He Wanted to Practice Satanism for the Baby

Specialties Ob/Gyn

Published

Yes you read the title correctly and I can't make this up.

I am currently finishing up nursing school and had my last OB clinical rotation yesterday. We had the night shift (4-11p) and everything was going fine, one lady partsl birth and a healthy newborn arrived. After taking the baby to get bathed per the mother's request, we give the baby back so she can feed them.

Shortly after, the dad arrives and tell us to put oil on the baby. Mind you, the mother had already told us that the dad was a drug addict and was supposed to be in rehab but wanted to see the birth of his baby, so she allowed him in with supervision of staff.

Here's where it gets crazy, the dad brings out a bottle of substance in a flask with a skull head and snakes surrounding it (kind of like the flask from "Little Nicky).

The mom, of course, immediately said no and to escort him out but he wouldn't leave so we had to call security.

Before security came he started speaking in a deep voice and his eyes started rolling back, that's when we got the mom and baby to safety while he stayed in the room chanting something about Satan and satanism.

The reason why I'm telling this story is to ask if this happens regularly in nursing. This was something I had never seen before.

I was like:

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Specializes in Pedi.

While I have not experienced what the OP describes specifically, yes you will see some crazy **** working in anything in the realm of pediatrics and/or L&D.

We once had a Mom of a patient go into labor at the patient's (school age) bedside and strip down naked. She had planned a home birth before her older child was diagnosed with cancer and I think thought we'd let her just labor and deliver there. Nope, into a wheelchair and off to the adult hospital next door she was whisked. The next day the Dad came by with the baby's placenta and asked if he could store it in our fridge. Seriously.

I had a patient very recently who believed his many health problems were caused by someone putting a curse on him, he requested help in finding a shaman (he had asked me if I knew any native americans) to get it lifted. Other nurses just laughed at him, but I got in touch with social work and chaplains and we were actually able to arrange someone to come in and perform some ceremony for him. I don't believe in curses but I know if he believed it could impact his healing and mental health. My theory is if it doesn't hurt him, me or anyone else, why not.

Specializes in Psychiatric RN & Retired Psychiatric CNA.
Yeah- had a mom who withdrew her kid from oncology care and 'treated' her leukemia with EO. Lied pretty convincingly to the oncology team that they were just "changing locations".

Bottom line: Frankincense does NOT sure leukemia.

Is that legal? Can a parent withdraw care for such a serious issue?

Specializes in Pedi.
Is that legal? Can a parent withdraw care for such a serious issue?

The answer is: it depends.

For something like standard risk ALL which has a fairly standard treatment and high survival rate, at least in my state, the courts have consistently held that parents cannot refuse to treat their child. Actually the family I referenced earlier in this thread originally tried to refuse to treat their child's very treatable cancer. The hospital was very clear that they would take the family to court over it.

If you get into relapses or rarer cancers/worse prognoses then yes, parents can decline to treat or choose to treat with alternative therapies. I know when I worked in the hospital, our Neuro-Oncology team typically told parents of children diagnosed with AT/RT or DIPG that it would be acceptable to decline treatment because of how poor the prognosis is.

The parents in MMJ's case probably were aware that the Oncology team would have either reported them for medical neglect or taken them to court over stopping their child's treatment which is why they lied and said they were changing locations. Life still happens when your child has cancer and people could have to move in the middle of treatment. The drugs are still the drugs regardless of geographic location.

I'm a CNM and just started working at a birth center with a much whiter, "crunchier" population than my prior job. I have not been too familiar up until now with essential oils...Oh. My. GOD! People who are into these EOs are INTO them, man. Like, oils-can-cure-anything-under-the-sun into them. I actually had a woman who sells DoTerra oils as a client in labor and the amount of oils in that room was off the chain. She had a whole binder of "recipes" to consult during labor for her husband to mix up and apply to various specific parts of her body for various specific symptoms. They brought a giant carved wooden box with individual little drawers for all of the hundreds of oils, like double the size of a large jewelry box, it was the wildest thing. She kept calling her husband to mix up concoctions of like 5 different oils to put one this one specific square inch on her left forearm to combat one specific complaint. I was sitting there biting my tongue the whole time because all I wanted to do was ask how they came to believe this deeply in the power of EOs...they had really drunk the Kool-Aid and I was just so fascinated by the whole thing. Obviously none of this was dangerous or diving into the occult like your situation, but I definitely felt out of my element.

Oh my. That's some pathology right there!

(The poor baby, though...)

Specializes in OB.
Oh my. That's some pathology right there!

(The poor baby, though...)

Yeah, I've recently found out that the family is also rabidly anti-vax, which I'm learning often goes hand-in-hand with obsession with EOs. It makes me cringe for their kids because that IS dangerous. But in general with patients even when I'm thinking "*****" on the inside I smile and nod on the outside because what else can you do?

Specializes in Pedi.

Yesterday, security had to be called on the mother of one of my patients because she threatened to kill the entire medical team and all their children. I think I'd take the Satan worshiping father.

Specializes in Pediatrics, Pediatric Float, PICU, NICU.
All of this is to say...patients will surprise you every day, you just have to roll with it. If their quirks are dangerous, you do what you have to do to protect the safety of the situation. If not, you smile and nod.

I think that's the most important takeaway here. The issue in the original scenario isn't that he was practicing satanism on the baby - it's that Mom didn't want him to/want him there. Had she been in agreenace with it, then practice your little hearts away.

To be honest, I find this no weirder than dunking a baby in holy water in the practice of baptism. Circumcision is even weirder to me. People will think of all sorts of crap to do with their babies. "Because society tells them so."

Specializes in Critical Care.
To be honest, I find this no weirder than dunking a baby in holy water in the practice of baptism. Circumcision is even weirder to me. People will think of all sorts of crap to do with their babies. "Because society tells them so."

Totally agree. With both the baptism and circumcision.

Specializes in Psychiatric RN & Retired Psychiatric CNA.
To be honest, I find this no weirder than dunking a baby in holy water in the practice of baptism. Circumcision is even weirder to me. People will think of all sorts of crap to do with their babies. "Because society tells them so."

Placing water that's been simply prayed over vs. a substance that was probably alcohol or even worse isn't comparable.

Placing water that's been simply prayed over vs. a substance that was probably alcohol or even worse isn't comparable.

A baby dunked in or sprayed in the face with holy water is obviously a preferable substance compared to alcohol. I only read the original post and thought the dad wanted oil. Regardless, I respectfully find these kinds of practices odd (which isn't inherently a bad thing).

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