My Birthing Experience

On November 13, 1998, I gave birth to my only child, a daughter named Madisyn. It was a difficult pregnancy as well as birth. I was actually in labor for 3 days, and the doctors just kept sending me home. Finally, on the second day of labor, my water broke and off to the ER I went. From the moment I arrived, it was dismay. During the pregnancy, I was very ill. I was put on bed rest for 3 months, and I don't feel like I enjoyed my pregnancy because of the illness. However, that never clouded the fact that I had this beautiful child God entrusted me with. So, because of the difficulty of the pregnancy, the nurses were hooking me up to every machine and seemed somewhat frantic. Finally, the third day arrives, and I am in the worst pain of my life, I inform the doctor we need to get my baby delivered. I am unable to dilate, and it is time to make some decisions. After a heartfelt visit with my daughter's dad and the doctor, we prepare for a C-section. This was certainly not a memorable delivery. Once I am in the operating room, everyone gets to work. A specialist is also called in due to the sonogram tech informing the doctor the lengths of my daughter's arms and legs are measuring about 4 weeks behind; therefore, everyone is assuming she may have Down's Syndrome. Once my daughter is delivered, the doctors become excessively frantic because I am hemorrhaging and flat lining. The doctors make sure my daughter is ok, and I am sedated. Once I am ok and in the recovery room, I finally wake up and want to see what God has blessed me with.

Even though my pregnancy was not a positive experience, and the birthing experience was horrific, what I received took all of that away. I would, if possible, do it all over again. I chose this experience because I wanted everyone to understand not all birthing experiences are positive, but having a child that you are responsible for, can make you forget the negatives.

I believe the impact birth has on child development can be positive and negative. Negative because someone who has a birthing experience may cause stress, thus the mother pulling away from the child for an amount of time. Not all negative deliveries will cause this, as I wanted to be as close as I could be to my new baby. However, post partum stress (from a traumatic delivery) can cause a child to not develop as they should. Positive experience, because it can foster healthy childhood development because the mother is connecting with the child and bonding.

As I was searching for births among other countries and cultures, I came across an article discussing birth among different people. I was amazed to read how the Chukchee women of Siberia gave birth. She delivered her own child; cut the umbilical cord, and disposed of the placenta herself! What an amazing, strong woman! The Gunia women of South America would actually step out of their marching formation if they were in labor, deliver their child, and step back into the formation. I am just amazed at the strength of these women. What a difference from the childbirth procedures in the United States. I could not have just delivered my child and went immediately back to what I was doing.

This does produce a probing question. How does the above mentioned birthing experience contribute to child development? I am not sure how to answer that, just yet that is.

I have certainly gained an understanding of how different birthing experiences can be among different cultures and countries. Before this class, I really never thought about how others give birth, or even how that would contribute to child development. Through this course, I hope I can answer my own questions as well as gain more insights to an ever interesting topic.

References:

Biesele, M., "An ideal of Unassisted Birth" in Davis-Floyd, R.E. & Sargent, C.F.

(eds), Chilbirth and Authoritative Knowledge, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1997, p. 485. Retrieved from  http://www.unassistedchildbirth.com/media/alone.html