When my first child was born, we were in a hospital in the UK. Peeling paint on the walls, flickering fluoros, harried staff. He had trouble extricating himsel

When my first child was born, we were in a hospital in the UK. Peeling paint on the walls, flickering fluoros, harried staff. He had trouble extricating himself, his heart beat started fluctuating, and so the staff rushed out to get the Ventouse (think a plumber's plunger, used to extract the baby with a suction to the head). They yanked it out of a cupboard and blimey - it was broken. The doctor yelled and ranted, people ran hither and thither, and eventually they managed the job using forceps instead. That was all stressful enough. But what really astonished me was that they chucked the broken Ventouse machine back into the cupboard - and no doubt the same scene played out again later on, for some other unlucky people. Its the same deal as people who try the whiteboard markers, find that they're not working, then put them right back on the board for the next person.