Week I Assignment-Birthing Experience

Early Childhood Development
Week I-Birthing Experiences
I have three children two girls ages 16 and 9 and a boy age 6. The reason I choose my own birthing experience because the experiences I have with all three children were so different. I gave birth to my first child at the age of twenty-one, therefore, I was very young, just started to experience the job world and very much alone during the nine months with very little support from family. I was also alone for the delivery except for the gynae and midwife who kept checks on me. My mother came to check on me just once. I gave birth in a private clinic that was fully medically equipped to deal with emergencies and I must say the experience was very traumatic. The birthing experience began with induced labour. I was up strung with drips that I found uncomfortable. I laboured for a long time with much pain. I was transported to the delivery room when my cervix was fully dilated and was placed on a horizontal labour chair (lying down). During the delivery the nurses were not very supportive emotionally but instead they told me if I did not push both me and my baby were going to die. At this time they realised that my passage was too small so they sent for the gynae. He used large forceps and a suction machine to get the baby out of me. My daughter weighed nine and half pounds. I became very depressed after the birthing experience, struggled with postnatal issues and also had to see a chiropractic specialist.
I choose this particular birthing experience because I realise how much culture impacts on birthing experiences and early childhood development. Although I had finished college and was working I was rejected because I was not married and I was not conforming to family’s Christian principles. My labour was seen as punishment but I survived and learned from this experience.
When I compare my first birthing experience with my other two children, the experiences were so different. My first child is very aggressive. She suffered from temper tantrums and her cognitive development was extremely slow. I had to get special intervention to help her with speech.
I compare my birthing experience to home deliveries that are still done in my country but mostly done in the rural parts of Jamaica. Women who cannot afford to or refuse to give birth in a medical setting will opt to have a home delivery especially if they are not sick and it is not their first birth. A village mid-wife also referred to as the (nana) is called to assist with the delivery of the baby. These Nannas spend all of their time with the mother and talk the mothers through the delivery. The Nannas tend to rub the stomach and speak to the bay during labor period. The family is around and waits in anticipation for this new life to enter the world. There are no doctors, no drips and no rude nurses. Many of these women have the children lying on their backs.
I believe a home delivery is less traumatic than a hospital delivery. There is less tension at home deliveries and therefore I believe children who are brought into the world with a sense of calmness. The reason I choose this birthing experience because I believe emotional support is very important during the birthing process. The midwife helps to set the atmosphere for the delivery .Although the hospital may guarantee a safer birthing, the home provides a calm and less distracting environment. The only risk is that the Nana might not be able to deal with any medical emergencies.

Early Childhood- Key to a strong foundation

Hi I am Judy Charoo and from the Jamaica in the Caribbean. I have worked as an educator for the past fifteen years but my love for earlychildhood grew when I started my family. I believe early childhood is a very adventurous and wonderful time in a person's life and there is so much we can learn about and from our children.