Woman in Africa Labor & My Labor Experince

Pre-term births in Africa is very high.  According to the body's first global overview of births, which is published in the Bulletin of the WHO, of the 13 million preterm births that take place across the globe annually, 11 million occur in Asia and Africa where there is limited access to appropriate healthcare.  Woman are not as educated and do not have the choice of going to receive prenatal services to help monitor their babies development.  Over 400 years ago woman in tribes in South Africa was expected to have their babies on their own.  The birthing woman attended completely to her own needs and those of her newborn infant. She cut the umbilical cord and disposed of the placenta herself. During the birth, the only other person present was an older woman, who aided the mother in the case of absolute necessity. The Fulani woman of Africa also birthed without expecting any assistance, catching the infant as it was born in her own hands.

I am a mother of 3 boys and each labor was different and very difficult for me.  The first time I experience labor was at the age of 19 and I had no idea of what was happening.  I went to all of my prenatal appointments and took my prenatal vitamins when they did not make me sick.  My first little boy arrived at 32 weeks.  My labor came early and was unexpected.  If I had to guess I would say that it had a lot to do with stress factors in my life.  Everyone in the hospital facility was panicking and trying to keep me calm at the same time.  I had no idea what was happening because the baby was not due to another month.  I was giving shots in my thigh for the baby’s lung to develop faster and soon after that I was transferred to a different facility.  My husband was there with me but he did not know what was going on either.  He was not able to ride the ambulance with me.  He had to drive to the hospital and wait for me to arrive.  Labor was very painful to me and I do not know how I would have made it without the epidural.  My first born weighed 4lbs and 6oz and had to be monitored very closely.  He could not suck out of a bottle and had to be fed through a feeding tube.  I was not able to take him home until he gain weight and learn how to suck on the nipple of the bottle.  I shared my first labor experience because I could not have imagined giving birth without any help.  Even though I had prenatal services you never know if something is going to happen and you are not prepared for it.    In Africa woman are not giving the options that we are and they are basically on their own without any medical equipment or medicine to help the mother or the baby.