My Birthing Experience.

My first birthing experience was 13 years ago. Though it was painful but a very memorable experience. During my pregnancy I did not consider my diet as an important factor during pregnancy because I had no appetite to eat. I was able to attend my ante-natal classes as scheduled. My baby came much earlier than I expected, precisely 3 weeks before my expected delivery date. I labored for more than 15 hours, my amniotic sac was ruptured, and it was not funny at all to have it ruptured. I was not given an epidural, and did not ask for it because as at that time I had an ‘impression’ that epidural has a bad effect on babies, so I decided to go through the more than 15 hours of labor time pains, because to me I felt why should I risk the remaining hours of my pregnancy after carrying the baby for more than 8 months.

I chose this one because it was my first birthing experience and out of ignorance I did not ask for epidural and I believe most African women that have access to it may do the same thing.

My thoughts regarding births and its impact on child development, reminds me of ‘The Nature-Nurture Debate in chapter 1 of the developing Person Childhood 6^th Edition by K.S Berger. Nature refers to the influence of genes that people inherit. Nurture refers to the environmental influences, beginning with the health and diet of the embryo’s mother and continuing lifelong, including family, school, culture, and society. With this I understand that a pregnant woman’s diet is very important during pregnancy and also how you treat the child or the affection you give after birth also matters in the upbringing, the intellectual stimulation of early childhood, bullying or friendship in the middle childhood affects how genetic codes work.

Births in Sub-Saharan Africa.

According to Worldbirthaid.org, giving birth safely in Sub-Saharan Africa remains a privilege of the rich, 1 in 13 women die of causes related to pregnancy and child birth. Infection following delivery remains a leading cause of death among both mothers and new born. This risk can be mitigated. Both maternal and neonatal infection rates have been proven to decrease ‘if’ women are given access to the most basic elements of medical sanitation while birthing : soap a length of clean string to tie the umbilical cord, a clean razor blade to cut the umbilical cord, and 1m2 clean paper on which to deliver.

What I learnt from this birthing process is that lack of sanitation, provision for certain medical materials lead to both maternal and neonatal death.

The difference between this and my birthing experience is that I was well taking care of, and also I was provided with the necessary birthing materials in the hospital I gave birth in.