HW 42 - Pregnancy & birth culminating project

Birth and pregnancy is the act which a woman, adds another member to their family and life. Throughout the years birth and pregnancy has evolved much like the way we live. The way we celebrate birth, they way a baby is born, how the child is going to be raised all that has changed and is still changing. Because of the many cultures, and practices every woman has their own way of having a birth. When pregnant women have different experiences, and situations, such as baby showers, friends and family helping them out, working throughout their pregnancy, etc. One of the main focuses throughout this unit has been the way women give birth in the United States, such as homebirths and midwives versus hospital births and doctors. In my previous blog I did some research about the experiences the average single mother goes through, and the role the United States government plays. The other topic I was interested in was the father’s role during birth.

I was particularly curious on doing a project based on single mothers birth experience, because my mother raised me being a single mother. So i choose to go more in depth to understanding, the experiences and process single mothers go through. Years ago being a single mother was rare, and when it happened it was because of a tragedy of some sort. Today single mother parenting is very common; according to statistics 3.5 percent of women in the United States are single mothers. One of the reasons is the lack of married couples, in the past couples who were married didn’t divorce as much as couples today. Which is why in the past if a couple had children the father was in their lives. The other reason is lack of responsibility in men today, in the past men were brought up to work, get married and start a family. Today that ambition isn’t as popular; with so many distractions and new things in today’s culture it only makes sense why the value of family isn’t as high. Some single mothers have it easier than others, such as mothers who were once married, and later on got divorced, because it’s easier to have the father by law take care of the child. Another reasons in the past couples stayed together much longer than they do today, is because the amount of children they had. Today the average amount of children per household in the United States is roughly 2, compared to the early 1900’s, which was 4. One of the reasons that is because of finance, the price of living is much more than in the past, which is why less people have children. “The post-1960's expansion of college education and professional opportunities for middle-class women, and the growth of jobs (especially part-time jobs) in the new service industries and in light manufacturing for their working class sisters gradually transformed the post marriage career paths of the average woman. So did the greater effectiveness of birth control and the new, more tolerant norms surrounding its use.” – (Garland 83) Because of the cultural changes that gave women the opportunity to focus more on education and working, and not focus on getting married and having children, set new paths and views on how children would start being raised.

Every culture has their own ways of handling a birth, the most common in the past were home births, which always involved a midwife. In the beginning of the unit we had a few visitors who spoke to us about their birth and pregnancy experiences. Jeanette Plaza, one of our guest speakers spoke about how in the past traditional Puerto Rican families the woman after giving birth, would rest for 40 days while her family took care of her and the newborn letting her rest and not have to do a thing, which was common in many cultures in many parts of the world. Ms. Plaza, also spoke about how most jobs only give women 6 weeks off after giving birth, which to her felt like it wasn’t enough. I asked different women if they thought 6 weeks was very little, and if they felt that having a limit to recover a bit morally wrong, and they all said yes. Which relates back to the illness and dying unit, when we watched the film Sicko. In it a French person spoke about their illness story and explained how in France you’ll get paid for all the days you’re gone for, until you feel well again, and he said “I don’t understand how any country allow someone to have a limited amount of sick days, you can’t put a date on an illness”, which one can agree for birth as well. One of the many other things that has changed in birth is how a baby is born, the delivery. When having a natural birth there are many positions that can be used to do so lithotomy, squatting, kneeling and all fours. Almost all these positions are normally used with midwives, except for lithotomy, which is mostly common in hospitals. One of the reasons midwives, allow women to use any position is because midwives or mostly all for natural births, so they allow the mother to do anything that makes her more comfortable to deliver the baby as safely and natural as possible. In hospitals the reasons lithotomy is more common is because the doctors, want to ensure that the baby is well, so it’s easier for the doctors to see what’s going on. The other method of birth is caesarean section, which is when the baby is delivered through the woman’s stomach. One of the reasons this method is use is when the mother’s health or babies is at risk in order to safely deliver the baby. In the past caesarean was rarely used, but today it’s risen. In this unit we studied about the rise of caesarean, and tried to understand why it’s becoming more popular. One of the reasons is that it’s faster, the other is that it’s safer, according to some doctors, and women who’s had a successful caesarean. One of the other reasons is because of the nightmarish and industrial way we live, because pain is something many people in society try to avoid because of medication when a woman is giving birth, mainly at a hospital they’re asked if they want an epidural. Which is a shot that numbs the woman to feel less pain, which is injected near the spinal cord, one of the disadvantages is the fact that the woman is numb and can’t feel anything so it’s hard to push. So later their asked if they’d like pitocin, which helps the woman push the baby out, but gives them more pain, and than they’re injected with more epidural, and after too much time in later they’re asked if they’d like a caesarean, which again is rare, but in those cases a caesarean is most likely.

In the end how a woman chooses to have a child or raise it is entirely up to them, and their situation, because everyone’s life is different. Whether a parent chooses to feed their child breast milk or formula, get married or stay single, hospital birth or home birth. What really matters is the fact that they had a child, and they’re taking care of it, and as long as the decision they make is at least a safe bet than, they’re doing their job as a mother.


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Citations:

Garland, David. The culture of control: crime and social order in contemporary society. New York: Oxford University Press Inc., 2001. 83. Print.

Gilbert, Virgina. "Preparing for Motherhood." Pregnancy Today 29 December 2009: n. pag. Web. 5 Apr 2011. .

"The fathers role during pregnancy." The father's place in the family. mustele.com, Web. .

Hughes, Pattie. "The Pregnant Single Parent." Pregnancy Advice 25 May 2007: n. pag. Web. 8 Apr 2011. .

M, Jay. "Pregnancy and tradition in Kampala." n. pag. Web. 10 Apr 2010. .

Deonmme, Sara. "Let's Talk About the Cultures of Childbearing." Pregnancy Advice (2007): n. pag. Web. 6 Apr 2011. .

"How Many Single Mothers are in America?." answers.ask.com. N.p., 08 October 2010. Web. 6 Apr 2011. .