Childbirth In My Life and Around the World

I had two birthing experiences, both very different.  The first time I gave birth was thirty four years ago and I had no clue was was going to happen.  I lost my mucus plug and did not even know what a mucus plug was!  I was in labor for twenty-four hours in a military hospital, the doctor had to break my water, and I was in pain.  I choose not to marry the father as I knew it would not work out, and I had the support of my parents.  Finally my ten pound son came out with a broken collar bone, pneumonia, and tore me up pretty bad.  It took an hour for the doctor to "put me back together."  Then my son was in intensive care because of his issues, so I did not get to see him very often.  Three days later we were both still in the hospital and I developed a super high fever with an infection and did not get to see my son for three days.  It was scary, so I was told, as I almost died.  God had a plan for us, both my son and I got better and we went home after spending seven days in the hospital.  My second birth was twenty eight years ago with my daughter, again in a military hospital, and was a piece of cake.  My husband, now ex husband, was in the military and deployed out to sea.  I knew more of what was going on this time around as I was older and had the support of many military wives.  I had also started my career in early child development and that helped out tremendously.  I was in labor with my daughter for only twelve hours and she popped right out, all eight pounds, no pain medicine needed.  I guess I should thank my ten pound son who "stretched" me out enough for my daughter to slip on out.  I was healthy and running around the day after, and went home in two days.  The only sad thing about this delivery was that my husband was not there.  In fact, he did not receive the message about his new daughter that went to his ship until three days later when they pulled into port.  When my daughter was born, we were stationed in Charleston, South Carolina and I did not have any family around as they lived in Texas.  Sometimes I think back and say to myself, if I knew then about what I know now about child development, I would have been supermom!  I do feel very blessed that both of my children were healthy and happy.  Every once in a while my daughter and I will talk about pregnancy and the medical advances that have come about.  She is still in awe that I did not know what the sex of her brother or her were, it was a surprise.  Back in the "olden" days, sonograms were only done if there was a problem with the pregnancy.

I researched the birthing practices of Somali which wraps around the Horn of Africa.  Becoming pregnant right after marriage is expected and a woman's status is enhanced the more children she has.  When I think of the cost of having children, I shudder and thank my lucky stars that I had military insurance for both of my birthing experiences.  My son cost $23.00 and my daughter cost $3.40 for the birth and hospital stay.  Women in Somali have a strong support network and even have a party before the birth as a sign of support.  This reminds me of my support system with my daughter as all of the wives who had husbands deployed on a ship stuck together.  Births usually take place at home and a midwife is in attendance.  In Somali, the mother and infant stay indoors for forty days, which is know as afatanbah.  During afatanbah, the mother wears earrings made from string placed through a clove of garlic, and the baby wears a bracelet made from string and malmal, which is a herb, in order to ward away the Evil Eye.  Myrrh is burned twice a day in order to protect the baby from ordinary smells of the world, which are felt to have the potential to make the baby sick.  When the forty days are up, there is a big celebration as this is the first time the mother and infant are leaving the home.  I could remember wanting to go out in public as soon as I could to "show off" my babies.  Breastfeeding is the primary form of infant nutrition and mothers will breastfeed for up to two years of age.  Camel's milk is considered to be the most nutritious of animal milk and infants, including newborns, are often offered liquids in a cup.  Wow, I have seen three year olds walking around with a bottle.  At the age of six months, mothers in Somali start feeding their children solid foods.  Diapering is not common in Somali.  When the baby is awake, the mother will hold a small basin in her lap and then hold her baby in a sitting position over the basin at regular time intervals.  Somali mothers claim that within a short period of time infants are trained to use the "potty."  I know some four year olds that are not totally potty trained yet and the caregivers are usually the people who potty trains the children.  I am sure that Somali women do not go to the "office" and are stay at home moms, so they spend most of their time with their children.  One insight I gained is that the people of Somali believe in the Evil Eye, evil spirits, and take precautions.  In the U.S. we have our children baptized at an early age or some other type of ritual to protect our children.