Bronfenbrenner Eulogy

There were numerous powerful testimonies and striking findings noted throughout the and first two chapters of the book Birth Matters by Ina May Gaskin. As a health care provider, and therefore someone who is entrusted to care for individuals during their most private and sacred times, I found Gaskin’s statements regarding the environment and care surrounding birth experiences very impactful. According to Gaskin (2011), the “women’s perceptions about their bodies and their babies’ capabilities will be deeply influenced by the care they recieve around the time of birth” (p. 22). The statements made by Gaskin in Birth Matters not only ring true, but inspires one

I could sit here and share with the board a sad story of a young child whose single mother worked the graveyard shift every day of the week, just to provide for her four young children. I could also share how despondent that I felt growing up, and how my mother shopped for my clothes from thrift shops, how she would get excited when she found something named brand for us. But I won't do that, instead I would like to introduce you to a delightfully chaotic little girl named Audriana- Faith. On August 15, 2012 Audriana-Faith was born at 1:41 am, weighing in 6 pounds and 12 ounces. The day my daughter was born was a day embedded in my memory, but it was not the best day of my life. I know that's what you're supposed to say, but becoming a mother

Angela Whittekiend, my own mother, graciously allowed me to conduct an interview with her regarding her experience with her first pregnancy. My mom planned both of her pregnancies, she explained that during that time it was just normal to get married and have children. It felt like the right thing to do, so one day my father and her decided to conceive. Neither my mother or my father struggled with infertility, a challenge that 15 percent of parents face, and they were able to easily get pregnant. My mother waited until she missed her period to go into the doctor, at the time they lived on base at the Naval Air Facility in El Centro California, being a military wife they had specific protocol that new mothers needed to follow. Shortly after

Carleen’s first pregnancy, starting in 1979 and ending in 1980, was out of wedlock and happened before meeting her ex-husband. During this pregnancy, she was a lower class, sixteen-year-old high schooler that resided in Detroit, Michigan. As of now and at the time of her interview, Carleen is a Christian, African American fifty-two-year-old woman with a Master’s Degree who is divorced with five daughters. She resides in Warren, Michigan and works at St. John Hospital as a parenting teacher. Given how long ago her first pregnancy was and that she had four pregnancies afterward, I was surprised by the amount of detail she recollected. Carleen had explained the level of ambiguity that came with being pregnant for the first time. Her body had changed, and she was unsure of how her mother would take the news. This fear of the unknown had led her to live with her older sister for three months before telling her mother the news. Thankfully, her mother took the news better than expected and assisted Carleen with prenatal responsibilities such as helping her maintain a healthy diet and moving her to a school for pregnant teens because she had physically struggled with the stairs at her traditional high

Before I was born, I went through a lot. One day my mother went to a doctor’s appointment and found that she had Gestational

I am so very proud of you and blessed to be apart of your high school career. To driving you to school, cheering you on in sports and watching you volunteer at lion's club events makes me truly happy at what a young respectful thoughtful man you are. I can't wait to watch you go far in life. You put your all in everything you do. From hearing many wonderful things about you, there are many people who love and cherish you and will be there to watch you succeed in life.

For this interview project paper, I chose childbirth as my topic because it is related to the field that I want to pursue in my future career and I wanted to explore more about it. Having said that, I was given an opportunity to create my own questions that were correlated with childbirth and its relations to the domains of human development. I had the opportunity to interview a woman in her early adulthood, who recently gave birth to their second child here in Rockville, Maryland. After one hour of interviewing her over the phone, I was able to developed my thesis, introduction, supporting details, and conclusion for my paper based on my interviewee’s responses and experience about childbirth.

"It was not a decision I took on a whim. But once I had thought about it – and investigated – I knew it had to happen. Being a mother was too important to me to risk running out of time."

During our conversation many topics were discussed. During my time talking to the family I started to notice a few worrisome details. First, the mother was going to stay home with the infant while the father went back to work. Though she had a lot of family present for the birth, they don’t live in Colorado. The mother shared she has struggled with depression during her pregnancy and was worried about if it was going to come back. It became clear that I needed to focus my teaching on educating the family about postpartum depression due to the mothers’ risk factors. I questioned the

I have recently interviewed my grandmother Mindy. I chose to interview my grandmother because we have a close relationship and I look up to her and love spending every second with her and couldn’t think of a better person to interview than her. The reason for this interview is to get an insight of how her pregnancy coming from her. In this interview I will learn all about her pregnancy, from the beginning to the end. Mindy is my grandmother because she is my mothers mother. Mindy has spent most of her life in Kenya, and now resides now in America.

My mother found out she was pregnant with me at the age of twenty in a free clinic in Orlando, Florida. The first few years of my life I observed many situations a child should not, such as substance abuse and domestic violence. There were constant struggles my family and I endured due to harmful decisions made by my parents. A night I clearly remember is the night my father overdosed in our home when I was six. I remember all too well the screeching coming from my mother, the reflection of ambulance lights in the kitchen windows, and my older sister holding me protectively from the view of first responders trying to resuscitate my father. Most of all I remember the paramedic who took time to explain what was happening in gentle, child-like terms. After that night, my parents began recovering from their years of drug abuse and building a better life, however struggles remained. When needed, I had a family doctor who would instead of writing a prescription, would instead give my

The first person I decided to interview was my cousin Temiqa. She was a mother of not only one but two children, having one at the age of 28 and the other at 35. As a mother, she overall wanted to make sure her kids were healthy and happy. Making sure they knew what the right things to do were and that they were loved. Although, it took patience and understanding to do so. An example of this for her was when she had to choice to either breastfeed or formula feed her kids. In the end, she said she decided to do both. In the beginning in order to ensure their health she breastfed both of them, but as time went on she became to feel irritated with their constant hunger and decided to formula feed them high-quality formula. This was to be expected,

I can honestly say going through labor was the most painful thing I had ever experienced. Once Freddrick finally did arrived I knew that I would love him unconditionally for the rest of my life. He was just as precious as he could be and didn’t have a worry in this world. I didn’t know the type of mother I would be, but I was determined to be a different type of teenage mother. I wanted to show everyone I might be young with a son, but I made sure Freddrick was taken care of financially, Freddrick came first in my life at all times, Freddrick had disciplined in his life, and that he would know that mommy would always love him regardless of what happens through life.

From the moment she was born I knew she was different, arriving much earlier than expected, and frightening me to death with her little surprise. Then mere seconds later, after the doctor removed the umbilical cord from around her little pink neck, I heard her soft, sweet cry. In that instant, I knew she would be mama’s little fighter. Now here we are, 10 years later, and she still manages to amaze me every day. My daughter, Alexis, has tremendously changed my life and made me a better person by teaching me patience, showing me strength, and motivating me to improve myself.

I will never forget the moment my labor began, the moment that marked that step in my journey into motherhood. I can remember everything about it so clearly. My mom, fiancé, and I woke up early Friday morning to make our way to Western Missouri Medical Center. I stood in front of the mirror looking at my belly knowing it would be my last time standing in that bathroom with my baby inside of me still. It was a bittersweet moment that I cherished as long as I possibly could. I was set to be induced that morning and very excited, yet a little bit nervous. I had no idea what to expect. I’d been waiting a very long 37 weeks to finally meet this precious human that had been growing inside me. I had ideas of what he might look like, and what the experience might be like, however nothing could have prepared me for what was in store over the next few days.