[blparent] Challenges with hospital

[Veronica Smith]

Our insurance offered someone to come help at home which I politely refused.
I said we had plenty of help there and that was the end of that. V

-----Original Message-----
From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Jo Elizabeth Pinto
Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2010 1:59 PM
To: NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List
Subject: Re: [blparent] Challenges with hospital

I agree.  I know nothing of the history of this family, but I can't suggest 
strongly enough that a blind mom or couple should check out the hospital 
where the birth will take place well beforehand.  I went in with a bunch of 
questions, basically to find out if the nurses, doctors, social workers, or 
anybody else would have a problem with a blind mother taking a baby home 
after delivery.  The supervisor of the prenatal clinic sent out an e-mail to

all of the involved staff, stating when I would be expected in, and putting 
the position of the hospital in writing, that there was officially no 
problem with my situation.  One of the doctors did ask if I would have help 
at home, but I assumed he probably asked that of most or all of the women he

attended because it really is important to get a support system in place for

any new mom.  So I said yes, I would have help, which I did have, though not

24/7, and that was the end of the discussion.  I can't stress enough that 
conditions vary from hospital to hospital, and if you don't like the answers

you get when checking a place out, move on and find somewhere you can be 
comfortable.

Jo Elizabeth
--------------------------------------------------
From: "Karla Hudson" <HudsonKC at msu.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2010 1:23 PM
To: <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Subject: [blparent] Challenges with hospital

> Hi Group,
>
> I have been watching the posts regarding the family who may have taken 
> their
> baby away by CPS. I have mentioned this before on this list. When I had my
> first child I had an interesting experience with hospital nurse with 28 
> year
> of experience. The hospital Social Worker also offered us WIC when we were
> totally not qualified. I believe these individuals have an interest in
> protecting the child. I am thinking they just do not know exactly what to
> protect them from when it comes to blind people. They make all kinds of
> assumptions as they are unable to believe that they themselves could care
> for a child without sight.
>
> Also, I think as persons who are blind we need to become better at lying.
> When asked if I would have sighted help at home with my baby I lied and
> indicated that I would have such help. The joke was on them as the friend
> who came to help me was also blind and happened to be on staff at the
> hospital. Anyway, after all the annoying challenges the hospital put my 
> way
> I finally wrote a letter to the CEO a few months after my daughter was 
> born.
> Well, the Social worker had to contact me and apologized. Did I let her 
> off
> the hook? No, she received a lecture from me regarding the importance of
> reviewing the file before making assumptions. She would have seen there 
> that
> we did not qualify for WIC and that our OBGYN wrote a note indicating that
> we were extremely independent and prepared to have our child.
>
> So this can happen to the best and most independent of blind individuals.
>
> Karla
>
>
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