Birth Interview Case Study Analysis
Pregnancy
Right when Amanda missed her menstrual cycle, she met with an obstetrician and found out she was pregnant. At this point during prenatal development, a zygote cell becomes a blastocyst, and moves toward the uterus. From then, supportive structures such as the umbilical cord begin to develop. When Amanda became pregnant, she was 30 pounds overweight and had gained 50 more pounds throughout the process. According to the article “Gestational Diabetes”, Amanda had gestational diabetes, where the use of sugar in cells is affected causing high blood sugar (2017). Some causes of this type of diabetes are age and weight. More specifically, those over the age of 25 years and have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or more are at risk. When an expectant mother has gestational diabetes, she has higher risks of high blood pressure, diabetes in the future, and preeclampsia. As for the baby, gestational diabetes can lead to birth that is preterm, increase of birth weight, low blood sugar, and increase possibilities of type two diabetes. Although gestational diabetes can have these negatives effects on a mother and her child, it can be prevented or controlled in a way for a healthy mother during and post childbirth and a healthy baby. One major way that an expectant mother can prevent these negative effects would be through regulated exercise and eating healthful food. After she learned about being pregnant, and later about gestational diabetes, Amanda made changes to what she consumed for her and her future child. However, some of the changes Amanda made will still have negative effects on her and her child. For instance, Amanda stopped drinking wine daily and started drinking beer throughout the week to lower her sugar consumption. Even though beer might have less sugar than wine, drinking beer would still be a concern in regards to the baby. Since Amanda drank during her pregnancy, her child has a risk for fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, or FASD.
FASD causes delays in physical growth, brain injuries and deformities in the child’s face. To be more specific, FASD is broken down into different effects, such as fetal alcohol syndrome, partial fetal alcohol syndrome, and alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder. In addition to drinking alcohol during her pregnancy, Amanda also ate unhealthful foods such as cookies, chips and candy. In addition, Amanda never exercised, which is recommended during pregnancy. To find the effects of consumption of unhealthful foods during pregnancy, Royal Veterinary College (RVC) fed rats with unhealthful foods. Although the test subjects were rats, it is believed that rats and humans are similar through what we eat and how we control what we eat. After the rats gave birth, researchers looked at the rats’ offsprings for any effects from the unhealthful food they fed the rats. The study revealed that the offsprings craved unhealthful food, had no control of what they ate, gained more weight more quickly, and showed signs of type two diabetes such as insulin resistance.
Similar to the rats, Amanda kept eating unhealthful foods and it was hard for her to control how much food, like chips, she ate. Due to her consumption of unhealthful food, the negative effects that the rat’s experienced could happen to Amanda’s child. Aside from eating healthful food and avoiding alcohol consumption, it is recommended that expectant mothers exercise, especially to help with labor. Women who typically exercise throughout their pregnancy experience less pain in their backs, breathing and less pain on their chest. Even though she drank alcohol and did not exercise, Amanda made sure to have less caffeine, such as mochas, and ate only certain types of fish. Normally, caffeine does not cause serious problems during and after pregnancy. However, caffeine and alcohol can cause negative effects. In this case, Amanda drinks beers and when she mixes caffeine with alcohol, it can increase the chances of her having a miscarriage.
Similar to caffeine, small dosages of certain fish are healthful and would not have negative effects. However, according to the article “Methylmercury in Fish”, if an expectant mother is exposed to methyl mercury through fish, it can affect her child and their development. This happens when the methyl mercury goes in the baby’s blood, which can lead to decrease in head size, damage to the child’s brain, seizures, delays in development, blindness and disabilities in their intellectual development. Luckily, Amanda is watching what type of fish she is eating and will not have to worry about being exposed to high level of methyl mercury.
Labor and Delivery
Due to having gestational diabetes, Amanda’s doctor recommended a cesarean procedure to deliver her baby. This means that Amanda’s baby was surgically removed from her uterus after the doctors cut her abdomen.
While the doctors were performing the cesarean procedure, Amanda was given anesthesia so that she could witness the procedure but to also relieve the pain. Unfortunately, receiving anesthesia has serious negative effects by increasing breathing to become more difficult. This happens because the anesthesia can pass the placenta, which makes newborns unresponsive and sleepier compared to babies not exposed to anesthesia. During childbirth, Amanda’s husband Brent was not there to support and help Amanda. Without this support, childbirth for Amanda could be more difficult and the special bond between a child and a father after birth is negatively affected. It is believed that when a woman has support during childbirth, she feels more relaxed, has less problems during childbirth, and labor significantly shorter. In addition, women with support during labor were more loving and soft with their newborns, which is important for a positive relationship between a mother and her child. When Veronica was born, she weighed 11 pounds and 3 ounces. The average weight of a healthy baby is seven and a half pounds. In addition, Veronica had an Apgar of 8, indicating that she is a physically healthy baby. The Apgar score is based on the Apgar Scale that measures heart rate, respiratory effort, reflex irritability, muscle tone, and color. The Apgar scale is used to check how newborns are doing physically and to see if the baby is in danger or not. Typically, a score of 7 means a healthy baby, and a score of 3 or lower means danger for a newborn and needs help right away.
Infancy
Like many other mothers, Amanda breastfed Veronica. Breastfeeding has many positive effects, especially for the baby. Breastmilk contains the nutrients that newborns need, and can protect newborns from infections in the respiratory system and their intestines. Breastfeeding is especially important for children in developing countries, where malnutrition is high. Aside from helping prevent malnutrition, breastfeeding can affect the baby emotionally, build a strong relationship with their caregiver, less risks of diabetes and other positive effects. Not only does breastfeeding affect the baby, but it also affects the mother. Breastfeeding can decrease chances of cancer in the ovaries and breast, strengthen the emotional relationship with her child, and many others. Early in life, Veronica had severe colic, meaning her crying was longer and became fussier compared to babies without severe colic. Other symptoms of severe colic are changes of color in the face, such as the whole becoming more red or pale near the mouth, tension in the child’s legs, arms, fists, back and abdomen, crying without reason and others. Causes for severe colic are stress within the child’s family, child migraines, being fed too much or too little, any allergies, digestive tract that has an unhealthy amount of good bacteria, and the child’s digestive system still developing.
One of the causes of severe colic, the stress within a child’s family, can be evident in Veronica’s family. For instance, Brent was absent when Amanda was giving birth, leaving her without the support she needed from Brent. This lack of support can negatively affect Amanda and their relationship. In addition to the negative effects a child goes through, severe colic also affects the child’s parents. Parents whose children have severe colic often feel guilty, tired, and angry. For mothers, the breastfeeding stops earlier, and risks of depression increases. Fortunately, severe colic goes away when a child is around three or four months old.
