Childbirth

I woke early in the morning two days before my due date and whispered to my husband “I think my water broke!” He was exhausted after only sleeping for about three hours and could not understand how I was so calm. The calm quickly turned into excitement as we headed to the hospital. Although my water broke, my little girl was so snug inside that she did not yet want to come out! We spent a couple of hours walking around the labor and delivery wing to help with the process but it did not seem to help at all. I was then given Pitocin to help produce contractions and hopefully speed up my labor a bit. That machine administering Pitocin was my worst enemy and I even growled at it during a particularly intense and extremely long contraction. The Pitocin finally did its job and I was offered the epidural but I chose instead to try a different type of drug called Stadol which helped ease the pain and I was able to get some rest (though my husband later told me about the off-the-wall things I said during this time). When the contractions were unbearable, I finally asked for the epidural. After three more hours, about half of that pushing, I finally gave birth to my sweet baby girl on Memorial Day of 2016.

As this is my one and only experience with childbirth, I was the youngest of five children and my mom could not tell me much about my own birth except that her friend talked her into not having the epidural (she had it for my four siblings) and it was a big mistake, the birth of my daughter is recent and I can truly say that it was an experience! My husband was fantastic throughout my whole pregnancy but really stepped up his game to make sure I stayed comfortable and calm throughout labor and delivery. This was a new experience for the both of us but staying calm can impact the baby before, during, and after birth.

In the Netherlands, expect to use a midwife as opposed to a doctor throughout pregnancy which is completely opposite from the United States. In the Netherlands, unless there is a medical complication, most women give birth in their own homes. Insurance companies may not fully cover a hospital birth unless it is due to a medical reason. Since most women are giving birth at home, that also means that they are not able to access pain relief. In the Netherlands, only about ten percent of women use pain relief during child birth.

I think that it is important to note that midwives are trained extensively for helping women through childbirth. Whether using a doctor or a midwife, making sure that the mother stays healthy throughout the pregnancy is critical. While pain relief is not necessary, it can help with the level of comfort for the mother and reduce her level of stress which may help the baby in the birthing process.