Childbirth in My Life and Around the World

My birthing experience was quite scary. This is a picture of me and my mom holding me.  I was born in December in the year of 1990. Ever since I was born, I have been called the “miracle baby” even as an adult by those who know me very well. My mom told me the story about when I was born. I weighed 3 pounds and 4 ounces. My mom had pre-eclampsia which is a potentially dangerous pregnancy complication characterized by high blood pressure. She was still working and putting too much pressure on her herself for working so hard doing physical therapy. That was her job at the time. They had to perform a cesarean section to get me out. I was born three months early at the time. They had me in an incubator for 6 weeks in the neonatal unit. My lungs had not matured at the time and I had to get shots to help mature my lungs. My parents had to pay $900 each for these shots! I was transferred to another hospital closer to home and I stayed in there for 4 weeks. After that I was home free. To me, birth is challenging there is not much to do but sit and rest your body. Make sure that you are eating the right foods and taking care of your body. It is all in what you do to ensure that your child grows healthy. I chose this example because of the issue of mothers with high blood pressure and the effect of it. In my mom’s case she had high blood pressure and at the time that she was about to be put on bed rest after her last day at work. My birth to me was a blessing. I am now living a normal life and want to become a blessing to other families who are going through the same.

Birthing in Japan

 Foods rich in protein & carbohydrates such as mocha (a sweet rice cake high in starch content) and eggs are sometimes offered and encouraged at the onset of labor to ensure adequate energy throughout the laboring process. Minimal noise and verbal expressions of pain were accepted. Extremely loud expressions of pain are considered shameful. In Japanese culture, you are expected to deal with pain in a stoic manner. Pain medication can be asked and received. Female family members, nurses, midwifes are the main support.  The only exception were male doctors.  The mother’s significant other and other family members can be there to support during laboring and delivery. Traditionally, breastfeeding was encouraged a day after birth as emphasis on mom's recovery was a priority. A special food offered after birth was carp fish soup and mochi.  These foods were thought to enhance breast milk production. Hot soups such as miso were also thought to help promote good health.  Eating spinach and other green vegetables were eaten to help with blood clotting. Some mothers are advised by their mother not to shower for the first month postpartum. Instead, sponge baths were encouraged.  Grated ginger root was rubbed on the skin to promote healing. The mother and baby are not allowed to leave the house for 2-4 weeks after the baby is born. Traditionally, fathers occasionally helped with baby care, although their main role remained being the breadwinner.

The difference to me is the noise level when it comes to birthing. Japanese are very quiet and cordial people and prefer to have quiet births. Here in the US, women can scream almost. The reason for quiet births is to keep from startling the child when it emerges. Also men are not really allowed to be in the birthing room except the father. While he is in the room, he can only be at the mother’s side not near where he can see the baby birthing out. That is because they fear that the man will get scared. Of course, here in Japan, women are recommended to eat fish during their pregnancy. While here in the US, women are not encouraged to do so. The showering part I do not understand why not to shower postpartum but here in the US I am pretty sure we do shower…… The part about not leaving home for 2-4 weeks may be for ensuring that the mother and infant have the most bonding time. I still believe that staying in for 2-4 weeks is a bit much. A comprehensive birth class focusing on preparation for labor and birth, including information on breastfeeding and the postpartum period is given in Japan. The same is given here as well.

Resources

 http://www.hawcc.hawaii.edu/nursing/RNJapanese03.html
Berger, K. S. (2012). The developing person through childhood (6th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.