Childbirth in my Life and in Haiti

When I had my oldest son, Stephen, I was 24 years old.  I started out with extreme morning sickness.  The doctor tried everything to try and stop the morning sickness, but this continued throughout my entire pregnancy (can’t believe I had two more children after this).  I remember going to the doctor the day after Labor Day for a visit and my blood pressure was elevated.  The doctor decided to put me on bed rest and bring me in two days later and induce me.  So, I arrived at the hospital at 6:00 on Thursday, September 7^th.  The nurses quickly put me in a room where I changed into a gown.  It wasn’t too long after that the doctor came in and broke my water.  (This was not a pleasant experience at all.)  He then started me on a drug called Pitocin to encourage my labor process.  It was about 12:30 when the contractions got to be so uncomfortable that I called for an epidural.  About 1:00 the anesthesiologist came into the room and proceeded to give me my epidural.  What a relief that was!  I continued to progress and the nurses came by and checked on me periodically.  At about 6:45 the doctor came back by and said that I was seven centimeters dilated, so, he decided to turn up the Pitocin to help speed up the process even more.  My body did not like that at all and that is when things started going haywire!  My contractions started coming so quickly that the baby was showing signs of distress.  The doctor came running back in the room and along with him several nurses.  My husband said he has no idea how he got from standing right beside me to the other side of the room.  They started giving me shots in my legs to try and stop the contractions and even put the head of my bed down where they could get the pressure off of my cervix.  That is when they decided to head for a C-section.  The baby’s heart rate would not come up and there was no other choice.  They rushed me into the operating room where they put me to sleep and took the baby.  When they delivered him at 7:05 p.m., he weighed seven pounds two and a half ounces and he scored a zero and a one on his Apgar test.  He remained in the hospital for 8 days after which we were able to take him home.  He is a very healthy young man today and will be graduating this May from high school.

This experience was one I will never forget.  I chose this example because I was told that my son might possibly have developmental problems due to the lack of oxygen.  He is completely healthy and will graduate this May, ranked 20^th in his class with a 3.919 GPA.  I have come to realize that babies are a lot more resilient than you might think.  But, if it had been for the state of the art doctors, nurses and facilities, my son and I may neither one be here today.

In reading about birthing in Haiti, I am amazed at the high number of babies and mothers that die during childbirth.  Depending on where you are in Haiti, determines the conditions in which you will give birth.  Most babies are delivered in areas that are unclean and a lot of times at home with a midwife, who a lot of times are not necessarily medically trained.  Women are not given any drugs to help them with their pain and the fathers are not a part of this process.  Thus, the women are left to do this on their own for the most part.  Conditions are unsanitary as there is usually not a lot of water so you are left to use some sort of hand sanitizer.  Births in Haiti verse United States is very different.  The mortality rate is much higher in Haiti due to lack of prenatal care and poor facility conditions.