My Birthing Experience

As a mother of four, I can tell you that no birth is every the same. My husband and I were fortunate that I became pregnant with our first child on our honeymoon. Being young and inexperienced, I looked to my friends for guidance to find a doctor. Unfortunately, peers do not always give the best advice.

During my pregnancy, I encountered many complications. Since I had been referred to a general practitioner (rather than a gynecologist), my birthing experience didn't go quite as planned. Throughout the pregnancy, I had been told my son would be rather large due to having gestational diabetes. The probability of requiring a c-section was extremely high. Due to being a first time mother, I was unsure to when my labor actually began and when I finally arrived at the hospital, I was already dilated to four centimeters; by the time the doctor arrived at the hospital, I was already at nine centimeters. At that point, the doctor decided that we would attempt a vaginal delivery. After pushing for two hours, my son's heart rate began to decline and the doctor decided to perform an episiotomy and used suction during the delivery. My son was born with his umbilical cord around his neck; he was also black and lifeless. Since we both were using the same doctor, the doctor had to turn his attention away from me and focus his efforts on reviving my son.

Because I was uneducated in choosing what was best, my son suffered a rather large hematoma on his head and because he was pre-term, this led to a severe case of jaundice. Fortunately, my child is perfectly healthy today and my sequential birthing experiences were much better.

Unlike births in America, births in India suffer from mortality issues: .54% of Indian births suffer maternal mortality in contrast to American .010%; likewise, 6.3% Indian births suffer infant mortality whereas 0.75% of American births experience infant death. However, Indian birthing practices do have benefits as compared to their American counterparts. Indian birthing costs are significantly cheaper: an American birth costs 3040% more than its Indian counterpart. In addition, the medical education system is considered one of the most advanced in the world, so Indian doctors are very well trained. In India almost two-thirds of mothers give birth at home with a trained attendant.

One of the similarities of giving birth in India virsisgiving birth in the United States both countireisview birth as a time to celebrate. In India families tend to be in the delivery room with the mother. In the United States this is as an obsionfor the families. Also, some of the rituals following childbirth in Indian include enforcing rest and physical and emotion support for the mother after the birth.

From this, I've learned that giving birth is highly dependent on a family's decision on the utilization of birthing resources. For example, individuals can elect for a home birth, or they can choose to give birth in a hospital setting; regardless of their choice, there are trained professionals waiting on their needs. It seems like no matter what country or culture being discussed, birth is a time of celebration.