Sunday, September 8, 2013

Childbirth in My Life and Around the World

I have had two birthing experiences of my own in which I gave birth to two beautiful little girls.  This was the most special time in my life.  However, giving birth is totally different from coaching and helping someone during a birthing experience   My friend was due any day to have her first child.  However, during her last doctor's visit she was informed that the baby weighed 11 pounds and that he had to be taken immediately   When I got the news I became nervous because this was my friend and I was so excited for her.  The day she went in she was so nervous which rubbed off on me.  The procedure took about 30 minutes in which she had to get a Caesarean section.  The delivery room was so clean and organized and the doctor and nurses are dressed for the procedure.  I had never been in the room with someone who was having this type of birth so things went fast.  I was able to basically see everything the doctor was doing which was amazing.   They were tugging and pulling until after about five minutes a 10 pounds 12 ounces baby boy was pulled out and covered in things I cannot describe. This was the first time I had ever seen a baby right out of the mother's stomach before being quickly cleaned.  I was overjoyed.  He was so big and looked like a little man.  This birthing experience was so special because I was there by my friend’s side cheering her on.  I feel that the birth of a child has a great impact on the child's development.  The mother has to take care of the child during pregnancy just as much as they do when the child is born.  The mother can help with the development of the child during pregnancy by eating right, reading to the child, playing music for the child, and making sure that she is receiving prenatal care.


When thinking about births in the United States, they are totally different from births in other countries.  In the Netherlands, most of the women there are given a choice to give birth at home or at the hospital in which most of them choose to have their children at home.  This is very uncommon in the United States because almost 100% of American women give birth in a hospital.  My friend would often tell me about her doctor's visits she would have throughout her pregnancy.  However, the women of the Netherlands do not see an obstetrician.  The women of the Netherlands are not given and type of pain medication during birth and are not able to spend a couple of days in the hospital for monitoring like women of the United States.  If the birth experience goes okay, the women are home with their children within a couple of hours.  This seemed bizarre to me in which American women feel that they have to give birth at hospitals to have healthy children, however the opposite is happening in other countries and their children are healthy as well.

3 comments:

  1. I think it's amazing the various options that are given in different countries. Having a baby in the Netherlands sounds interesting to be able to deliver at home but I think I would want to be offered the choice of meds or no meds for my delivery. Great post. Thank you

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  2. Although I have given birth twice, I have never had the opportunity to be present at a birth of someone else's child nor have I witnessed a c-section. It sounds as if it is a very different perspective than when you are the one having the baby. My first child was born in Italy, where, like in the U.S., it is typical to have babies in the hospital. I was surprised to learn that such a large percentage of women in other parts of the world choose to have babies at home. I was also surprised to learn that ver few women tend to receive pain medication.

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  3. I am with you on the birthing of girl.I really dont have any knowledge on C-sections myself but my co-workers did and they were down for about 6 weeks. I did all I could to not have to been down for that long. I am enjoying the conversations about difficult counties birth.

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