Birthing Positions : A Better Outcomes

Giving birth to a baby is the most amazing and miraculous experiences for parents and their loved ones. Every woman’s birth story is different and full of joy. Furthermore, the process from the moment a woman knows that she’s pregnant to being in the delivering room is very critical to both her and the newborn baby. Prenatal care is extremely important and it can impact greatly the quality of life of the baby. In this paper, the topic of giving birth will be discussed thoroughly by describing the stories of two mothers who gave birth in different decades and see how their prenatal cares are different from each other with correlation of the advancement of modern medicine between four decades.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE, 2007) Intrapartum guidelines state that during the first stage of labour women should be encouraged to adopt the position they feel most comfortable in. This is what the student was trying to encourage even though her mentor did not.There are various positions the woman can adopt in labour which are generally grouped into upright and recumbent. The positions classed as upright are; standing, walking, kneeling, squatting, on all fours and sitting, and the recumbent position could include; supine, lithotomy, semi-recumbent or side lying (Johnson and Taylor, 2011). The upright position appeared to be more beneficial in Sarah’s case and the author wants to determine if this is always the case. It is evident that sometimes there will be constraints such as continuous fetal monitoring but it is important that the midwife does

Childbirth is one of the greatest privileges on the earth anyone could have and we, as women, should feel proud to be major contributors for it. Thus, a mother has to play a key role in aiding the healthcare workers to mitigate the health crisis associated with childbirth by performing her duties faithfully. One such associated health crisis is “Premature (preterm) birth” which occurs when the baby is born too early, before 37 weeks of gestational period (CDC, 2015). The rate of preterm birth ranges from 5% to 18% of babies born across 184 countries (WHO, 2015).

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

physics of birth; moving from sitting and squatting, which was used historically by midwives and

Does everybody think or feels the same about childbirth around the world? This question above is a question that has always been in my mind. Now that I got the opportunity of choosing a topic to do research. I decided to choose childbirth and culture. This research paper is going to talk about how different cultures and countries look a birth in an entirely different manner. Some look at birth as a battle and others as a struggle. And on some occasions, the pregnant mother could be known as unclean or in other places where the placenta is belief to be a guardian angel. These beliefs could be strange for us but for the culture in which this is being practiced is natural and a tradition. I am going to be introducing natural and c-section childbirth. And, the place of childbirth is going to be a topic in this essay. America is one country included in this research paper.

The evolution to bipedalism resulted in the narrowing of the pelvis. This narrowing was necessary for locomotion, but it increased the difficulty of childbirth for women. In other primates, birth is relatively easy. Babies come through a straight birth canal and are born facing their mothers. The mother can pull the baby out during birth without causing injury to spine of the baby. The human female pelvis is now smaller and babies are forced to be born facing away from the mother. Assistance is needed during birth to prevent injury to the baby's spine. The birth canal is curved and there is barely enough room for the passing of the head and shoulders. (Ackerman).

Over the years birthing methods have changed a great deal. When technology wasn’t so advanced there was only one method of giving birth, vaginally non-medicated. However, in today’s society there are now more than one method of giving birth. In fact, there are three methods: Non-medicated vaginal delivery, medicated vaginal delivery and cesarean delivery, also known as c-section. In the cesarean delivery there is not much to prepare for before the operation, except maybe the procedure of the operation. A few things that will be discussed are: the process of cesarean delivery, reasons for this birthing method and a few reasons for why this birthing method is used. Also a question that many women have is whether or not they can vaginally

According to “Human Sexuality: Diversity in Contemporary America,” women and couples planning the birth of a child have decisions to make in variety of areas: place of birth, birth attendant(s), medication, preparedness classes, circumcision, breast feeding, etc. The “childbirth market” has responded to consumer concerns, so its’ important for prospective consumers to fully understand their options. With that being said, a woman has the choice to birth her child either at a hospital or at home. There are several differences when it comes to hospital births and non-hospital births.

There has been a long debate over which birthing method women should use today: natural versus medicalized. The World Health Organization defines natural birth as a vaginal birth without the use of any.. and medicalized birth as being .. However, medicalized births are becoming increasingly popular in the United States. The use of technology and medical interventions in the birthing process has increased despite the unchanged basic physiology of childbirth. One of the most common medical interventions in the birthing process is having a cesarean delivery. Despite the known risks of having a cesarean section performed, the rates of this procedure have increased much higher than the acceptable rate of 10-15% as recommended by the World Health Organization. This is due to the reason that cesarean sections are now being performed as a matter of convenience of the physician or at the request of the patient more often than being performed as a life-saving intervention. Thus making surgical and medicalized interventions a part of a common routine in the childbirth experience.

"Women who undergo vaginal births avoid major surgery and its associated risks, such as severe bleeding, scarring, infections, reactions to anesthesia and more longer pain." (Nierenberg) For the mother, "the experience of actively delivering a baby is exciting and empowering. (Why Choose Vaginal Birth). "Vaginal birth is the essence of femininity to most women. It biologically and physically links all women. It is also an expression of a woman's sexuality." (Why Choose Vaginal Birth) Another reason that women would rather have a vaginal birth is because, "from a psychological standpoint, women who go through with a vaginsl delivery are said to have a more positive birthing experience." (Vaginal Delivery vs C-Section) There are several positives for the baby in a vaginal delivery. One positive is, "during a vaginal delivery, muscles involved in the process are more likely to squeeze out fluid found in a newborns lungs." (Nierenberg) "Babies born via vaginal delivery tend to

Since ethnography is the most appropriate methodology for studying customs I have decided to research the birthing process of different cultures. Lithotomy is the worst position because it puts pressure on the baby’s head. In this position the pressure is taking away from the oxygen, which causes the baby lacks oxygen. So I would like to present this question, Why is childbirth, which should be such a beautiful and individual experience for the woman, treated in such a highly standardized way in the United States? Also, I would like to ask why do other cultures preform different birthing processes.

Giving birth in the hospital has become so normal in our lives that we can’t see any other alternative when thinking about childbirth. Due to the medicalization of childbirth, risks and fears of health complications can be addressed. However, it has led to women not truly being in control of their labor and delivery experience. Although the medical practice comes in handy when there is an emergency, the medicalization of childbirth has created a social reality that simply state that women are not in control of their own labor and delivery. The outcomes of the medicalization of childbirth have good influences on the health of the baby, but a negative effect on the women’s agency power and empowerment.

The authors have done a thorough literature review and presented their findings by starting out with some important statistics about typical supportive care during the birth process, and elaborating on the last 50 years of research done on the types of pushing efforts and how they related to the outcomes of the births. It reflects on the role of midwives as being supportive of spontaneous pushing by the mother and the positive outcomes for those women and children. They did report on a recent meta-analysis which supported the use of spontaneous pushing and only recommended directed pushing in certain hazardous situations. The authors’ review of the current literature affirms their claim that there have been no studies done to analyze the role

A first time pregnant woman in labor who has limited medical knowledge about episiotomy may become frighten when all of a sudden as she is actively pushing, the provider tells her stop because the passageway to let the baby out is narrow, therefore he/she is going to perform a procedure which involves an incision made to the vagina that will assist the birthing process, therefore allowing the baby to be delivered easily and preventing further complications. This might be really frightening to the patient due to her limited knowledge and prior misconceptions about the procedure.