For this assignment, I only interviewed women who are already mothers including a woman who is pregnant with her second baby. My mother, in her interview, which was done over email, shared with me some of the things she was thinking when she was very close to giving birth. She went over some of the dominant soical and religious norms and also mentioned how her entire family and my father's side of the family supported her the entire time. I also interviewed a woman on the train who was pregnant and also had a child who was clinging on to her hand very tightly. She shared with me some stories about the hardships that she faced when she was pregnant with her first child. She was a single at the time but she had full support from her family. The baby's grandmother was living with the mother during her last trimester and she never complained when she was woken up in the dead of night because the mother was in pain or even because the mother just wanted something to drink. The mother appreciated the full support of her family but she confessed that she always wished that the father of the baby could have been there with her through the difficult and tiring process. However, the mother was no happily married to a man who was very caring and helpful during her current pregnancy. I did not ask her why the first father had bailed out because she looked very happy and I didn't want to upset her. Both my mom and this lady gave birth in a hospital surrounded by doctors and family members.
I did not interview anyone who's only accomplishment was that they were present during the birth of a baby. I feel as if the only thing they could have done in the situation is hold the mother's hand or told the mother repeatedly how it would all be okay... Anyone who ever watched Grey's Anatomy can do that and I really think that just being there wouldn't give them a clearer idea as to what was actually going on. Sure they would have actually gotten to see the "beautiful" process but how's that different from just watching a birthing video? Bottom line, I really don't thing being present during a birth would give anyone special knowledge or insights on birth. I really wish I could have interviewed a professional doctor who was well educated about the topic but alas, I could not find one that wasn't busy with work up to the necks. All of the stories that my interviewees had told me just highlighted all the information that I already knew about birth and really did not give me any new insight.
All of the responses from the face-to-face or over the phone interviewees showed little insight which meant that they were only thinking in bubbles. This may be because they weren't fully prepared for the questions or because they were nervous. The interviews that I conducted over email showed bubbles being connected to form proper responses. This just goes to show how our society has changed so we are now more open to discuss things when there is a barrier between people. This change in my opinion is definitely an upgrade since the rapid development of technology will only decrease face-to-face interactions even less and people who do not adapt, will be left behind.
Going back to birth, I really think the only way someone can educated or enlighten another student about birth only if they have given birth themselves or if they are a doctor. Which really sucks for us guys since we like to pride ourselves on knowing more than women yet we need to go through college and medical school to be qualified to know about birth... One topic that I would like to know more about by dong independent research about is the different birthing procedures.
