EDUC-6160: Birthing Experiences

Hello All and welcome to my blog!

In our EDUC 6160 course, week 1, we were to answer these questions:
•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?
•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?

This first post will explain my personal experiences and another region's tradition of the "birthing experience".
I had my son in 2009 and my daughter in 2012. Both experiences were very different and had some similarities. I had my son 3 days after I graduated college. The week of my graduation was very eventful to say the least. I graduated from Winthrop University on Saturday, moved back to my home town on Sunday, and had my son on Wednesday. Whew!?! I had him two days before my due date. I went into labor at 2am. Unaware of what was going on with my body. I was unprepared and scared. I asked for EVERY DRUG I could get, I stopped dilating at 7.5 cm, and I had to have a C-Section. My recovery was terrible to say the least.
My daughter was born 3.5 years later, this time I was prepared. I opted to try a VBAC , all natural, and on my own terms. I was also fully prepared to have a C-Section if needed. My daughter was born 2 weeks early. I went to my weekly check-up to find out that I dilated to 3cm. My doctor sent me straight to the hospital. I had my music, bag, and everything ready. My husband still laughs about what he calls "Monk Music". all was well. I dilated to 9 cm without any medication, but due to a medical issue(TMI) I had to have another C-Section. Unlike the first one, I was calm, and it was a beautiful experience. My recovery was AWESOME!!!I bounced back within the first two weeks.

Here are a couple of interesting practices from different countries that I researched.












The Netherlands

Most expectant moms in Holland don't see an obstetrician, but are instead referred by their family doctor to a local midwife practice. Doctors only intervene in high-risk cases or if complications arise during delivery. Dutch women decide whether they want a home or hospital delivery. I was surprised to learn that more than half of the women at my midwife's practice deliver at home. In fact, all expectant mothers in Holland are required to pick up a kraampakket that includes all of the medical supplies necessary for a home birth. If you choose not to deliver at home, your midwife will make a house call to check on the progress of your labor and determine the ideal time for you to go to the hospital.

Even if you opt for a hospital birth, it's unlikely that you'll get an epidural. Epidurals are usually only given if it's convenient for the anesthesiologist's schedule (people often joke about the Dutch 9-to-5 epidural) or if an obstetrician determines it is necessary. Giving birth naturally remains the ideal for the vast majority of Dutch women. As my due date approached, I became more open to the idea, and in the end, no one was more surprised than I was to realize I had given birth to our son without any painkillers.

If a mother gives birth early in the day without complications, she and the baby may go home in as little as two hours. Then the unique Dutch system of kraamhulp (maternity home care) is set into motion. For seven days we had a nurse come to our home, a benefit covered by insurance. Not only did she provide medical care, but she also cleaned our apartment, cooked, and instructed us in basic parenting skills.

Local custom: Another important duty of the nurse is to manage the flow of visitors and make the traditional snack to celebrate a birth: beschuit met muisjes, which literally translates as "biscuits with mice." The "mice" are actually miniature licorice bits with blue-and-white coating for boys, pink-and-white for girls.


-Wow, I love the perks that these moms get.















Germany

As in Holland, in Germany women see midwives for their prenatal care. In fact, midwives are so respected that by law a midwife must be present at every birth, and a doctor is optional.

Malin Haugwitz, a Berlin resident who is originally from Bethesda, Maryland, says that German women focus on the event of giving birth almost more than the outcome. Following her second c-section, she heard many words of pity from friends and even from her midwife, who asked, "Do you see it as a failure?"

German women who hold full-time jobs can feel secure knowing their position will be waiting for them when and if they decide to return to work. As soon as a woman tells an employer she's pregnant, she cannot be fired. Thus, during economic downturns, being pregnant can essentially save your job. Women may stop working six weeks before their due date and are forbidden from working for eight weeks after giving birth, all with full pay. Mothers may even take up to three years of unpaid leave, the third being a floating year that can be taken at any time and by either parent.

Local custom: Another practice that Haugwitz recounts is that government offices keep a list of "accepted names" that parents must adhere to when registering the name of their child. In the case of an unusual name, they must give a compelling reason why an exception should be made. The government policy is intended to act in the best interest of the child, in an effort to thwart potential ridicule of a child with a name that's too different.


- I would LOVE to get up to three years off to take care my child with full pay, but I think some people would be in trouble with the name restriction in the states. LOL.



In the US, some women are granted 6 to 8 weeks time off to heal from their birthing experience, but I have never heard of three years on leave. That is pretty AWESOME!!!




Ashley Wilkins-Miller