HW#40

Hello Ms. Vincent it is nice to meet you! Let me just say thank you for writing Baby Catcher. Your main idea formed as a result of all your personal experiences made me truly believe that first-time moms as well as women who have had children before can in fact have a calm, natural childbirth without the need for unnecessary interventions or use of unprincipled methods. Hearing this new refreshing theory on birth after believing my whole life that birth was horrible and painful made rethink how I feel about our medical system and what drives them to make certain decisions.

"Really, which parts were most effective or important for you?"

In the last third of your book I understand that you were beginning to bring together all your ideas and insights presented earlier to culminate into the big idea that birth can in fact be natural which connected back to the first two thirds of your book by restating the main idea you want to reader to understand by using personal experiences. More specifically the most important parts of your book for me (although it was all very interesting and educational) were the parts where you mentioned your own births and decisions you made through your birth process. The concept of spirit babies resounds with me even now and throughout your whole book from the point you mentioned it on approx. page 140-150. On page 260 when you learned that you were being sued I felt the other side of midwifery where things can actually be dangerous and midwifes are putting themselves at risk when they take responsibility for the birth of a child.

But what could I have done to make this a better book - that would more effectively fulfill its mission?"

I honestly feel as if this book was perfect because it definitely succeeded in getting its point across and if I enjoyed it I can only imagine how great it must be for a woman who is expecting or a woman who is planning to get pregnant to read this fresh book and be able to gain a new perspective. If you were to add anything else I would ask for more statistics that blend well with your experiences with your clients or with your time working as a nurse. I understand that your style of writing focuses on narratives from the perspective of a midwife but I think that including data to support your experiences can help your book reach out to a wider variety of readers that are looking for a educational book that is also fun book." The author

"Thanks! Talking to you gives me hope about our future as a society!"

“I know! If only there were more people like me!”

HW#39

Vincent, Peggy. Baby Catcher- chronicles of a modern midwife. Scribner Edition. 1. New York, NY: Scribner, 2003. 110,112,125,149. Print.

(Vincent 110) At this point Hallie begins to give birth and Peggy describes the process of determining whether the baby’s umbilical cord is wrapped around its body and a physical description of this process and how it felt.

(Vincent 112) When Janelle is introduced, Peggy recollects when they met and the fact that Janelle is a “Christian Scientist”. Through this introduction I learned about the Christian Science Church and their policies regarding childbirth and Midwifery.

(Vincent 125) The idea introduced by Colin regarding “Spirit babies” Stuck me as particularly interesting because someone in my family went through the same experience of losing a child although it was much farther along.

(Vincent 149) Building off of the idea of “Spirit babies” Tammy’s Experience is much like the story of my family member who went through the same. I won’t ever be able to imagine how a mother or father must feel losing a child even if they look at it from Colin’s perspective

The major insight the second hundred pages of Baby Catcher tries to get across is the importance of the relationship between children and the mother during the pregnancy. Each of the stories that Peggy tells the reader relate to each other because they all have to do with mothers who have children and how they deal with being pregnant and ultimately the birth. I enjoy reading through the process that each of these mothers went through including Peggy because I went through this process (but from a different perspective). I remember never wanting a sibling and gradually changing how I felt about my parents having a child as I grew older. But to now think of it from my mother and father’s perspective as they consciously prepared me for a sibling is nothing short of amazing.

HW#38

The main method of organization in this book is fairly simple but complicated in the sense that it does each thing for a very specific reason. Each short chapter (kept short to maintain the flow of ideas and keep the attention of the reader) is usually limited to a personal experience of the author with birth and sometimes the experience of another person she was not involved with. After each of these short stories, she analyzes her experience and gives the reader some insight or knowledge she gained from each occurrence. The majority of the book is geared toward asking and answering the question, “Why do we treat birth in such odd ways?” and “How can we change that?” So far I am still not too sure how I feel about the way we treat birth, but I am sure that we need to update our methods. A few things that I agree on with the author include the idea that childhood should be natural although painful instead of completely drugging the mother to the point they are asleep the whole time. The inclusion of men during childbirth is also a touchy subject but I personally believe that their presence is necessary but not up to the point of practically helping the midwife or doctor. Aside from these thoughts about the actual process of birth, I believe that the company and help from a midwife with personal experience is essential throughout the pregnancy to assist the mother-to-be. The major insight of this book is about challenging the dominant social discourse on birth and analyzing the reasons why we treat it certain ways and how that has evolved or will evolve in future. I feel as if all the evidence the author uses is based on her personal experience wand how she feels about what happened. In a way, this type of raw evidence straight from the source is an element of understanding the key idea she is trying to get across. 

HW#37 Comments

Comments for Rigel:

The clearest and most focused on idea in your blog is that of the connection between the mother and child, inside and out of the womb. I specifically found this idea to be very thought provoking because is made me muse about how my mother or my other relatives felt during pregnancy; specifically whether they felt a connection like each of mothers you interviewed. This post has driven me to look up studies on the scientific definition on this “connection” between mother and child and whether or not a actual psychological connection exists

Comments for Kristin:

I think that the distinction between wanting a child and not really wanting one is essential in understanding the way the child is raised and how it will grow up. The fact that you mentioned how your uncle and the doctor were watching basketball instead of paying 100% attention to your aunt is an interesting idea to introduce because of how it puts the difference between gender roles into context. I also began to wonder how gender roles during pregnancy have evolved over time.

Comments for Anthony:

I like how you talk about the physical and emotional toll that pregnancy can take on a couple no matter what age as wells the situations you proposed to the interviewee’s. I wonder what influences a mother’s reaction to pregnancy and if it should be considered an emotional reaction to the pregnancy or if it should be looked at as a process of nature despite they unorthodox way it works.

Anthony said...

Felipe I enjoyed reading your post because I talked to my mom about her pregnancy right now and it really compares to your mothers. I’m 15 years apart from my brother so I definitely feel your sister's pain. It was good to see that you took the extra step and wanted to research and ask a different question after your interview with your mom.

amandap said...

My favorite line was "we came to the conclusion that we would both like to have a child and raise him/her the way we would have liked to have been raised.” This for me gave me an alternative point of view for why people have babies. In this case it was to make up for the kind of parenting your parents wish they had had growing up. I liked how you used direct quotes to answer each question and added personal thoughts after the quotes, so basically i liked the format, because it allowed me to see the exact wording your mother used.

Nice work, Amanda

HW#36

Interview w/ Liliana Fuertes (my mother)

1. How did pregnancy affect you physically, emotionally, or in other ways?

“In many ways my pregnancy was like any other with the exception of the feeling I had that it was my own child, “my own flesh and blood.” I felt just as much pain as any other normal pregnancy but felt the need to the epidural to numb the pain. At that point I was kind of scared of what the epidural might make me feel or what side affects it could have but I had to because of that extreme pain. Emotionally the pregnancy did not affect me at all like other mothers who suffer from postpartum depression. After the birth all I could think about was the pain I felt up until the shot and was baffled at how our bodies can withstand such intense pain.”

-Personal thoughts: The first thought bubble that pops up when I think about birth is the pain that comes with it, mostly for the mother. The idea alone of a human coming out of another human through a relatively tiny hole is something straight out of a sci-fi movie which is why I don’t think we’ll ever understand how we evolved to give birth in such an inefficient way.

2. What did you do, while pregnant, to prepare for giving birth?

“While I was getting ready to give birth I took many, many vitamins that helped keep me healthy as well as you while in the stomach. I also ate whenever I was hungry to avoid getting headaches or feeling sick because of a lack of nutrition. Besides these common occurrences I also did some yoga to help alleviate the back pains and movement of the baby in my stomach.”

3. What thoughts and feelings influenced your choice to make a baby?

“I never had an ideal childhood because of my relationship to my parents so when I was with your father for a long time, we both realized that we had that in common. Through this conversation we came to the conclusion that we would both like to have a child and raise him/her the way we would have liked to have been raised.”

4. When you learned of your pregnancy with my sister what thoughts went through your head?

“I never stressed out about my pregnancy with your sister but I did at times worry about the age gap because you were 13 at the time and you two would grow up in two different times. Later on in the pregnancy I was terrorized by thoughts of your sister being sick because of the tests that the doctors had to conduct to make sure she was okay. At first it was the test to make sure your sister would not have Down syndrome which probably affected me the most because I couldn’t even sleep or eat while waiting for the results; then came the worry about having to get a c-section because she was not facing the correct way for birth.”

-Personal thoughts: Hearing this story after having been there for the entire pregnancy was surreal because of the worry and pain I remember feeling in the air. When asking this question I felt reluctant because I wasn’t sure how my mother would react to it although my sister came out fine.

New Question: How does postpartum depression work and who does it affect the most?

HW#35

Notes for Interview w/ Devin

-Why are women pregnant for 9 months?

Ans: Babies take 9 months to fully develop and be ready for delivery

(Although that doesn’t completely answer the question of why we evolved to be born in 9 months)

-Why did we develop in such a weird way that doesn’t prevent pain or fatalities on both the mothers and the childs end?

Response: Who knows? Maybe at some point women started having the need to grow a human in their body and deliver it through a hole that isn’t big enough.

-We are lucky we aren’t other mammals

Response: we definitely are otherwise we wouldn’t be having this conversation although I haven’t seen an animal cry as loud as a woman does during birth. “Yes, of course. By its very nature, giving birth is a painful process. However, for most animals, it is not so painful and traumatic as it is for humans. Because of our large brains, we are born with unusually large heads, which is going to smart a bit on the way out. Also, our upright stance alters the shape of the pelvis and birth canal, meaning that the baby has to turn on its way out - most animals don't have this problem. Also, animals do not advertise the fact that they are in pain by crying out during birth as humans do, since a newborn animal is very vulnerable to predation, as is a mother in the throes of birth and unable to run or defend herself - crying out would alert predators to her presence and distress, making herself and her young a target.”(Response from a zookeeper on yahoo answers to the question “Do Other Animals Feel Pain While Giving Birth, Like Humans (Females)?”)

-What are the chances?

Response: At this point of the conversation I asked myself “What are the chances that we, of the million different sperm contained by our father came to be instead of someone else?” Maybe we focus too much on appearance which is why we think to ourselves how can birth possibly be beautiful with all of the different liquids and discharge instead of looking at it as being beautiful and miraculous because of the one in a million chance that the baby emerging is a single sperm out of a million other possibilities.

-Why do women have cravings?

Ans: Because they are feeding themselves and the child

Follow up Question: But why do they ask for the weirdest things?

Ans: My mom says she used to eat corn cake with mayonnaise in the middle of the night and other foods that she never ate before or after the pregnancy. Some doctors say that hormonal shifts may intensify a woman sense of smell leading to different choices in food.

HW#34

Thought bubbles:


-Question: Is it really morally correct to get married when your girlfriend is pregnant out out of a feeling of obligation?
-Different religions have different methods for pre birth and post birth
-Some couples(or women singularly) prefer natural births as opposed to hospital births.
-Different processes for pregnancy.
-Location of birth is very important to some people (i.e. underwater births, home births, etc)
-Dominant social practices behind childbirth include hospitals, drugs for pain and constant assistance that focuses on the mother such as meditation, mantras, yoga, soothing music,massages.
-Ambience during the birth is sometimes considered important b/c the baby should be born in a calm environment.
-Some women have c-sections because of natural causes,some have it for more selfish reasons like not ruining their vaginas.
Reflections & further thoughts:
-When my mother was pregnant with my sister she was forced to have a cesarian because of natural causes. Towards the end of the pregnancy my sister was not facing the correct way(head down facing the vagina) so she would not be able to come out. This is an example of a more normal reason than the hollywood actresses and models who get vaginal reconstruction surgery and what not to please their couple instead of giving the child a natural birth.
-When i was born my mother made the decision to get the epidural shot to not feel the birth at all as she describes it. As a side effect my mother now suffers from back pain on a semi-regular basis, which is something the doctors failed to mention when she was asked if she wanted the shots. Not only does this demonstrate the different precautions certain hospitals take but also the different level of attention that certain ethnicities receive at the hospital(at least during this time).