ZOMG! A healthy baby!

So, yeah, Zak's perfectly healthy. What's the big deal?

Zak went in for his four month checkup today, and the doctor may still be scratching his head. I'm obliged to go to a clinic that rotates doctors, so every visit is with a new doctor. And this doc seems puzzled over Zak. Not because he's got some odd ailment- to the contrary, he's the textbook definition of a healthy baby boy. Not because he's a weirdlo, either. But because he's strong, curious, happy, and obviously well-cared for. Now, I know that docs are trained to treat disease and repair injuries, but if we're going to have well-baby care, docs should be better prepared for a well baby.

It started even before Zak was born: I was under the care of a midwife, knowing that they are better prepared for normality than an OB. Alas, at the birth center I went to, the OB barged in and took over. Before I could say "Lamaze" I was pinned to the bed by more machines than you could shake a speculum at, and forbidden even water. My dreams of a good birth for Zak evaporated. The OB was prepared for an abnormal birth, and by Gum, she was going to have one.

Flip past ominous tales of heart murmurs and mysterious marks by the ear. I'm of the mind that doctors are merely frustrated horror writers. Zak's doc du jour was simply gobsmacked that he is still exclusively breastfed- even though the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusive breastfeeding for six months, and to supplement with solids for an additional six months minimum. Now, I'd told this doc that I stay at home with Zak, so it's not as if I work outside the home 18 hours a day, making breastfeeding quite the feat. Why is it such a surprise that Zak is happy, healthy, and fed the best stuff on Earth? (Sorry, Snapple.)

My answer: culture is strong stuff- stronger than science. Medical culture is geared toward disease and injury, so doctors come to expect disease and injury. We live in a consumerist culture, so the fact that Zak's food cannot be purchased at the market leaves people flustered. We have a culture so geared towards formula feeding that a doll designed to mimic breastfeeding creates reactions of horror. Why, if "the best things in life are free", do we have a culture so unprepared for what is best and free? If doctors are there to keep us healthy, why are they so unprepared for a job well done? Why is a perfectly healthy little boy such a shock to the medical system?