11/10/2011
Today we spent the day visiting midwives houses. These are very interesting because practically everywhere in the US, babies are now born in hospitals, not houses. This tradition is slowly becoming less popular now in Mexico because of the implementation of Seguro Popular, the universal health system in Mexico. Seguro Popular covers all births and birthing consults so there is really no reason to go to a midwife’s house anymore. Especially since the patient must pay a midwife for their services. What’s interesting is that the cost of the birth is dependant on the sex of the child. Because men are more valued in this culture, it costs twice as much if you have a boy compared to a girl. They believe that boys can work more and earn back that money. It seems like this case is slowly being diminished and rightfully so, as men and women are now earning equal roles in society.
Most midwives have been practicing this skill for so long that they can even tell the sex of the baby just by the orientation of the baby in the mother’s stomach. She told us that if the mother’s stomach is rounded, then it usually means it is a girl, and if the stomach is pointed in front, it usually means it is a boy. I wonder how accurate this method is? She also told us that some midwives can look at the placenta and not only tell how many more kids the woman will have, but also what sex they will be.
The process of having your baby at a midwife’s house starts with a limpia to rid the woman of any evils. Next, if the woman’s contractions are progressing fast enough, she will drink a tea that helps the contractions and birthing process occur faster. Last, the woman will have her baby and finish with an herbal bath to cleanse her body. Without the herbal bath, the woman risks having bacteria and contaminated air sit in her uterine cavity, which could cause problems in the future.
Most midwives have been practicing this skill for so long that they can even tell the sex of the baby just by the orientation of the baby in the mother’s stomach. She told us that if the mother’s stomach is rounded, then it usually means it is a girl, and if the stomach is pointed in front, it usually means it is a boy. I wonder how accurate this method is? She also told us that some midwives can look at the placenta and not only tell how many more kids the woman will have, but also what sex they will be.
The process of having your baby at a midwife’s house starts with a limpia to rid the woman of any evils. Next, if the woman’s contractions are progressing fast enough, she will drink a tea that helps the contractions and birthing process occur faster. Last, the woman will have her baby and finish with an herbal bath to cleanse her body. Without the herbal bath, the woman risks having bacteria and contaminated air sit in her uterine cavity, which could cause problems in the future.
11/11/2011
Friday we went to a nearby public school to give a presentation about methods of contraception to a class. We spent most of our free time throughout the week organizing our presentation so it would be fun but still get across the information that we wanted them to know. We had a class of about 35 students ranging from ages 13-16. Surprisingly, the kids were very involved in the presentation, especially the boys in the group. We got the kids involved by playing jeopardy and having challenges where the students would have to put a condom on a banana or place a contraceptive patch in the correct location. I was in charge of presenting on injections, which are very common in Mexico. At the end we spent about a half hour answering questions, which was the best part of the entire presentation. When kids ask questions its cause they have an interest in the answer and it let us know that kids weren’t bored with our presentation.
In preparing for this presentation I noticed there are many differences with preference of contraceptive between Mexico and the US. In the US, pills and condoms are the most common used contraceptive methods. This is not the case in Mexico because of their cultural perceptions. First, men don’t like to use condoms because it is a simple of non-affection. Men usually where I condom during one night stands and if a man were to where a condom, their wife would commonly think they were sleeping with someone else. Also, talking about sexual relations is very taboo in Mexican culture. Therefore, people don’t like to show or do anything sex related in public. This is the issue with pills for young women because they would have to hide pills from their parents. In Mexico, the injection or the implant into the arm are the most common methods of contraception. These two methods are hardly ever used in the US.
In preparing for this presentation I noticed there are many differences with preference of contraceptive between Mexico and the US. In the US, pills and condoms are the most common used contraceptive methods. This is not the case in Mexico because of their cultural perceptions. First, men don’t like to use condoms because it is a simple of non-affection. Men usually where I condom during one night stands and if a man were to where a condom, their wife would commonly think they were sleeping with someone else. Also, talking about sexual relations is very taboo in Mexican culture. Therefore, people don’t like to show or do anything sex related in public. This is the issue with pills for young women because they would have to hide pills from their parents. In Mexico, the injection or the implant into the arm are the most common methods of contraception. These two methods are hardly ever used in the US.
RSS Feed