A Singaporean In Australia

I will like to share this article [link] about a mother in UK who reportedly revived her child whom all the medical staff in the hospital had given up on, with a hug of life.

As a parent, this story has an overwhelming effect on me. I had my fair share of panic during Jen's labour when the doctor announced Albany's distress decided natural birth had to be aborted immediately. I had the staff at King Edward Hospital to thank for their quick response which led to the safe delivery of Albany through a Caesarean section procedure. I couldn't even think how we could cope if we ended up with the doctors telling us our baby was dead right in front of our eyes. So my heart went out for this couple in the story when they were told almost exactly that and asked the mother if she would like to hug her dying baby through her last seconds.

For many, this story is a miracle. To me, mothers are everyday miracles. The bond between baby and mother was indescribable by words and irreplaceable. From the day the child was conceived, the mother has the ability to nurture, feed and give form. After birth, the child instinctively reaches out to the mother by recognizing her voice and smell. The mother is the only one who can satisfy her needs and provide an unparalleled level of comfort. The father is the protector, the side kick at best. During adolescence, the mother develop a profound level of telepathy with her child which she will probably bring along to her deathbed. We heard many stories about how a mother feel a shot in her heart when her child falls into calamity, even in faraway places like another country.

Of course, in the real world, there are mothers who abuse their own children, or abandoning them in dustbins. In such cases, these children are better off being raised by anyone else, or even a gay men couple who are able to shower the unlimited love that their own parents are unwilling to provide for them. Outside these exceptions, the role of the mother is indisputable. (Most) Humans are created that way, each parent has their natural roles. Modernization forces us to break the arrangement of the creator.

Most people I know believe that the concept of a stay-at-home mother is passé. To me this arrangement is not a trend. Hiring maids to take care of babies is a trend. A mother taking on full nurturing duties is nature. No matter how we argue about it, we cannot dismiss the fact that we sacrifice a proper functioning family model for monetary gains, to fulfill our wants, our vanity. There are genuine hardship cases who really can not afford the 'luxury' of a stay-at-home mother. But they are called hardship cases for a reason. Indeed, your presence as a mother is a luxury for your infant as compared to the branded apparels you put on for her.

Having said that, like everything in life, it is easier said than done. I mentioned earlier, modernization forces us to change. This is not the only adjustment to our lives that we have to do to stay relevant. For example, many of us sit most of the time during work where our bodies are not designed to do so. As a result, we develop unprecedented illnesses. Try as we could, there is only so much we can do to resist change. Inevitably, families have to go back to a dual income model to cope with the uncertainties of life. We can only hope to do what they always advise parents about breastfeeding - to do it as long as we can. The longer the mother can stay at home to provide her motherly magic for her child, the better. I'll like to take the opportunity to salute my homely mothers friends such as Angie, V, Jane and M, not to forget my own wife Jenny for her sacrifice, as well as the men behind the idea for working their arses out for what they believe in.