Because of the fact that I had had a previous miscarriage, my pregnancy of my oldest child was an anxious one. This was especially true during the early part of the pregnancy when you can’t feel the baby moving. I couldn’t wait to feel the baby move; I was convinced that I would feel more secure about the pregnancy once we reached that milestone. As it turned out, that was only partially true. Although I relaxed somewhat after the baby was large enough for me to feel it moving, I would still occasionally find myself worrying about how long it had been since I last felt her move; then I would try to make her move.

            When it finally came time for the birth, things progressed the way the majority of pregnancies in the United States go. We went to the hospital and prepared to deliver the baby naturally, with my parents present, but with medical supervision in case things went awry. In this particular case, it turned out to be a good thing that we were in a hospital. After a few hours of labor, as the nurse was doing an internal exam, it was discovered that the baby was fully engaged in the birth canal – butt first. She could not be turned into a head down position because of her location, and giving birth to a baby who is folded in half can be dangerous for both the mother and the baby. So the decision was made to perform a c-section.

            The doctor took the time to inform me and my husband about the details of the procedure and what we could expect before, during and after. After I was given a spinal block, they wheeled me into the operating room, set up a curtain between my breasts and belly, and got to work. As they pulled her from the birth canal, my husband looked over the curtain but could only see her butt; so he asked the doctor, “Is that a boy butt or a girl butt?” The doctor informed us we had a baby girl and brought around the curtain to me. After briefly getting to see her at that point, the nurse came and took her and left the room; my husband left too and followed our baby where ever she went.

            It was a few hours before I got to really spend time with our new baby girl. They did not bring her to me until I left the recovery room and was taken to my own room. I remember feeling a little out of it at that time. When the nurse was getting ready to leave me in my room, she said “She’ll be in here in a few minutes.” I was confused and asked “She who?”

            Most people know the importance of prenatal care when it comes to child development, but few stop and think about how the birthing experience itself can affect it. If we believe the studies that show how a mother under stress has a negative impact on the development of her child, one must also believe that undue stress to the mother during birth will negatively impact the child's development. However, relieving of undue stress is not totally reliant on the amount of medical attention a mother receives. A mother's stress can be reduced by having support from family and/or friends during labor and delivery, by being in a relaxing atmosphere brought about by soft lights and music, or anything else that the individual mother may find comforting. Although the majority of American women have their babies in hospitals, I believe that hospitals have embraced this idea of reducing stress for the mothers by allowing mothers to choose to have people in the room with her and providing rooms that have a more homey atmosphere.

            I was asked to investigate the birthing experience of another culture and compare it to that of the typical birth in the United States. The country I chose to investigate was Japan because my mother-in-law is Japanese and I wanted to see what how her experience may have been different if she had had my husband in that country. At first sight there may not seem to be much difference in experiences between the two countries. In Japan, approximately 50% of women give birth in a hospital, with the majority of the remainder seeking the services of a clinic. Japan also has places called birthing centers. Birthing centers and clinics both use midwives instead of doctors, but birthing centers are much smaller and more personal; if there are complications, the women are transported to a hospital.

            When you add up the percentages of women using hospitals, clinics, and birthing centers, the total is very similar to the percentage of women in the United States who give birth in hospitals. Another aspect of childbirth Japan that is similar is the fact that the number of c-sections is on the rise.

            One part of the birthing experience that is very different in Japan is what happens immediately after birth. Hospitals in Japan package the umbilical cord in a box and present it to the mothers as they are leaving the hospital. Sometimes the box also contains a small doll in a kimono with the umbilical cord inside the kimono. This custom is believed to help the mother and child bond.

References:

Umansky, N. (2014, February 1). 12 Fascinating Traditions for Welcoming Newborns. In odde.com. Retrieved September 5, 2014, from http://www.oddee.com/item_98850.aspx

Horiuchi, I. M. (2012, August). • The relationship between women-centred care and women's birth experiences: A comparison between birth centres, clinics, and hospitals in Japan. Midwifery, 458-465. Retrieved September 5, 2014, from Science Citation Index.