This week has been extremely interesting in a city called Salinas where we have been rotating through a large public hospital. One of the most memorable experiences I had this week included seeing a woman give birth. This woman was brought in screaming on a wheelchair into the birthing room. A female doctor and resident were present to assist with the birth. As the woman was screaming hysterically due to the pain of labor, both the physician and resident screamed at her in Spanish to shut up a few times. They also kept yelling at her to move her body down closer to the edge of the examination table. Meredith and I just looked at each other in horror and shock as we could not believe that they had just told her to shut up repeatedly. This mother was given no pain medications so she was in extreme pain. Once the baby's head started to appear, the physician began to pull the baby out with extreme force with her hands. We had never seen anything like this before. Meredith said it looked like the umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby's neck so maybe that is why, but the physician pulled the baby out with all her force which I'm not sure is standard protocol. Then the baby did not cry for what seemed like to me an eternity, but was probably approximately 2 to 3 minutes. The resident actually had to give the baby mouth to mouth and eventually she started to cry. I also got to see the placenta being delivered, which I had never realized before is basically as big as the baby. Also, nobody was in the birthing room as far as husbands, significant others or family. Overall, it was interesting to see the differences culturally for the birthing process.
Thank you, Kimmy! I have given birth seven times (Justus was #4) and I found this very interesting and very sad all at once. For my first birth I was pretty ignorant about the process, had painful back labor and a spinal block with a forceps delivery (no scars). The joy of bringing forth life motivated me to really get serious about my physical fitness, knowledge and training to give birth. It is not a myth or exaggeration to say that giving birth is a natural muscular process very similar to a bowel movement. It can be hard and uncomfortable to produce results sometimes, but it is truly minus excruciating pain. #1 required an episiotomy, but from #2 on, I never even had a tear. It takes effort, conscious breathing and relaxation and of course--love. Thanks again for your historic post. It was worth waiting for!
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