My grandmother has 14 kids.. and people say that’s where I got my genes. But nah, I don’t think I can give birth that much. And those days, there’s no painless or twilight birthing method yet. It’s all about giving birth the naturally way, all the labor pains, the pushing and even the post partum without the pain relievers. I don’t think I can survive that much pain, given that I have a very low pain tolerance.
Thinking about it now, I am amazed how she was able to give birth to 14 kids without posing threat to her health. I remember my OB Gyne telling me, during my 4th pregnancy, that I am already at risk. She said that my uterus lining is already thin and we need to manage my post partum contraction to prevent hemorrhage.
Let’s be more familiar with contraction.. this post might make you cringe, so please bear with me. When a women is about to give birth, it’s uterus starts to contract to make way for the coming of the baby. As the baby goes down, the cervix starts to dilate, and that mommies is when you hear the 1cm, 5 cm and 10 cm measurement. The opening of the cervix is measured and this signals if the mommy is ready to push, push, push (and scream on the side).
After giving birth, the uterus should continue to contract to stop bleeding. If the uterus did not contract, this might result to hemorrhage or blood lose. When I gave birth to Sati (my 4th child), we had to manage the contraction. As advised by my OB Gyne, we applied cold compress so that my uterus would contract. I experienced heavy blood flow during that time and was really worried about my health. It was the first time that happened to me. I am just glad that I am done with it.
Hemorrhage is just one of the many complications that a mother faces during child birth. Infection is another complication that women face during childbirth. Remember the saying that when a mom gives birth, half of her body is in the pit? No, it’s not true. When a mom gives birth, she is in danger as a whole.
