All About Birth

I am now in my second class for Walden University. This class is a class titled Child Development. The first blog assignment for this class is to talk about birth. I have some great facts about births from Japan below so make sure you check those out!

I am going to first talk about a personal birthing experience. The only personal birthing experience that I had was my own. I obviously do not remember the experience but have talked to my mother and father about the event. I am the first child to my parents so of course, they were nervous, scared, and did not completely know what to expect. My mother’s water broke 3 weeks early from my due date and she knew that I was going to be born that day. My mother was in labor for 6 hours until there was a complication. I had the umbilical cord wrapped around my neck and was cutting of the circulation. The doctors then had to do an emergency c-section. After I was born at 5 pounds  8 ounces and 19 inches long, there were no other complications. I think that a child’s birth does impact them in many ways. Depending on the setting that the child is born into will affect them the rest of their life, I believe. Since I was born into a high stress situation I do think I stress out over things easily. It is usually over small things as well, but I will think about it over and over until I am over stressed. I have found ways to cope with my stress levels growing up and it does not happen now as much.

A part of the assignment was to also research different birthing methods from a different culture. I have picked Japan just because I thought that they would be a country that was most like the United States in birthing. My idea was not all correct. Although most birthing techniques are not very similar, a generation before me things were not. Now women can take a home pregnancy test, but a generation ago the only way a woman could find out she was pregnant was by going to the doctor. In Japan “Foods rich in protein & carbohydrates such as mochi and eggs are sometimes offered and encouraged at the onset of labor to ensure adequate energy throughout the laboring process”. ("Japanese culture: beliefs and," ) Men are also usually not involved in the birth. They are to wait outside instead of being in the room with the women. Loud noises are also not socially accepted and pain caused by anything should not affect a woman’s expression or domineer. Pain medicine if asked for is usually provided. There are special ceremonies for the new baby that are very unusual to the United States:

• OSHICHIA:  This is a special ceremonial celebration that was carried out when the baby turned 7 days old.  The baby was officially named at this time, often by the mother and father, but sometimes by grandparents.  Only close family and friends were usually in attendance.  In addition to various dishes, special foods eaten at this ceremony were red rice with beans, Sea broom fish (TAI), and many vegetables.
• HESONO O:  This is a ritual involving the baby's umbilical cord.  When the baby's cord dries and falls off, it was put inside a special wooden box and kept indefinitely.  This signified a well wish for the mother-child relationship in the future.
• HYAKUNICHIMAIRI:  This is a special ceremony when baby turns 100 days old.  It begins with the baby, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother dressing in their finest clothes and visiting the family temple.  A special prayer is given by the priest of the temple for the good health of the child.  Thereafter, they would return home where all other family and friends would join in a celebration, with lots of various foods.

Although there are different ways of birth in other cultures, the main goal for every birth is for a happy, healthy, baby and mother. I learned very much about birthing and prenatal development this week and cannot wait to share more information that I learn throughout this course.

Japanese culture: beliefs and practices during pregnancy, birth, and postpregnancy. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.hawcc.hawaii.edu/nursing/RNJapanese03.html.