The Impact Of Childbirth Education On Maternal Perception Of Birth 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.

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).

According to Healthy People 2020, "Improving the well-being of mothers, infants, and children, is an important public health goal for the United States. Their well-being determines the health of the next generation and can help predict future public health challenges for families, communities, and the health care system" (Healthy People 2020, 2015). Infant mortality is defined as the death of an infant before his or her first birthday, while fetal mortality is defined as the intrauterine death of a fetus at any gestational age (MMRW, 2013 and MacDorman, Kirmeyer & Wilson, 2012). In the United States an estimated 13,000 fetal deaths occurred ≥ 28 weeks gestation making up 28% of all perinatal deaths in 2006, the latest year with available national data (Lee,

Maternal mortality represents more than the loss of lives for individual women, as it also reflects the larger value and prioritization of women 's health and threatens the health and survival of families, young children, and even the communities in which they live (Royston and Armstrong, 1989). Maternal mortality is unacceptably high (WHO, 2015b). Globally, approximately 830 women die every day from pregnancy- or childbirth-related complications (ibid.). The causes of maternal mortality are predominately preventable and can be classified into three fundamental causes: (1) medical - consisting of direct medical problems and pre-existent/coexistent medical problems that are aggravated by pregnancy, (2) underlying - social and legal conditions, and (3) health systems laws and policies that address availability, accessibility, and quality of reproductive health services (PHP et al, 2011).

In the United States, the process of childbirth is far more dangerous for African American women than it is for White women. For African American women, the path to a healthy birth is riddled with barriers. There are many health disparities between the two races. African American women face much higher low-birth and infant mortality rates; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has published that although infant mortality rates in the U.S. have dropped by over 10% in the past ten years, a large gap continues to exist between the health of the races during the entire childbirth process. (World Health Organization, 2010) In the United States, Black infants are more than twice as likely to die within the first year of life as a White infant, and this disparity has not seen advancements in the last century. Many of these deaths can be attributed to low birth weight, and preterm birth among black infants.

Prenatal care in the United States was not the way is today, there have been some improvements in regards to prenatal care. The number of pregnant women who received prenatal care has increased over the past 75 years (Zolotor and Carlough, 2014). Today, medical providers deliver more integrated services, which includes evidence-based screening, counseling, medical care, and psychosocial support.

The intent of this paper is to examine effective solutions for reducing cesarean deliveries. Cesarean deliveries involve more risk to both the mother and baby than vaginal births do. Cesarean deliveries have a higher potential of complications than vaginal births. Cesarean deliveries cost more, require longer hospital stays, and require more resources—both human and systemic—than vaginal births.

Kothari, Wendt, Liggins, Overton, & Sweezy (2011) stated that despite decades of public health focus and intervention the U.S. continues to lag behind other industrialized countries, with high fetal and infant morality rated with the gap continuing to widen. Center for Disease Control & Prevention (2013) reported premature births affect nearly 500,000 babies, which 1 in every 8 in the United States. Prenatal care services have been proven beneficial and needed in assisting with improving birth outcomes. Kothari et al., (2011) reported there is evidence that have identified maternal obesity,

Are you having childbirth anxiety especially as the date of the birth draws near? Are you unsure on how to cope with childbirth anxiety? To help understand the cause of childbirth anxiety and tips for coping with childbirth anxiety, I have interviewed psychologist Carol Hicks. Tell me a little bit about yourself. "I have a MA degree in Psychology and I have been a Marriage and Family Therapist for 30 years with a specialty in hypnotherapy influenced by Milton Erickson. My ex husband and I wrote 'The Answer Within ' as a clinical framework for Ericksonian hypnotherapy in 1983 and I have conducted extensive training in this approach to therapy. I currently operate a booming private practice and regularly facilitate the process of accessing unconscious wisdom for the clients who come to me in a quandary about life challenges. I work to help them discover the answer within by learning the pathway to this sweet spot of comfort and wellbeing where they can contemplate what it is that they do want. I regularly look to utilize the anxiety they bring as 'grist for the mill ' and as an indicator that something big is waking up and looking for acceptance. It is akin to giving birth to one 's evolving self without judgment and blame. And transformed anxiety becomes the basis for passionate empowerment." Have you experienced giving birth and if so, what was it like for you? "Yes. Twice. The first involved a 30 hour labor with an epidural at the 25 hour mark so the second time I

Maternity care in the United States is not as well developed as maternity care in several other wealthy countries. Maternity care in America is extremely expensive; therefore many women choose not to get the care they need to maintain a healthy pregnancy and baby. Therefore, the infant mortality rate in America is much higher than it should be. Also, women’s overall physical and mental health during and after pregnancy is not as good as it could be. The United States government should provide a way for every single woman to have access to free or exceedingly cheap maternity care so that all of the women and babies in America have a chance to get the professional care that they need to have a healthy pregnancy and baby.

Studies have shown that a caesarean birth could lead to a number of physiological, social and physical challenges to both a mother and the new born child (James E. Swain,1 Esra Tasgin,2 Linda C. Mayes,1,3 Ruth Feldman,1 & R. Todd Constable, 2008; Rauh et al., 2012). Compared to a vaginal birth, babies born by caesarean have been suggested to suffer both short and long term health complications (Li, Zhou, & Liu, 2013; Thavagnanam, Fleming, Bromley, Shields, & Cardwell, 2008), this however is not limited to the babies alone but extend greatly to the mothers who themselves are susceptible to series of emotional and psychological breakdown (Bell & Andersson, 2016; Hankins, Clark, & Munn, 2006; Rauh et al., 2012; Sword et al., 2011; Xie et al.,

Quality of care for maternal and newborn health has been an agenda that has been neglected. Many women experience disrespectful, abusive, or neglectful treatment during child birth in facilities.Woman autonomy are being violated, leaving women without the choice to seek the proper maternal health care services. Quality care for women and newborns morality has been seeking less attention.issues with quality of care must improve deaths of mothers and newborns has became a issue. Stitches proves that more than a half a million women died during a pregnancy. Statistics also proves that 80% percent of deaths can have been prevented.we need to prioritize the framework of quality care and also

Statistical studies measuring the mortality rates of mothers and neonates < 6 months delivered at home as having comparable averages as physicians attending hospital births. (Boucher, Bennett, McFarlin, & Freeze, 2009) There is one report that said neonates born at home may be triple the normal mortality rate compared to those born in the hospital. (Lawton, Filoche, Geller, Garrett, & Stanley, 2015) However, births attended by midwives are for less documented because of lack of research as well as other professional hierarchy demographic biases. (Janssen et al., 2009) Research has been done regarding the birthing mother’s prospective of their experiences in and out of the hospital setting.

According to The World Counts, there are about 14,987,562 births and counting, so far in the United States only. (The World Counts, 2017) Thousands of mothers are giving birth or even getting pregnant everyday so it is vital that their health is at maximum height not only for themselves, but for the babies and families as a whole. Mental health is an aspect which is commonly overlooked in the global maternal and child care agenda, when across the board, many pregnant or women of child bearing age are actually undergoing an unhealthy mental state.

Prenatal care is widely accepted as an important element in improving pregnancy outcome. (Gorrie, McKinney, Murray, 1998). Prenatal care is defined as care of a pregnant woman during the time in the maternity cycle that begins with conception and ends with the onset of labor. A medical, surgical, gynecologic, obstretic, social and family history is taken (Mosby's Medical, Nursing, and Allied Health Dictionary, 1998). It is important for a pregnant woman as well as our society to know that everything that you do has an effect on your baby. Because so many women opt not to receive the benefits of prenatal care, our society sees the ramification, which include a variety of complications primarily