SECTION ONE: QUESTIONNAIRE
1. Question: At what age did you have your first child?
Answer: I was 21 years old.
2. Question: Were you married by then?
Answer: Yes.
3. Question: Did you discuss with your partner what time to have a child or did it just happen?
Answer: We had planned to have children after two years of marriage as I was still in college be we discovered I was pregnant after our honey moon.
4. Question: How did your husband take the news of your pregnancy earlier than you had planned?
Answer: He was surprised and feared that it would affect my education but all the same he was glad to be a dad.
5. Question: What were the first symptoms of pregnancy that you experienced?
Answer: I missed my periods and the pregnancy test was positive.
6. Question: Did you experience morning sickness?
Answer: Yes and they were quite bad, and I had to be given medication to manage the morning sickness.
7. Question: How soon did you start attending antenatal clinic after discovering you were pregnant?
Answer: I started at the sixth week of pregnancy?
8. Question: Was that not too late?
Answer: The doctor advised me to begin the clinic as soon as I discover I’m pregnant in the future but still reassured me that it was not too late as antenatal clinics should commence in the first trimester.
9. Question: What happens during the first antenatal visit?
Answer: The doctor does a background check of the patient to establish my medical history, an array of tests are conducted including blood type, blood pressure. I was also investigated for presence of some diseases including HIV virus.
10. Question: That’s all?
Answer: I was asked if I had received immunization against rubella and advised on good nutrition during pregnancy and the things to avoid
11. Question: What does this good nutrition entail?
Answer: It is basically a balanced diet containing progressively increasing amounts of carbohydrates, proteins and vitamins at every meal time. I was also given ascorbic acid, iron and calcium supplements.
12. Question: Did you get an ultra sound?
Answer: Yes twice.
13. Question: At what stages of your pregnancy.
Answer: At three months and at full term before delivery.
14. Question: What was the difference between the two ultrasound results?
Answer: In the first I could not see much but in the second the doctor was even able to detect the sex of my baby.
15. Question: What are the substances that you were advised to avoid?
Answer: First I was advised never to take any over the counter medication, limit my intake of alcohol and caffeine.
16. Question: What adjustments did you have to make in your life now that there was a baby on the way?
Answer: We had to buy the things that the baby would need and this was hard as we had little money, we rearranged our furniture to create room for the baby and I had to drop off my hobby of kick boxing club as the practice would have harmed my baby.
17. Question: Did your husband support you during the pregnancy?
Answer: Yes he did to a greater extent.
18. Question: What was the form of support?
Answer: He always accompanied me to the doctor’s appointment, helped in shopping for the baby, massaged my back when it was aching, listened to all my worries, the list is endless.
19. Question: How was the experience of labour and birth?
Answer: Painful but rewarding.
20. Question: Please explain further.
Answer: The pain of labour and birth were intense, but the midwives were of a great help they guided me through each step and helped reduce my anxieties, I was able to deliver my daughter through natural birth without any complications.
21. Question: How was the experience of caring for a new born?
Answer: It was very challenging but I’m grateful for the support of my husband and mother in law.
22. Question: Did you breastfeed?
Answer: Yes I did.
23. Question: How was the experience?
Answer: At first it was hard before I could produce sufficient milk, I also did not know how to engage the child on the breast well hence I felt pain but gradually it got better, breastfeeding is quite demanding and since I was also going to college I had to express milk for the baby to be given while I was away.
24. Question: What other challenges did you experience as new parents?
Answer: The child would at times have colic and cry for hours interrupting our sleep, initially we could not go out much as I balanced the needs of the child and college our sex lives also declined greatly in the first few months partly due to the discomfort that I still felt and the demands of the child that left us exhausted.
25. Question: Were childhood diseases a great challenge to you?
Answer: Having our daughter immunized for most preventable disease, coupled with prolonged breastfeeding helped a great deal. We also had an insurance cover that covered the medical bills whenever we needed to see the doctor.
26. Question: How did the coming of your daughter change your relationship with your husband?
27. Answer: My husband and I had been friends for long and we enjoyed a happy relationship hence the child further cemented our friendship and we were able to tackle the challenges that came with the child together.
SECTION TWO: REFLECTION OF THE MOTHER’S RESPONSES.
Pregnancy is the most beautiful thing that any woman can experience if it is well planned for and desired by both parents involved. Most scholars agree that the right age for a woman to have a child is when she is in her twenties, at this age the ova that she produces are of a good quality and the possibility of having chromosomal abnormalities is minimal, She is also less likely to develop pregnancy related complications such as high blood pressure and gestation diabetes. The interviewee’s decision to have a child at twenty one years was good as at that time she was at the prime of her reproductive age. The father’s age is also significant as the quantity and quality of sperms decline as a man ages and hence the chances of chromosomal abnormalities also increase with increase in the fathers age (Laura, 2010).The couple should also be in agreement on when to have the children, number and the spacing of the children. In the case of this couple the pregnancy came to them as a surprise though the support of the partner made them cope. The method of contraceptive to use so as to space the children should also be discussed by the parents.
Once the pregnancy has been established the mother has to take great care of her. The lady interviewed commenced antenatal clinic attendance as soon as she realized she was expectant. She also received and followed advice of her doctor on the substances to avoid. The substances that when taken can harm the developing feotus are referred to as teratogens (Laura, 2010).These teratogens are varied and their effects also varied. Some affect the feotus immediately and others later in the person’s life.Asprin, caffeine and antidepressants have been shown to cause low birth weight in infants or even miscarriage. Cigarettes in addition to causing low birth weight may lead to childhood asthma or even cancer. Alcohol and drugs like thalidomide and diethylstilbestrol may cause physical deformity in the child. Alcohol and other dependency drugs such as cocaine and heroin may lead to a child being born with irritability and sleep disorders. The child may also exhibit withdrawal symptoms of the drug that the mother was abusing.
The mother also received advice on good nutrition follow during pregnancy. The diet should be balanced consisting of all the classes of food just as the doctor had advised the lady. The diet should have additional portions of proteins to meet the demands of the growing feotus for amino acids. The quantities of calories should also gradually be increased as the pregnancy progresses due to increased energy requirements (Laura, 2010).The mother should also take iron supplements to boost her hemoglobin levels, calcium supplements for bone formation of the feotus and folic acid for proper formation of the feotal nervous system hence reduce the chances of the child developing spina bifida, cleft lip or other limb deformities. Research has shown that if a mother suffers from malnutrition during pregnancy she may suffer miscarriage or if the child is born the child risks being underweight or having physical deformity. The child may also generally have a lowered immunity that will leave the child predisposed to child hood respiratory infections. The mothers should also be careful not to contract toxoplasmosis, this she can contract through raw or undercooked meat and cat feaces.If contracted it causes eye and brain damage (Laura, 2010).The mother should also undertake light exercises to ease the discomforts that arise due to pregnancy.
Emotional support is also very important both during the pregnancy and when caring for the new born, the lady I interviewed received support both from her husband and her mother in law. The father though may not share in the physical burden of the pregnancy but he can offer the expectant mother the moral support. The father accepting the pregnancy is very important for the peace of the mother. When the expectant mother is stressed this can have negative effects on the unborn child and the child may suffer from anxiety disorders after birth. Parents must prepare adequately for the birth of their child, the couple interviewed did this by buying the baby necessities long before the birth of the child and making adjustments in their home to accommodate the child.Reseach has shown that older parents are better able to handle the financial challenges that comes with a new baby. They are also more emotionally prepared to deal with the psychological strains that the coming of the child may cause (Laura, 2010).
Breastfeeding is also very important in a child’s life and all mothers should strive to breastfeed their infants at least in the first six months of their life (Laura, 2010).A mother can only carry out breastfeeding well if she is relaxed and the family that surrounds the mother can help a great deal especially the husband in offering moral support. An infant brings with themselves many challenges such as sleepless nights due to colic this result in physical exhaustion of the mother due to spending sleepless nights. A father becomes important in lifting the burden off the mother by also participating in soothing the child. They should also be considerate and not make many demands on the mother as the infant is quite demanding. Children also come with a lot of financial demand of their feeds, diapers and insurance cover due to their vulnerability to many infections; older parents are better able to meet these demands as more often they are more financially stable. Both parents must also take a keen interest in immunization of the child, vaccination has been shown to greatly reduce a child’s predisposition to many childhood diseases and both parents should work together to ensure that the child receives the best care both prenatal and post natal care so as to get a boost at life
References
Interview responses from my aunt aged 38 years old
Laura, E.B. (2010) Infants and Children: Prenatal Through Middle Childhood, 7th Edition International ed. Boston; London: Pearson Education.
