Childbirth In Your Life and Around the World
The most important
childbirth experience in my life was that of my son. My water broke while I was
walking around in Mexico. I was transported to the CA border at San Diego where
I was met by San Diego Fire Department. They transported me to Kaiser where I
was admitted. I was only six months pregnant and I was a high risk pregnancy. I
didn’t go into labor at that time, I was just losing my fluids. I stayed in San
Diego for one week then I checked out and went to Kaiser in Los Angeles so that
I could be near my family and my husband had to go back to work. I continued to
lose the fluid but I didn’t go into labor. I was given two shots of steroids to
help my son lungs develop faster. On Jan. 5, 2001 I started having contractions
that were not showing up on the machine. They continued until I passed part of
my placenta (I had developed an infection in my placenta which caused me to go
into active labor) and went into active labor. On Jan. 6, 2001 at 6:10a.m., I
gave birth to my 3lb 3oz 21” long son he was born at 26 weeks gestation. He is
my miracle baby.
I chose Brazil to
learn about their births. I learned that cesarean is the most common form of
delivery there. If the hospital or clinic the parents go to deem it necessary then
the parents have no choice but to have a cesarean or leave that hospital in
search of another. In Brazil, cesarean birth rates account for about 90% of all
births. Child birth is still treated in the formal way; in a room with other
women in labor, no monitoring, no information being given and no freedom of
movement. There is no attention given to the mother to be as an individual or
to her unborn child.
The only similarities between the two countries that I could find was that
the mother and baby stays in the hospital for at least three days after the
birth and maybe more after cesarean birth. There are a lot of differences between
the two. The one that bothered me the most was that Brazil performs the
cesarean for most births even if the mother can have the baby naturally and the
US does cesareans only in cases of emergency or the mother has had one before
and the doctors feel that it would be a danger to the life of the mother or
child if another one is not done. I feel that forcing a cesarean on a woman can
lead her to have negative feelings toward her child which can cause problems
with the child’s development. With the cesarean the mothers didn’t get to hold
and start the bonding process until hours later unlike mothers that had natural
child birth. Immediately after birth mothers and babies start the bonding
period which also starts that babies development. That time is so important for
a newborn that is not use to its new world and for the mother to realize that
she is now a mother.
http://www.amigasdoparto.com.br/
Hi Chenieka, it's good to be communicating with you again. It sure sounds like you had quite a time bringing your wonderful son into the world. What an ordeal. You sound as though you were strong throughout the time while you were waiting. Modern medicine is amazing in so many ways. I'm curious, do you think that mothers bond with their babies before the actual birth?
ReplyDeleteAmazing, your son is truly a miracle. What an amazing blessing for you. It is sad that the Brazilians rely on hospital cesareans, and is odd as I would like they would be more in tune with home births. How difficult for the mothers and the developing infants.Sad, very sad.
ReplyDeleteYes Chenieka, you and your son are both miracles. I am glad that you received such good care. This was of the upmost importance because you and your baby needed the best care possible.
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