N 340 Women's Health & Illness in The Expanding Family & N345 Clinical Practicum

Module 5: World Birthday

Names:

Introduction: This video was a television documentary that was aired in Spring 2002. It provides "snapshots" of birthing experiences for women and their families from nine countries: China (two couples), US (two families with one from the Ukraine), Ethiopia (Chinese MD), Germany, Brazil, India, Egypt, Mexico and Britain, which represented five continents. I don't know why Australia was excluded, but I know they couldn't get those penguins in the Antarctic to cooperate!

Instructions: Please answer the following questions. This answer does not have to include all the births. Compare and contrast two or three in each question. You may work in groups and submit one paper. The group can decide how they want to divide up the assignment. Please post in the forum entitled World Birthday. Thanks.

1. How were health care decisions made? Were families included? Were decisions made in a hierarchical fashion? Were consultations made?
2. How were families involved? What were some of the roles family members took on during the births?
3. What roles did nurses have in these births?
4. What examples of patient education did you see?
5. What kinds of equipment and supplies were available? What kinds of sterile technique and infection control were used? What "universal precautions" (by US standards) were breached?
6. What kinds of cultural practices and rituals related to childbirth and the postpartum were exemplified?

7. Although there were lots of differences, was there a similar underlying "universal" theme you could identify in all of these experiences?