Monday, March 13, 2006

More sledgehammer ideas

Shocking video to stop baby shaking. Sorry, but I find this idea objectionable. According to the NZ Herald;

All new parents could be shown a graphic video showing the effects of severe shaking on a baby's body and brain, in an effort to cut child abuse.

It involves parents watching a video, reading a brochure and signing a "commitment statement" before they leave the hospital after giving birth.


We are all to be treated like idiots because a few people are. And what about all the potential shakers who won't see the video. The next "step-parent", the older sibling, the babysitter? What about home-births?

Listen, for a "normal" mother, just watching your newborn having the compulsory heel prick to extract some blood for the national database is harrowing enough.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Listen, for a "normal" mother, just watching your newborn having the compulsory heel prick to extract some blood for the national database is harrowing enough."

Right on the money!

We spent 9 months making a perfect human being and within minutes someone wants to punch a hole in him and let the world's first lot of pathogens have a practise run at invading his system.

Working on a 2nd - if they genuinely want me to watch that video I'll tell them where to go for a long walk. :( And SIGNING something? Never!!!

We got &#^#$^* around as first time parents as it was. Not the 2nd time around. I can see why home births for 2nd-ers are popular. The state birthing system, under the guise of "we know what's best", is a matronising, negative experience. If it wasn't for the fact it's in a hospital, my wife would never go back there again (risk of difficult birth requires medical staff close by)

- DAD (I'm sure you omitted Dad's by accident)

Oswald Bastable said...

We could have a video produced at great expense to the taxpayer:

'101 things NOT to do with your new baby'

It would be so much easier to bribe the stupid, the lazy and the drug-addled NOT to breed, but noooo- we have to do it the other way around...

Michael said...

As a 'trying-to-be-a-father' the prospect of being shown a video about a baby being severely brain damaged is very disturbing.

I felt ill watching some of the scenes they showed on the news last night.