As I continue to read further and further on in Get Me Out, I have learned many new things that have helped me gain a better perspective on pregnancy and child related deaths. I stated/hinted in my last blog post that this book has made me not want to have kids of my own. After reading the next two sections of this book I have changed my mind.
I know that pregnancy is one of the worst pains women go through, and it amazes me to know that pain relief for pregnancies weren’t administered till the 1900’s. You would think that such an amount of pain would make any woman not want any kids, but some women were really strong. The book states that childbed fever was one of the most tragic ways of death during that time. “Husbands carried home babies and buried wives.” (pg. 51) I keep thinking about how tragic that would be, to see a husband have to take on the role of both the father and the mother while also grieving for their dead wife.
I did some research of my own to find out why childbed fever was so deadly. In the book it said it was because of poor sanitation, which I completely believe, but I wanted some extra knowledge so I too can inform those around me. What I found was the same thing that was said in the book. Doctors would perform autopsies and then deliver a child. I always see doctors scrubbing before any form of surgery, and to think that wasn’t always the norm is very scary.
There was a part of the book that got me really confused. I would have never thought doctors use to think the way they did. Doctors thought that when you adopt a baby all of a sudden you will be able to get pregnant. “Becoming a mother to an adopted baby reprogrammed women chemically.” (pg. 104) I think that this statement has to be one of the most bizarre things I have ever read. The New York Health Department
website said that this idea of getting pregnant is one of the biggest myths surrounding pregnancies. Kayla Z. made a great point in her blog that I really like. She said that it was amazing how easy it was to be given a title of a doctor. Now, it is easily one of the most respected jobs, but why wasn’t it always like this? Why were people quick to believe facts from a person who didn’t even have that much training?
This book focuses mainly on the childbirth experiences in the western world, in other parts of the world childbirth is a completely different experience. Even now that America and developed countries have all these precautions during pregnancy and childbirth, I know that most other countries don’t. For example, my mom gave birth once in India and then once in America. She often tells me the condition of the hospital in India where she gave birth first. She says that the place was packed, and she wasn’t even given the option for an epidural. But I do know, that in India pregnancy is an amazing thing. The whole village comes to celebrate and the family passes out sweets. I don’t really see that happening in America unless it’s an Indian family doing it.
As I’m about to finish off this book, I realize how much I have been taught in such a little amount of time. I am about to get to one of my favorite topics in the medical field which is the process of freezing eggs.
StarPathDesign 
Like you it also interested me on how women could go trough and handle the pain when there was no medication to take that could help make it less painfull. In the beginning of the book it explains how Eve was the first women to get pregnant and I can’t imagine how she felt since she had no guidence of someone with experience. Your blog post well written and I enjoyed reading it. – Vanessa M
I thought your blog post was very interesting and I really liked reading it. I liked how you added how your pregnancy can differ from country to country. I also enjoyed reading your thoughts on how your mom gave birth in India and how thats different from an american hospital and the traditions that come along with it. Good job!
Nishi,
I also experienced a lot of back in forth internally about wanting or not wanting kids. This book definitely tells you things as they are and it isn’t always what we want to hear. I liked your research on childbed fever because it is definitely hard to believe the lack of sanitary knowledge that has taken place throughout time. I also liked how you related one of the questions to your moms experience giving birth. I think it is always great to have a different perspective. I enjoyed your post!
-Sophie W
I thought your blog post was very interesting and I really liked reading it. I liked how you added how your pregnancy can differ from country to country. I also enjoyed reading your thoughts on how your mom gave birth in India and how thats different from an american hospital and the traditions that come along with it. Good job
– Ashwara P.