12 days ago, we had our 3rd child, Henrik Torsten Jensen, at
California Pacific Medical Center. The birth went very smoothly and
he was healthy.
On the first day after his birth, the nurse came by and handed us a
pamphlet and said "we'll be coming by to get him tomorrow for the
mandatory PKU testing, which will take about 10 minutes".
So, I read the pamphlet. I was incensed by the following
sentence: "California wants to protect the health of all its
newborns, so state law requires that, before leaving the hospital,
your baby must have the Newborn Screening (NBS) Test for....." So,
forget about the parents being the guardians of their own children
and deciding, through consultation with their private doctors what
is best for their children our newborns are really property of the
State. What else could be inferred from "California wants to
protect the health of all 'its' newborns"?
I am familiar with this testing, and agree that it is a good idea.
In fact, if offered the testing, I would absolutely do it, and
recommend the same to others. However, it was disgusting to me,
that the nurse, as proxy for the State, came into our room to take
my newborn child away for this mandatory testing.
The humiliation continued later as I had to demonstrate to the nurse
that I had an "approved" carseat for my child. Again, of course I
had a perfect carseat because I care for my child. However, I
resent very much having to pass the State's approval to leave the
hospital with my child.
I know I'm probably preaching to the choir, but I had to vent
somewhere. My coworkers think I'm nuts for complaining about this.