HW 36 - Pregnancy & Birth Stories

As Benjamin Disraeli once said, “We are all born for love. It is the principle of existence, and its only end.” Human existence relies on the hope that each one of us will find a mate to continue the cycle. After interviewing three people who have experienced birth and pregnancy, an obvious connection between them is that they all seem to be following the social norm society sets up; a set path of, “soul mate”, marriage, baby and death. It poses as sort of strange that most of us will or have followed a similar route.

My first interviewee explained to me that she felt as though she were a different person, someone who no longer could physically hold her emotions inside for they had become a part of the surface. No matter what mood she was in, one could always tell exactly how she was feeling. Although she took good care of herself and avoided foods that were exposed to flame since they caused her to feel nauseous, she couldn’t avoid the weight gain. She went by the books, attending pre-natal exercise classes, seeing an obstetrician regularly and even took part in a Lamaze class, where she learned how to give birth naturally without drugs. She then explained to me that after months of preparing for her natural birth, complications from the baby prevented it from happening. She was upset that a sea section would have to be performed on her but knew that it was the only solution to bringing her baby safely into the world. She had hoped her whole life that she would have a child but knew that it needed to be with the right person. Throughout her pregnancy she felt anticipation, excitement, fear of the unknown and pure joy.

Listening to this person speak about their experience confirmed my initial thoughts on birth. Although we have a sense of what it is going to be like, we truly don’t know exactly what is going to happen until the moment it does. The fact that she had to have a sea section made me understand how birth has advanced so much. In history women and babies died all the time from complications, she prepared for a birth more similar to those of history and yet due to conflict had to resort to the more dominant manor of going about.

The second person I interviewed was very similar to the first. She went up in shoe size, experienced stretch marks and gained a lot of weight. She also took part in Lamaze classes and successfully gave birth naturally. She explained that before she was pregnant drinking was very much a part of her social life and it was difficult to have to stop drinking. However she joked that being pregnant made her feel like a queen, anything she wished for was someone else’s command. She made it very clear that if she hadn’t had such a supportive family she wouldn’t of made it through the pregnancy. She advised me to consider my financial circumstances before deciding to have a baby, although her pregnancy wasn’t planned she felt responsible enough to be able to provide for it. Since she had a natural birth, she felt all of the pain but it was amazing to see her very own child.

After hearing a very similar story to my first interviewee it made me wonder if subconsciously we set up the type of image we want to be seen as a pregnant person. If through our choices we connect the dots to make one sort of person. It then made me think about the stereotypical types of pregnant people floating around our society. The teenage mom, the Zen mom, the older mom, when and how we give birth seems to make more of a statement than the birth itself.

For my final interview I decided it was probably a good idea to hear a story from the opposite gender. Surprisingly he felt many of the same emotions that the women did, very proud and excited but a little bit anxious. Although physically he wasn’t affected he could empathize with his wife. He expressed that while she was going through the pregnancy everyone around him was very excited and happy for both of them, people were constantly asking about the development of the baby and were both concerned and curious. He found the moment of birth to be exciting and amazing that another creature could be brought into the world.

Emotions seem to be quite similar for both male and female during pregnancy. However it seems as though the female has more say in how she will spend the nine months. It seems like besides giving their mate full on support and comfort there really isn’t much for the man to do. He is there for her every need, from food to foot massages, physically speaking though he isn’t affected in the least bit. Yet part of me thinks the way the two people interact throughout the pregnancy in many ways does affect the physical aspects of both.

What are the pros and cons of having a natural birth? Are you setting yourself up for risk, would it just be safer to take drugs?