From Sarwar Sarker (Mentor)
With due respect I want to say, often we male do a little thinking about pregnancy and birth related matters with some exceptions of course. I am happy that you have chosen this topic which will definitely enlighten you a lot. Mothers are really great people who take all the severe pain and hassles during pregnancy and during delivering the child.
You wrote, "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", this has provoked me to remind you that like many of us you are ignoring precious bondage and emotional attachment between pregnant mother and beloved ones. Though mothers forget acute discomfort and pain due to pregnancy, while have their babies but the sacrifice they make is invaluable. Although, science has made delivery much safe, however, mothers in many occasions remain between death and live condition, especially if complicated medical condition exists.
I would also suggest you to interview more people including those who had been present in the labor room and who closely supported mother during pregnancy. These will give you more in-depth information and knowledge about pregnancy, birth complicacy and emotional attachments of mother and beloved people with the upcoming child.
Also suggest you to edit some words, like 'all of the responses from face-to-face or over the phone interviewees ...' as you haven't done any phone interview, in last para, first line and ‘However, the mother was no…’ in first para.
Again thanks for choosing a touchy topic to explore.
From Amanda (Ex-Group Member)
Hey Abdullah,
I think your best line is “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” this caused the most reaction out of all the other lines in your post, I think it certainly depends on the person father/spouse willingness to be in the delivery room. I know it would mean a hell of a lot for the father of my child to be in the room, yet to hold my hand maybe, but more so I know they had a closer to equal experience in the birthing process. Just because the man/woman isn’t the one giving birth doesn’t mean they should be allowed to be excluded from the process.
I found your post interesting because I enjoyed comparing and contrasting our interviews. when I first started to discuss birth and pregnancy with my interviewees I received a lot of information that I could have predicted such as, the couple attended birthing classes, or giving birth was difficult and it hurt, I also liked the line "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." because I came across this problem early in my interviews, and enjoyed how you bluntly said I the interviews reaffirmed previous knowledge. You could possibly get past this in the future so you can gain deeper insight by asking the interviewees why they think they choose to go to a hospital.
Good work, Amanda.
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For Sarah (Group Member),
The most interesting point, in my opinion, was; "For one of her births she went to a hospital and she felt like she was being treated for a 'disease'." This started me thinking of how society usually looks at the process of birth as something that is very dangerous even though mankind has been going through it for ions. I enjoyed reading your post because I found many similarities between your interviews and my interviews. For example, the mothers talking about how difficult and strenuous the process was for her. I also liked your insight on how love should be a motivation for having a baby. I enjoyed reading your post and look forward to your future posts.
For Johnny (Group Member)
I found your post interesting because it had some clever insights on how stress can play a major role on the process of birth and the whole pregnancy extravaganza as a whole. I really think that the topic you chose to explore further is very interesting since it goes over a topic that is not only relevant to the world, but also relevant to us. I hope you achieve success with your future research.
Abdullah
