Childbirth

• Write about a personal birthing experience. It can be your own birth, your child's birth, or one you took part in. What do you remember about the event? Why did you choose this example? What are your thoughts regarding birht and its impact on child development?

The first birthing experience that I remember is the birth of my younger brother, Daniel Clarence Bell, III. It was Saturday, June 30, 1982. My mother and father took me and my sister to my aunt's house while they went to the hospital. About a hour later, my aunt told me and my sister to come on we were going to the hospital. We got there and went to my mother's room. My mom seemed to be drunk. Later on in life I would learn that she had an epidual to help with the pain and that is why she seemed drunk. I remember the doctor telling my mom to push and she gave a great, big push. The next thing I knew was the doctor was holding a little light skinned baby. D.C. came in the world with a crying bang.

Sitting here writing this brings back such wonderful memories. My brother passed away on Saturday, January 3, 2004, at the age of twenty-one. I now know what Sally Field's character, Malynn, ment when she said "I was there when that precious creature drifted in my life and I was there when they drifted out. It was the most precious moment of my life'. Indeed it was.

• Choose a region of the world or a country, other than the U.S,, and find out how births happen there. Write about what you learned and the differences and similarities with your experience (in the personal example you provided). What additional insights, if any, about the impact of the birthing experience on development, did you gain from this comparison?

I chose to write about childbirth in Italy. For years Italian women have been giving birth in pain. For those who wanted the epidural, women had to hire an anesthesiologist privately, paying a cost that many women could not afford. For years women avoided paying the high cost by choosinga cesarean birth which is covered by health insurance.

In the U.S., we can choose whether we want an epidural or not. The epidural is added into the cost of the hospital and doctor bill. Most women only have cesareans if the doctor recommends it. American women can make a decision about childbirth but it seems that most Italian women base childbirth on the price of the epidural.