The birthing experience that I have chosen was my best friends birth to her daughter Sophia, four months ago. I waited in the waiting for 6 hours waiting until she was born. The only people that were in the delivery room was her husband, the nurse and the doctor. They do not allow anyone else unless the family gives permission. I have never experienced a birth before and still haven't. What I remember is the excitement of her arrival. Her father was so ecstatic and emotional that it made the experience one never to forget.
It took about two hours after her birth that we could see her and her mom. The nurse came out to let us know that they wanted the mother to relax a bit and get the baby all cleaned up and ready for her visitors. I chose this example because its fresh in my mind and its the first experience I had when I was waiting at the hospital for her arrival. I believe in the United States, hospitals for the most part women and their babies are treated the same and taking care of to the best of their ability. This impacts their child development because the pregnancy and the birth are the beginning process of their development for the rest of their lives.
Japan-
Most births take place in a hospital or doctors clinic in Japan. This is similar to the United States. What is not similar is that most labors in Japan are handled by midwives. The United States less than 8 percent of births are attended by midwives. Japan strives for natural birth and non pain reliefs during birth. Japan also doesn't have a good support from others during births. There is a lack of family and close friends. There is also a difference in language and culture that makes the approach to the biting experience different for every family. www.tokyoweekender.com/2009/birthing-in-Japan-2/
I bet that it meant a lot to your best friend that you were there to support her for the birth of her baby, even though you could not be in the room. My best friend is pregnant now and I cannot wait to see her baby within the first near hour of the baby being born! Aside from your experience, I think that it is interesting that in Japan, a lot of their births are from midwives. I wonder if they get a lot of help in the hospitals throughout their pregnancy.
ReplyDeleteBrittany,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your post, I have never sat in a waiting room waiting to hear about a birth, that had to be a little unnerving. I thought your comments about Japan were interesting, especially the 8% of births attended by a midwife. My first child was attened by a midwife during the delivery, because there were several deliveries going on at the same time and one was a woman having complications, so my doctor called in the midwife, who delivered my daughter.
Brittany,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your story! Your mentioning of how the father was so ecstatic and emotional struck me. It's so interesting how emotional the birth of a baby is, and how even the toughest of tough guys will emote strongly to being part of a birth.
It sounds like you're contributing to a great support system for Sophia, your friend is lucky to have you in her life!