The physical and emotional changes of pregnancy play vital roles in guiding women on the journey of becoming a mother. The pregnant woman was considered the expert in her pregnancy. She was encouraged to pay careful attention to her changing body, heart, and mind, and to her growing baby. Although pregnancy and birth carried more risks than today, women developed strong attachments to their unborn babies and worked with family, friends, and caregivers to insure safe passage of their babies.
Kristal and her partner Diego had only been dating for three and a half months before she found out she was pregnant. The lovely couple was overjoyed and were quite determined to make it work. The soon-to-be parents even picked out the name, Ian, when they found out they were having a boy. Kristal finally had the chance to be mom after she found out she got pregnant. But she witnessed one of the most terrible sights any new mother can, right after she gave birth to her baby. When she was in the delivery room, the doctor accidentally dropped her newborn infant to the floor. But what made this all the more painful the new mother was what the doctor said next: ‘It’s okay, you’re young, you’ll have more, YOU are okay.'” Things quickly took a turn when she felt a piercing pain about 20 weeks into her pregnancy.
When she called up her OB, she was told to come in for a check-up. But the next day, she woke up with the worst pain and said, “I knew in my heart this was not normal, something was wrong with my Ian.” She was later taken to the hospital and when the doctor told her what was wrong, she said, her heart shattered into a million pieces. The doctor reportedly told her the membranes of the water bag were protruding and I was already leaking water, the water Ian needed to survive was coming out. He also said her cervix had opened up and the placenta had come into contact with the va-inal canal causing an infection.
Kristal was left with only two choices; one of which was tough and the other was far worse: expedite her pregnancy or let her body take its course. Her contractions continued and the gap between them started shortening. “I called for the nurse because I told her I wanted the catheter out, I could feel it, but she said I had the epidural so I shouldn’t be feeling anything. I knew this was really happening, I was really losing my baby.” the unfortunate woman said. t was after that when Kristal saw the most gut-wrenching sight. “The OB who delivered Ian dropped him when he came out, and kept saying to me, ‘It’s okay, you’re young, you’ll have more, YOU are okay.’ How can you tell me I’M okay when I just lost my son?! I couldn’t believe what had just happened,” Kristal recalled. “My mom said she felt like he was going to be thrown away with all the trash – the way the OB handled Ian. Since Ian was so tiny, he kind of slid right out and they failed to catch him.” For two days after the birth, Kristal stayed in the hospital and were told they could spend time with Ian while they were there. After having a lot of time to process what happened to her, Kristal shared her story so that others who may be going through the same won’t have to feel alone.