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THE DOCTOR'S BABY BAG Lois Sears Brown Manti, Utah Non-Professional Division First Place Anecdote I don't remember ever being told that doctors bring babies, but I do remember that whenever a woman in Manti was having a baby, Dad would grab his "baby bag" and rush to her bedside. I peeked into the bag from time to time and saw the shining instru-ments, cans of ether, and the white gown for the doctor. There was also quite a large empty space in the bag, and I assumed that was where Dad carried the baby he "delivered". My older brother, Lucien, harbored the same idea, and we suffered through one particularly painful experience because of it. Dad called to say that he was rushing to the bedside of a woman who was in labor, and Mother was to send Lucien with the baby bag as quickly as possible. Mother sent him with instructions to rush the bag to his Dad. Some time later Dad returned home discouraged and blue. The baby had died. Lucien went into the back hall and sat on the dark steps. I am sure Mother and Dad thought nothing of his behavior as the tragedies of Dad's patients often came with him and cast a pall over our home. But this time seemed worse and finally Lucien had to confide in someone, so he told me, "I guess I killed that baby. What would they do to me if they knew?" Further confidences revealed taht Lucien had become tired as he ran with the bag, so he rested the bag on a big rock while he paused to rest himself. A few minutes after he delivered the bag to his Dad he heard someone say the baby had been delivered dead. Lucien felt guilt and blame, and I shared his dark secret. Source: Personal experience about 1916. -1- |
