- Write about a personal birthing experience. It can be your own birth, your child's birth, or one you took part in. What do you remember about the event? Why did you choose this example? What are your thoughts regarding birth and its impact on child development?
- Choose a region of the world or a country, other than the U.S., and find out how births happen there. Write about what you learned, and the differences and similarities with your experience (in the personal example you provided). What additional insights, if any, about the impact of the birthing experience on development, did you gain from this comparison?
The first birthing experience that cam to mind was of course the birth of my son. It happened 17 long years ago, but everything that happened that day and night and following day is still fresh in my head. I sometimes wish I could relive that day.
Wyatt was born at high noon on October 11. He was supposed to be born on my birthday but he came a week early. I remember on October 10, I was working around the house and started noticed he had been very active and kicking a lot. I had had some fruit juice and fresh fruit earlier so I am sure the sugar probably got him going. He kicked my ribs really hard and got his foot stuck. I felt him wriggle and squirm trying to get his foot free...it hurt...a lot! I remember trying to help him push his little foot back into place. About an hour later I felt a leaking sensation. I thought my water had broken so I called the hospital and spoke with a nurse who told me to come in just in case and they would check. My mother was at work so I told her I was going in to have things checked out and not to worry since I was no where near labor nor gushing water.
I got to the hospital and the nurses checked me out. They said they saw the baby's head and it looked as though my water had broken...but we were in for a surprise. So thinking that my water had broken, they prepped me for birth. I called my mom and asked her to bring my bag and meet me when she could. We were all assuming the water had broken. We waited for about 6 hours and nothing had happened. No dilation, nothing. So they started with the IV to start labor...still thinking the water had broken. About an hour into this, my baby's heart rate was racing...dangerously. So they went to add a fetal heart monitor to his head...when they went in to attach it...they broke the water sac! What had happened was all the kicking my son had done earlier has ripped a hole in the sac but wasn't hard enough to break it entirely. When I was checked upon arrival, the hole was near his head and appeared to show a broken sac...then the hole had moved and covered his head so when they went in with the monitor...pop!
That set off all sorts of bells and whistles in the room. There were interns in the room, specialists there, and of course my doctor was late...stuck in traffic. He called his wife, also an OB-GYN who was at the hospital already to stand in for him until he could arrive. She and her nurses did a wonderful job of helping me deliver my son.
I was fortunate to have my family members and a few friends in the room while I delivered. My uncle got it on tape and took some photos. My grandmother was there watching her great-grandson come into the world. I really felt supported and safe. It was a hard few hours of labor and the pain from the contractions vanished as soon as I got that swell of emotion of seeing the baby on my belly that had been in my belly for so long. He was beautiful and amazing. He cried with the quivery chin. His head was a cone head since they had to suck him out with the vacuum. He looked funny and amazing. That was the word I kept using every time I held him.
I chose this story because it was the one I remembered the most. Just writing about it brings back so many memories!
I chose to look at stories of women in Nepal and their birth experiences. I had heard that Nepal has one of the highest maternal death rates during childbirth. I found a fascinating news story done by a Nepalese woman who herself was pregnant. Her news story was about how different her experience being pregnant was with that of her poorer sisters in the countryside. The link to her video on YouTube is here:
I was saddened to learn that even though money and support has been given to the elders of the villages, much of it never makes it to the women in the form of skilled birth attendants to assist the mothers. I also learned that complications during the birth are normal in Nepal which is why so many women are dying when they give birth. These types of births can also be traumatic for the unborn baby. Lack of oxygen to the brain, poor blood flow, infection, and stress can all cause infirmity in the baby when it is born.
There were not many similarities between my birth and the one of the poor mothers in Nepal. The only thing I saw that was the same was how much we all loved our babies. I also noticed that perhaps we all have a fear of dying during childbirth, but for the poor women in Nepal, that fear is very real and very possible without the proper medical care.
There were not many similarities between my birth and the one of the poor mothers in Nepal. The only thing I saw that was the same was how much we all loved our babies. I also noticed that perhaps we all have a fear of dying during childbirth, but for the poor women in Nepal, that fear is very real and very possible without the proper medical care.
