Childbirth-In Your Life and Around the World

My Personal Birth Experiences:

In reflecting on my first birth and pregnancy with my son, It was a completely different experience than the birth of my daughter just four years ago.  Up until my seven and half month with my son I had no problems or difficulties until I suddenly started to go into labor for no apparent reason.  I've been reflecting a lot on his birth recently especially since we've been discussing birth complications and premature births.  The night of October 3rd 2000 when I went to emergency with lower abdominal and leg cramps they admitted me, monitored me very several hrs. and then eventually released me later that evening.  I was told that it appeared that I had a bladder infection and the pain I was experiencing was not labor, but instead was the bladder infection that was actually irritating my uterus causing pain similar to contractions, But not actually real labor contractions.  I was sent home with antibiotics, and told that should help the infection and the pain would eventually stop.  But after enduring hrs. and hrs. of pain I finally woke up my mother after 6 a.m., who I had been staying with since my husband was working out of town at the time.  I told her something was definitely not right and the pain was only getting worse and she better hurry and take me back to the emergency room.  By the time I returned back to the same hospital, admitted and taken to the same room I had been the night before,  I was almost 10 centimeters and there was no time to stop the labor.  So on October 4th 2000 my son was born 6 1/2 weeks early and weighing at 3.8 ounces.  So needless to say I was very grateful to be in the hospital when my son was born, But at the same time I wondered why they didn't know I was in labor to became with, and why was I released in the first place.  But I guess even the doctors and medical professionals in the field don't always have all the answers.  But as I stated in my discussion for this week I was very grateful that modern technology and medical science is what it is today especially in regards to premature infants, or I might not have my precious son today.  But despite coming early, and being very small he was very fortunate after staying 3 1/2 weeks in the NIC Unit he had no complications what so ever.  And if you were to look at him today at eleven years old he is healthy and happy and thriving in sports and in middle school you would never have been able to tell that he was that tiny little premature baby boy born on October 4th 2000.



Births In Ghana:

In reflecting on this weeks chapter four, Prenatal  Development and birth, I became very interested after reading about births in Developing Nations specifically births in Ghana.  So I went on the Internet and did a little research on this County as well as on the births in Ghana.  As the text sited almost all the births in Ghana took place at home by Midwife's as compared to the United States where only 1 percent of births take place at home.  But after researching this county more what really shocked me was the alarming number of deaths that take place either for the mothers or the infants as a result of childbirth.  And it seems that almost all of those deaths could have been prevented either from medical attention by a doctor in a hospital or simply medical information and knowledge to the pregnant mothers of Ghana.  This also made me reflect on my own experience with my son, as well as the birth of my daughter.  Since I was already considered a high risk pregnancy with my daughter because of my son my doctor took precautions so I would not go into premature labor.  At five months of pregnancy I began to take shots once a week that were suppose to prevent early labor, and I was monitored closely and more frequently than I was seven years prior with my son.  Even though modern science and technology being what it is today I guess they still don't have all the answers, Especially when it comes to what exactly is the cause of early premature labor.   And imagine my surprise when after two months of receiving my weekly shots I began to go into labor again early.  The difference this time though was that since I already had a history and considered a high risk pregnancy, I was immediately admitted into the hospital and given medication to stop the labor and the contractions.  I went through this for the next month and a half when finally the doctors said that the  medicine wasn't working anymore and this baby wants to come so this time I delivered my daughter at 3 1/2 weeks early and she was exactly 6 pounds, Which was a lot better then 6 1/2 weeks premature.  And like my son my beautiful daughter had no problems except for being a little jaundice, and we were both out of the hospital in three days.  So for me I would definitely have to say that in comparing my two personal birth experiences with those of the women in Ghana I definitely think they could take a lot more steps of preventative actions so that these unfortunate fatalities don't occur for the women and the unborn babies in Ghana.