Injustices to the Mother/Baby Bond

One of the things I discovered in the natural child birth community and culture is an enormous list of heartbreaking stories about how the medical world has interrupted the mother/child bond. Below are a few brief stories I've heard from real people in my life and not just read in a book. These break my heart.

1. A relative of mine in the 1940's had natural child birth that progressed just fine with her first two children. Right before the baby emerged in each situation, the doctor gave her gas and knocked her unconscious before the crucial moment.

2. Another relative was so full of poorly chosen pain medicine that she wasn't even aware of why no one would make that distant baby stop crying. Once she realized it was hers, they pinned her arms down so she wouldn't "contaminate" the baby.

3. Someone I met recently was not allowed to breastfeed. The doctors said her breasts were too big and they gave her a medicine to "dry her up."

These events happened in the past, but there are practices today that are just as insensitive and so many women are robbed of so much.

Don't know why I'm writing about this right now. I guess I'm just very sensitive to how close I feel to ND right now and am grateful for the support we've had.

Maybe I'm thinking about this because tomorrow I would have gone back to work according to my original plan, and that would have been another kind of separation. Even the thought of it makes me sad right now, regardless of the change in plans.