PERSONAL BIRTHING EXPERIENCE:
I remember being in the delivery with my cousin who was young and giving birth to her first child. I remember the painful experience from the physical squeezing of my hand and her hitting on the bed during delivery. But once her daughter was born she was so excited and immediately began to discuss things that she wanted for her daughter. Exhausted from the birth she went to sleep but wanted to feel her baby near her before going to sleep.
I chose this example because I was able to physically witness the miracle of birth with my own eyes.
When speaking of birth and its impact on child development I must go back to the Berger text there are many risk factors “underweight, under eating, underage, and drug use” (Berger, 2009, p.122). My cousin was a young expectant mother. I was a miracle that she had a healthy baby girl, but the risk factor of being very young left the possibility that their may be some abnormalities in the young child.
RAJASTHAN, INDIA:
“Most assessments of family and community practices related to neonatal health have focused on events well after birth, such as the use of pre-lacteal feeds, exclusivity of breast-feeding, bathing and clothing, and care seeking for illness.3 Studies of newborn care practices at the time of delivery have largely focused on the tying and cutting of the umbilical cord because of concerns about neonatal tetanus, but have not described the monitoring of progress of labor and immediate newborn care, including resuscitation, drying, wrapping and initiation of breast-feeding” (SD Iyengar, 2008).
Some of the differences and similarities with your experience in India no prenatal care was given and even after from the study above there did not appear to be an urgency to provide a sanitary environment no immediate care and nurture for the mother or child after giving birth.
What additional insights, if any, about the impact of the birthing experience on development, did you gain from this comparison? There are cultural differences or is this just the evidence that poverty is global as it relates to childhood development. Is this the result of poverty or a cultural practice in this area of India. It was also noted that “India suffers the largest share of the world’s burden of maternal and neonatal deaths” (SD Iyengar, 2008).
References:
Berger, K. S. (2009). The developing person through childhood (5th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers
SD Iyengar, K Iyengar, JC Martines, K Dashora1 and KK Deora. (2008). Childbirth practices in rural Rajasthan, India: implications for neonatal health and survival formative research on childbirth practices. Journal of Perinatology, 28, S23–S30. Retrieved November 4, 2010 from http://cv8yh9th3f.search.serialssolutions.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/?SS_LibHash=CV8YH9TH3F&genre=article&sid=sersol%3AuniqueIDQuery&id=10.1038%2Fjp.2008.174
Carmen,
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely right about the possibility of abnormalities or delays when conceiving or delivering a child at young age. Congrats to her on the delivery of a healthy baby girl. I can relate to the part about wanting to feel the baby near her after delivery. I must commend her on wanting to bond with her daughter immediately which is sometimes not he case with a young mother. She was very fortunate to have you there as a support system even though she was experiencing a great amount of pain. Great points and helpful information on births in India.
I am glad that your cousin had delivered a healthy baby girl and is palling on everything she wants for her daughter. I cannot wait to start a family of my own and feel that strong bond.
ReplyDeleteI had also chosen India for my country to get information about how their births are done. My friend is from India and I had asked her about how the births are done. The stuff she had shared had amazed me. I also found it fasniating that there was no prenatal care in India. I cannot imagine myself being pregnant and not wanting to see a doctor who can make sure that my baby is going to be healthy. I am not pregnant yet, but I am hoping to be soon.
It is interesting to think that in this study of India it talks about there being no concern about the environment not being clean. However that connects with the thought that India suffers with the highest rate of neonatal deaths. Good thing that there are people that are noticing these types of things happening in the world and are starting foundations such as global care. Global care has an area called find a project under one of those projects is called Prenatal care for suffering single mothers-India. globalgiving http://www.globalgiving.org/project/provide-prenatal-care-to-suffering-pregnant-women/
ReplyDeleteI think you have some good comments in your blog. I agree with you that even in the western civilisation there are still risk factors such as young age or poverty. However, your example about India shows that without having prenatal care, the risk factors are even greater. I am glad to here that in your cousins case everything went well. I think the advantage she had over Indian women was that there was some prenatal advice for her available.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of children dying from things that could be prevented is heartbreaking. I can't imagine the unhealthy conditions that exist all over the world for pregnant women and their babies. Thank you for making me aware of how fortunate I am to live in America.
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