Childbirth In Your Life and Around the World

My first birthing experience was something completely different to what I imagined it would have been. I was in the middles east then. I went in for my last doctor's checkup which was days before my calculated due date. I was in full term of the pregnancy.

After the checkup and an ultrasound scan, my doctor told me that the amniotic fluid was low and that I need to get admitted and get induced for labour pain (as I wasn't in any pain and my water bag hadn't broke). At this point, I was still very confident that I will be going through a normal vaginal birthing experience. I was induced twice during the day but I still didn't get any pain. The doctor told me and my husband that the baby needed to come out within 24hrs after inducing. The longer the baby was inside, the higher the risk was for infection for both the baby and me.

The time was ticking but I was still not in labour pain. After calculating the risk factor, me and my husband decided that I would go in for cesarean surgery. This wasn't an easy decision for me as I always wanted a normal vaginal delivery. But I knew I had no chance when I wasn't getting into labour pain and dilating.

Next, after the paper work, the anesthetist came in to brief me regarding the procedure. I opted to for an epidural as advised by the anesthetist. She convinced me that this way, I will be able to see the baby as soon as it comes out. So I agreed. As I was waiting for my turn to be wheeled into the surgery theatre, I was contemplating whether to cancel the whole idea of going in for a surgery. I was terrified at the thought of being cut open, while I was still awake. I was thinking to myself “ what if I could feel the pain?”, “ what if something goes wrong?” and so on. My husband was not allowed to go into the surgery theatre with me. That just made it worst for me. But thankfully, after the epidural procedure, the anesthetist sat right next to me and held my hand till the end just trying to comfort me. Each moment she was comforting me with her gentle words and touch. She made me feel calm and safe.

Within minutes, my baby boy was born. However, the only allowed me to see him but not to touch him. I felt very sad. The staffs cleaned him and checked thoroughly. Later they handed my baby boy to my husband who was waiting outside. My husband told me that he had a moment with him and then the nurses took the baby to the nursery. I didn't see him until much later.

When I finally got to see him, they have already fed him with formula milk. This was another disappointment for me.

I stayed in the hospital for 4 days due to the surgery. I tried my best to breastfeed my baby but even after informing the nursery not to, they still fed my baby with formula during the night. But I continued to breastfeed him even after going back home.

My parents and mother in law were a big support for me and my husband. We were leaving in another country and yet our family flew in to help us with this first experience. We felt blessed. My mom cooked all of our traditional confinement food for me and my mother in law helped me to bath my baby the traditional way.

My only regret through this experience is that I wasn't able to touch and breastfeed my baby just right after he was born. This is why I chose to tell this story. I believe the first touch and the first milk between the mother and baby is so crucial in a child's development stage. Infants thrive on bonds with his/her parents as it signifies the baby's first model of intimate relationships, gives a sense of security and positive self esteem.

India leads the world in the number of women who die during childbirth. Every eight minutes, a mother

dies in childbirth. The are apparently three reasons to this perfectly avoidable or preventable

consequences. The couples and their families are not educated enough or well informed about

recognizing early warning signs during pregnancy and seeking medical help immediately. Secondly,

mothers die at home or on their way to the hospital because there unprepared for any complications.

Most of the childbirth in India happens at home and usually there are no skilled midwife available to

guide the childbirth. When things get too complicated, its too late to get the mother to the hospital as

transportation is a big problem in most areas. And even if the mother gets to the hospital on time, there

is no right facilities or expertise readily available to save the mother and the child. There is just so

much differences between the birthing experiences that most of the women in India go through

compared the one I went through. There is so much risk involved in the childbirth process in India

where else the risk in my childbirth has been mitigated and reduced because of better facilities and

expertise readily available to handle any complications. A child born in india under those

circumstances stand a higher chance of not having a healthy development. He/she will be prone to

many diseases, complications and even early death.