My Birthing Experience for Walden Week 1

My birthing experience. I have actually not had a personal birthing experience and I have not be in the hospital when my brother's and cousin's children were born. So, my experience is second hand. I know from the information given by my family, each birthing experience is different. For example, one of my cousins never had an epidural for her three children because she always had them early. According to her, it was the contractions starting and a baby appearing just in time to get to the hospital. My brother's most recent addition to our family could not decide if he wanted to come out or not. My sister-in-law had contractions on and off for about a week and the doctor finally decided to induce her labor. Of course my nephew came out perfect.

Working in a child care setting; I am around pregnant moms all the time. In my experience, the siblings usually have an adjustment period. Once the birth actually takes place and the baby is brought home, the siblings mostly really do not like the new "doll" in the house. Of course, this happens with every only child  because he or she has been the only one around. Now, with middle children it is different, most of my middle children actually could care less and seem to adjust much faster than an only child. For example, my brother has an older daughter from his first marriage and she turned seventeen when her half brother was born. To make it worse, the doctor was going to induce my sister in law on my niece's birthday. Of course, that did not sit well with my niece so the day was changed to the day after her birthday. The adjustment for her was the attention lavished on the baby. At first, he was new and she liked to hold him. Now that he is two, she really just greets him with a hug and kiss. The age difference did not seem to change sibling behavior because my nephew refuses to call his sister by her name. Whereas, the step brother who is four only had an issue with the baby because he did not want him to ever play with his toys. Of course, that never happened.

Talking about my family has me wondering about other births in other cultures. In Australia, the Aboriginal society has customs that are followed. Either the day before or the day of birth, the child is given a totem. Totems are a deciding factor in how the children's relationships are defined within the tribe and his or her societal standing. The various language groups within the Aboriginal society is one determinate of the totem as well. Therefore, for an Aboriginal child, the group he or she is born into will provide the child with a totem, kinship lore, and marriage requirements as well as societal behavior the child will follow.  The Aboriginal birthdays were not celebrated until recent years. Now, birthdays are celebrated the same as an Australian baby (Queensland Government, 2008).

Queensland Government. (2008). Birth ceremonies, totems and rites in Aboriginal Society. Retrieved from http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au/downloads/approach/indigenous_res012_0804.pdf