Childbirth - My Life and Around the World

I have experienced 3 vaginal childbirths but my second child delivery was the shortest but also the hardest.  I arrived at the hospital around 12:50pm and by 2:50pm was told to start pushing.  I thought I would deliver my baby before "Days of Our Lives" would go off but I was wrong.  I pushed from 2:50pm until 5pm when finally my doctor stated to me that the baby had turned around and she would have to turn the baby back around.  I pleaded for a ceaseran birth but my doctor said no this would be the best thing. So with the doctor, the nurse, and my husband all in the room, my doctor had to reach into my womb and turn my baby's head around to push into the birth canal.  I thought I was dying but thankfully it worked and at 6:02pm I delivered a healthy 7lb, 10oz baby girl.
As I read about childbirths in India, I was thankful that I was in a hospital with a trained doctor who knew what to do in an unusual delivery.  In India, 43% of births had a skilled attendant at delivery and most are done at home.  They have limited drugs, blood pressure machines, and gloves during delivery.  As I compare my experience to what takes place in India during delivery, I also think about the outcome of child development.  Whereas my child was able to receive additional care after a tramatic delivery, if a child had went through the same delivery in India and survived the delivery, they may not have been able to get additional care during infancy if there was additional complications.  Those complications could affect the biosocial or cognitive skills of the child.  Thankfully my daughter is now 23 years old and never had any affects from the delivery but I did learn that the baby who decided to turn another way during delivery was a very stubborn and head strong child and adult.

Singh, A. (2006). Childbirth in the US and India.