GIVING BIRHT IN UK

Even though England is just a hop, skip and a jump across the Atlantic, giving birth in England is a vastly different experience from what happens in Uganda, as I was to discover eight months ago when I gave birth to a lovely little girl in London.

In the UK, giving birth is generally safe wherever you choose to have your baby. It's your choice to give birth, and you can change your mind if you want to as long as the pregnancy is not yet 24 weeks.

Much as abortion is illegal in Uganda, the reverse is true in the UK and the moment one gets pregnant, on her first visit to the hospital she is asked if she wants to keep the baby or terminate the pregnancy. But since abortion had never crossed my mind, I would not opt for an abortion.

After feeling unwell for a couple of days, i rushed to hospital for an emergency check up and treatment, as the routine for any patience who goes to hospital to take urine sample, I was told to take urine that was checked to rule out the cause of the problem. Immediately the results came back, the nurse told me my pregnancy test was positive.

Though I had taken some time longing to have a baby, it sounded normal and at my age, I was old enough and ready to become a mother. The nurse requested me to wait and see a gynecologist for further tests since I was complaining of stomach pain. With the gynecologist, I took several tests and ruled out the possibility of an ectopic pregnancy.

After thorough check ups, the gynecologist referred me to my General Practioner (GP) whom we call doctors in simple language. With my doctor, I had to discuss further about all possible issues concerning the pregnancy. Just as the previous practitioners I met, my doctor also asked me if I was happy to keep the baby or never wanted the pregnancy before we could go ahead to discuss any further issues regarding the pregnancy.

Since I was happy to keep the baby, we therefore went ahead to discuss about the pregnancy, among all that we discussed, I was asked to make a choice of the hospital in which i wanted to give birth, type of birth I wanted, caesarean or normal. A free pregnancy package was offered, in which I found several books concerning pregnancy, free daily boos among others. Because I worked and lived in Kingston most of the time, I chose Kingston hospital which I was more familiar with.

Pregnant women in the UK are given chance to make choice of the hospitals where they want to have their babies. Most babies are born in hospital, but some are born at home or in a midwife-led birth centres. Your midwife will know what’s available in your area and therefore would let you make a suitable choice.

My doctor booked for me the first appointment with a mid-wife at Kingston hospital which I had chosen, still to discuss about the pregnancy and how best I would look after myself to avoid any problems that would led to improper development of the human inside that could led to miscarriage or still birth or even early labor.

At first appointment, I took all tests that could be of any danger to my pregnancy and made for me several other appointments at least for the first 4months. The midwife discussed the local options available to me, although I was free to choose any maternity services if i prepared to travel to them. I also got more information concerning hygiene which is also prime consideration in England.

As I was so reluctant to attend my visit, the midwife took it upon themselves to call and remind me so that I don’t miss any further appointments. Antenatal classes were as well booked. What amused me most was seeing men accompany their wives for the antenatal classes and showed full responsibility until their babies were born.

Time for giving birth was not far from then and therefore I had to chose a birth partner which whom I had to be with in labor ward, in this case, it had to be the baby’s father, a friend or any relative of my choice.

My friend, who watched me during the whole period of my pregnancy, accepted the pledge and therefore, I was pleased to go with her as my birth partner.

On Friday when the contractions begun, I called the ambulance that turned up sooner than expected, in less than 10minutes, after the call, I was taken to hospital to the labor ward.

Since I chose to give birth in hospital, I had two options the first was to give birth in the hospital portion of the birthing ward where epidurals to decrease pain were freely dispensed, and the second was to have my baby in the birthing center section of the hospital where natural births were encouraged and epidurals were not available.

At hospital, I was taken into a private room for the midwife to check me, time came and I was in labor I was taken straight to triage, examined, and sent to one of these calming rooms which just so happened to be painted in my favorite color - lavender.

At least three very hospitable midwives attended to me that night and the care and love that they showed me never allowed me to feel much pain. They told me that they would check on me every 10 minutes, but to let nature take its course, though there was an alarm bell to ring just incase i felt like speaking to one of them.

After several attempts for a natural birth had failed, the doctor opted for a caesarean section and I had no choice but to sign a form and be taken to theatre because the baby was so tired and the head had started getting swollen. At first I was so scared to go for a caesarean, but my mind convinced me I was in safe hands, since I was attended to by almost ten very experiences professional doctors and seven students besides the doctors.

My friend who is a Christian prayed for me and whispered in my ear saying, ‘‘Jesus is watching over you’’. Who was i to doubt the powers of God? I asked the doctors how long the whole process was going to take before I came out of the theatre. He said to me in a very soft voice, ‘‘Maria, I want to assure you, it wont take more than thirty minutes before we get out of the theatre,’’ ‘‘ just do not worry, everything will be ok.’’

In the theatre, they played for me African music that they thought would suit me, alternatively, they asked me to make a choice or if I had come along with my own CD, they would play that. I had no choice but to listen to whatever they chose for me because I had lost interest in the whole process since I never chose to have a caesarean.

I just wondered why they played for me Olive Mgomba but never the less, maybe they thought it could suit me since I am an African. However if I was prepared enough, I would have requested for Mariah Carey’s – Hero which is my favorite. But since I was not impressed of the whole process i therefore, left them to play for me any songs they had chosen.

To my surprise, in less than 25minutes, the whole process had almost ended and they showed me my baby. At first I was not excited to see the baby, because, I only thought about the caesarean pain wondered whether I would come back to life.

Immediately the baby was cleaned, she was put in a thing that looked like a plastic container, but these are beds where babies sleep until you leave the hospital. Mothers are not allowed to share a bed while in hospital for reason that since she is very tired, she could roll over and sleep on the baby that might even result in death.

Unlike in Uganda where you pack everything that you have to use in hospital, I was served in a room which was filled with goody bags dispensed at hospitals that included things that you can really use after birth, extra nursing pads, lots of laundry detergent (including my favorite Fairy tablets), Dettol spray (similar to Lysol), and other useful things of that nature.

As if that was not enough, manufactures of some or all the mentioned products kept on knocking the door wondering if I needed any free baby products for further use. I always answered yes, why buy when free products were offered.

Breastfeeding was encouraged instead with classes offered at the hospital right after birth as well as plenty of on-site help. And therefore, it is upon ones choice, to breastfeed, bottle-feeding or do both.

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When you feel well and you want to go back home you notify the midwife on duty, whoever is coming to pick you is always advised to come along with a car seat in which the baby is supposed to be put. And at the reception where you report your departure, the receptionist must make sure the baby is not put comfortably in the car seat and there fore will clear you off the list.

Once you go bac home, after a day, the community midwives come to check on you and your baby until ten days have passed unless otherwise one feels unwell. This happens for all babies born in England. Then, three days later, a midwife comes back again to check on you and the baby, and they conduct the infant blood test on this day where they prick the baby's heel and test the blood for 4 different diseases.

While this would put the fear of God in every parent, the midwives I have found are amazingly skilled at this and there was perhaps 5 seconds of crying on the part of my daughter.

The last midwife’s visit to your home is 10 days after your baby's birth. After this, they officially discharge you from the hospital. A health visitor then comes to confirm the health situation and the baby’s.

The health visitor goes ahead to check the house where the baby is going to stay and asks how many people occupies the house and a lot more questions that concern your health. This visit is purely informational. The health visitor gives you a red booklet which you take with you to each doctor's appointment and as such, you get to handle and keep your baby's medical records and see everything that is written in them by their doctor and anyone else who comes into contact with them medically.

Where you give birth can affect the pain relief options available to you. For example, you can't have an epidural at a home birth.

Giving birth in England is really a very different experience from the process of giving birth in Uganda! Comfortable with the attitude of the midwifes and doctors as well as other hospital staff.

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