Blind Couple gets child back

[Red Panda]

How do we know she didn't get help? The article doesn't say one way or the other. Its possible the conclusion was drawn after hours of trying to help her. We don't know, thats why there are experts with all the facts involved.

[ExRetailDrone]

How do we know she didn't get help? The article doesn't say one way or the other. Its possible the conclusion was drawn after hours of trying to help her. We don't know, thats why there are experts with all the facts involved.

According to this article (which is almost the same as in the OP, but with a couple of additional bits), it sounds like immediately following the initial breastfeeding clumsiness, a lactation nurse wrote on the chart that the mother was unfit rather than trying to help a new mother with a tough ability to master.

A lactation nurse noticed that Mikaela’s nostrils were covered by Johnson’s breast. Johnson felt that something was wrong and switched her baby to her other side, but not before Mikaela turned blue.

That’s when the concerned nurse wrote on a chart: “The child is without proper custody, support or care due to both of parents being blind and they do not have specialized training to assist them.”

Further down in the article:

[The mother] recalled the social worker saying: “ ‘Look, because you guys are blind, I don’t feel like you can adequately take care of her.’ And she left.”

That right there screams of illegal discrimination to me. Nothing that I have read makes it sound like the baby was taken away for any other reason than the parents were blind. They were not given the chance to prove that they could or could not handle this responsibility. They answered the social worker's questions in a very knowledgeable way and that still wasn't good enough. I have heard so many stories of kids having horrendous treatment at home, and it takes way more to get them taken away by social services than it did in this case, where there was no real evidence that the baby was in any sort of danger whatsoever.

[lordlundar]

How is the nurse suppose to investigate? She has a job already. She made an observation. The people who are suppose to investigate did.

That’s when the concerned nurse wrote on a chart: “The child is without proper custody, support or care due to both of parents being blind and they do not have specialized training to assist them.”

No, she did not make an observation, she made an assumption based on what she saw. She did not write "Mother had trouble breastfeeding, please find out if it is related to her condition and if precautions have been taken." She unilaterally decided that they were unfit and unprepared based on something she noticed.

[Red Panda]

If an assumption means you observe something and use your training to report it then I guess thats what she did and what her job is.

[ExRetailDrone]

If an assumption means you observe something and use your training to report it then I guess thats what she did and what her job is.

No, if she was using her training and properly doing her job, she would not have assumed that the child was in danger because the mother was having trouble breastfeeding at first. The nurse was a lactation nurse, which, according to this site:

are professional breastfeeding specialists trained to help mothers with a variety of issues

So, if that nurse really was to use her training, she would have given the new mother tips and pointers to help her breastfeed more effectively, rather than making a sweeping judgment based on one encounter that doesn't sound like it lasted more than a minute.

Also, for your information, the definition of 'assumption':

1. The act of taking to or upon oneself: assumption of an obligation.
2. The act of taking possession or asserting a claim: assumption of command.
3. The act of taking for granted: assumption of a false theory.
4. Something taken for granted or accepted as true without proof; a supposition: a valid assumption.

Nowhere in those definitions do I see anything about using training to come to a valid conclusion without solid evidence.

[KnitShoni]

Except...she's a LACTATION nurse. Her job is to assist the mother with breastfeeding. THAT is what her training was for. So, no, she did not do her job.

[Red Panda]

1. The act of taking to or upon oneself: assumption of an obligation.

The nurse didn't assume an obligation

2. The act of taking possession or asserting a claim: assumption of command.

She didn't assert a claim, she made an observation

3. The act of taking for granted: assumption of a false theory.

She didn't take something for granted or made a false theory, she directly observed and reported

4. Something taken for granted or accepted as true without proof; a supposition: a valid assumption.

She didn't act without proof, she observed what happened.

Conclusion: The nurse did not make an assumption

[KnitShoni]

She didn't act without proof, she observed what happened.

Conclusion: The nurse did not make an assumption

She did, actually. The only thing she "observed" was that the mother was blind, and she had trouble breastfeeding. She ASSUMED that the mother was having trouble BECAUSE she was blind. She ASSUMED that the mother would not be able to care for the child because she was having trouble breastfeeding.

[Red Panda]

She noted that the mother was untrained and unable to breastfeed. Which happened.

[KnitShoni]

She noted that the mother was untrained and unable to breastfeed. Which happened.

Couple points I think you're missing, here:

-Most new mothers have issues trying to breastfeed initially. There is no evidence this mother had trouble because she was blind. There is no class you can take that will teach you everything there is to know about being a parent.

-The nurse is a lactation nurse. It is her job to train new mothers to breastfeed successfully. There is no evidence this happened. If the mother being blind was an issue with her being able to breastfeed, she could have bottle-fed the baby.

[ExRetailDrone]

She noted that the mother was untrained and unable to breastfeed. Which happened.

Because all first-time new mothers are trained and completely able to breastfeed as soon as they give birth? No. Just like with many other activities, it takes practice. This website gives information about some common problems that breastfeeding mothers may face as well as some solutions. This line particularly caught my eye:

Breastfeeding (nursing) your baby can be a comfortable and relaxing experience. But it takes time and experience. To encourage a comfortable and successful breastfeeding experience, get an early start in the hospital. Request the help of a lactation consultant or nurse to get you started with proper positioning and breast care.

The nurse who made blind assumptions based on one incident was the same person that this mother should have been able to ask for help with breastfeeding. It's one thing to be untrained and another completely to be an unfit parent. The nurse was there to help with the very problem the mother was facing, not make a sweeping judgment call that got the child taken away unnecessarily.

[Red Panda]

The baby turned blue. Even the most inexperienced sighted mother would see that. The blind woman can't. She almost suffocated her baby. It would take people trained to train the blind to teach her. She should have gotten those classes before giving birth

[ExRetailDrone]

The baby turned blue. Even the most inexperienced sighted mother would see that. The blind woman can't. She almost suffocated her baby. It would take people trained to train the blind to teach her. She should have gotten those classes before giving birth

There is absolutely no information to say that she didn't receive such classes before the baby was born.

[KnitShoni]

There is absolutely no information to say that she didn't receive such classes before the baby was born.

Not to mention, it's also not just the mother who has to learn how to breastfeed. The child has to learn, as well.

[Red Panda]

And no mention that she did.