My birthing experience

First, I would like to begin with the fact I had a difficult pregnancy with my youngest son.  I had a lot going on in my personal life and I was in the final year of my undergraduate studies.  Stress had become a commonality in my life.  I had high blood pressure and I was borderline diabetic.  My doctor felt he might come early so I was on strict bed rest but this was difficult since I had two other children to take care of.

So the night I he was born, things went very quickly.  I started experiencing labor pains at 3am and by 5am I was having contractions 5 minutes apart.  I had to wait for my brother to get to my house because the hospital wouldn't allow my children to go into the room with my husband and I.  I almost gave birth to my child at my house.  We rushed to the hospital and by the time we got there the doctor informed me that it was too late to medicine so I had to give birth to him naturally.  I barely got comfortable in the bed and before I knew it my child was here.  We got the hospital at 5:30am and he was born at 5:46am. 

I chose this birthing story because the fact I had so many external factors going on it truly affected my pregnancy and my birthing experience.  It important to understand how powerful external factors are to prenatal development.  My child was healthy but things could have went another way.      

When examining other cultures around the world I became interested in the Chinese birthing rituals.  The actual birthing process is similar to American.  They can have them in hospitals or at home.  Men typically don't participate in the birth.  My husband was very much involved. What makes them different is after the baby is born the mother and child are separated for one month.  This is because in the past many women and children would die during this vulnerable time so both the child and the mother are closely monitored and the mother is on bed rest during this time.  Also it is a tradition for the mother to eats the placenta.