Childbirth

During the birth of my first child,  I was in labor and wasn’t even aware that I was, because I have always heard all these horror stories about how painful going into labor was; so when I actually went into labor I didn’t realize that’s what it was.  I felt very sharp pains in the lower part of my back that I admit was different from any other pain I had ever felt, but it was not the type of labor pain I had heard about.  I was visiting with my mother at the time and told her that I felt I was in labor and that we should go to the hospital.  Shortly, after arriving at the hospital, after being checked my the doctor I was immediately rushed to the delivery room, remembering the attendant telling me not to push, I yelled out once telling them I can’t help not to push and delivered my daughter right outside the delivery room.  No epidural, no time to prep me for delivery she was ready to enter into her new world. It was the greatest experience of my life.  I’ve had two other births and all three births were different. 

Child birth in Japan has a rich tradition for the last 13,000 years, with families passing down customs for generations.  During child birth the fathers are not allowed in the delivery room unless they have taken prenatal courses with the mother, they are also not allowed in delivery room during a C-section.  Traditionally Japanese mothers do not take medication during labor due to their Buddhist religious beliefs and also due to their customary belief that the pain of childbirth is their life test to the challenging responsibilities as a mother.  During childbirth it is customary for Japanese mothers to remain very quiet while in childbirth rather than yelling, which is considered shameful to her family.  Japanese women also have a longer stay in the hospital than most women in Western countries; babies stay with the mothers during the daytime while she is in the hospital and at night the infant is taken to the hospital nursery.