Читать книгу Confessions of a Doctor - Stanley Feldman - Страница 14

Our obstetric department was one of the best in London and the private wing was popular and fashionable. There were three excellent consultant obstetricians including Sir Arthur Bell, a past president of the College of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians. Sir Arthur was a canny and enthusiastic accoucheur who, when encouraging a mother to ‘push’, would become totally involved in the birthing process. His face would go scarlet and the veins on his neck and face would bulge until one was fearful he might have a stroke. It was touch and go as to who would give birth first. Off duty, he was a great horse-racing man but his staff soon learned not to rely on his ‘tips from the horse’s mouth’.

The obstetrician idol of the ‘smart set’ was Roger de Vere, labelled ‘Divine de Vere’ by a Sunday newspaper. Always suave and smiling, he was an amusing colleague, never lost for a witty riposte. He encouraged his anaesthetist, J B Wyman, to introduce the technique of epidural anaesthesia to alleviate the pain of labour. For many years epidural labours were limited to about two or three practices in London. The other obstetrician who encouraged their use was J B O’Sullivan. His anaesthetist was the very able Andrew Doughty. When they successfully delivered a male heir to a Middle Eastern potentate, the proud father gave his almost-new Rolls Royce to the obstetrician as a token of his gratitude. The anaesthetist, who had administered the epidural and attended the patient assiduously, received a cheque for £20.

De Vere was not a great enthusiast of the various new fashions in maternity practice. He had lived through the Grantley Dick Reed era of natural childbirth and saw little merit in birthing pools. On one occasion when a mother-to-be expressed an interest in the le Vosier method of birthing he pointed out that it meant the patient lying in a bath of water in a darkened room listening to music. Yes, she replied, she quite liked that idea. He continued: it then meant putting the new-born baby – covered in the sticky, waxy meconium and any bloody or faecal exudates – to her breast immediately so that they could bond. At this she showed signs of waning enthusiasm. Finally, he explained that the full process involved eating some of the placenta once the baby was born. This persuaded her to have a regular birthing experience!