The convoluted series of events, personality clashes and misunderstandings which has turned “Baby Pea” into a household name, has also led to two diametrically opposed camps: those who agree with the hospital staff for erring on the side of caution because they felt the baby was at risk, and those who side with the parents, who felt they were being kept in the dark by doctors over decisions concerning their newborn.

As the story broke, one element which captured the public’s attention was the fact that the parents, David Ellul and Marissa Bose, were checking everything the doctors told them on the Internet in order to take their decisions. We’ve all done this of course – remember the swine flu scare last year? The inherent danger, obviously, is that not all the information found in cyberspace is reliable and the sheer amount of conflicting views you can find on the same topic is bound to confuse you even more.

On several programmes this week, I heard doctors expressing their undisguised exasperation at how patients are now marching into their clinics armed with information about their symptoms obtained from the world wide web. One doctor went so far as to describe this as a “tragedy”. Their chagrin is understandable, and never has the idiom ‘a little knowledge is a dangerous thing’ been more applicable. On the other hand, it is also true that doctors in general are not used to having their authority questioned. After all, if medical information can be obtained so readily by patients, the role of a consultant who has years of studying and clinical experience under his belt is going to be undermined.

Apart from the medical decisions which needed to be taken in the case of Baby Pea, there is another aspect to this whole unhappy sequence of events which directly led to the escalating tensions culminating in the drastic decision to issue a care order for the child.

People’s perceptions.

Those who know David Ellul describe him as a good-natured, decent guy. David, however, is also a self-assured actor/musician with a shaved head, a Canadian accent and what many would describe as a cocky attitude. As the story unfolded through his Facebook updates, I could picture in my mind’s eye exactly why he was rubbing the hospital staff the wrong way from the minute he swaggered into Mater Dei. The age gap between him and Marissa also probably raised a few eyebrows, even though technically, that is nobody’s business but theirs. Now, as professionals, the staff should ideally never allow any internal prejudice they may have get in the way of their behaviour towards patients. But, as we all know, the ideal world does not exist, and human nature being what it is, most of us form opinions about people based on our first impression. As the situation unravelled, with David resisting the doctors every inch of the way, and the business of the penknife and the small bottle of vodka further compounding that first negative impression, it was almost inevitable that the reaction of the staff would be that of alarm.

Even the name “Baby Pea” got up people’s nose as they indignantly asked what kind of a name was that for a child. The fact that it sounded uncomfortably like the “Baby P” who was abused and killed in England, made matters worse. As it turned out, this was simply a harmless, temporary nickname before they decided on a name for the child.

Again, perceptions.

Talk to me

I also need to add a word here about David Ellul’s Canadian accent. There is, indisputably, a degree of prejudice in Malta against those who speak in English … but this prejudice turns into a positively hostile reaction when English is spoken with an American/Canadian accent. I’ve often wondered why this is, and can only deduce that it simply stirs some kind of inexplicable irritation in Maltese-speaking people who are inwardly thinking, “oh God, one of those”.

Even those who speak English (but with a British accent) often say how the trans-Atlantic twang gets on their nerves. If the American/Canadian accent is accompanied by a loud brash voice, then look out. The person is immediately branded as an insufferable, arrogant show-off, further confirming their inward distaste towards all those who come from across the pond. “He’s so American,” they say, with a visible shudder, managing to instil in that one word all the negative connotations they abhor. For ‘American’ read fake, superficial, big-headed, shallow and uncultured – a flake.

I’m convinced this prejudice has been adopted from the British themselves, who to this day are irked by the fact that their precious language has been distorted and contorted beyond recognition by a people who insist on stretching it as if it were chewing gum. The North American accent has taken British vowels and twisted them like pretzels, and to make matters worse, British (and Maltese) children are now going around spouting expressions like “awesome” and “that’s so random”, thanks to the global takeover of American television. Purists of the English language just want to lie down and sob.

Would David Ellul have been treated differently if he had walked into Mater Dei and spoken to the staff in fluent non-accented Maltese? My gut feeling to that is yes. Of course, there is also something to be said about one’s attitude; in life sometimes you have to adjust your own behaviour in order to get the best out of a situation. David and Marissa were in a position where they needed medical help for their baby to be delivered safe and sound, and if that meant conforming even for a day or two to the way “things are done in Malta”, well, so be it. I also have to mention that old bugbear of mine – being polite – no matter which language you speak

Frankly, it didn’t help matters that David took to Facebook and started bashing the hospital, resorting to melodramatic (and possibly libellous) language. After all, I assume a portion of Mater Dei staff are also on Facebook and were avidly reading every word.

Those who went online were quick to remind the couple that they were, after all, benefiting from Malta’s free health care system, and should be grateful for that alone.

To the end, however David kept insisting that the issue was that Maltese doctors were not used to being questioned and that he had simply stood his ground.

It was, quite clearly, a clash of cultures and a clash of attitudes. The upshot of this whole episode, however, is that a hospital has rules no matter which country you’re in. And while the parents were arguing and quibbling with doctors over every decision, the interest of the baby should have always come first. David and Marissa would claim that they did have their baby’s interest at heart, but unfortunately, by digging in their heels what came across was that they were more concerned with proving that they were right and that the doctors were wrong.

The hospital, on the other hand, only had one primary concern: that this new baby who made its debut by being in the news, would only be released when tests ensured that she was healthy and sound. Surely, no one can argue with that?

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