The needs of postpartum women.

The postpartum period is characterized by a revival of the pregnancy and birth experiences, as well as adjustment to new roles, and the adjustment of the family to the new family member. In the case of a first baby, it also represents a developmental milestone for the man and woman whose lives will no longer be unfettered. Adequate education in accordance with the needs of women is necessary to enable them to handle changes in the postpartum period and to meet these demands. This researcher is aware of several postpartum education programmes in operation in South Africa at present, but none have been compiled on the basis of a published investigation of the specific needs of these women. The aim of this study therefore was to determine the needs of postpartum women. An exploratory study was undertaken by means of a qualitative research design. The research was limited to women living in Bloemfontein. White married women, primiparae as well as multiparae, women who breast-fed or bottle-fed their babies and who had either vaginal delivery or a caesarean section were included in the study. Women who were discharged from hospital without their babies were excluded. The researcher concluded that women in the postpartum period experience common needs and problems regarding self-care and baby care but their priorities were needs and problems related to self-care. The reason could be that they had gained experience of baby care in hospital. Moreover, while there are many books and articles on baby care, few are available on self-care. Postpartum education is recommended for all mothers, both primiparae and multiparae.

[Communication with patients--the effect of verbal and nonverbal communication on the unconscious patient]. / Kommunikasie met pasiënte--die effek van verbale en nie-verbale kommunikasie op bewustelose pasiënte.

Communication, both verbal and non-verbal, is a greatly neglected skill at present. Two reasons given for this state of affairs are lack of time and lack of interest in others. Since it is difficult to separate verbal and non-verbal communication, the effects of both types were studied, whether or not they occurred simultaneously. Empirical evidence shows that unconscious patients are highly sensitive to the nature of communication, and that their intracranial pressures rise or fall concomitant in the way in which a conversation is being conducted within hearing distance. Music and touch seem to have similar consequences. The influence of communication is, however, not confined to intracranial pressure changes. The sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems are also affected, with associating changes in the heart rate. Messages of acceptance or rejection may be conveyed verbally or non-verbally. Communication with patients appears to be decisive, and should therefore warrant far greater attention than it receives at present.

The fetishistic use of speech.

The question which has been addressed in this paper is that of how broad or narrow our definition of fetishism should be. Can speech and words be included in the category of fetishistic phenomena? A detailed clinical case has been presented of an obscene telephone perversion in which obscene words, seen, heard and spoken, were utilized to deal with conflicts involving dread of the sight of the 'castrated' female genital and to ward off intense castration anxiety by supporting the illusion of a female phallus. The clinical observations have been utilized to illustrate the conclusion that although fetishism most often employs concrete objects for the defensive purposes involved, there are other instances in which abstract words and speech can be used concretely in place of or in addition to the more familiar concrete items. A brief discussion has been made of certain aspects of language development that are pertinent in this regard.