Childbirth in My Life and Around the World

There are many different customs and traditions connected to childbirth in all countries, even the USA. Of all the people that I know, there are many different child-birthing experiences. I honestly do not believe that any of the stories that I have heard or have experienced are the same. I have chosen to share the experience that I had with my first daughter. She was right on time, even though she wanted to come early. I chose to have her at the hospital with an OBGYN. I was having contractions for three weeks before she came. I had both of my girls without pain medicine. I am very allergic to antibiotics and needed to find ways to ensure that I would not need one during delivery. My daughter actually came very quickly once I was given Pitocin.  My daughter was born with meconium in her fluid and a dislocated jaw, because she had been sucking on her lip and swallowing while in utero. She was very healthy and passed all of her tests, so they did not put her in NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). She was able to stay with me. I chose this story because it is an example of a child that was born with complications that could have been problematic. In this case, it was not a major problem and did not affect her development in anyway, but that is not always the case. My youngest daughter had no noticeable birth complications and she had some challenges that have been contributed to birth trauma, but no one can figure out what that trauma was. In the example I shared, my daughter did not suffer any developmental challenges from having meconium in her fluid at birth. She actually is extremely bright and advanced for her age.

I believe that a child’s birth can have the potential to present both positives and negatives to a child’s development. Each child is an individual from day one, and it is important to remember that even when talking about infants. I think that there are many things that can occur during birth that can have the potential to affect a child’s development.

One of the things that I have found while researching births in other countries is that most of them do not use epidurals. In most other countries, epidurals are not as common as they are in the United States. The one thing that I found interesting is how caesarian sections (C-sections) are becoming more common in other countries. Another interesting thing about other countries is that there is a bigger push for a more natural birthing experience. In most of the countries that I researched, they were more likely to use a doula or midwife than a doctor. In the Netherlands and Germany, midwives are typically used over doctors. I found this to be interesting.