Birthing Case Study Essay

Picture this, she is sixteen, overjoyed and excited. That time has come, kicking, screaming, shouting, and crying. Nurses in and out of the room, monitors going off, family standing there as their support system. This describes a typical labor process for most women. What most people do not know is that they are not typically prepared for the worst, or prepared at all. Having a baby is an enormous responsibility that people should be prepared for and educated about. The debate about having these classes in high school has its merits, but ultimately, these classes are too important to discontinue. For several reasons, students should be required to take a parenting class in high school.

Joseph, I tend to agree with you that pregnancy and childbirth in the United States is linked to big social issues. It seems to me fear of safety has been put in the minds of expecting parents and this fear makes them doubt nature and their own body’s way of delivering a baby. The Business of Being Born documentary was also an eye opener for me. I had no idea what Twilight sleep did to women in the past. I wonder, will our grandchildren look back on the way we deliver babies today and question what we were even thinking? Will they see the practices today and think we were barbaric? It seems to me we have taken a few steps backward, when it comes to pregnancy and childbirth, even though technology has moved forward.

For hundred of years, women have wrestled with their womanhood, bodies, and what it means to be a woman in our society. Being a woman comes with a wonderful and empowering responsibility--giving birth. What sets us aside from other countries is that the process and expectations of giving birth has changed in our society; coming from midwifery, as it has always been since the early times, to hospitals where it is now expected to give birth at. Midwifery was a common practice in delivering babies in

The American Association of Birth Centers (AABC) conducted a study in January 2013, this study confirmed the long standing belief that midwife-led birth centers provide a safe and effective health care option for women during pregnancy, labor, and birth. Greenville Health Systems (GHS) listened and embraced the tenet of becoming the “health care value leader in the region” by proposing the construction of a three room freestanding birthing center operated by Greenville Midwifery Care. After almost one year of service to the community, the plan is to open a second birth center near the Patewood Memorial Hospital.

Abby Epstein is a producer and director, famous for The Business Of Being Born, Until the Violence Stops, and Sweetening the Pill. The Business of Being Born is a documentary about giving birth at hospital versus giving birth a home by help of a midwife and a doula. A midwife is a person (generally a woman) prepared to help and support women in childbirth. A doula is a woman who is prepared to help another woman throughout childbirth and who may give a support, relief, and guidance to the family after the baby is born. Furthermore, this documentary analyzes the styles that the American health care system accesses childbirth. The usual way of United States, includes hospitals, drugs, and obstetricians, in the same time, birth in many other countries

Regardless of healthcare and medical advances, birth outcome disparities continue to exist in the United States. In 2014, 1 out of 10 infant births were premature, correlating to over 380,000 infants born prematurely (Health 2016). The current national average for infant births before 37 weeks is 9.6% (Services 2010). Premature birth is identified as a birth that occurs before the 37- week gestation. During the preterm period, infants are placed at a high risk of death and developing disabilities that may cause permanent handicap. Mothers that give birth preterm may partake in risky behaviors such as smoking and drug usage, lack proper nutrition, and are burdened financially. Maternal education intervention programs centered around the Health Belief Model may have a positive impact on maternal care and prevent premature birth.

The issue that I have chosen for the Current Issues and Theory project is the lack of mothers partaking in quality prenatal care. It is fairly accepted among individuals that prenatal care is important, but there are still mothers that choose not to engage in prenatal care. It has been proven that the absence of prenatal care leads to an increased risk of low birth weight and neonatal mortality; moreover, the increased risk of neonatal mortality in the absence of prenatal care is observed in women with both the absence and presence of antenatal high-risk conditions1. Since the consequences of not seeking prenatal care are so precarious, it makes one wonder why mothers would choose not to partake in such a beneficial action. One study suggests

Learning about birth defects and the importance of preventing them can benefit the community greatly to have a healthier community. By learning

CenteringPregnancy, "an innovative model of group prenatal care and childbirth education consists of three components" (Liu, Chao, Jostad-Laswell & Duncan, 2016). These components include education, healthcare delivery, and peer support. Women are placed in groups with other women who are at the same stage in their pregnancy and learn about how to in depth about care for themselves during pregnancy, "determining gestational age…[and] formal and informal conversation (Liu et al., 2016). The CenteringPregnancy group prenatal care model based in the University of California San Francisco Medical Center has been proven to provide expecting mothers with satisfaction about their pregnancy and their care. In a survey conducted by Liu, Chao, Jostad-Laswell and Duncan, it was found that over 90% of the women who participated in the study were primarily Latina immigrants and reported that they were satisfied with their care and that the group prenatal care was helpful in "helpful for learning how to have a healthy pregnancy, skills for managing labor pain, taking care of a newborn, and reducing stress" (Liu et al., 2016). Group prenatal care could be a program that could be implemented in other parts of the United States and in areas where there is a prominent African American population. The program helped women feel as if their needs and concerns are being met. It also allows for discussion and social support, factors that could better benefit the experience of African American

The argument that doctors and insurance companies provide against midwives is that births not conducted in hospitals are unfit and inadequate for dealing with emergencies that require the specialty care of doctors. For that reason, physicians deem that women should only give birth in hospitals to diminish risk factors that could affect themselves or their babies. They claim that birthing centers do not have the necessary equipment or personnel to handle an emergency, if one should occur, but maternity centers in the hospital are safe with ample staff. Childbirth is the single most important reason for hospitalization and accounts for the highest number of occupied bed days; however, the current structure of our maternity system makes it challenging

On January 27th, I visited the St. Joseph’s Prenatal and Women’s Clinic located on 21 Peace Street in Providence, Rhode Island. This facility is meant to provide a wide-range and accessible system of care to underserved women of all ages regarding women’s health. The facility accepts all forms of insurance making it possible for women with insurance that has insufficient coverage to receive quality care. Also, the clinic offers interpreter services for patients who speak other languages, which ensures the women are receiving comprehensive care.

X” was really helpful when looking at the global health aspect of maternal health. Mrs. X was just an example of the real life obstacles that people go through all around the world. It was realistic enough, but to have the real life Mrs. X examples from Malawi and Northern Ghana increased the authenticity of the topic. Mrs. X died due to several factors such as lack of prenatal care, hemorrhage, and poverty. I thought the use of legitimate examples created a realistic view from the audience that would not have been present otherwise. To complement the form of education Grace used that I agree with, I also agreed with the views and details Grace presented during the presentation. The ideas she emphasized were not just focused on one society over another. Her views were globally, which created the importance of maternal and child health world

In the United States, there are approximately 3.9 million women giving birth within a year (DCD, 2015). Improving maternity and birth outcomes has long been a pivotal part of public health. Health providers continue to work towards improved birth outcomes through enhanced processes, improved patient care and advanced research benefiting mothers and infants’ worldwide.

This birthing center is in the middle of a neighbor. It provides expecting mothers a very comfortable and peaceful setting to give birth in. This can lower the stress on mother and baby in this important time. They provide services that teach the mother how to properly breastfeed, and all provide prenatal yoga. They educate the mothers on what to expect before, during, and after birth. All these efforts are made to make the birth experience comfortable and less stressful.

There is ample evidence that the delivery of maternity care, particularly in rural and remote areas of Canada is in crisis, largely as a result of the rapid decline and overall supply of professionals to provide this care (Druss et al., 2003; British Columbia Women’s Hospital and Health Centre Maternity Care Enhancement Project, 2004; Fauveau, 2008; Smith, Brown, Stewart, Trim, Freeman, Beckhoff, and Kasperski, 2009; Martin and Kasperski, 2010; Graves, 2012; McIntyre, Francis, Chapman, 2012; Meffe, Moravac, Espin, 2012; Miller, Couchie, Ehman, Graves, Grzybowski & Medves, 2012; Morgan et al., 2014). The continuing decline in the number of Canadian family physicians that provide maternity care, particularly with intra-partum care, has been highlighted in a number of articles (Price et al., 2005; Tucker et al., 2005; Peterson et al., 2007; Morgan et al., 2014). These continuing trends, in combination with the decreasing number of obstetricians being trained in intrapartum care, and number of students opting out of obstetrics to focus on gynaecology, have contributed to a general crisis in maternity care over the last decade (Price et al., 2005; Stempniak, 2016). This has given rise to possibilities of new ways of providing care to the maternal and newborn population, and inventive means for utilizing health human resources in the most productive and efficient ways (Stempniak, 2016). Collaborative practice, interprofessional education and post-licensure interprofessional