Birth Stories

My Birth Story    

     Three weeks prior to our due date, we saw our OB who announced that our baby was in a breech position. She would try to turn him manually in an April Fools morning procedure. Half way through, my blood pressure dropped and the baby’s heart rate shot up so we abandoned the procedure. I would wait a half hour before going home in hopes he would turn on his own. I really wanted to give birth as planned with our midwife.

     10 minutes had passed when I shifted in the bed and my water broke. With hardly a moment to digest any emotions, we were being wheeled in for a c-section. We knew I was bleeding a bit but it wasn’t until they got inside that they realized how much.  I remember looking to my right and seeing a large container of my own blood as they suctioned it. I felt weak and hazy with low blood pressure. The baby came out quickly and his Apgar scores were good. He was 5 lbs, 15 oz. and beautiful. I was in recovery for some time before I was able to rejoin my husband, parents and baby boy. Such incredible joy on this April Fool’s Day!

     Our baby remained small and was soon diagnosed failure to thrive. He nursed in short spurts, quickly becoming exhausted each time. We just kept plugging away and he finally gained enough weight. His weight remained below the charts or riding that 5^th percentile for several years. He has also had other delays, which initially we thought were speech and language related but soon realized were more global. We were thrust into the world of special education and advocacy. IQ scores at age 6 revealed a significant deficit.
     I am thrilled to announce that our baby is now 13 years old and taller than his mom! He is a gifted drummer and made the A/B honor roll in middle school with very few accommodations. We are eternally thankful for PLASTICITY!

A Third World Birth
     In nearly every Ethiopian village resides an awaledje or birth attendant. When labor begins, a woman goes to the home of her mother. The men of the hut leave, and the village women, along with the awaledje, gather around her. She is not afraid as she has already witnessed many births from childhood. The women physically support her by holding her up and emotionally support her through singing and telling stories, praying and chanting to Miriam, the Virgin Mary, for protection and pain relief. For long difficult labors, they may place large rocks on their shoulders and walk around the hut to encourage her and take some of the burden off of her pain.
     When the baby arrives, the awaledje catches the baby in castor bean leaves. When it is time to birth the placenta, they dig a hole in the floor, help her to squat and birth into it, then it is buried. If the woman’s perineum has torn, the awaledje washes her with warm water and paints her with clarified butter daily, for two weeks.
     The postpartum period lasts for 40 days. She does not cook or perform any village duties during this time. She is not left alone with her baby for 10 full days in case she becomes crazy or possessed and tries to harm herself or the baby. Shortly after birth, the priest comes to bless the baby and sprinkle holy water on anyone in contact with the unclean woman. She will be unclean the full 40 days. If a woman dies in childbirth, and there is no one in the family lactating, another woman from the village who is lactating will take and feed the baby. It is understood that any woman who has ever had a baby is able to lactate again by drinking a mixture of ash and water.
     The infant mortality rate is 120 per 1000 live births compared to 4/1000 in the U.S. There is only one trained doctor for every 32,000 people compared to 1/400 in the U.S.

Craig, D., (2005) Women’s secrets: Childbirth in rural ethiopia by deborah craig, Midwifery Today, 75(30).      Retrieved from: http://www.hipmama.com/node/24796

There is certainly a vast difference in these two life stories. I found the process of birth in Ethiopia to be amazing and natural. In many ways it is more peaceful that our invasive medical processes. At the same time, I wouldn't give up having the NICU across the hall. To have the option of an emergency c-section when conventional labor is unsuccessful or the baby is in distress. It is an invaluable gift of living in an industrialized nation. All of our methods of modern science would make no sense to an Ethiopian woman. Would it be welcomed if she could fathom it? I suspect it would not.