Childbirth in Your Life and Around the World

On Thursday, February 21, 2002, at the United Arab Emirates. I was cleaning at home and completing chores. I started to feel the pain and the contraction. It was 12pm. My family took me to the hospital; the doctor said “Hanadi just dilated one centimeter” which meant I still needed more time to be ready to give birth. I felt triple and painful. The more the time passed, the more I feel painful. It passed six hours and I just dilated 2 centimeters. The hospital used the British method; which means they don’t give the shot to help to make the contractions come faster and take away the pain. The nurses took me to the bathtub that is filled with warm water to relax and to get more contraction. After three hours I dilated 3 centimeters. After nine hours at the hospital, the nurse decides to take me for a walk in the hospital’s corridors. I was exhausted, super tired and crying. All night I was crying and in pain. The nurses were just sitting next to me with my family waiting for me to deliver the baby. I kept asking them to do anything for me to help me to deliver the baby; they said we can’t do anything, just try to push as much as you can. At six am February 22, 2002, the nurses took me to the delivery room. It was a totally different feeling with crazy pain and an awful feeling. At 11:30, I delivered my son. It was amazing, as soon as I heard my baby crying I started crying too, but this time happy tears.  I chose my personal story to show how much mothers go through a lot during pregnancy no matter if it was short or long time childbirth and painful or not. Also, on the same day, I delivered my baby, it was “Eid Aldha”, which is a big Muslim celebration when Muslims make their pilgrimage to Makah. To follow Prophet Abraham’s practice and from here we name my son Abraham.   


Around the world, in every small or big town, childbirth is taking different methods, ways, traditions, and celebrations.

In the Middle East such as Yemen, Saudia Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar, after delivering a baby, the mother goes to her family’s home to stay there for 40 days. There, her family prepares a nice, fancy crib for the baby. Furthermore, the family cooks and serves the mother with the best food while taking care of the baby too to help the mother to rehabilitate. The mother has to breastfeed the baby for two years or until the baby refuses the breastfeeding. Visitors come every day with a gift and some with money for the mother as a gift. On the last day, they make a celebration with the whole family and friends and the mother with the baby go back to their home. When I deliver my first baby I stayed at my family’s home for 40 days. When I delivered my daughter here in the US, it was a totally different experience.    
                  


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Comments

  1. UnknownJuly 8, 2018 at 12:30 PM

    It was so interesting to hear about what childbirth is like in the Middle East! Thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. CulturalSeshatJuly 8, 2018 at 12:32 PM

    Good Day Hanadi Alhaj!
    I really enjoyed reading your story--mostly because it was a different take on the birthing process in a different area of the world! I remember in my initial graduate courses at another university-- learning about the Vast cultural differences in the birthing process and nurturing process of women and children around the world, but mostly in Africa and the Middle East. I have great respect for the birthing process and aftercare in these ares, because to be honest it truly promotes a huge wage of female energy and positivism for the baby (when things go accordingly). I look forward to seeing more of your cultural viewpoint on the child development process to add a refreshing aspect on what we are learning!

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