*Warning- if you are really sensitive about reading about babies dying, maybe read with caution? Nothing too awful, but this is a post about the unfun parts of my job:
Wow, back-to-back posts about work? I don't even post much, usually, about work.
You know one of my pet peeves? Referring to a baby as "expired." It really sits wrong with me. As in, "The baby's gestation is 22 weeks but it hasn't 'expired' yet."
Ok. I'm sorry, but babies do not "expire." They die. It's awful, it's sad, and they deserve dignity and it should be called what it is. They're not dairy products. Now, we refer to dead adults as expired, too, and I don't like that either, but we obviously get way more dead babies here than adults, so babies are more on my mind. Maybe I'm being overly sensitive, but the day I feel nothing when a baby dies is the day I'll be looking for another job. It SHOULD feel wrong when you have to take a dead baby and place them in the morgue's fridge. This may be cheesy, but I like to sing a little lullabye to the babies that have passed.
Tonight, I think I'll say a little prayer for the people who lose their children. And be so very grateful that mine are safe at home. Because if you have healthy, happy children, you really do "have it all."
5 comments:
Oh, that would be hard. That is why I think people who work with little kids and babies in a medical setting have it hard. I'm glad the babies that don't make it have someone like you to sing to them.
-Lisa
That is terrible!!! I've never heard the term "expired" before - but I definitely don't care for it. It is degrading.
I'm also terribly sorry that you have to deal with that... I mean I know it's part of your job, so it is what it is. But it's definitely hard to deal with the deal of an infant. I'm proud of you for finding that positive spin.
It sucks that everything is PC now a days. I agree that "expiring" should be left to food.
Powerful post!
I think they are called "expired" because too many do not refer to a child as a living being until they are born and breathing on their own. This. Is. Totally. Wrong.
A baby is a child, a child is living and has a spirit. That child needs the lullaby just as much as Andie or Aili do.
I would have to say that I agree with Jen on this one. I do not find it cheesy in the least that you sing to that baby as you are putting it in the morgue. If that child did not touch your heart it is time to find a new job.
I know that you have a kind a sweet spirit, I have seen it. My prayer for you is that the job does not tarnish that spirit, and you can continue to comfort those in need with your love and compassion.
I am so glad that you are my sister, and are the mother of my wonderful nieces.
Post a Comment