The only birth I can explain from personal experience is my daughters. She was born on a military base at a hospital. I was also born on a military base but at the time the “hospital” was not really considered a “hospital” but a clinic. For the purpose of this week’s topic on childbirth (not to sound self-centered) I want to talk about my own
I was sort of confused as to why the place I was born at was considered a clinic and not a hospital so I called my parents to figure out what exactly happened because I was born premature. According to my dad I was born two months early. The Air Force base I was born at did not have a premature ward so as soon as I was born (he said I was about 3 pounds 3 ounces) the clinic placed me on a helicopter and flew me to the nearest military base that has premature ward. The nearest base was an Army base. My dad explained the doctors said my hemoglobin levels were low and needed blood. He said I was not brought home until I reached five pounds. All along this conversation I wondered “Why was I born so early?” I kept thinking there must have been something that may have triggered my mom going into preterm labor. According to my mom hours before she had me she was having pains in her teeth. My mom kept saying to me (talking to me in her belly) “You are not coming today!” “Repeating it over and over” says my dad. Then my dad said the doctors did not want to give my mom anything for her teeth pains because she was pregnant. My mom said she was having contractions and the doctors injected her with something to stop the contractions. “Obviously it didn’t work because you were born within the hour” says my dad. He also explained that as I was flown to the nearest base toward the preemie ward my mom had to stay at the clinic so that they could work on her teeth.
My mom claims I’m a stubborn child for not listening to her and coming out anyway but according to my view and the readings from this week I believe at the time of my birth my mom was stressed and in pain. Not just from being pregnant with me but with other pains in her body such as from the pain in her teeth. I don’t know what the doctors injected my mom with. Whether it was to stop or induce labor pains all I know is I am alive today to share this story with everyone.
I was not surprised to read that the united States have almost 100% in births that take place in a controlled environment partly because I was born in the united states in a controlled environment then moved to the next controlled environment so that I could survive. I chose my birth as an example to show some of the other factors that may contribute to child development. Such as changes in the mothers health conditions. According to my knowledge my mom never smoked or had an alcoholic addiction. I believe at the time of my birth my parents concern was if I was going to be healthy. I don’t think they were any other concerns at the time.
I chose the Philippines as the other country to find out how births happen there. Below is a link to Midwifery Today which is an article, a short story of a mother going to a place to have her child for free.
In a sense there is one similarity between the United States births and the Philippine births. mine was at a controlled environment. I would consider the mother in the story having her child in a controlled environment also because she went to a place where women have children most of the time. The midwives knew what they are doing and had the right tools. . I came to a conclusion from this comparison is that if a mother thinks the place to go to have her child (home, hospital, a provided no birth fee clinic) and she determines the place has the right tools and the right people by her side she can very well make that choice. Although child births sometimes do happen unexpectedly hopefully the goal is to have a healthy child(ren).
6 comments:
Hello Ms.J
I enjoyed reading your blog, and isn't it amazing how as soon as you are born your temperment comes right out with you.Your mom says your stuborn are you, you say your a military brat, that can be looked at as always getting your way lol.Thanks for sharing your views.
Wow Ms.Jay,
I cannot believe you weighed 3 pounds 3 ounces when you were born, that is incredible. When you were a baby, did you have any developmental delays. Sometimes it takes premature babies a while to catch up. Were you worried that your daughter may be born premature because you were? Also, after reading your article I started wondering if current military base hospitals have units to deal with premature birth and emergency c-sections and if it is a small military base, would the mother have to flown to a close hospital such as you did. Also, do you think military bases allow home births or water births, or would that be considered very dangerous, and are there rules surrounding what military wives may do in regards to childbirth. You and Amanda are the first people I have ever met who have lived and worked on military bases, and I find your birth experience very interesting. Thanks for sharing!
Ms. Jay,
I'm glad you chose to write about your own birth. It's funny because we obviously don't remember coming out of the womb, but I'm glad you talked with your dad to find out what details you could. I was born at a Navy hospital in Japan, and my mom had to be transportef via hellicoptor because the army hospital didn't have a maternity ward. That's interesting the your mother's teeth were hurting. I've never heard of that before, but I wonder if that's something that is common during pregnancy.
Hi Jeanneth,
Thank you for sharing your personal birthing experience. I can relate to that, as I too was born 2 weeks premature! There are so many contributing factors to premature births. It has been interesting reading the text and learning about this issue.
Nicole
Mrs. J.,
This is an interesting story. The fact that you are in college and doing well shows that a low birthweight can be overcome.
As far as I know my parents believed for a while that I was selectively mute but I'm not sure if I had any developmental delays it was the fact that I did not really talk until about 2 years old.
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