I remember the birth of my only daughter as if it were yesterday. There was an age difference between the birth of my son with Autism and my daughter. The age difference was about five years. It was always my desire to have one child every five years so that I could bond with each child.
Her birth was in a hospital setting but for the first time the labor, delivery and hospital recovery was in the same room. I was in excellent physical shape because I danced and took exercise classes throughout my pregnancy. I believe she came in the afternoon with about twelve hours of labor, but most of it was spent at home walking. My husband came with me to the hospital and while I was in labor, he read the newspaper.
My contractions were very mild. The only person’s in the birthing room was the doctor and my husband. I was asked to push and as I pushed, I saw this weird expression on my husband’s face. I said what is wrong? The doctor started massaging my womb area and her head was out. After a long pause she finally came out and I was not tired at all and asked the doctor can I go home now. I felt as if I wanted to run a marathon, I felt so good, it didn’t even seem like I had just given birth. Later, I found out the long pause between my husband and doctor was that my daughter’s umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck, but the doctor (Korean) had been skilled in this matter.
I take a very holistic view on birth and child development. We don’t know everything. The doctor’s don’t know everything. It is the most natural process women will ever experience.
The region of the world, I choose is Israel. My daughter is now 19-years old and is studying Hebrew in college. She wants to someday soon, travel to Israel and study the culture. What was interesting to me is that in Israel they have midwifes. The average family size is about two children. The similarities are that you can have your husband with you in the birthing room and he can also stay with the newborn as they perform neonatal checks. The differences is that you have to carry your passport with you to the hospital and during post birth, the routine procedure to health check the baby can take up to six hours and your baby is not with you. The health check is performed by a pediatrician and the midwives (usually three in the room) are not trained to do initial neonatal checks to detect newborn abnormalities. Ilana Shemesh is a Homebirth Midwife who is convinced that the safest and best atmosphere for birth is in the woman's home or out-of-hospital birthing clinic. The midwives are trained and licensed nurses. I am convinced that I would never allow anyone to take my newborn for six hours to be with other newborns in a room.
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Thank you for sharing your personal birthing experience. Having your cord wrapped around her neck must have been a scary event for your husband to witness. It is a blessing that the delivery was easy for you and you were unaware of the cord complication. I also think having the labor, delivery and recovery all in the same room helped to create a calming atmosphere for you.
ReplyDeleteAs I read your link about birthing is Israel, I too would be a little nervous about releasing my newborn child for up to six hours. However the article also states that the father can go with the baby to the nursery and so can the mother if she did not have an epidural. This is reassuring to know that even if tests were to take up to six hours, my husband or I could be present the whole time.
The concept of having labor, delivery, and recovery in the same room is great. When I was having babies in the early 80's this was not available to expecting mothers. I was moved three different times during the whole birthing process. My husband was able to come into the delivery room because I was having complication with my youngest child. First I went to a room where I labored for for almost 24 hour. Then I was wheeld down a long hallway to the delivery room, where I was preped for delivery. After delivery I was takened to recovery for a few hours and then to an room. Back then you were made to stay in the hospital for three days. I agree with Erika I would have to have my baby with me soon after his or hers birth.
ReplyDeleteI too, had the same thiing labor delivery and recovery in the same room with my first born. The twins was different I was in three different rooms. However, my first birth was easy I was only in the hositpal one day. I was probably in labor for 24 hrs but didn't go to the hositpal until the last minute. I went to the hostioal at 1:30 am water broke at 2:00 am and he was out at 6:51 am.
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