This morning one of my partners asked for me to share my view on cellphone use in the delivery room. He was speaking specifically about the emerging phenomenon of multiple family members taking photos, notifying friends, or uploading a "birth documentary", and he knew that I could offer a lighter perspective on this practice. Before I knew it, I was barreling through a sprawling and cathartic dissertation on the growing use of cellphones. I love my cell phone, but here are some of my observations.
One of my most favorite situational cellphone use complaints is when I go to do a prenatal consult and the father, family member, or friend sits in the corner talking on the cellphone. You never hear "Oh my goodness! Is she alright?" nor do you hear "I'm sorry, I'll have to call you back" just the distracting chattering on some topic that is clearly more important than the potential complications facing the soon to be born fetus in the room. Even better is if during the discussion with the mother, a cell phone rings at high volume blurting "ITCHA BIRFDAY SO I KNOW YOU WANNA RIDE OUT" (better when the full ring is allowed to play and then answered).
While some years ago, when I was a resident and people still had home telephones I used to complain about the fact that many mothers would call with a question about their child, but when you tried to call them back, you'd get the recorded "The party that you are trying to reach has 'privacy control'. Please state your name at the beep." However, now I find it much more frequent that I get to "enjoy the music while my party is reached". So in the wee hours of the morning, As I prepare to deliver some concerning news about a baby's deteriorating condition I may get to first listen to "Shorty's like a melody in my head... nah na nah nah everyday...". Great now I'm ready to talk about potentially grave circumstances!
At this point, unexpectedly, my partner trumped me. He explained that he made one of these phone calls one night and got the voice mail box which in a rather saucy voice said, " HEY This is so n so! Leave me a message... If you're HOT... I'll call you back!"
He decided to just try calling back later!
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My premed naivete is going "whaaat!?!?"
ReplyDeleteI can't believe people take calls during prenatal consults or in similar situations. Wow.
And I totally agree-- Disney is a fantastic place. Vacationing there also made me even more interested in pediatrics. I really love spending time around kids... I wonder though, how hard is it to work with parents who you think aren't meant to be parents (or even...parents who you think should not be allowed to parent)? ***I'm sort of kidding here...sort of...I dont actually think parenting should be restricted or anything***
Does that happen often? I realized on this trip that I can be pretty judgey about people's parenting tactics. I think this is something I would get over. But I imagine it can be tough. Although, I think I'd become less judgey if I went into peds. This would probably be a good thing.
Thanks for your comment, DIT. I think that all doctors become a little bit jaded by these types of situations. It's just part of it. However, you learn to cope with it in various ways (my tendency is to make light of it in a way that hopefully provides entertainment to others). Also, if you're good at communication, you might be able to impact things like objectionable parenting practices. At any rate, if at the end of the day, you keep in mind that your goal is to provide the best care that you can for the patient then you'll be fine.
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