Child birth in my life and Around the World

My daughter was born on October 18, 2011. I had a long delivery with her. She was born at 1:05am and weighed 8 lbs and 4 oz. I carried her full term, and she was born a week later. I was supposed to be induced the morning of the 17th if I had not gone into labor. That morning my water broke at home so I went to the hospital. I remember the staff kept telling me I would have her by lunch time that day but she was not born until 1:05 am on the 18th. I named my daughter Zoey Lynn Bragg. I had the support of my husband and my family. My husband helped the doctors some during the delivery. He even got to cut the umbilical cord. He was there with me the whole time. I enjoyed having the chance to hold her once she was born. Zoey is our only child so far. She was like our anniversary gift. Our anniversary was Oct 9th and her due date was Oct 10. Zoey is now 2 years old.

I chose to write about Zoey's birth because it is my only birth experience besides what my mom has told me about my birth. The things that can happen during the pregnancy and during birth can impact a child for life. For example, the use of drugs during pregnancy impacts the development of the child and the child might show characteristics of addiction after birth.

I chose to research births in Germany. I found in my research that in Germany births are performed by midwifes. Doctors are not mandated like the midwifes. Moms can stop work 6 weeks before due date. Moms are not allowed to work until 8 weeks after the birth. They get the full amount of pay while on maternity leave. The mother can take up to 3 years off of unpaid leave. The 3rd year is a floating year and can be taken any time. The mother or father can take off during the 3rd year. The Germany government has a list of names that is acceptable names to name a child. This is supposed to be to keep children from being picked on by other children.  In my experience, I had unpaid maternity leave. I also chose to have a doctor deliver Zoey because of the chance of complications that were likely due to me having a heart murmur.