A personal experience of my child's birth:
On the morning of February 3, 2014, as I woke up to prepare for work I felt a small leakage. As I ran to the bathroom, I began to lose more fluids. after being quite frightened, because of the fact that my due date wasn't until March 14th, I called my OB and was instructed to report to the clinic immediately. After checking with my OB, I was informed that my water had broken due to the poking of my son's foot... He was breech. I was instructed to go directly to the hospital; I was scheduled for an emergency C-section. this news was pretty shocking for me fiancé and I due to the fact that we had not done much shopping for the new baby and his premature arrival at only 34 weeks had us very concerned about his health. the procedure was safely done and Khalil was quickly sent to the NICU unit. Khalil was brought at 12:14p.m. weighing 4 pounds and 4 ounces, which later dropped to 3 pounds and 5 ounces after birth. doctors placed an oxygen strip over his nose to help him breathe and a feeding tube down his throat to assist with his feeding to help gain weight. I was unable to see Khalil the first day, but the second day I was allowed to visit him. Khalil was kept in an isolette incubator after taken off oxygen and all machines, but still could not come home until he reached 5 pounds. Khalil stayed in the NIC unit 3 weeks after I was discharged from the hospital, but we made frequent visits. Once Khalil made it home, my fiancé and I realized he was still very tiny and had much more progress to go to get to a healthy start. I sometimes worried, feeling like it would take forever for Khalil to recover and become a regular healthy baby. As time went by, we nursed Khalil with the best of our efforts and he is now a healthy, smart, active and handsome one year old. I shared this story because there are many mothers in the world just like me, who gave birth to premature babies and worry about their health and recovery. The picture on the left shows the beginning of a journey, which may seem like a long and never ending road, but; the picture on the right shows the transition to another beautiful beginning, a strong finish. Stay Strong and have faith..
Child
birth in Ethiopia, Africa
Women in Ethiopia, Africa consider home birth
deliveries over hospital deliveries. Cultural beliefs and lack of knowledge of
the importance of choosing skilled doctors for hospital deliveries are a key
factor of this decision the Ethiopian women make. Due to Ethiopia women
choosing home deliveries, a greater percentage of birth fatalities occur. “The
maternal mortality ratio in Ethiopia is 676 for every 100,000 births. This
compares with an average of 290 per 100,000 births in developing countries, and
14 per 100,000 in developed countries, according to the UN World Health
Organisation.”(IRANpara5) I have learned that Ethiopian women value their
cultures and beliefs so much that they run the risk of childbirth instead of
seeking medical assistance to give a healthy birth. I noticed that this is the
total opposite of women in the U.S. because most women in America would rather
give birth in a Hospital. -Above is a youtube video giving information on dangers of Ethiopian women and childbirth.
REFERENCE
, IRAN. "The Guardian ."
Ethiopia: too many deaths in childbirth as women opt out of healthcare . 5 May 2012. Web. 31 Oct 2015.
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2012/may/05/ethiopia-deaths-childbirth-women-healthcare.
My daughter had to be in the NICU as well. I actually got discharged before she did, but my doctor's brother had a delivery that day and he came in and told me that he knew I didn't want to leave my baby and I could stay until she was discharged. I sure did not want to leave her because I would have been worrying about her the whole time.
ReplyDeleteWhat a scary story! I am so glad everything worked out for you. My first son, whose birth I did not write about, was born at 36 weeks but weighed 6 lbs. 3 oz. He did have to stay in the hospital for a couple days after I left due to low blood sugar, but other than that was fine. It sure is amazing the difference a week makes. Thank you for sharing your story, as well as the one about those women in Ethiopia. On the one hand, it amazes me that they would risk the health of their baby to follow their cultural beliefs, but can also understand how important those beliefs must be to them.
ReplyDeleteYour son's birth sounds a lot like my own birth. After reading and watching your video above, I'm not surprised that many mothers choose home birth over hospital deliveries. I have friends from Ethiopia and they say the healthcare there isn't the best and most people go to the elders in the city for help.
ReplyDeleteWow, what an experience!! Giving birth is such an awesome experience and people don't realize that it is not easy and each experience is very different. Do you want to have any more children? Did they tell you that you could have a vaginal birth if you were to have more children? I am glad that your son is healthy and strong.
ReplyDeleteHello Diedra, I admire your blog
ReplyDelete