Birthing Experiences

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?

The only birthing experience I can discuss is mine because I do not yet have children of my own and I have never taken part in another birth. I asked my mother what it was like to have me and of course she responded by saying “painful”. I was my mother’s first of three children. She told me that I was almost two weeks past my due date and the doctors were discussing inducing only days before I finally decided to grace everyone with my presence. My mom said that she was nervous and excited for my arrival but my father was even more nervous than she! My mom is a nurse, read all of the labor and delivery books and went to birthing class to prepare for my birth. She said that nothing can really prepare you for what you will experience physically and emotionally during labor. She said that a lot of it is a blur and yet a lot of it is crystal clear. She also explained that it was amazing how much her body knew that she wasn't even aware of. My mom had me naturally and didn't take any drugs or medication for the pain. I believe that there are many ways that birth can impact child development. A mother experiencing postpartum depression can definitely impact the bond and attachment between mother and baby and therefore affect child development. I also believe that malnutrition, proper or improper prenatal care, drugs and medication, support system (spouse or partner) or traumatic birthing experiences can all impact 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?

In order to research this question I searched the internet and found that the website parents.com had an amazing article “Birth Customs Around the World” to help me answer the given questions. The article states: “Childbirth is an event that, despite its extraordinary nature, occurs daily throughout the world. But the circumstances under which this miracle occurs vary dramatically, even in places that don't seem that dramatically different” (Schalken, 2013).In reading from the website I learned that most European countries use a midwife to deliver the baby at home rather than a doctor in a hospital. I even read that in the Netherlands they have special ambulances called “storks” that rush mother and baby to the hospital in case of emergency. Another interesting feature in a home birth in the Netherlands and many other parts of Europe is the use of a doula. A doula is a trained female who offers emotional and physical comfort during and after birth. The clear difference between my birthing experience and this one is that I was born in a hospital supervised by a doctor. In the United States and Canada, home births do occur, however, they are not the norm. Many people fear that home births performed by midwives are unsafe even though they are the standard in most places around the world. This task made me think of many impacts that a birthing experience could have on development. For example, in the case of a home birth, development could definitely be compromised if a new baby needed to be rushed to hospital. Also, there could be developmental complications to a baby’s spinal column or neck if a baby has been pushed out on a weird angle. I have also heard of complications in development because of the use of forceps.

References

Schalken. L (2013). Birth Customs Around the World. Retrieved from

http://www.parents.com/pregnancy/giving-birth/vaginal/birth-customs-around-               the-world