Week One Blog Assignment

I was sixteen years old in the delivery room with my twenty-six year old sister giving birth to my nephew. Nervous and excited, I held her hand and felt a sharp pain in my wrist because she was squeezing my hand extremely tight. My mother was holding her other hand, coaching her along. Mommy has a lot of experience with child birth. She herself gave birth naturally to nine children- four boys, five girls. The story I always hear is that I was the hardest birth. She told my father in the delivery room that she didn't think she was going to make it. Guess I fooled her, being that my birthday is April 1. The doctor and nurse began to talk to eachother, and he told my sister that it wasn't  safe for her to continue a vaginal labor being that my nephew weighed 10 pounds. A few moments later, the nurse handed the doctor a device, which sort of looked like an electric knife, and my sister was crying and emotional because she wanted to give birth naturally. Mommy calmed her down and they proceeded. 
                 I will never forget the smell. I will never forget the sound of the device. I thought they were burning my sister alive! Looking at her made me feel better because she was calm, but moaning softly. In the end, my nephew came out kicking and screaming! I jumped up and down for joy. He was beautiful. He is now a twenty-two, six foot 2 young man. But he will always be auntie's baby.
                I researched the birthing practice of Germany. In Germany, midwives are highly respected. By law, a midwife must be present at birth, and a doctor is optional. This reminds of the tales my grandmother told, as she was a midwife in south Georgia where my parents were born and raised. My grandmother was my mommy's midwife for her first two children. A doctor would make a house call only to check out the child and mother if requested. I found it interesting that the women in Germany focus on the act of giving birth more than the outcome. A Berlin resident originally from Maryland was asked if she felt like a failure for having a C-section. Giving birth by C-section is a normal practice for mothers in the U.S. 
           The government offices in Germany
 keep a list of acceptable names that parents must register. This is the law. If the parents choose an unusual name, they must provide a reasonable explanation for doing so, and it has to be approved. This is done in the best interest of the child in order to avoid potential ridicule for having a different type of name. I have mixed emotions about this. In a way I feel as though this is a helpful law/practice because I have come across some names that have me questioning why parents put children through this. I work with Kindergartners. Some of them enter without knowing how to write or spell their names. Sometimes their first names have ten plus letters. This can be quite challenging for the student and teacher. On the other hand, I feel that as a parent you should be able to name your child whatever you want. America is a free country, so have at it, right?


Reference:  http://www.parents.com/pregnancy/giving-birth/vaginal/birth-customs-around-the-world/?page=3