If Florence Nightingale Wrote the Book: How Would Our Headlines Look?

Ever since 1894, when the first book written on baby care by Dr. Luther Emmett Holt, “The Care and Feeding of Children” was published, doctors, educators and mothers were told that rapid response to crying babies was detrimental and would inevitably result in the “spoiling of our children”. I suspect a woman such as Florence Nightingale would have cringed at the thought. As our nation became more and more addicted to logic and reason, this advice was taken as a Sacred Truth even though it went against our nature as loving parents. Several generations have grown up since the medical profession, developed the medical model in natal care of taking the babies away from the mothers and bringing them back in three or four hours for a feeding. This may be exactly why 90% of all prescriptions written are for depression and anxiety; 25% of them are for our children and teens. Statistics show us that anti-psychotic medication has been prescribed to 6,546,000 young people.

As late as the 1920’s, the death rate of infants under one years of age in institutions and orphanages throughout the United States was above 90 percent. In their investigation of the causes of death, researchers discovered that the infants died from lack of human contact. Deprived of maternal body contact, these infants develop a profound depression, which resulted in a lack of appetite and eventually, death.

According to a recent study “Rats subjected to several 3 hour periods of maternal separation demonstrate an immediate increase in the BDNF gene expression in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, followed by a chronic reduction of BDNF expression in limbic and prefrontal regions of the brain.” This is derived from a study by Roceri, Cirulli, Pessina, Peretto, Racagni.et al., 2004.
BDNF is a gene that is essential for learning, memory, higher thinking, long-term memory and have possible links to Depression, Schizophrenia, OCD, Alzheimer’s and Dementia. Low BDNF levels are known to be implicated in depression and hyper-anxiety.
In a major hospital in Chicago, the value of the mother’s voice to a child’s development has been proven. Weeks before the delivery, the hospital has the mother record her voice and embedding it in a CD to a musical lullabies which in played in incubators. This has resulted in both short-term and long-term documented increase in mental, emotional and physical abilities. The infants stay in the intensive care units has been reduced by 3 days. At a cost of $2,000 to $3,000 per day for each infant, the cost saving to hospitals nationwide would be an astounding number if this was implemented. The emotional benefits cannot ever be calculated, but to date this simple act of placing a recording of a mother’s voice in the incubator has not been incorporated as a standard practice.
We live in a culture that makes it a crime to touch without extensive education and a privileged license which is very expensive to acquire and to maintain. Recently I took a continuing education class to become a teacher of infant massage. It was a four day class and the total cost was less than $700. The instructor teaches mothers of their innate ability to touch, communicate and respond when picking up the crying baby as well as massage techniques. After 15 years of CE classes, I must say this class on Infant Massage was the best class I have ever taken. I would encourage anyone looking to make a profound impact on the world to look up the organization started by Vimala McClure and purchase her first book “Infant Massage, A Handbook for Loving Parents”. Anyone interested can take this class and become a Certified Instructor. Retired teachers nurses or even Reiki practioners can augment their income and create a better world. www.infantmassageUSA.com
I believe strongly in doing something to “Be the change you want to see in the world”. This might even be talking to a few pregnant women per week about the benefits of infant touch.
If Florence Nightingale had written the first guide to infant care it is possible that the headlines would not be filled with violent crimes in schools, severe addiction and overdose, excessive suicides and even the amount of war on this Beautiful Earth. I feel the change is coming thanks to so many teachers who had the courage to speak up. You too can be a part of this evolution.