NUTRITIONAL PRACTICES

Nutritional Practices

Nutritional Practices

This paper intends to explore the on-going unconventional childbearing rituals that have been around for many years. This history of childbirth explains some of these rituals that were followed by various cultural groups. I cannot personally compare experiences with childbirth. This Essay explores various methods of giving birth, and developed changes that have occurred since then.

We have advanced technology to deal with all kinds of labor. Being a medical professional I have seen especially difficult deliveries. There are many complications that a woman can have during the labor process such as: breach babies or obstructed labor. Our access to sterile procedures, diagnostic machinery, and modern equipment helps many women through these complications safely. There is an access to a variety of medication, such as giving the pregnant woman a bottle of whiskey or a chloroform to ease her labor pain. These women did not have a choice of who is with them during the labor, or employing any methods of decreasing pain, or choosing infection free birthing areas. Today we are free to choose these things, except for emergent birthing situations. Until mid 1900's men were strictly not allowed in the delivery room. However, in 1970's gradually to be father of the baby were allowed in the delivery room but they could only stand and watch from the corner and not offer any help (www.thehistoryof.net, 2008).

Many superstitions surrounded labor and birth, such as;

There is a story that there was a medieval German Empress who had 20 men beaten up outside of her delivery room in order to speed up labor (www.thehistoryof.net, 2008).

Midwifery at that time was still teeming with superstitions and was very secretive. In fact from the 14th to the 17th century many lay midwives and female healers were accused of being witches and were hunted and ...