AWOB Paper

The American Way of Birth. What is it? Are most women educated before their first pregnancy? Many of these questions helped us break down the AWOB and learn about different ways of giving birth. Before this lesson, I did not know enough about birth to hold a conversation, but after a few weeks I started to research and get different views of birth. Births in the United States are mostly by Cesarean section which question many people as to why this may be. Why are there so few natural births? I found it shocking to see statisitcs on birth and see that most women who gave birth had their baby through a c-section. It was then, that I wanted to find out some birth stories and see how many mothers had a natural birth or a c-section. I asked many mothers of there birth experience and different questions of what they thought of birth. The first mother which we will call Mother A had two children and gave me information about both births. For her first child she was in labor for 11 hours. After pushing for another 2 hours the baby still did not come close to being delivered. The doctors began to worry about the baby because when pushing you are applying pressure to the baby's head. The doctors then gave her a shot in her private to check how the baby was doing, and the baby was not doing well. Doctors then said that there was no other choice but to have a emergency c-section. She did not want to have a c-section because of the thought of having a stitches. The baby came at 35 or 36 weeks. As for pain the mother described it as "excruciating, severe pain that words cannot explain". The mother began to explain the hard times she went through with her second baby. Unlike the first baby, the second baby came 7 weeks early. But during the pregnancy the mother was in and out of the hospital because of consistent bleeding she had. The mother almost lost her baby three times and her life was at risk. One problem she faced was that she had placenta previa which is when the sack for the baby is growing outside instead on the inside and the sack is covering the birth canal. Because the sack was covering the birth canal (how the baby comes out) she had to get a c-section. This time the mother was more prepared and knew how everything happened and what was done because she had a c-section with her first born. A difference between the first and second child is the pain the mother experienced. Since the mother had an epidural for her second baby she had mild pain but mostly did not feel anything. She was given steroids because the baby's lungs had to develop faster because she was pre-mature. The baby had to stay at the hospital in intensive care for 19 days because she needed to be 5lbs before going home. Mother B was different from mother A. She was in labor 27 in a half hours and was a brave one. She refused to get any type of shot or medicine and stuck with the pain. She was not treated well at the hospital like she expected. The nurses did not pay much attention to her and left her there to push for herself. She had a natural birth and said that it was very painful and she wished she would have got an epidural for the pain. Unlike mother A the baby came home right away and everything was fine. Mother B did not have any complications with the baby. For her second child the due date was September 16 but it doctors said if she didn't give birth before the 28th they would induce labor. She was in labor for over 15 hours. The doctors put her on medication to induce labor and asked if she wanted an epidural but she refused because she didn't get one for her first child. Doctors insisted that natural and c-section births are different and she should get an epidural. With in a few hours she was crying for an epidural. The mother had a fever so they needed to do an emergency c-section because the baby was at risk. When the baby came out the umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby's neck. Doctors took immediate action. Mother C, on February 14 she began to have pain and called the doctor to let them know how she felt. The doctor said she need to come in as soon as possible. After pushing for 19 hours the doctors told her that the baby was too big and that she need a c-section. The thoughts of c-sections made her cry because she had her mind set on a natural birth. 21 hours later she received an epidural and delivered the baby on February 16. The mother said "the pain was not bad, I was able to deal with it." At the hospital she was treated fairly nicely. Unlike the other stories the dad cried when he held the baby in his arms. Mother D I must say that this to me was the easiest birth that i have heard. She was only in labor for 6 hours and didn't feel a thing. This did not get any medication nor an epidural but also didn't have pain. Giving birth was so easy she did not feel the baby come out. Everything was perfectly fine. After hearing all the different birth stories from different mothers I must say that mother D had it the easiest compared to the other mothers she was in labor for the least amount of hours and had the least amount of pain. After hearing her story it made me wonder how many mothers can relate to her story. Hearing all the different prospectives on birth and the pain I wish all births were painless. Home birth differ from hostpital biths because you are able to feel birth in its natural form. Unlike hospital births everything is rushed and you dont feel a thing because of all the medication. Hospital births are alienating women today by having many c-sections with out reason. Statisitcs show that most hosptial births are c-section, and it is at its highest in the United States.