Personal Birth Experince and Birthing experinces in Cuba

I am currently four months pregnant with mine and my husbands first child. All I have to compare this birth to is my mother's birthing experience with me. 

My family was stationed in Italy when my mother was pregnant with me. They went to the military doctors located on the base that my father was working at. When my mother was five months pregnant with me she started to have major complications, which lead to her water breaking. My mother was rushed to the hospital were the doctors had performed a number of test on her to find out the cause of her water breaking so early on in the pregnancy. My mother and father were given a room that was shared with another family. It so happened that the family that was in the same room as my parents were missionaries. They heard the doctors telling my parents that the chances of the child living were very low. The missionaries knew that my parents believed in God and asked them if they could all pray together. The missionary family and my father gathered around my mother, and they all began to pray for the child that she was carrying. Shortly after they were finished praying the nurse came back into the room to take my mother for another check up on the status of the baby and more testing. When the doctors took the ultra sound they were in shock to find that the womb was completely healed and had enough fluid to get her through to the end of her pregnancy. When they came back to my mother and father with this information, my parents were overwhelmed with joy and thanksgiving towards our Heavenly Father. The doctors then did testing on my mother to find out what time of damage had been done to the child. This was the testing to see if the child had any forms of disabilities. When the test results came back positive for the child having 100% chance of mental retardation, my parents were strongly encouraged by the military and the hospital to abort the child. Both of my parents told the doctors and the military officer "No we will keep the child that God has given us!"A few months later the military decided that their facility was not capable of helping my mother in the delivery her child. When she was eight months pregnant the military made the decision to fly her to military base located in Germany. She was suppose to be going to Germany for a check up, so the military did not allow my father to go, when she had got there she went into labor. In March my mother gave birth to me in Germany. She was there all by herself because my father and brother were in Italy and her family was in the United States of America. I was a healthy 7 lb baby. As soon as my father found out, he  got on a train and rushed to Germany to be with my mother. Here I am 26 years later and I do not have mental retardation, in fact I do not have any forms of disabilities. The only thing that I do have, is a learning disability called dyslexia, which has nothing to do with my mother's complications that she had experienced. As my husband and I continue on the path of our first birthing experience we have made the choice to not test our child for birth defects or disabilities. We are willing to love and protect the child that God gives to us. I hope that my birthing experience will be less dramatic then my mother's experience with me.


I have my mother's experience to compare my birth experience to, but we also have my husband's experience. I was very interested in finding out the differences and similarities to those who are born in Cuba. I first became interested in this when my husband came with me for my first blood work testing. Afterwards he told me, wow you are so fortune because the needle was so sharp. He continued to tell me that he remembers getting shots in Cuba to be a very painful process due the needles being very dual. That sparked my curiosity to want to find out more about the differences between our birthing experiences. Due to Cuba being a communist country it is not always the most sanitary place to have a baby (Weldon, Ruby, 2009). About 30% of the women who go into labor in Cuba are told that they will have to have a c-section (Weldon, 2009 & Schnitger, 2003). My husband's mother was told that she would need to have a c-section in order to give birth to her child. She was told that it was due to the size of her child and that it would be best for her to have a c-section. Also in Cuba they have clinics that offer 24 hours of care to expecting mothers (Weldon, 2009, Schnitger, 2003). Once the mother gives birth she is admitted into the hospital for two or three days for recovery (Schnitger, 2009). I found that even though Cuba is not the riches place, it does take pride in their women and try to make the best of the accommodation that they have. My husband was born in Cuba and he is a healthy grown man. 

I think that my experience has some similarities to a child who is born in Cuba. The first similarity is that my mother was also told that she would need to have a c-section due to complications that occurred during her pregnancy. However my mother was admitted into the hospital for longer the two the three days after giving birth because I had to be closely monitored. I know that my husband and I will experience something  different because our child will be born in the United States of America.

Resources

Schnitger, Eileen. (2003). Not feminist, but not bad: Cuba's surprisingly pro-health system. Retrieved from http://nwhn.org/not-feminist-not-bad-cubas-surprisingly-pro-woman-health-system


Weldon, Ruby. (2009). Cuban Health Care: Doctors without band-aids. Retrieved from http://matadornetwork.com/community/rubyweldon/cuba-health-care-doctors-without-band-aids/