FIRST PERSON
Hanging
Up His
Stethoscope
Dr. Napoliello of Wayne
has been delivering babies
for more than 50 years
WRITTEN BY CAROL BOTT JARGER
REPORTING FOR DUTY
I am a United States Air Force
veteran, and was Doctor of
Obstetrics and Gynecology at
Barksdale Air Force Base in
Louisiana 46 years ago. Then I
moved to Pompton Plains and shared
an office with Dr. Hugo Cardullo in
Pompton Plains. I didn’t always know
I wanted to be a doctor. I went to
Cornell University to be either a
lawyer or a doctor, tried pre-med and
liked it. I am board certified and am
an American College of Obstetricians
and Gynecologist Fellow. In 1986, I
was Medical/Dental Staff president
at Chilton Memorial Hospital.
CHANGING TIMES
In 1983, I opened my own office in
Wayne. One of the biggest changes in
gynecology was laparoscopy which let
us do minimally invasive surgeries
and biopsies. We didn’t have fetal
monitors when I started. When a
patient was in labor, nurses listened
periodically to the abdomen with a
fetal stethoscope.
In the old days, women labored in
20 WAYNE MAGAZINE SPRING 2015
the labor room, then moved to the
delivery room when ready to deliver.
Now they have a lovely room with
cable television, which fathers tend to
watch, while mothers are usually
busy. Natural childbirth helped mothers gain more control, so they labored
and delivered in special beds in the
birthing room without medication.
The popularity of natural childbirth
faded, however, with the introduction
of epidurals.
DADS AND DELIVERY
I had mixed emotions about dads
being allowed in the delivery room.
Some fathers passed out, but once
fathers started taking prenatal classes
with their wives and were educated,
they did fine because they weren’t so
nervous. Some fathers filmed delivery,
but most just took pictures of me holding their newborn babies. They almost
always gave me copies, and I would
hang them on the wall in my office.
FAMILY FRIENDS
My patients were like family. They
would come in for yearly exams and
tell me what their kids were doing,
like starting kindergarten, high school
or college, or getting married. Some
were waiting for a first grandchild,
and others brought their children in
to meet the doctor who delivered
them.
I retired from delivering babies in
2003 and focused on gynecology. The
next year I joined the Physicians for
Women group in Wayne, where I
stayed until retirement. It was a
difficult schedule before I joined
them. My family didn’t take too many
vacations. We’d go away only when
nobody was expecting to deliver. I
wonder myself how we did it all
those years, from 1968-2003, especially with my solo practice for 35
years.
DOWN TIME
Right now, my wife and I are
enjoying some time with my son, his
wife and my three grandsons in
Florida. I want to take lessons and
learn to play golf. And, this summer,
we plan to be at the beach on the
Jersey shore. ■
COURTESY OF CHILTON MEDICAL CENTER
A
fter specializing in obstetrics and gynecology for more than 50 years, Vincent M. Napoliello, M.D., of Wayne
has delivered over 3,500 babies in our area. As he prepares for retirement, Napoliello reflects on his career
and how medicine has changed over time.