Hw 36 - Pregnancy & Birth Stories

Interview # 1

Diana, the oldest sister of my uncle had a tragic complication regarding birth. She was ready to give birth to a girl, when complications led to her having to give birth to a still-born baby. The emotional distress that surrounded her was obvious whenever we had a celebration during Thanksgiving and Christmas, however I wanted to see what else it affected around her life.

One of the questions I asked her was, What feelings come back to you when you remember labor and giving birth? Her response was something like this: "I try not to think of it for obvious reasons, but it is a part of my life I can never forget, all the trauma it has left me makes it unforgettable. 


I felt it was extremely relevant  that she mentioned that although she experienced tremendous trauma behind her labor process and the still-born, she could never forget it because it is a part of her life that regardless of the reasons for it, she can never forget it.


- How does the memory of a birth change depending on how successful your birth was?


Interview # 2 


My older cousin Brandon, described to me his point of view during the pregnancy that he witnessed first, his sisters. He explained to me that he was scared for his sister, because he knew of all the possibilities of sickness that come along with pregnancy. He told me that in the moments leading to the birth, he did last-minute research on pregnancy to inform himself. All the extra information he obtained made him slightly paranoid.


A question I asked him, was : "Do you feel that informing yourself made you feel safer knowing that your sister is giving birth?"
His response was, yes. He felt that since he was less ignorant about the topic that he could help his sister along the process more. Since he knew that he could help more, he was more confident in changing his life and surroundings for his sisters child. This made me think that researching something before you make your life involved in it, will help you tremendously. Brandon was a good example of this to me. 


When analyzing this,  I thought about connecting this to taking a test/exam in school. You lose confidence in doing well on your exam if you don't study for it, however once you study for an exam, you feel that your much more confident in taking your test. The same concept can be applied to most real-life application such as in this case, birth/pregnancy. Brandon researched something that he was about to be involved in, and in doing so, he gained confidence and was better suited for the birthing process of his sister.


- How does researching something improve your ability to prepare for something?

Hw 35 - Other People's Perspectives 1

For this assignment, I interviewed two of my cousins who are 17  and 20 respectively, and my closest friend who is 18. I asked them all a very basic question, "What are your thoughts on birth?". To sum up the general descriptions they all offered; they felt that birth is a major event that demands celebration and is a major point that changes the lives of everyone involved with the child. As shown by my friend's response, " When my little brother was born, my parents changed everything around the house all over again, even though this wasn't their first child". The main idea of his claim seemed to be that birth is so highly celebrated and cherished because it is a major turning point in people's lives. My older cousin stated that he witnessed almost the same outcome after each birth he's been a part of. He has been around for the process of 5 births, his three younger sister's, my baby cousin's, and his brother's birth. His realization was that no matter how many times a birth occurs, or how common it is for the family, the celebration is still the same and the changes are still drastic afterwards.

Through my interviews it seems that the common ideology is that the hardship that follows having a child gets celebrated, and the environment is altered around the birth of a new child. The celebration of the child seems to be to help the transition in to having another baby. The idea of change seems to dominate people's perspectives on birth, the fact that everyone involved in the birthing process knows that huge changes are about to be made, makes people pay tons of attention when a birth is on the way.  Our society as a whole changes with every birth, and this can be the reason why birth is such a celebrated process that demands a lot of attention.

Hw 34 - Some Initial Thoughts On Birth.

At this point in time, my most curious thoughts on birth are the ideas that revolve around the mental changes that come along with the physical distress of the whole birthing process. They're obvious physical changes such as the gain in weight, the appearance of stretch marks and loose skin; however what mental changes correlate with the physical ones? The very common affect of depression, and self- image issues that come along with the new appearance gained from being pregnant. Perhaps  the most curious field I want to examine deeper in to,are the results of the 10 month process of mental and physical harm that leads to the finale that makes the process all worth it, the baby/babies.

I feel that birth is the most subconscious aspect of life that exists. Usually by the time your in grade school, you know that you and your siblings were "born" in to this world and understand the basic process of pregnancy. So why is it that seeing a pregnant woman in the bus, or a pregnant woman at work or in the grocery store demand so much visual attention? I've always viewed pregnancy as something blatantly obvious to our society. With so many people walking around the streets, of course one of them is going to be pregnant and ready to give birth. For the two birthing processes that I've been around to witness, my overall point of view on birth has always been simple. I believe the process is meant to be nightmarish, and hard to cope with, therefore the resulting baby is born with already such a strong physical/mental connection. I always believed that the baby is the physical representation of the tedious process that led up to it.      

- Is our society taught to subconsciously isolate those with blatant physical/mental differences? If so, is this why pregnant woman are such a taboo sight?

- Why is birth and pregnancy so censored? Does this make ignorance and inevitable part of birth?

- How would social taboos against the birth and its process be changed if the entire process was eliminated, and the birthing process happened in a matter of hours?