Doing Soft Labor

Don’t you ever want to know what it feels like to be rushing around your team yelling and encourage the mother to push her hardest, yelling their vital sounds? Well some people do, some people want to feel that adrenaline when they hear a woman is coming in and she’s about to give birth to her child. How would you feel when the family comes back to say thank you for saving their child after a difficult labor?

I remember when my water bag broke; it was August 12, 1992, and the time was 12:15am.I was very excited that I would see my new baby on her due date. I did what the child birthing book recommended. I woke my husband up and told him to call the hospital. In the meantime I decided to take a shower. I was pretty calm because I didn't have any contractions. I wore my best maternity outfit and was spruced up compared to my husband. I even put on some perfume. You see, we had just gone to bed at 11:30 that night. My husband looked a little worse for wear. We got to the hospital and then were led into the maternity room. The room looked a little dingy with its yellow light and peeling paint. The hospital bed was small and narrow. I got scared,

On March 30, as of three thirty in the morning, my life has officially changed. The labor pains had set in and it was time to have a baby. I had never felt a pain so excruciating in my life, and I thought that cramps were terrible, labor pains do not even compare. I climbed the stairs to my aunts room to let her know that it was time to go to the hospital. After watching her run around the room frantically she finally was able to rush me to the hospital. She zoomed through street lights rushing for fear that I may have the baby in the car and she would pass out. Had

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

Before realizing what was happening, a nurse was trying to put an IV in my arm. The needle compared to my little arm looked huge and too long to go in my arm. I refused to let them touch me and tried to run to my mom. When they had a hard time succeeding at putting my IV in, they decided to get help from my mom. She calmly told me to lay down and to watch her, while they put the needle in. It was hard to ignore the pain pulsing through my arm and all the commotion happening all around me. I looked at my mom and saw the tears that were falling down her face as they held me down. When they were done, there was an IV and a cast on my arm, so that I would not be able to pull the IV out. Then they wheeled me into another room where my mom held and comforted me, while we waited to hear the results.

Echoing only moments before, “Honey you are going to have to hold it. The doctor is on his way.” This little one was ready for her grand entrance into this great big wide world of; three dogs, big brother, super happy papa, grandma & pa, and her mommy, me (howling with joy and pain), scared and elated all at the same time…all waiting to greet her.

Prior to arriving, I couldn’t keep my heart from racing. We pulled up to the office, but I wasn’t ready to go in yet. I kept thinking about those terrifying injections. My mom took me by the hand and brought me inside. I was nervous beyond belief sitting in the lobby. Eventually, the nurse called me back. I slowly proceeded to follow her into the back.

Once you’ve endured childbirth, it may feel like your body (and all of its exceptional capabilities) are an open book. And while a few fellow mom friends — and perhaps your own mom — may be curious about every last detail of your labor and delivery, most would prefer that you spare them the gory details. So when those well-intended visitors show up with baby gifts and open arms, don’t barrage them with your horror stories. When they ask how the delivery was, just smile and say, “(S)he’s here safe and sound!”

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.

Providing continuous physical and emotional support during labour can reducing maternal fear, stress, and anxiety and protect physiological birth (Steen, 2012). Research shows that fear and anxiety during labour and birth can be detrimental to physiological birth. An environment that women feel unsafe in may stimulate a surge of neuro-hormones that can influence both fetal and maternal physiology, causing irregularity of contractions, fetal distress and subsequent medical inteverntions (Fahy & Parratt, 2006). Conversly, maintaining an environment where women feel safe, protected and supported can facilitate favourable physiological performance (Fahy & Parratt, 2006). Midwives can do this by giving women one-on-one continuous support and placing her at the centre of care throughout childbirth (Steen, 2012). As observed in practice, by constantly reassuring the woman about her progress, her baby’s health and addressing any of her concerns, the midwife can provide a calm and relaxing environment that is conducive to the labouring woman (Buckley, 2015; Steen, 2012). The midwife worked with the woman, encouraging her throughout labour and birth by telling her that she was doing extremely well. The midwife also breathed in-tune with the woman while giving her a back massage, inducing a sense of comfort. The atmosphere was calm and this contributed to the woman garnering confidence in her ability to avoid medical pain relief. Downe (2008) noted that the positive impact of

Races – menial labor – I suggest that the category of menial labor might supply a means for such conceptualization. In its derivation “menial” designates the labor of servants. Wherever there is racism, there is the assumption that the members of the oppressed racial groups are or ought to be servants of those, or some of those, in the privileged group…in the US today much service labor has gone public: anyone who goes to a good hotel or a good restaurant can have servants … strong cultural pressure to full service/servant labor positions with Black and Latino workers – entail a transfer of energies whereby the servers enhance the status of the served. Menial labor usually refers not only to service but also to any servile, unskilled, low-paying

     My mom drove me to what would become my last visit to the doctor’s office before giving birth to my daughter. Dr. Dermer observed me and then told me to be at the hospital around six thirty that evening. He advised me to eat a good dinner before departing for the hospital. Dr. Dermer had decided to induce my labor, due to the fact that I was two weeks past my due date.

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.

Mother: I have a case of moderate arthritis from playing tennis and gardening, so my doctors were concerned about my body's ability to carry the pregnancy to full term and handle the full ordeal of the delivery. The birth of our child took a long time. I was in labor for nearly four days. We hired a lovely midwife who has specialized knowledge in handling special births, but after the second day, we decided to load me up in the car and head for the hospital. It was frightening, I suppose, but I also felt a clarity of purpose. I really wanted this baby and I knew that the baby's best chance and my best chance for survival was for me to stay calm and coherent as possible, for the sake of my family.

My parents ended up driving me to the hospital because we didn’t want to go in the ambulance and there was no need for us to. I found myself paying attention to every single car that drove past and I watched all the road signs. I was actually relieved when we got to the emergency room and walked through the sliding doors. The sterile