My Personal Birthing Experiences

With all three of my children, I look forward to my prenatal care doctor visits. With the birth of my first son, it seemed as if I was in labor for what felt like forever. I went to the hospital 3 times over the course of 2 days and was sent home each time because the nurse said I wasn't in enough pain. Her exact words were “Oh honey you are smiling too much to be in true labor.”

The birth of my second child (another boy) was very easy going. The lesson that I learned from having my first child was to do lots of walking. Because I was so active throughout my pregnancy, I gave birth the same night that I went into labor.

Now the birth of my third child, my daughter, was very interesting because I was at work leaking fluid and didn’t even realize it. During my lunch hour, I even went home to change my clothes and then returned to work. It was 1:00 p.m. when I decided to call my doctor and was told to come in right away. My doctor was tickled with me because she felt like I should've known that my water had broken. To make a long story short, I was told to go to the hospital right away and after given an epidural, I delivered my little girl.

What makes each of them even more memorable is that my first son was born weighing 9 lbs. The birth of my second son was very easy because after 1 push he was here. The birth of my daughter was special to me because she is my first daughter also known as my pretty little lady.

Vietnamese

While in the U.S, the father is encourage to be a part of the birthing experience, in Vietnam this is not the case. The husbands are encouraged to wait in the lobby until after the birth while to doctor and/or nurse assists the mother. In the U.S a baby’s first cry is for the purpose of getting oxygen into the infant’s lungs. In Vietnam, an infant’s first cry signifies that the infant has a soul (LaBorde, 2010).

Reference

Laborde, P. (2010). Vietnamese cultural profile. Retrieved from http://ethnomed.org/culture/vietnamese/vietnamese-cultural-profile