Class activity
Different communities share different practices and beliefs pertaining to childbirth. The beliefs and practices dictate how the women conduct themselves during and after the childbirth period, hence their importance in identifying the unique health needs of women from different cultures.
For example, in both the Latin American and Asian communities, the woman is required to disengage from any physically demanding activities for some period of time before and after childbirth. The strenuous activities range from sexual intercourse to specific tasks and chores around the household. However, the dietary requirements for women during this period in the two cultures tend to differ as the consumption of certain foods is restricted. This, subsequently affects their nutritional intake and ultimately the health of the mother and the child. The two communities therefore require the family members to assist with the responsibilities of the new mother as she recovers and bonds with her child. When compared to the Latin American community, the Asian community is stricter with gender matching during childbirth, hence prefer women care providers as opposed to men.
The above cultural information is important as care givers are required to incorporate them in their childbirth practice to make the process more culturally sensitive. Therefore, understanding the cultural practices and beliefs assist the care giver to understand the unique health challenges that face women from different cultural backgrounds, and provide the best possible services, without violating or offending their cultural beliefs and practices (Bacote, 2002). For instances, by understanding the cultural requirements for gender matching in the Asian community, the care giving institution will try and provide whenever possible female care givers for the patients. In the event that a gender matched care giver is not available, the male caregiver should use this information to identify the need to respect the modesty of the woman during the entire process.
Research Activity
In a study dubbed the Best Practices in Second Stage Labor Care: Maternal Bearing Down and Positioning, the researcher sought to establish the adverse maternal and fetal effects of the current bearing down efforts in the second stage of labor (Roberts & Hanson, 2007). The study used the information from the existing scholarly research on the subject as evidence to support the identified effects and outcomes of the current practices. The findings from the study suggest that despite the effectiveness of direct pushing in shortening the duration of the second stage labor, the practice remains risky as it may lead to the deoxygenation of the fetus, placing its health at risk. For the woman, direct pushing may cause injury to or impair her perineal, pelvic and urinary configurations.
The research is reliable because it uses evidence from numerous scholarly publications to support the individual findings in the study. In addition, the material from which the researchers collected the evidence supporting their findings represent a wide variety of appropriate cases that satisfy the numerous selection requirements, making the study valid in the scientific community.
From the study, an opening for further research on the challenges faced by the women affected by the negative effects of direct pushing in the second stage of labor on their pelvic, urinary and perineal structures is presented.
The findings from the study will assist clinicians to minimize the effects of bearing down and direct pushing during the second stage of labor by customizing the care provided to the women at this stage of labor.