My senior year in high school was a very memorable year for me: accepted into college, preparing for the graduation/senior prom and last but not least I was preparing for the birth of my first son. I had no idea of the change that my life would undergo during this year.
On September 29, 1995, I left school early to attend what I thought would be a routine doctors appointment that had become part of my regular schedule. It was at this visit that my doctor informed me that my blood pressure had reached a critical level and instructed me to head to the hospital for observations. I checked myself into the hospital 15 minutes later after leaving the OB/GYN appointment for observations of my blood pressure. According to the nurses and other medical staff, I would only be at the hospital for a few hours or at least until my blood pressure returned to a normal level for pregnancy. My blood pressure continued to climb to a very dangerous level, prompting the hospital staff to check me into the hospital and immediately hook up monitors to monitor the baby. My blood pressure continued to climb and doctors diagnosed my condition as toxemia and immediately ordered an emergency C-section. This was a very emotional time because I was only 6 1/2 months pregnant and had very little knowledge or understanding of what to expect from this early birth of my son. The doctors and nurses quickly flooded me, my boyfriend (now husband) and my parents with information about the possible outcomes if the emergency C-section was not done. We were also informed that due to the early delivery that our son could suffer from developmental delays and possibly death.
I decided to prolong the C-Section after praying and hoping that my blood pressure would return to a normal stage. This was not the case, so the emergency C-Section was done after the baby's heart rate begin to decrease. Our son was born on Saturday, September 30, 1995 at 1:15pm weighing 4lbs and 3 oz. He was immediately rushed from the delivery room for tests and observations by the nurses and other medical staff. I did not meet my son until he was approximately 12 hours old and was greeted by great news regarding his health. My doctors informed us that he was born 2 1/2 months early but did not having any breathing problems, could hold his body temperature and functioning at the level of a regular term baby. The doctor also informed us that he could possibly have some delays but it could not be determined until later.
I am happy to report on this day that I am a proud parent of a 15 year old gifted high school student. He is absolutely amazing to me, my family and the doctors that knew he would have some delays. He is very active in high school with academics and tons of extracurricular activities. He has/does not have any major medical problems and plans to become a pediatrician in the future. I decided to share this example because teen births are very common in society today and wanted to share with others that you can't always rely solely on what the doctor's say about the development of a child. My birth experience was very scary because I was not prepared for a C-Section and did not know what to expect under those circumstances. I was also not prepared for the delivery of a preterm baby or any complications with my pregnancy.
In preparation for this assignment, I had to research birthing experiences in other countries and describe the differences/similarities with my birth experience. I decided to compare my birth experience to women in Japan. In Japan, girls that get pregnant out of wedlock cause shame on the family or community. Prenatal care is encouraged and the women are encouraged to start this process early in the pregnancy. Healthy eating, music and positive thinking are encouraged during the pregnancy to ward off evil spirits or harm to the mother and child. According to Hawaii Community College (2010), it is not custom for me or significant others to be present during labor and birth. There are two delivery options for the Japanese culture: either midwives at a birthing clinic or at the hospital with doctors. Japanese culture believe that pain should be handled with grace and very little noise or expression of pain (medicine is available upon request). During the post pregnancy phase, the mother and baby should not leave the house for 4 to 6 weeks after the birth. Breast feeding is also encouraged the day after the birth of the child. According to Hawaii Community College (2010) there are several ceremonies that are preformed following the birth of the child: Oshichia (naming ceremony done when the baby turns a week old), Hesono O (ritual that involves keeping the umbilical cord for best wishes in the future) and Hyakunichimairi (ceremony when baby is a 100 days old, similar to a "christening" in the United States).
A major insight that I gained from the comparison, is that in Japan pain is considered weakness but not in the United States where medicine is advised when pain become intolerable. Another major difference is the number of ceremonies that are held after the birth of the baby but all of the ceremonies emphasis the importance of family.
References
Hawaii Community College (2010). Japanese Culture. Retrieved on November 3, 2010 from
http://www.hawcc.hawaii.edu/nursing/RNJapanese03.html.
