This photo cracks me up. That's my belly--at 9 months pregnant! I am in my last month of pregnancy and ready to have my little Baiano-Americano any day now!!
Being pregnant in Brazil, and planning for birth, has been an interesting cultural experience unto itself. People love babies and children here, so you get lots of nice attention from strangers---though if you don't like random folks touching you (or your kid) then maybe not so charming. I've been just fine with that part.
The challenging part, for me,is the actual birth plan. In the private hospitals, where you generally go if you have a health plan, the cesarean birth rate hovers at 80-90%!!! Astronomical! As a point of comparison, the World Health Organization states that no region in the world is justified in having a cesarean rate greater than 10 to 15 percent. In the U.S., incidence of cesarean has increased though the numbers I've seen are still hovering around 30%. Here, the public hospitals (where you go if you have no health insurance) are more within the neighborhood of overall U.S. cesarean rates, perhaps slightly higher. I was boggled by the numbers! I could go into a long-winded discussion as to why, but I refrain. Though to explain the basic birth culture I've encountered in the private sector here in Salvador (and pertaining primarily to this generation of birthing women in their 20's and 30's)--Women generally opt for elective cesarean ("parto cesarea"). They make their appointment at the hospital in advance, get their hair/nails/wax done, check in, have their surgery/baby, and then the family throws a party at the hospital and gives out favors to everyone who visits the baby. It is very planned and festive, and for me, just a totally different approach/mentality about child birth. Within the "parto normal" community here, there are a handful of doctors that have a reputation for really supporting/encouraging natural childbirth, and no midwives to be found. My doctor is not among that handful, though has been very open and supportive of my desire to have a vaginal birth and has acquired her experience in the public hospitals. I am also having a doula present, who was the only doula I found in Salvador. While this is not exactly mainstream practice in the U.S., it is definitely not as rare as it is here. But, as I have learned, these cultural practices ebb and flow over time and so far for me has been a fascinating comparative cultural study!!
