New Life!!

I am fortunate enough to be the proud mom of 5 wonderful children! This gives me just a couple of birth stories to choose from. My fifth baby Calum, was born last June. Each pregnancy has been different; with different challenges, joys, and experiences. Calum was due July 1st. My husband and I decided we should take the kids on a stay-cation before the baby was born. So June 4 we loaded up the minivan and headed for Vernal, Utah- just 5 hours from home to visit Flaming Gorge, Dinosaurland, etc. I started feeling very sick the day before we left and had blood drawn to ensure everything was okay for me and the baby. I continued to feel sick the entire time we were gone, but managed to still have a good time. We arrived home and the next evening my water broke in the middle of the night. Surprisingly enough, with my previous babies I have had a baby arrive on his due date, an amniocentesis,  an induction, natural births, but I have never had my water spontaneously break when not in labor. I didn't know what it was and so at 1:00 am I was googling it to make sure that is what was happening!! Sure enough little Calum Jeremy decided June 8th almost 4 weeks early was the day to be born. It was the most challenging birth experience I have endured last 8 hours. Four hours into my labor my blood pressure dropped dangerously low requiring them to give me medication every 20 minutes to keep it in a normal range. I remember thinking of things I wanted to say, but it took to much effort to try and say them. All I could do was close my eyes and try to breath. I thought surely they won't all just sit there and watch me die!! Finally little Calum was born at 10:55 am. He was perfectly healthy and happy weighing 6 lbs. 15 oz, and 19 inches long. Thank heavens he came early!! It took me several hours to recover, unlike my other delivers, but he was worth every minute of pain and fear!

In India, many mothers have felt pregnancy is a life giving process and a deep connection between the mother and infant is felt from conception. Many mothers rely on the support of their mothers, spiritual gurus, and elders to allow a natural birthing process such as standing or squatting.  Due to high maternal death rates the Indian government began to urge women to deliver their babies in hospitals with obstetricians in attendance as opposed to home births with midwives and elders (Gulati, 2009). Many women in India are still choosing to follow the advice of their gurus, mothers, and midwives however, due to shorter deliveries, and the lack of medical intervention the interrupts the natural spiritual process that labor offers between a mother and her infant, such as inductions, c-sections, and lying down to labor (2009). 

Reference:
Gulati, A. (2009). Natural childbirth: In whose hands? LifePostive. Retrieved May 2, 2012 from http://www.lifepositive.com/body/natural-childbirth/childbirth-india.asp