Childbirth in your life and around the world

My personal experience with childbirth is a traumatic one. I will share the events surrounding the birth of my son. I chose this experience because it is fresh in my mind, and it also gives me hope, since my baby had a traumatic entrance into the world, and now he is a healthy, happy child.

 I arrive at my obstetrician’s office for my 38 week appointment on a Tuesday afternoon. My ankles, legs, and face are swollen; I can only fit into 2 pairs of shoes because of the extensive swelling. My blood pressure is checked, and it is high. My doctor advises me to stop working. I convince her to allow me to work a half day the following day, so I can say goodbye to my students; she reluctantly agrees, and writes me a doctor’s note. She informs me that it is unlikely my baby will be born this week.

By Thursday I have been keeping my feet up for the last few days, with minimal change in the swelling. I am restless and uncomfortable. I begin feeling some contractions during the afternoon, but attribute them to Braxton-Hicks contractions, which I have been feeling regularly the last few weeks.  Around 7 pm I notice they are becoming more intense and seem to be evenly spaced. I consult the clock, and sure enough, they are. When they reach about 10 minutes apart, I call my obstetrician for advice. She advises me to come to the hospital. My membranes rupture shortly before I leave and I notice they are heavily meconium stained. This is a very bad sign.  Throughout the next few hours, the usual labor pains increase. I had been adamant about delivering my baby without using any painkillers (especially an epidural- being numb freaks me out) and what do I end up with? You guessed it- an epidural. My son is exhibiting signs of being in serious distress, and as a result I am not allowed out of bed. His heart rate begins to drop, and the obstetrician decides that she has seen enough. She is concerned for the well being of my baby, and strongly advises me to consent to an immediate cesarean section.  I do, and my son is born at 3:59 AM on Friday morning. There are no cries for what seems like an eternity. His initial APGAR score is a 1. I am terrified. He is whisked off to the NICU, I am only allowed to see him for a few seconds. The doctors there are able to get him breathing, and his five-minute APGAR rises to a respectable 7.  We are informed that he will need to spend at least a week in the NICU, on intravenous antibiotics, due to his inhalation of stool. They will be keeping him under observation to make sure there are no more issues. There is also concern because his umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck twice, and they are worried about how long he may have been without oxygen. This new mom is incredibly afraid right now. My fears are slightly calmed when I am finally allowed to see him, and he is beautiful! What a little miracle. Then, he scares us even more at 24 hours old, when he has a seizure, and another at 48 hours old. He is put on anti-convulsive medication, and a week later, seizure-free, and having finished his antibiotics, he is allowed to come home. Thankfully, today, at just under 5 months old, he is healthy, growing well, and is being weaned off his medication, as his doctors feel he no longer needs it. His scans were clear, and we will see what the future holds. I credit my obstetrician for saving his life and possibly mine. I feel that without the cesarean section, one or both of us may not be here today.

From this experience, I believe that the circumstances surrounding a birth can have significant impact on child development.  We believe my son’s response to the oxygen deprivation and distress he experienced coming into this world was exhibited by the seizures he had shortly after birth. There are no physical abnormalities on the scans, nor were there any abnormalities on the brain wave test that was administered. This experience delayed some of the mother-child bonding that takes place after birth, since I was not permitted to hold him for about 3 days after he was born. While I could touch and talk to him, it was definitely not the same. Breastfeeding was also delayed because of this. We have also noticed some increased muscle tone, especially in his arms, which is being monitored by his doctors. Overall, we have not seen any developmental problems yet, and do not anticipate any. Hopefully, his long term development will not be affected by his birth experience.

After doing some research into how births happen outside of the United States as part of an assignment for my course at Walden University, I learned that many countries have vastly different approaches to the event of childbirth. Take Germany, for instance; a country I chose because of family ties there, both ancestral and current. In Germany, women see midwives, not obstetricians, for their prenatal care. Midwives are so highly respected and regarded in Germany that they must be present at every birth- it’s the law. Doctors are optional, and called in only if there is a complication. One German practice that I find appealing is that women who work full time are secure in their position from the time they tell their employer they’re expecting. They cannot be fired, and their position awaits them when and if they decide to return to work. Women are permitted to stop working six weeks prior to their due date and are barred from returning to work for eight weeks after giving birth, all with full pay! This is a wonderful way to develop the mother-child bond and ensure that breast feeding is well established, and that mother and child have recovered well from the birth. Mothers are also permitted to take up to three years of unpaid leave (with jobs guaranteed). I also support Germany’s practice of keeping a list of accepted names that parents must adhere to when naming their child. Their reasoning for this is to act in the child’s best interests, by preventing potential ridicule of the child for an incredibly unusual name. If parents choose a name not on the list, they must give a compelling reason for an exception, and exceptions are granted on a case by case basis. While I am not usually one that likes being told what to do, I feel that in the United States, there has been an increase in parents choosing names for their children that set them up for ridicule.

 

Information obtained from:

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