Birthing Experience

So I would absolutely LOVE to be a mom one day and cannot wait until it happens, but unfortunately, I have not hit that time in my life yes, so aside from the 18 school kiddos I get every year I do not have my own birthing experience.

I do, however, have an older sister who gave birth twice to my niece and nephew. Because we both lived in Philadelphia at the time, and Jen had a planned c-section, I stayed at their home with my just-turned-2 y/o niece while my sister and brother-in-law went to the hospital for her second birth. Will (my BIL) called me a few minutes after Jen gave birth to let me know that everything went well and I was allowed to bring my niece to see her new brother. I was elated because I so excited that aside from them, I was going to get to be the first in my family to see my nephew, which was especially exciting since when my niece H was born we didn’t get to meet her until 3 weeks after she had been born due to not living near them at the time. H was the first baby to be born on my dad’s side of the family so to not have really gotten to experience the birth or after-experiences was really sad for me.

During her 2nd pregnancy my nephew, Jen found out that she had placenta previa, which is when the placenta grows down instead of up and back, so it covers the cervix (which is the birth canal). So if she tried to give birth naturally and the placenta was covering the cervix, it would rip away and could cause hemorrhaging and possible death. Because of this, doctors told her that she had to have a cesarean section birth instead of a natural one and made her sign a waiver before giving birth that in case of severe bleeding, she would need an emergency hysterectomy. They also needed to know her blood type in case they needed to give her a blood transfusion in case of emergency. Thankfully, she ended up having a standard, easy c-section and the birth only took about 30 minutes, but because we were warned about all of the bad things that *could* happen, it was a worrisome experience until we heard everything went well.

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The reason that my sister found out that she had placenta previa was because of her ability to be at the hospital for an ultrasound where at her 20 week checkup, the ultrasound technician noticed that she had partial placenta previa (meaning that it didn’t completely cover the cervix at this point) so they were going to keep an eye of her. Throughout her pregnancy she experienced no symptoms, pain, or anything else that would have otherwise indicated that she could have had this condition. That means, if she had tried to given birth without this prior knowledge, there would be a good chance that I would not have my sister or nephew as they could have both, or at least her, died.

The World Health Organization estimates that two-thirds of the planet does not have access to basic radiology services: simple x-rays, which can show a cracked bone or lung infection, and ultrasounds, which use sound waves to picture a growing fetus, track blood flow, or guide a biopsy. In a country of 43 million people, Kenya only has 200 radiologists total who practice, whereas Massachusetts General (in Boston) has 126. That’s 126 people in just one facility not an entire country! Elsewhere, the deprivation is even more severe. Liberia currently has two radiologists. There are more radiologists working in the four teaching hospitals on Longwood Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts, than there are in West Africa (Silverstone, 2016) Our country is totally dependent on these machines that help save lives, but third world countries, such as Kenya, barely have the people, much less the resources to utilize them.

In 2015, approximately 1,600,000 babies were born in Kenya, which is about 4,300 every day. Of those born, approximately 92 of those babies will die each day before reaching their first month. Kenya also had approximately 96 stillbirths occur every day in 2015 as well (UNICEF, n.d.). Some mothers cannot afford to take themselves to the hospital and if there are no x-rays or technicians to help them, they could ultimately die from not even knowing they have a condition. Only 31 percent of deliveries in the poorest households had a skilled attendant at birth, compared to 93 percent of deliveries among the richest households. Kenya’s neonatal mortality rate is 22 deaths per 1,000 live births and the main causes of neonatal death in 2015 were birth asphyxia and birth trauma (UNICEF, n.d.) Kenya is a very rural area, so to get to a hospital, if they are even wealthy enough to, is extremely rare. Most births take place at home with a traditional birth attendant. A lot of mothers face challenges during or immediately after birth because in when living in mostly remote areas, access to health services is not available or is very limited. Many women who suffer from problems after birth and are never treated because even if they are able to get somewhere to be treated, there is a lack of surgeons who can even take a look at them.

What’s most sad to me that I learned, is that even if third-world countries like Kenya can receive technology to help with the birthing process, there still can be other problems they face, such as having an electrical system strong enough to keep the machines running or qualified staff to even WORK the machines. We really take for granted the opportunities and amenities we have in the United States, and honestly, I’m guilty of not even thinking about this! In the United States almost 100% of births take place in a controlled and/clinical setting that has the machines and staff available to provide a comfortable birth, whereas in Kenya, most births do not occur in a hospital, but with a midwife or attendant at home. I for one and definitely glad that we have several birthing options from hospitals, to home births, or from using midwives and doulas. We have so many options to explore, all of which come with there own set of positives and negatives, but for the most part, we don’t need to live in worry that our child won’t make it past their first month of life.

Resources

Silverstone, Jason. (2016, September 27). Most of the World Doesn’t have access to x-rays. Retrived from https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/09/radiology-gap/501803/

UNICEF. (n.d.) Maternal and newborn health disparities in Kenya. Retrieved May 9th, 2019 from https://data.unicef.org/wp-content/uploads/country_profiles/Kenya/country%20profile_KEN.pdf