother didn't know she was pregnant until she gave birth to him.
Let me repeat that.
Today, I admitted a week-old baby whose mother didn't know she was pregnant until she gave birth to him.
When her contractions started last Friday afternoon, the 13th of October, she ran a hot bath to soothe what she thought were cramps, but leapt out of the tub when she saw a head appearing between her legs. She cut the umbilical cord with a pair of kitchen scissors, but because she hadn't clamped it first, she bled extensively prior to delivering the placenta.…