Childbirth Experiences

This week marks the start of a new course in the Master’s program.  This course is on the topic of Childhood Development.  Over the next 8 weeks I will be sharing posts on this subject.  My first post is going to about the birthing experiences of my first children.  The assignment request one experience but I would like to expand on this because the births were so different.  I will also be comparing the first birth with the birthing experiences in another country.

The Sarasota Birthing House

I was seventeen years old and about to have my first child.  I chose to have a midwife instead of a doctor and to also have my child naturally in a birthing house.  My pregnancy was normal and I had no complications.  I went into labor on March 29, 1986 the Saturday before Easter.  When my labor pains warranted me to go to the birthing house it was about 10pm.  When we arrived at the house I was led upstairs to the king sized bed where I would have my son.  As the contractions came closer, I asked for a warm bath.  My son’s father and the midwife assisted me in getting in the claw foot tub and he used a sponge to squeeze water down my back.  After the water became too cool and I was becoming more restless we decided to go back to the bed as the contractions were getting really close.  I remember fainting as one contraction hit me really hard.  When I came to we made it to the bed when we realized that the baby’s head was crowning.  It was time to push.  After about 10 minutes of pushing, I gave birth to a bouncing baby boy we named Xavier.  He was 8lbs and 13 oz. 

My NICU experience

It’s almost two years later and I’m in labor again.  This time I didn’t have private insurance so the birthing house was not an option.  I was at Sarasota Memorial Hospital on January 4, 1988.  I was having contractions and my water had burst, but I was not dilating.  The doctor thought I needed help so I received the medication to induce labor.  The medicine keep being increased but nothing was happening.  My baby was starting to get distressed and the doctor was concerned that I was going to have a dry labor.    He even considered a c-section for the safety of the baby.  In order to gag how the baby was really doing they inserted something that would attach to his head.  When the insertion took place, more amniotic fluid was released.  I had what was called a fore-bag of water.  With the breaking of the other bag; the contractions were really painful because I was still receiving the medication.  Within two hours I was pushing and remarkably with about 6 pushes my second son was born.  He was named Jerrell.  I didn’t get to hold him or look at him because he was in distress.  He had fluid in his lungs and his lungs were not developed.  He was only 5lbs and 11oz at birth.

The Birthing Experience in Kingston Jamaica

I chose Jamaica as the country of research because my family has historical ties to Jamaica.  The airport even has my maiden name of Tinson.  I have compared the midwife system in Kingston Jamaica with my experience.  All births are done at the Victoria Jubilee Hospital in what is described as a “community event” (Wilson 1997).  Husbands or the fathers of the babies are not present for the births of the children.  All of the laboring women are put into one room together and are each other’s support system.  (Wilson 1997)  The mother and child are cleaned and then taken to another room that she will share with five other new moms and their babies. (Wilson 1997).   

The difference that I noticed is the community birthing event where neither the fathers nor other family members were present.  However, the mom was comforted by the other women in labor.  Every one saw your baby being born and experienced your pain with you.  However, the environment is in a hospital in which the mother could receive emergency care if needed.  In contrast, I was the only one in labor and I could only bring one person with me.  My environment was not at a location in which I could receive emergency medical attention; the hospital was 5-10 minutes away.  The only similarity was the fact the births were overseen by a midwife.

Wilson, Lois.  Spring 1997. Birth as a Community Experience: It Can Be Achieved in a Hospital.  Midwifery Today.    Retrieved from http://www.midwiferytoday.com/articles/community.asp

I also looked for information on how well Jamaica could handle premature births and was alarmed to find out parents lose their child due to the hospitals not having adequate equipment. I read a story about a couple that had tried for six years only to lose their child because the fact is that the UHWI and other hospitals in Jamaica are not equipped to deal with premature births," (Reynolds 2009).  The major difference in my case and this couple’s was that I had my child in a hospital that had a wing dedicated to preterm births.  They had enough equipment to ensure that my child had a fighting chance to live.

Reynolds, A.  2009, June 28.  Dead Within Days After Birth. Jamaica Gleaner. Retrieved from http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090628/news/news1.html