BREAK HW

1. Giraffe Birth
The birth of a giraffe is quite like the birth of a human with the fact that the mother goes into labor and then the mother gives birth to a breathing mammal oppose to laying an egg. One thing that I found interesting is in the zoo they try to keep the birth as natural as possible as to keep the cycle going on how the giraffes give birth. The zoo keepers do not interrupt the birth at all, giving the giraffe medicine of assisting her. They try their best to make the environment as natural and helpful as possible. They did this by placing sand in the area the female giraffe would give birth in so that when the baby giraffe comes out it will have cushion to fall on. They also separated her from the rest of the herd but left one female giraffe with is like her midwife. Comparing this to human births, some woman try to make their births as natural as possible. There is also a sense of comfort in humans as well as giraffes with having someone with you there to encourage and help you through the experience. On the contrary with he giraffe birth the mother was the one to stay with her baby, being there as it struggles to stand up and nudging it after it is born so that it can breathe. They rely on themselves and their natural instincts to care for its offspring after the birth. For humans the baby is taken away from the mother for awhile and then given back so that she may breastfeed or see her baby. There is more interruption with human birth while giraffe births are more natural and undisturbed.

2. Dolphin Birth
One thing that I am noticing that is important in this birth is that the dolphin is in its natural habitat. Not only that but it is doing what it normally does, swimming around. When we give birth we have to stop what it is we are doing to rush to a place designated for us to give birth. A lot of people give birth in hospitals or birthing centers. With these mammals they stay in their comfort place, in a natural place and give birth there. In these births watching them I can feel that there is a special relationship between he mother and the offspring. After the birth the offspring stays with its mother, in this video the baby dolphin swims in sync with its mother around the tank. Going back to human births and the birth of the giraffe it is very evident that the newborn mammal needs and is very reliant on its mother. I also find it interesting how in both videos I have yet to hear any of the mammals sound like their in excruciating pain. its interesting to see how relaxed these mammals feel as they give birth.

3. Home Birth
This video is actually one of the only videos I've seen that the birth actually looks like the woman had a good experience. I noticed that she changes positions a lot which she said helped her a lot. She is constantly comforted by her husband who takes on an active role in the birth by holding and caressing her. As well as by her midwife and mother who are in the room with her talking and helping her. One thing that i also found interesting is that more than one person was actually down there helping to take the baby out, it wasn't just one person ( a doctor) who was taking control and doing what they thought was right. I also noticed that there was more deep and heavy breathing versus screaming and cursing which set a good and calming mood for the birth to happen. I also noticed that at one point the mother even got to see the baby crowing in a mirror that someone held up for her to see. Many woman are so overwhelmed and busy listening to orders at a hospital that they don't get the chance to stop and see whats going on. This video was very interesting and insightful in seeing a natural and remotely pleasant birth.

4. C-Section
I actually began to watch this video and then got extremely grossed out by the way it looks. I personally would not want to get a C-section but I can understand why women get them. I looked up some of the benefits of getting a C-section and read about some interesting reasons why women get them. Some of these reasons included the mother having a sexually transmitted disease, multiple births, a possible large baby that would be complicated passing through the vaginal canal as well as other things. i see all of these reasons to be very valid but i personally don't think it is a good idea if the mother does not have the possibility of complications with a "regular birth". I also think back to the way society is now and how so many people rely on surgery's to make things less painful or different. Plastic surgery is very popular and I think of this as the plastic surgery of birth. Instead of doing things as naturally as our culture will allow the person resolves to having an operation where they are unconscious and having the baby cut out of them.

America Vs. ___________ Questions

1. Birth in 2009 vs. Birth in 1950's
2. How do white people having more resources effect the way they give birth? (compared to black people)
3. Percentage of abortions in America vs. D.R.
4. Teen pregnancy vs. in the 1900's
5.Adoption vs. Abortion in America compared to Europe
6.Having a child under 20 vs. having a child over 35
7.How has the age of giving birth changed over the last 50 years?
8. percentage of single parent homes vs. 2 parent homes (now and 1950's)
9. How does the common way of giving birth in the US compare to the common way of giving birth in other countries?
10. What is the common age of pregnancy in the US vs. third world countries?
11. How many kids are in the average family in the US vs in Africa
12. What races around the world are known to be the most fertile? (average births each year)
13. How many babies are killed each year in the U.s vs third world countries ( babies thrown in garbage cans/rivers/etc)
14. How have technologies changed over the years?
12. 2009 vs. 1800's
13.black vs. white
14. american vs. african
15. america vs. china
16.% of death during pregnancy in america vs. haiti vs. europe
17.births vs. abortion
18.c sections vs. natural
19. old vs. young
20.abortions vs giving your baby up for adoption
21. miscarriage vs successful birth
22. c section rate now vs. 50 yrs ago
23. woman dying during birth now vs. 50 yrs ago

Birth Stories

1. She went into labor the day of her baby shower. The baby was of course earlier than expected but she said she was " excited to finally be having her first child." Her and her husband rushed to the hospital to find that she was already dilated and ready to give birth when she was placed in a room. The doctors were surprised at the short duration of this woman's labor but of course she said she was lucky. " Ashley was my first child and I wasn't in labor as long as other women were." By the time she has arrived at the hospital and saw the doctors they even said it was too late to receive an epidural! her birth had to be done completely natural because the doctors refusal to give her drugs. " I think that's part of the reason my mother resents me to this day" her daughter said.

2. This was her second child and she was very excited. She didn't want to know the sex of the baby and was awaiting her C-section that was scheduled for march 13th. Her first daughter Alexa who was 2 at the time was very excited for her baby sibling and was brought with her mother and father the day of the C-section. When the baby was born and they found out it was a girl " I was so happy. I had been wishing for another girl and my husband wanted a boy. I'm glad I got another baby girl." She rested after the hospital for a couple of days being it was her second C-section and was ready to go home and take care of her babies.

3. "Well my mom was at work which was a catering place. She was putting together platters and food while she was 9 months pregnant. before she went out to deliver the food she went to the bathroom and her water broke. She rushed back to her house where there was a Midwife waiting to help me be born. She had been living in Massachusetts at the time so I was born there, with only my mother and the midwife. My grandma lived in the city so after I was a couple days old she took a plane back to show me off to my grandma. My Gma helped my mother raise me and I live with her to this day. Whenever my mother tells me this story she always points out that shes glad she can tell me an interesting story and not just 'my water broke and I was rushed to the hospital' I love my birth story"

The American Way of Birth: Pregnancy

I just finished watching a birth on YouTube of an 18 year old girl giving birth in a tub. There were a lot of things that stuck out to me while watching this video that I thought were very interesting as well as extremely horrifying. Its so fascinating that a women's body is made to give birth and that something like this is natural to our bodies. Its crazy how something can actually GROW inside of us over 9 months and come out and be a person is only something that women can so so I guess its a curse as well as blessing. It seemed to me that giving birth would be boring without the pain, staying in one place for literally hours waiting for a baby to come out. It was horrifying to watch her vagina dilate SO much and its sort of a good thing that a women in labor doesnt really see it (my jaw dropped the entire duration she was dilating) because I think i would personally faint. I wouldn't say that I am in a rush to have kids but one day I would like to experience that and it may sound corny but i hear " the pain you experience during child birth doesn't compare to the joy afterwards. There are many women who are not able to give birth and I am lucky enough to be able to so I want to experience it. The look on the mothers face when she held her baby for the first time was pure joy and that is something beautiful to see.