Zach and I are big fans of The Office, but when it comes to babies being born on TV shows, my sense of humor sort of goes out the window. In the weeks leading up to the birth of Jim and Pam's baby I was prepared to be disappointed. You may remember my rant some months ago on just this topic. When we cozied in to watch the episode, The Delivery Part 2, I was pleasantly surprised.
The first surprise came when Pam was in the hospital ready to push her baby out and not only didn't scream for drugs, there wasn't any mention of drugs. A natural birth, high five Pam! At this point I could have turned off the show and been very happy. In the next scene the nurse comes in and offers to take their baby off to the nursery so Pam can get some well deserved rest, but they politely decline. To top it all off, they show Pam trying to nurse with some difficulty and instead of giving in to the nurse offering a bottle, Pam requests a lactation consultant. She tells the nurse not to give her baby a bottle for fear of "nipple confusion". I think this is where my jaw dropped. I nudged Zach and whispered, "Can you believe this?" Pam was having a difficult time getting the baby to latch on but never gave up. She was determined and in the end, as she waited for Jim to pull the car around to pick her and the baby up, she tries once again to nurse and her daughter latches. Pam is overjoyed, I cry. I don't watch a lot of TV, but never have I seen a show present real hospital birth scenarios like this. I was so grateful to see breast feeding presented as a natural, healthy, and smart choice made by young parents.
Thank you to the writers of The Office for keeping it funny, keeping it smart, and for keeping it real.
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