Childbirth In Your Life and Around the World

Childbirth In Your Life and Around the World

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 personal birthing experience I’m choosing to write about is the birth of my oldest daughter Je’Lysa Jene Pardo. Je’lysa was born on January 15, 1990. Which happens to be considered Martin Luther King’s birthday also.  I can remember waking up on January 14 with this feeling of wanting to clean my house from top to bottom. After giving my house that general cleaning I can remember being so tired, and decided to go and lay down, but for some reason I just couldn’t get comfortable. I moved from the bed, to the sofa, to the chair but still just couldn’t seem to get that comfort I needed so I decided to just sit up and watch some TV. After sitting and relaxing for about 45 minutes. I was getting hungry so I made some lunch. It wasn’t even 20 minutes after and she started kicking and moving around. She moved so much till it was hard to function. So, I decided to go take a warm bath. After getting out the tub I went back to lay down, and that’s when the pains in my back and lower stomach started it was so bad till I had to go to the hospital but on my way, my water broke. I was so nervous having my first child. I was in labor for about 10 hours before she was born. She was 7lbs 6ozs.  I chose this example because having my first child was a beautiful experience. It’s a wonderful experience but also a slightly scary experience realizing I was carrying full responsibility of another human being. I believe the impact on child development is very essential. Its meaningful that we as adults take pleasure in having a major impact on the advancement of children. My thoughts on child development are that parents are their children’s first teacher. As educator’s we teach the children for so many hours out of the day, but the parents have them more than we have them.

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 Uganda, approximately 60% of women give birth at their residents. In Uganda, child birth is called women’s battle. They are expected to show no fear or weakness. Childbirth to Ugandans, is acknowledged as a test of courage. In China if you were underprivileged you had to pay for your own births, if they were well-off they gave birth in expensive private hospitals, middle class had their babies at state-run hospital having no say so of doctors and having to share rooms with other birthing mothers. Sweden is rated the third greatest place to be a mother, due to the experienced maternity care and low c- section rates. They mainly use midwife’s, doctors or present only when needed. Giving birth in Uganda is different from giving birth in Louisiana because here in Louisiana when we give birth we be screaming and hollowing and that is nowhere in their tradition. in Uganda, they have a tradition they go by and they don’t show fear, they take the pain like it’s nothing to them.

References

Davis, L.S. (2017) Birth and Maternal Around the World Retrieved on May 8, 2017

  From: http://www.parenting.com/article/birth-maternal-health