I was lying on the hospital bed before labor and
delivery, my mind drifted around the cold and sterile walls of the hospital
room. I remember some hours, I had closed my
eyes; everything seemed too bright and frightening. Scared, puzzled and in excruciating pain, I had no grasp of the fact
that in few hours I was going to step into the most remarkable journey of my
life.
Just
then I was trying to divert my mind from this intense experience, my memory
skimmed through hundreds of faces with whom I encountered through SwasthaNepal, during my last trip to remote Nepal, in January 2012. Vividly, I
recalled them seeing malnourished. They looked deprived from receiving the basic
amenities and most descriptively, they all seemed to have lost their voices. They
were expected to deliver their children without making any complaints about
their health / obstetric problems or in general problems of their lives.
I at the
other side of the world was surmounted with modern medical amenities and
resources to deal with this intricate process
of life- the birthing. As I rambled through my thoughts, I was
interrupted frequently from the nurse in-charge, as well as by a very
competent, highly educated midwife who did a wonderful job assisting me through
a nonsurgical, uncomplicated two and half hours of delivery. I
am thankful not too many interventions were necessary in my son’s birth.
As much
as I consciously want to embrace my birth giving experience, I
would not be true to myself if I say birthing process is a cinch. I also have
no intention to become an official terror teller but delivery is much tougher
to experience-it hurts fiercely, than to write. As old saying goes- war is delightful to those who have had no experience of
it. I don’t mean to rationalize my
experience; it is by far the most profound experience to have, where you don’t
think you just know it when time comes.
Regardless
of where you deliver your baby, the excitement
always accompanies the panic anticipation. What is more inconceivable above all is that the pain stops
instantaneously when you hear your baby’s cry for the first time. Soon as you
hear that beautiful sound, relief washes over so quickly and before even you
realize you feel like all those hours were a quick memory. It surfaced out briskly
within a glimpse.
To this
day, I am very confound of idea if birthing is a life’s greatest miracle or is
it a mystery beyond science’s explanation. It is sophisticated if you think how
human development takes place from tiny winy embryo to a newborn baby, how in the world women can live though,
enduring such pain?
Miracle by definition is an
exceptional occurrence. If birthing is a miracle than 7 billion (world’s
population) such happenings are not quite enough already to say it’s a miracle?
I don’t have answer to this wondrous outcome. It sure is a very intriguing one
to find out.
My head still races miles fast when I try to put myself in shoes of
those women whom I met in Nepal during my health service trip. An utterly
discomfort and a deep despair resumes over my senses when I think over how
little love, support and care they receive from their families and surroundings
when they put their lives in verge of life and death while delivering their babies.
A simple medical intervention can save their lives but who really cares? Their families who
barely manage to put meals twice a day, or the society who discriminates their
roles and contributions they make or the nation which is still recommencing the
aftermaths of Maoist insurgency, where
illiteracy, politics, bribery, corruptions, inflation, have surpassed any contests.
There should be someone who
could listen to these women’s outcries. They represent nearly half of nation’s
total population; they can’t remain neglected and ignored for long. In all
spheres, they are equal; they should not be any boundaries when it comes to gaining acceptance on par with men. It takes no
brainer to know and understand when cut we all bleed red.
I attempt to write this post
for long but every time as I want to embrace my delivery, the reminiscence of those village women supersedes
my vision. And my feelings echoes to
theirs. I represent those women to some extent, they share my history
and that they endured similar pain I had undergone while delivering. I ought to speak up for them and address this
imperative cause.
Child birth is
a very challenging as well as an overwhelming experience for any women. There is no such thing as painless childbirth,
or one that is not filled with the worries, hopes, wishes and most eminent concern
of a brand new life, regardless of where you delivery your baby. In the same
regards, expected mothers can face multitudes of circumstances where things can
go wrong during delivery because every pregnancy cases are different and are
independent to each others.
Having said that, childbirth can be
made easy if replace fear, neglect and ignorance with trust, love, support and
care by families and friends. Also, instinct is just an amazing part of birth. Your
body knows exactly what to do when time comes so just trust your body and follow
your instincts. Birth stories should be more than just the epic tale of how we
all got here; after all it is a huge accomplishment. Let’s stay informed and take initiation of
our own health and our body, let’s reflect an awe of knowledge that are both learned and
inherited from our seniors. Let’s respect for each and
every mother who brings a child into this world in amid of intense pain and
suffering.
This post is dedicated to all the
mothers who gave birth to their children including my own.
