Childbirth In Your Life and Around the World
I remember my birthing experience with my youngest daughter as if it were yesterday. As far as I can remember I did everything according to the doctor’s orders concerning prenatal care. I was quite surprised to find out I was pregnant for the second time. My only child at the time was four years old and a handful. Needless to say as far as I was concerned I did not want any more children or so I thought. Being pregnant for the second time made me more aware of prenatal care and the development of my baby. Here goes my story and as I reflect back I had to laugh because whoever thinks about their child being born in an elevator and yes I mean literally in an elevator (going up).
Labor pains are not the friendliest and my water had broken while I was using the restroom. I felt pressure more than usual and I could hear my mom yell “don’t sit on the toilet. The last thing she wanted was for me to deliver the baby in the toilet. However, she had no idea the baby would be born on an elevator. This is too funny as I reflect back. I was pretty healthy and had worked during my pregnancy up until it was time for me to deliver. My occupation as a machine operator required me to stand for long periods of time but that did not seem to bother me. In hindsight I guess standing for long periods of time made me stronger.
Here we are my husband and I on our way to Labor and Delivery and I begin to fill sharp pains that shoot all the way up my spine. During the frenzy of it all before the elevator scene my husband was nervous and took a wrong turn moving head on into traffic. I was screaming at him and informed him that the hospital was the opposite way. We finally arrived at the hospital and he rushes to get the first wheelchair he sees and asking the nurses and staff on which floor was L and D. Finally, we make to the elevator and my husband nervously pushes the floor button and to his surprise out shoots a bouncing baby girl. I sure am glad at the time there were two nurses on the same elevator with us. Keep in mind that my husband did not want to be in the room when I delivered due to bad nerves and stomach. The thought of all the blood and other fluids made him shutter at the thought. The very birth he did not want to see took place right before his very eyes and he was sick for one whole week. Talk about irony!
My birthing experience was quick and unexpected. I guess my baby girl was ready to make her grand entrance and that she did. We call her the elevator baby!
I chose this experience because it is one that I can never forget and even with prenatal care the unexpected can happen. The doctor even stated that if she would have hit her head it could have proved tragic. Environmental factors can and did play a part in my birthing experience and did not hinder my baby’s development.
In contrast to my birthing experience China’s birthrate and development is all the more different. The issues concerning prenatal development and birth in China focus highly on population control and improving the quality of that population.
Because of the high incidence of birth defects and genetic diseases there has been more focus on genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis to prevent these high occurrences. For example out of every one thousand births – eight hundred of them are classified as being Down Syndrome. In comparison to the United States this is high. In comparison to my birth experience the clear difference I see is the prenatal care I received at the discovery of my pregnancy. In my studies this week I learned about the many characteristics that affect prenatal development and it included genetics as being inherent.
I gleaned from this that incidences of birth defects in other parts of the world are much higher such as China. Although China is making efforts to improve their prenatal screenings it would have been much more effective to screen at the onset of the pregnancy to meet their goal of improving the health of their population. I will always remain faithful to my country for its superb healthcare.
References
Retrieved from: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11684-010-0100-z on
September 6, 2014.
Berger, K. S. (2012). The developing person through childhood (6th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers
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