Child Birth Experience

I haven't been involved in many birth experiences. The few that I have been apart of have been all the same. Family and friends get a phone call and everyone heads to the hospital. We all play the waiting game. Once the baby is born we all get to see the baby through a window and eventually visit the new parents and family at home. The hospital is usually a clean and sterile setting. The healthcare professionals treat women and their families respectfully. They ensure that the mother and child are healthy and do not have any complications. I do have one friend that did have her baby at her home with a midwife. She had her daughter in a small swimming pool without medication and without doctors. This isn't very common amongst my friends and family. 

After some research, I selected South Africa to use as my example of a birth experience outside of North America. Women can have children in a hospital setting but it os not always the best of situations. According to Nordqvist (2011), women in labor are treated horribly and in many cases ignored and sent home. This results in a high infant and mother mortality rate. Women are also subject to abuse from the hospital staff. This is an excerpt from a woman who is HIV positive: 

       "My uncle advised me to call the ambulance when labor started but  
   I did not want to go to the hospital. I was scared of how I would 
   be treated. I hear the nurses are very rude and they are too 
   rough. After giving birth I developed serious problems. I was 
   bleeding too much and I couldn't breathe properly. Luckily the 
   HIV treatment center took me to hospital, and eventually I got 
   treated (Nordqvist,2011)." 

There are some extreme differences in the conditions between the two countries. In North America, women are well taken care of. They are given clean places to give birth and are given great medical care. In South Africa, women aren't treated with respect and are neglected during labor and after the child is born. Women and children are at risk of major complications with the possibility of death or major medical complications. This would not happen in the United States unless there was an extreme case of medical neglect. 

I believe that these negative aspects of the birthing experience in South Africa can have negative aspects on development. The neglect  that mothers receive can result in the inability to provide a nurturing environment for their child. This can possibly result in the child's ability to meet developmental milestones. 

Nordqvist, C. (2011).The Shocking Truth About Giving Birth In South Africa. Retrieved from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/232413.php