Pictured above is my daughter ready to give birth any day now, also with a nurse midwife and she is hoping to do it naturally (In my day there were no options of drugs and inducing was not as common as it is now). She asked me to be a part of it and I am thrilled, each day I'm wondering if this is the day? Again her experience like mine has been one of beauty because of all the advantages of prenatal care, education on what affects the fetus and low stress with so much support. However my daughter had so much lab work done and ultrasounds, technology has advanced so much. She told me with her next child she will not have all the NIPD's done. No matter what the outcome is she would not terminate the pregnancy. She is in her 20's and very healthy, she will definitely have a home birth for her next pregnancy, on the contrary home births are not covered by insurance and there are not many midwives within a reasonable distance to assist in the birth.
I chose Peru to investigate prenatal experiences because my son and his wife live there (she is Peruvian). I found out that Peru has an astonishingly high maternal mortality rate, in every 100,000 births 185 mother's die. Peru's health minister is trying to entice women to have their babies in clinic's or hospitals, saying that they now allow vertical births which is healthier for the mother and child. Although this is true, many of the rural women having children at home do not summons a midwife unless something is wrong. These women are malnourished and have no prenatal care, it would be more affective to educate women families and providing midwives with education on prenatal care and how to treat shock, equipping them with life saving anti hemorrhaging medication. The alternative is for a woman to hike 5 miles during labor to a clinic, and with other children at home that is not a possibility. This has really opened my eyes to the advantages I've had in my experience, thinking this is a typical occurrence, how lucky I have been!
Giving birth is a wonderful and trying experience. The labor pains were intense and hard but the medicine did the justice. I did not know that women in Peru did not have prenatal care and yes it would be more effective to educate women families and provide midwives with education on prenatal care.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I love the picture of your daughter. It actually took me a few minutes to realize she was pregnant (I thought she was holding something)! If that picture is any indication of the environment she lives in she is truly blessed. How beautiful to have natural surroundings and the sound of water for your babies!
DeleteIn reply to your question on my blog, all of my pregnancies were uneventful, just typical and healthy. I didn't gain much weight-20lbs, 16lbs, 16lbs, and 12 lbs. They kept making me drink milkshakes to gain weight, but for whatever reason I didn't put on much. With the second pregnancy the birth was better, but it had it's issues as well, however my third and fourth were short and sweet. I was such an old pro by then! I went home after 24 hours instead of four days.
I was surprised to learn about the birthing experience in Peru. I do think more women in this country should opt for home births, but with a doula or midwife's help.
Like your daughter, I had lots of labwork done with each pregnancy, but I also think that because I saw my OB every month and then weekly in the latter months, I beneffited from excellent prenatal care and education.
Glad to have you in my group this time! We were in different groups in Foundations.
Hi Tina,
DeleteI have to agree with you about this class being so challenging! It seems to be a lot of reading, but not necessarily reading for any particular assignment. I found myself struggling with that chart. I couldn't find some of the examples or two of them seemed to be too similar. I also find myself searching for the professor's voice. She does not post that often and it seems like we are in this class alone.
Thanks for the website address, I think I am going to learn a lot from you!
Tina,
ReplyDeleteI just took time to look through your blog. Where is that beautiful school???
And I love your dog. What kind of dog is that? Is it a boy or girl? And what is his/her name?
I have a Rhodesian Ridgeback named Zola who is way too spoiled and she is a feisty 2 year old who thinks she runs the house and I have a mixed breed (Lab, Hound, Beagle, Shepherd) named Precious who is old and cantankerous, just like a little old lady.
Hi Mimi,
Deleteso your a dog lover too! As my kids left the house I started replacing them with dogs. The dog in my picture is a Shiba Inu, they are a japanese breed called snow dogs. Because we have snow 6 to 8 months out of the year they are well suited for the cold climate. I'm with Kuma, but we have to more Shiba's Skookum and Chacko. But Kuma was raised by our old gental lab husky mix who passed away a few years after getting Kuma. Kuma is the only one who fetches and we can have off a leash because of his great teacher.
My school is on forest service land heading up towards Independence Pass, the web site is
www.wildwoodschool.org I have just recently revamped it, but there is a blog that we post pictures and info on what we did for the week.
Rhodesian Ridgebacks are sooo beautiful I'd love to see picture! And of course who can resist a mut, my favorite.
Hi Christina,
ReplyDeleteWhat was your birthing experience like with a nurse midwife and giving birth in a hospital. Which do you prefer or feel is better??
I loved having a nurse midwife, especially because this was my 3rd child. I would have loved to have a home birth but we lived in a little a-frame in the mountains so there weren't any in my area. I really feel its wise to have a hospital birth for your first one, a midwife in a birthing center is the best of both worlds. You can kind of gage what your risk is and experience is, home births are definitely not for everyone, but if you are lucky enough to have one its really amazing (My sisters were really incredible).
DeleteDorcas,
DeleteI guess I didn't really answer your question about my birth experience. My first child (typically the most difficult) was 9 lbs 2 oz, I had several false alarms because I was so excited to have this baby. Labor was about 4 to 5 hours and all went smoothly, the next one was 1 hour and the last 45 min. I can't say it didn't simple, labor is labor and when they come fast it's like one long contraction. But with the nurse midwife it felt like my husband I were home, nobody bothered us and when my son was born all the preliminary work after they laid him on my stomach was done in the room. It was beautiful, but so were the other 2.
What a great post Christina!
ReplyDeleteThree times! From the pic above, you do pregnancy well.
The info you gave about Peru, WOW! That was a shocker, I have never known that. It amazes me though that with all the high mortality rate and poor health care, many women in Peru are still becoming pregnant, is this a cultural thing to have many babies, Despite the risks?