This week the subject is child birth. To be completely honest, I am twenty four years old and have little experience in the way of child birth. The only story I can pull from is that of my older cousin. This happened almost five years ago now. My cousin, had not had what one would call a plan pregnancy. Because of this she had chosen to hide it for months, not taking the vitamins and such that is needed for a healthy baby. I was off for Christmas break in my freshman year of college, and had planned to stop by to see my cousin to say hey, she was not due for another few weeks but I just wanted to hug her and let her know it would all be OK. I went to college in Michigan at the time and she lived in Tennessee, my mom lived in Florida, so Tennessee was a good stopping point anyways. I was not an hour outside of her hometown, when her water broke. So, I got to experience the whole birthing process, mostly from the waiting room because I was not brave enough to stand in there. Honestly, all I remember is the screaming from the hall, holding her hand, and holding the baby for the first time. I look back on the experience fondly even though the nine months getting to that point were hard on everyone.
I chose this birth not only because it is my only child birth experience but also because I believe it shows the importance of the prenatal care. The baby was born early which could have been worse then it was but also might not of happened if the mother had not been going through so much stress. Also the baby had minor health issues that could have been major, if not for the abilities of the hospital we were at when the baby was born, that might have been avoided if the mother was older and had done the proper prenatal care. That being said however, my cousin is amazing and does amazing with that little girl and takes care of her to her fullest ability now. I believe child birth has a huge affect on children but I also believe that although a pregnancy maybe painful because of this or that issue in life, that all can be overcome to make a wonderful child.
I chose to look up how births happen in Central Africa. All the information is not my own but information I found at http://www.birthingnaturally.net/christian/africa/index.html.
According to this site a woman dies in Central Africa every minute. This is crazy to me because living here in America, I have never known one women to die from child birth. Not that it does not happen here, I am just saying in comparison that is crazy.
It also says seventy five percent of these deaths could be prevented by basic health care. This is also crazy to me, because although my cousin did not get the health care she needed at the beginning she was able to get the care she did need to have a healthy baby. Here in America about 95% of the women get prenatal care but in some countries in Africa it is as low as 10%.
The death rates of the mothers and babies show not only how lucky we are, but also how importantant prenatal care can be.
Resources:
Birth in Central Africa. (n.d.). Birthing Naturally. Retrieved June 30, 2011, from http://www.birthingnaturally.net/christian
Wow Hailey I did not know that about Central Africa. I was aware that some countries did not have access to proper care for women and children but I was not aware that it was that low.
ReplyDeleteAlso I enjoyed your birthing story. I am glad to here such an amazing story of a young girl who faces the challenges of going through childbirth and becomes a wonderful mother!
Rachael