I have witnessed two births besides the three that I had. All of them were different in the length and intensity of the labor. The one I want to tell you about is my eldest daughter’s birth. I was in the military and single. During my pregnancy I received prenatal care through the military and I lived with a civilian family that lived on post. I was in California and my family all lived in Arkansas. At 3:39a.m. I started having contractions. I woke the family I was living with and told them it was time. I guess I should tell you that the first birth I experienced was their daughter giving birth to their grandson a month before I gave birth. Her labor was 36 hours long. Okay to get back to mine. They thought that they had time for coffee and told me that my water had not even broke. As soon as that was said my water broke and I was on my way to a military health clinic. Cassandara was the second baby ever born there. When I arrived I had to request help getting on the bed and taking my pants off. Her crown was out and I was told not to push. I informed them that she is coming and I had no control over it. An inexperienced military EMT got to catch my daughter as I delivered her at 3:54 a.m. 15 minutes after my contractions began. The military doctor arrived afterwards to help put the IV in my arm. Cassandara’s first vehicle ride was in the back of an ambulance for an hour ride to Reno, NV. We spent the night in the hospital so that the doctors could exam Cassandara then went home the following day. My other two children were born in a hospital but none of them had a doctor catch them.
I chose to explore the birthing process of the Netherlands. Dutch women become pregnant, “have a baby, and go home without seeing a gynecologist once” (Passionate Parenting, 2009, para. 2). Home births with a midwife are common, but they do have the option to go to the hospital. They believe that child birth is natural. They do not use medications for pain. They receive four months of maternity leave, six weeks before birth and ten weeks after birth Passionate Parenting, 2009). Your partner gets two days of paternity leave. Everyone is authorized to have maternity care. This is where a nurse comes to your house to care for you and your baby for eight days after the birth. They may do light housekeeping, laundry, cook, and care for other children. This paragraph was written from Passionate Parenting, 2009.
Child birth is more natural in the Netherlands, but they seem to have less prenatal care. They do offer prenatal classes. Their doctors give less information and there is less screenings then is done in the United States. You have to request pain medications if you want them otherwise you will not receive it. I did not have time with any of my children for pain medicine.
Reference:
Passionate Parenting. (2009). Having a baby in the Netherlands. Passionate Parenting.nl. retrieved on February 26, 2012, from http://passionateparenting.nl/pregnancy-and-birth/having-a-baby-in-the-netherlands.php
