Childbirth in My Life and Around the World

Since I do not have any children, nor I have taken part in any births my mom shared with me my birth story. My parents were in the military stationed in Germany. My mom worked at Army health clinic when her water broke, and she was then transported to a hospital an hour away. Once she was admitted, I didn’t arrive until the next day at 11:36 am.  The nurses jokingly said if the baby doesn’t come soon, we are going to lunch. As the doctor told my mom to relax, I decided to enter the world and the doctor just caught me in the nick of time by the leg. I weighed 6lbs and 6oz. and my mom called me her pretty little baby doll.

I decided to compare Germany to the U.S even though I was born on a military base.

In Germany, they use midwives with doctors stepping in as needed whereas in the U.S most babies are born in hospitals using doctors.

Prenatal health care is for pregnant women to receive regular check-ups that allow obstetricians-gynecologists or midwives to detect, treat and prevent potential health problems throughout the course of pregnancy while promoting healthy lifestyles that benefit both mother and child. Patients are encouraged to attend monthly checkups (Wikipedia, 2019).

For Prenatal care in Germany you will be handed a little booklet called Mutterpass (literally: mother’s passport). It serves as a medical confirmation of your pregnancy, a record of your medical history (both general and pregnancy-related), and an official document for administrative purposes. You need to bring it along to every visit, so that your ob/gyn or midwife can record the latest exam results (InterNations, 2019).

In Germany and the U.S the it seems that woman are being taking care of through prenatal healthcare but our health care systems are different. I hope to go to Germany one day to see where I was born. 

Resources

InterNations. Having Baby in Germany. Retrieved from https://www.internations.org/germany-expats/guide/29459-health-insurance/having-a-baby-in-germany-15996

Wikipedia. Prenatal Care in the U.S. retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prenatal_care_in_the_United_States