Childbirth in My Life and Around the World

I'm choosing the birth of my youngest son Aiden as a personal birthing experience.  I chose this story because it is a miracle that we are both alive.  The birth of my baby was a scheduled c-section because the laws in Monterey, California states a c-section must be performed if you have had one done in the past.  This worked out for me because I could schedule the date around our impending military transfer.  Everything went according as planned, and then all of a sudden, my doctor said "Oh crap, her uterus is ruptured."  I'm on the table awake of course, but could not move because of the epidural.  So I'm lying there in a frenzy wondering what the heck was going on...am I going to die? They had already stated that the baby had the cord wrapped around his neck twice......I'm asking my husband is everything okay with the baby?  As the doctors are working quickly to repair the ruptured uterus, they began to tell a story about a doctor whose wife had a uterine rupure.  They stated that the baby died, but the wife was lucky to be alive.  Needless to say, they fixed everything and I feel great now!  Afterwards, the doctor told me that I was lucky to be alive because in those situations the mother and baby usually die.  I was in so much shock that I just said, "yeah, we are lucky."  As I think back on that experience, it is funny as well as scary.  However, the staff at the hospital were phoenomenal.  They brought the baby to me fairly quickly so that I could breast feed and begin the bond through skin to skin contact. 

Another country's birthing experience besides the U.S. that caught my interest is Africa.  The birthing experience in South Africa is absolutely horrendous.  The medical staff at the hospitals are extremely rude and abusive to the pregnant women.  Patients or previous patients at the hospitals in South Africa discussed their birthing experience as follows:

Women experience verbal and physical abuse. HIV-positive women are commonly taunted by nurses about enjoying sex and blaming them for getting pregnant if they knew about their HIV-status. Many were told they should receive no care because they were migrants. Being shouted at for "messing up" when they bled on the bed during labor, they were ordered to clean it up.

They were pinched, slapped, and handled roughly during labor.

Nurses continuously ignored calls for help.

Serious treatment delays.

Facilities denied referral letters for pregnancy or childbirth related problems.

After delivery, the mother and baby are left unattended for very long periods.

Women are discharged inappropriately.

Women sent home with no antibiotics or pain medication.

Women in labor women were refused admission, they were not even examined.

Women sent home after Cesarean section with no medications, painkillers, antibiotics, etc.

One witness described a woman who had life-threatening obstructed labor. She was refused entry into a community health center two times. Fortunately, she eventually had a C-section when another hospital accepted her.

Migrants commonly undergo C-sections without informed consent.

Staff asking for bribes and gifts.

Families never told why the pregnant mother or newborn died during childbirth.

This type of behavior should not be tolerated and no human being should have to suffer that type of pain especially after giving birth.

Also this type of behavior goes on in 87% of the hospitals in South Africa.

Reference:
The shocking truth about giving birth in South Africa. Retrieved from: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/232413.php