I interviewed three relatives about their birth experience at a baptism family dinner event. One of the reasons i choose to do it at that time, is because baptisms are seen as a newly born child's beginning of a religion, and also there's a lot of mothers. Each mother I interviewed had different experiences, but all shared a common emotion of feeling attached to their baby, while pregnant. On the bottom, is my interview witch each mother.
First Interview:
Name: Lynne Boisrond (Mom)
Number of children: 1
Age you gave birth: 21
1. How did pregnancy affect you physically, emotionally, or in other ways?
“Physically, I didn’t gain much weight, I only gained 24 pounds, because I exercised everyday.” “Emotionally it didn’t affect me at all, but I felt very connected to my baby, I couldn’t wait to see you.”
2. What did you do, while pregnant, to prepare for giving birth?
"I played bob Marley for you, it calmed you down whenever you we’re moving (while in the womb)” “I read pregnancy books, and I changed my diet, I only ate vegetables, my mother used to make me vegetable juice like carrot juice, fruit juice. I never ate or drank those things when I wasn’t pregnant. I didn’t eat or drink anything with preservatives, I didn’t eat red meat and I stopped smoking once I found out I was pregnant.”
3. What actions and attitudes by specific other people made your pregnancy and birth more joyous? More challenging?
“My mother helped me a lot which made my pregnancy more joyous, my mother went with me to lamas classes with me, she was my lamas partner”
4. What thoughts and feelings influenced your choice to make a baby?
“I always wanted a baby, because I love babies, and it kinda happened”
5. What feelings come back to you when you remember labor and giving birth?
“The pain from labor for 2 hours, I pushed you out early, I was 4cm dilated when it’s suppose to be ten, because I couldn’t take the pain”
--------------------------------
Second Interview:
Name: Kathia Boisrond (Aunt)
Number of children: 1
Age you gave birth: 27
1. How did pregnancy affect you physically, emotionally, or in other ways?
“I was extremely busy during my pregnancy, I danced, I worked I had two shows, but I noticed when I saw Kleenex commercials I cried” “I didn’t feel connected to the baby until my 5th month of pregnancy, when I saw my stomach to show”
2. What did you do, while pregnant, to prepare for giving birth?
"I got a few pregnancy books; I tried to eat 300 more calories a day, because I read that in a magazine. So I ate breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks in between that.” Almost every Saturday I exercised”
3. What actions and attitudes by specific other people made your pregnancy and birth more joyous? More challenging?
"My friends were excited so it was always joyous, no one really gave a negative attitude.”
4. What thoughts and feelings influenced your choice to make a baby?
“Oops” “Hahaha, it just happened, but I didn’t really mind the thought of becoming a mother.”
5. What feelings come back to you when you remember labor and giving birth?
"It’s so funny, up until I saw my cousin giving birth, I appreciated my labor more, so yeah…good times, but I don’t know how long I was labor not long”
-------------------------------
Third Interview:
Name: Lisa Boisrond (Aunt in law)
Number of children: 2
Age you gave birth: 34 & 36
1. How did pregnancy affect you physically, emotionally, or in other ways?
“I gained weight and rested more, since Max (My Uncle) did most of the house work, because he wanted me to rest for the baby”
2. What did you do, while pregnant, to prepare for giving birth?
“Worked, slept, relaxed. Actually pregnancy has given me more of a chance to rest, and relax than when I’m on a normal vacation, because I’m always trying to find something to do, but when I’m pregnant I focus on my and my babies health”
3. What actions and attitudes by specific other people made your pregnancy and birth more joyous? More challenging?
“It’s joyous because max, doesn’t let me do anything, and does everything” “Believe it or not, the most challenging thing was getting used to being relaxed and not having much to do.”
4. What thoughts and feelings influenced your choice to make a baby?
“I’ve always wanted a child, so when Jenney was born, I was excited. And when Kai was born it felt like a re-run of Jenney’s birth, but I felt very lucky and happy to be able to have two children.”
5. What feelings come back to you when you remember labor and giving birth?
“Of course the pain, I don’t think anyone who’s given birth to a child will forget that. But I remember the joy in Max’s eyes when both Jenney and Kai were born, having a child is probably one of life’s greatest gifts.”
------------------------
After those interviews, I wanted to explore when a woman finds out their pregnant, when they start a new transition. Such as eating healthy, trying to be more relax and when they start feeling connected with the baby.
The clearest and most focused on idea in your blog is that of the connection between the mother and child, inside and out of the womb. I specifically found this idea to be very thought provoking because is made me muse about how my mother or my other relatives felt during pregnancy; specifically whether they felt a connection like each of mothers you interviewed. This post has driven me to look up studies on the scientific definition on this “connection” between mother and child and whether or not a actual psychological connection exists
ReplyDeleteRigel I also thought that the connection between the mother and child was very interesting and it really makes me think because the people I interviewed weren't really connected as much so I wonder if the people I interviewed were raised differently. Like Felipe I would like to study the connection between mother and child. I also want to ask my mom if she felt the connection your mother felt
ReplyDelete