Childbirth––In Your Life and Around the World

I have two great birthing experiences that I can think of right away, the birth of my two sons. Having children, come into my life was the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. My first son was born in 1992 at ten o’clock at night. I remember a very long labor and great anticipation and that I was not ready for the responsibility to come. Being a parent was new to me and having the responsibility of another life to take care of was scary. After he was born, I can only remember the excitement and awe that filled my wife and me, especially when I cut the umbilical cord. The birth of my second son was just as exciting, but I was not as scared as the first. When my second son was born, it was at nine o’clock in the morning and he had a few complications during birth. When my second son was born, I expected to cut the umbilical cord as well but the doctor took him away to another table and started working on him. When I asked her what was wrong she said, the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck and he might have been oxygen deprived for a while and she needed to examine him more throe. After the nerves calmed, I realized that we had a healthy boy and all was well.  The reason I chose these examples is that they are the most significant in my life. Having the experience of being there when these events happened changed my perspective on how children are raised and cared for. The impact of having my own children to care for got me thinking of all of the things I did wrong while growing up. Learning how to care for children was an experience that did not come easy, having a loving wife that was just as excited as I was to begin raising these two wonderful boys made life a lot easier.

When researching another country and their birthing traditions, I looked at China because I have some friends that are native to China and have given birth to their children there. In China, the mother is supposed to guard their thoughts from any bad things, as the child is believed to have the same thoughts as the mother. When I asked my friends about this they told me that was the way it used to be in the older traditions, as of now the birthing conditions were about the same as they are here in the United States. One tradition that has remained the same is the baby shower is thrown after the babies are born. The family of the mother arranges the get together and in the newer age gifts are purchased by certain, instead of everyone bringing gifts, they are given by the women on the mothers side if the family.

When comparing the two countries birthing traditions, I have found that the older ways are going out and the newer western ideas are coming into play. I do like the aspect of learning how different cultures deal with the birth of children because, knowing and understanding how other cultures raise their children will help me understand how they may act in class and during activities in the classroom.