Abstract
For this blog posting I
will be comparing and contrasting the birthing process in Sweden and my own
birth. I was born in 1989 and the book I used for my research on Sweden births
was written in 1993.
Sweden Birthing Process
I had a little trouble
researching a story about a specific birthing experience in another country,
but I did find a book titled “Birth in Four
Cultures: A Crosscultural Investigation of Childbirth in Yucatan, Holland,
Sweden and the United States”. I chose this book, because it was written in 1993 and
I will be comparing this birthing experience to my own in 1989. In Sweden all
births take place in hospitals and are managed by midwives (Jordan, 1993). It is commonly found in Sweden that sedatives,
medications for induction, and artifical stimulation are used (Jordan, 1993). The birthing
experience in Sweden is described as an “intensely
personal and fulfilling achievement” (Jordan, 1993).
My Birth
Personally I have not
had any personal birthing experiences nor have I witnessed one. I thought for
this assignment I would get a little bit creative and interview my Mom, Heidi
Brownell, about what she remembers about carrying me in the womb, when she gave
birth to me, and what happened immediately after birth.
My mom said she was
very nauseous during the first four and a half months of pregnancy. Her OBGYN
offered her to take the anti-nausea drug emitrol, but this did not help with
the nausea, she took it for about a week during the first trimester. She said
the emitrol did not help, so instead she ate small meals. She began her days eating
saltine crackers and ginger ale or diet Pepsi, eventually working her way up to
a full meal by dinner time. The one food she did crave were subs at any time of
day. During the second trimester she developed varicose veins in her legs and
vaginal area. These were so bad her OBGYN prescribed compression stockings. During
the second trimester my parents moved from an apartment to a house. This was a
stressful period as my mother describes it, because she was still suffering
from morning sickness. She then went on to explain at five months she began to
engage in daily physical activities such as biking and walking until about 8
months. During the third trimester my mother said she experienced a lot of movement
that would begin at about 10pm each night (this remains true to this day). During
the 8 month of pregnancy my mother said she cut back on the exercise, because
she felt a lot of pressure and was extremely fatigued. At 8 months and two
weeks my mother said she was five centimeters dilated. She carried me like that
for two and a half more weeks.
During the prenatal
period my mother had a midwife and had two ultrasounds. One ultrasound was
during the first trimester and the other was during the third trimester. She was
extremely fatigued during the entire pregnancy. As my mother describes she had
a very “normal” pregnancy and carried to full term. She said having a midwife
was like having a good friend deliver your baby.
On November 7th
around 4am my mother woke up to what she describes as “very hard labor”. She
woke up my father and called grandparents to stay with my older brother. Once
my grandparents arrived my mother said she remembers walking out the door
doubled over saying “I can’t do this”. Once in the car my father was running red
lights and doing everything he possibly could to get my mother to the hospital
in time. They entered the emergency room and a woman approached my father asking
“what was wrong with her” (During pregnancy my Mom only gained 18lbs so she did
not look like she was in her third trimester). My father got a wheelchair and
brought my Mom to the maternity ward, but my mother was dry heaving at this
time as well. There were no nurses or doctor’s attending to my mother at this
time. By the time they reached the snuggery the nurses took one look at my
mother and quickly set up, because my mother was ten centimeters dilated and
ready to push. The midwife assisted with the birth and massaged the perineum to
prevent the need of an episiotomy. Just a few minutes later in the prep room at
6:34am I was born.
Immediately after birth
I was placed on my mother’s stomach. My father cut the cord as I was laying on
my mother’s belly and then my mother nursed me. The nurses then took me to
clean me up and do all the procedural testing. I then nursed again and this
time I turned blue in the face, because I was choking. The nurses took me
immediately, tipped me upside down and ran out of the room with me. My mother
describes feeling very panicky at this time, because she did not know what was
going on. A few minutes later the nurses brought me back and I was fine. They did
not know what had happened. Following the birth both of my grandmothers came
with my brother to see me. During the first night the nurses had trouble
settling me down, they brought me to my mother and “as soon as she spoke and
coddled me I settled down.”
What I learned
After learning about
these two birthing experiences I was intrigued by the fact that both
experiences included midwives as a part of the birthing experience. Both birthing
experiences were described to be a positive experience for the mothers. I
learned both cultures, value childbirth and the importance for care during the
birth. Both cultures provide quality care for the mothers during the delivery
process. I would be interested to learn more about the options my mother would
have had in regards to helping along the birthing process. From what I could
tell the use of induction was not explored for my mother’s birthing experience,
but it is common amongst births in Sweden. This study showed me that the birth
of a child on two separate continents can share similarities and truly value
the miracle of giving birth.
References
Brownell, H. (2014, May 06). My Own Birth. (L.
Brownell, Interviewer)
Jordan, B. (1993). Birth in Four Cultures: A
Crosscultural Investigation of Childbirth in Yucatan, Holland, Sweden and the
United States. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press Inc.
