Gaining the Experience
“When a woman gives birth, she has to reach down inside herself and give more than she thought she had. The limits of her existence are stretched. There is a moment when every woman thinks, ‘I can’t do this.’ If she is lucky, she has a midwife, a doula or her mom to whisper in her ear, ‘You are doing it.’ As she does it, she becomes someone new: a mother.” Pam Udy gives readers a jolting feeling of inspiration in her article found in the magazine, Midwifery Today. Giving birth to a child used to be a beautiful thing, a family event that was shared with the people closest to the mother. These people would surround her with love and support that made the whole birthing process a true moment to remember. Since the first hospital birth, having a baby has gone from an emotionally stimulating event to an every-day affair that takes the bonding out of childbirth. Any woman who gives birth to her baby in a hospital is losing out on the wonderful experience of a home birth. Females should allow themselves to experience birth in its most natural form before giving themselves up to the world of medicine and treating their labor as if it were something to be frightened of. It is like Jane Weideman said. “Giving birth should be your greatest achievement not your greatest fear.”
Before hospitals began to take over the birthing process, women birthed their children at home. In the late 1800’s, women began to look for a way to lessen the pain of their labors and births. Around the 1900’s, a man named Carl Gauss discovered the less painful way of birth in a new drug called Twilight Sleep (Supported Birth). This drug was made of the two drugs, morphine and scopolamine, mixed together. The morphine got rid of the pain and sc...
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...g success as well as the amount of sleep the mother has been getting. If the mother has been getting less than four hours a night, the midwife kicks the father swiftly in the butt and orders him to help the mother out more with the baby in order for her to get the sleep she needs.
My midwife, Renata Hillman, is now considered family in the eyes of my husband and me. She is a gentle woman whom I adore and to whom I owe the success of my birth. I delivered at home and I still relive the birth of my son every now and then. When I do, I do not feel pain and I do not cringe at the memory. I smile instead. The day my son was born was, no matter how exhausting, the most wonderful day of my life, not only because it was the day I met my son, but because my birth was an amazing experience worth getting excited over. What mother who gave birth in a hospital can say the same?
In doing this project the literature drawn from is largely non-scholarly for the reason that I am prevailing upon the reader to think outside the box about birth. Most of the “scholarly” research that is available was written by doctors or nurses/nurse midwives who were trained in the medical model of birth. Since part of my premise is that the high rate of Cesarean sections is caused in part by viewing birth as a medical and therefore pathological event, and in part for its emergence as a capitalistic industry, it was then necessary to find literature written by people who have expertise in birthing though not from the traditional obstetrical/medical school approach.
...o find a balance between interventional and non-interventional birth. With this being said, I also understand that there are strict policies and protocols set in place, which I must abide to as a healthcare provider, in any birth setting. Unfortunately, these guidelines can be abused. Christiane Northrup, MD, a well recognized and respected obstetrician-gynecologist has gone as far as to tell her own daughters that they should not give birth in a hospital setting, with the safest place being home (Block, 2007, p. xxiii). Although I am not entirely against hospital births, I am a firm believe that normal, healthy pregnancies should be fully permissible to all midwives. However, high-risk pregnancies and births must remain the responsibility of skilled obstetricians. My heart’s desire is to do what is ultimately in the best interest of the mother, and her unborn child.
How do you feel about home birth? When it comes to most peoples minds they most likely think that is just horde, and that they world never even think of baring there child that way. After reading this I hope that you will change you mind, or reconsider it. home birth is better then the hospital in many ways, and i'm going to share with you many of those ways with you. In the articular ( Midwifes alliance) is says, (Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health (JMWH), a landmark study** confirms that among low-risk women, planned home births result in low rates of interventions without an increase in adverse outcomes for mothers and babies. This study, which examines nearly 17,000 courses of midwife-led care, is the largest analysis of planned home birth in the U.S. ever published.The
It is wrong to assume that the stigmas that exist around the practicing methods of midwifes today are products of the past. A lot of information in today’s society is recent and biased against the...
The Business of Being Born is a documentary film produced by Ricki Lake that studies the contemporary experience of childbirth in the United States. The film explores the various childbirth methods such as midwives, natural birth, Cesarean section, and Hospital birth that include medication such as Epidurals and Pitocin. Analyzing the various childbirth methods allows people to become aware of the pros and cons of each method. It also brings attention to the decrease of natural birth and babies’ delivery by midwives in the United States. In the United States Midwives attend less than 8% of birth compare to 70% in Europe and Spain. Another issues regard this difference is countries that have a high percent of Midwives birth is they lose fewer women and babies compare to the United
It is important to understand what women commonly experience during pregnancy. With a better understanding of what happens during prenatal development and childbirth, physicians can competently develop the best plan for the mother and baby. I interviewed two women who have been previously pregnant in order to evaluate how the ideas in the book translate into real-life experiences.
Throughout history mankind has come up with some wonderful inventions and innovations, but out of all the creations by far the most beautiful and precious is human birth. I first developed an interest in nursing and in particular midwifery years ago. I believe it is a great service within the health profession because of the privileged position to assist in human childbirth. The word midwife means with woman. Centuries before obstetricians delivered babies, midwifes assisted women in having at home births. But it was only formally established as a profession in the early 1900’s. A nurse-midwife is a registered nurse that specializes in midwifery. The job of midwife is to assist in family planning and birth control advice, provide general gynecological services (such as pap smears and breast exams), aid women in childbirth, and help women by providing prenatal and postpartum care. Nurse-midwives are required to have a Master’s of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree and pass the American College of Nurse Midwifery (ACNM) board examination to obtain certification.
For one woman, this vision of childbirth is not the norm. Ana Rhodes is a midwife, and she is one of the only birth attendants available to...
I initially considered midwifery when I attended an antenatal scan with my auntie and heard the heartbeat of the unborn baby for the first time. Listening to discussions regarding health concerns and family support highlighted the importance of the midwife and mother relationship. Two years ago I was given the opportunity to be my mum’s birthing partner alongside my dad. I saw how the midwives interacted and were supportive through the birthing and decision making process. It was found that the baby was breach and the safe option was a caesarean section, and with the complications discussed mum was able to make the right decision. I attended pre and postnatal appointments and listened to the midwives offering advice and guidance, develop a birthing plan as well as check and monitor the health and wellbeing of mum. These first hand experiences have given me a deeper understanding of the role of a midwife and how communication and building trusting relationships is key during these emotional and vulnerable times for a woman, and inspired me to become a midwife.
The hospital room holds all the usual scenery: rooms lining featureless walls, carts full of foreign devices and competent looking nurses ready to help whatever the need be. The side rails of the bed smell of plastic. The room is enveloped with the smell of plastic. A large bed protrudes from the wall. It moves from one stage to the next, with the labor, so that when you come to the "bearing" down stage, the stirrups can be put in place. The side rails of the bed provide more comfort than the hand of your coach, during each contraction. The mattress of the bed is truly uncomfortable for a woman in so much pain. The eager faces of your friends and family staring at your half naked body seem to be acceptabl...
All mothers, especially first time mothers need help moral support and advice during the first few days after their delivery to ensure proper care of their newborn. The care and help given to first time mothers is of utmost important during this period as to maintain the normality in their babies as well as to prevent any further complications. Typically all pregnant women are counseled during their antenatal period on how to prepare themselves mentally on the care of their babies after birth. Upon delivery, majority of the mothers would stay for a short period in the hospital. During this short stay, they would need time to recuperate, need to know what care to give their baby and how to carry out the care and also learn what to do if their baby is feeling unwell. Thus it is important for health care providers to assist first time mothers be it at the hospital or at home since it is a crucial period for them and they often requires more help and moral support especially when it comes to the proper care of their newborn. ("Routine care of a newborn baby")
Impaired Parenting is a nursing diagnosis that should be considered for all parents who are having a child. There are many classes available to new parents that can be taken before childbirth takes place. These classes will inform parents how to take care of their newborn child, as well as, mentally prepare each family member what their role will be with the birth of their new child. The National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome says that in 2003, 1,300 infants in the United States died from being shaken (Tumlin,2010). Most of these deaths could have been prevented. If parents fail to take parenting classes before birth there is a higher chance they may be impaired for the obstacles they will be facing upon having a child. Impaired Parenting is a pertinent nursing diagnosis that needs to be recognized and educated on upon the first sign of parenting impairment. The use of the nursing diagnosis Impaired Parenting was observed on the Labor and Delivery floor at St. Francis Medical Center during the student’s clinical experience. This paper will be describing the care plan chosen for this patient, the goal and outcome of this patient, along with the interventions that were used to help educate this patient. A Nursing Research article titled, “Parenting Classes: Focus on Discipline” will be presented that correlates with this nursing diagnosis.
This week’s clinical experience has been unlike any other. I went onto the unit knowing that I needed to be more independent and found myself to be both scared and intimidated. However, having the patients I did made my first mother baby clinical an exciting experience. I was able to create connections between what I saw on the unit and the theory we learned in lectures. In addition, I was able to see tricks other nurses on the unit have when providing care, and where others went wrong. Being aware of this enabled me to see the areas of mother baby nursing I understood and areas I need to further research to become a better nurse.
Child Birth can be a beautiful, yet unimaginable experience any mother and family member can encounter. It is a process of emotional and social involvements that make-up a natural human being. The familiarity of childbirth can play an important role in life for every individual, especially the mothers who are in labor or in delivery. Each moment during labor will become memories for the mothers to share with their grown up child in the future. Childbirth is a breath taking experience that can change someone’s life forever. The process of childbirth does not occur in a blink of an eye; in fact, it is more of a procedure that may take a few steps. Some mothers during labor, experience a severe amount of pain that medication can control and some
The miracle of life is something most of us will experience in our lifetime. The process before actually giving birth, I think is the hardest part of the entire scenario of child bearing. This amazing experience is something that can make the individuals who are involved in the process change in so many ways. The process of giving birth, for those of you who have not experienced or will never experience it, can be very hard, long and rewarding all at the same time. To give a better description, think of eating a fireball. At first the fireball is tame and calm, but just when you least expect it the fireball becomes hot. Then, when the hot sensation becomes too much, the sweet flavor of the fireball breaks through.