カテゴリー: エッセイ

As women’s social advancement continues, it is believed that the demand for childcare facilities will further increase. While support for families with children is discussed, it seems that support for the childcare environment, where children spend the majority of their day, is not being addressed as much. It is as if the issue of childcare facility problems has been resolved with the goal of eliminating waiting lists for child daycare.

Improving the quality of childcare

When accidents occur in childcare settings, it is often attributed to the lack of attention and coordination among childcare workers, and the introduction of IC devices becomes a topic of discussion. However, I believe that the primary cause is the absolute shortage of childcare worker capacity. Increasing the number of childcare workers is essential for improving the quality of childcare.

 With the warmth of their hands and a caring gaze

Childcare facilities serve as children’s homes. Childcare workers take on the responsibility of parenting on behalf of the parents and spend the longest hours with the children. They must protect the safety and happiness of the children, working in cooperation with professionals from various fields, including pediatricians.

Childcare workers are expected to provide an endless smile to the children. This requires “leisure” time. With the warmth of their hands and a caring gaze, childcare workers help children grow into compassionate and emotionally rich adults.

April 9, 2023.

The other day, my junior colleague, Dr. Sota Iwaya, visited my house to show me a paper he authored that was published in the top medical journal Pediatric Research in the United States.

Our meeting was a result of my having more free time in my old age and wandering around aimlessly. I was invited by Professor Ichiro Morioka of Kobe University (now a professor at Nihon University) to join the neonatal jaundice research group, and he appointed Sota as my partner at the time.

Reemergence of Kernicterus that Once Disappeared

In the 1970s, severe jaundice in newborns caused brain damage (kernicterus) and was a major cause of death and cerebral palsy. In 1982, I successfully developed clinical diagnostic equipment (UB analyzer) for predicting kernicterus in a joint venture with Arrow’s Corporation President Y. Ogoshi. It was widely used and, along with advances in medical technology, led to a sharp decline in kernicterus.

For more than 30 years after that, kernicterus was rarely seen in routine medical practice, and young neonatologists lost interest in it as an old disease.

However, in the 21st century, with advances in neonatal medicine, the survival rate of small, very low birth weight infants weighing less than 1,000 grams has increased significantly. As a result, kernicterus began to occur again in premature infants, unlike in the past when it was mainly seen in mature infants.

Why I Returned to the Research Lab

Thirty years had passed since the development, and there were times when I worried that the UB analyzer had reached its limit. However, I remember feeling relieved when I found out that there were no cases of kernicterus at Kobe University, where strict jaundice management was being performed with the UB analyzer.

When the Morioka Group at Kobe University resumed research on jaundice management in very low birth weight infants, I was invited to participate. For the past 20 years, we have been reviewing the treatment guidelines used in medical facilities throughout Japan, with the cooperation of many medical facilities, and we were able to create a revised version in less than two years.

Passing on the Technique to My Junior Colleagues

The principle of UB measurement is somewhat complex. Although some neonatologists can use the data generated by the UB analyzer, there are few who understand the principle behind it.

The true aim of my return to the research lab is to pass on the principle of UB measurement to the next generation. Sota Iwatani was the one who was selected to be my successor. We started together from making the measurement reagents and I was able to pass on everything to him in almost a year.

Dedicated to Y. Ogoshi and H. Nishida

I am deeply concerned that both Y. Ogoshi, the developer of the UB analyzer, and H. Nishida, who worked tirelessly to promote it, passed away one after another recently. I would like to offer this paper in memory of them and pray for their eternal rest.

April 16, 2023.

I received an unexpected manuscript request from Professor Mamiko Ozaki, a leading researcher in the field of ant olfaction. She is working on a section titled “Attachment and Nurturing” for the upcoming “Illustrated Guide to Animal Behavior” and wanted to include the term “manakai” which I had previously discussed in my book “Enjoying Child Rearing”.

I myself also love the sound of this word “manakai”. When I see a mother and baby looking at each other and smiling, I can’t help but burst into laughter. It’s contagious and makes me smile too.

Infants are born with an innate ability to mimic facial expressions. When an adult smiles or sticks out their tongue in front of a newborn, the baby mimics the expression back as if reflecting it in a mirror. Unlike other mammals, human newborns are unable to cling to their mothers or nurse without assistance.

From birth, infants require attention and care from others, especially their mothers, to survive. It is believed that the act of mimicking facial expressions is innate in humans because it is necessary for survival.

Dr. Jushichiro Naito, a senior pediatrician known as the godfather of child-rearing, constantly emphasized that “the basics of child-rearing are found in ‘manakai'”. While the dictionary simply defines “manakai” as “the space between the eyes”, Dr. Naito used it to mean “eye contact”.

Not only does “manakai” refer to the act of making eye contact, but it also refers to the “pleasurable emotional connection” between a mother and child through shared gazes and smiles, which can be felt by those around them.

2023.5.11