Blog Assignment #1
My childbirth experience with my
son was a little terrifying to say the least but the overwhelming joy of his
presence was all worth it. I was 5 days over do and was more than ready to
deliver. I had went to the doctor early that day and was given an induction
date if he did not come on his own. Later that night I was feeling really weird
and thought I should go to the hospital and luckily I did because my blood
pressure was high and I was induced that same night. I was given an epidural
that worked for the first 6 hours or so and then I started to feel the pain
only on one side which was extremely uncomfortable. About 15 hours later the doctor
had told me that I had not dilated more than 1cm and they insisted on a
C-section because my baby’s oxygen level had declined and his heart rate
started to drop. I was so scared to say the least but later that night I woke
up in recovery and saw my precious baby boy for the first time weighing in at
9lb 2oz. looking back this was the best day of my life and I would not change it
for the world. I think that a risky childbirth experience can have a great
impact on child development because if something goes wrong it can create
conditions like cerebral palsy which can cause a great delay on the development
of a child. I think that being educated on your options and the risk factors
involved are very important in having a healthy baby and a happy child birthing
experience.
We are very lucky to have advanced
medical treatment in delivering our babies and alternate birthing methods as an
option not an expectation. In Africa maternal death rates are extremely high because
of unskilled midwives, obstructed labor, anemia, malaria and HIV. Many women
die giving birth due to unsanitary conditions while giving birth. The women of
this country are too poor to get medical care so they are expected to give
birth at home without the proper resources. If a complication should arise then
death is certainly likely. In Kenya there are 488 deaths of the mother for
every 100,000 live births. I have learned that I am extremely grateful for our
modern day technology and are ability to have access to them in America. Even
though my birthing circumstance came with some problems I was lucky to have the
medical team there and able to react fast to my needs. If I were giving birth
to my son in Kenya me nor my son would have probably made it through. If I lived in Kenya I would never want to have
children due to the risks involved.
Oh my, another 15 hour labor. Glad that everything came through okay with your son. I experienced the same high blood pressure issues with my first pregnancy. What I thought was strange though that the Doctors never told me during visits that my blood pressure was high and that maybe I needed to watch certain foods intake,not that it would have mattered but i still think I should have been notified.
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