Part I: Interview with Mother
Background:
Name of Infant (First name only): Vivianne
Birthdate of infant: 12/12/2017
Age at time of interview: 3 months Birth weight of infant:8 lbs
Baby’s weight at time of interview: 13 lbs First name of mother: Oasia Age of mother: 27
Occupation of mother: teacher Married/Not married: Not married
First name of partner: Marquise Age of partner: 28
Occupation of partner: works in a warehouse
Pregnancy # ___2__ Age and gender of other children: 3, female
Your relationship to the mother: family friend
Prenatal—Tell me about your pregnancy.
How and when did you learn that you were pregnant?
· Says she just knew, she knows her body and as soon as she could take a test it confirmed she was pregnant
Were you under a doctor’s care? What were your visits like?
· Didn’t start seeing the doctor until she was 3 months in, after that it was regularly
· When she would go they would do just a regular check up, make sure she was taking her vitamins, check her blood and urine
· Closely monitor to make sure she would not develop diabetes
How many ultrasounds did you have during your pregnancy? Why?
· She had only 2 ultrasounds during her entire pregnancy
· Says she could’ve gotten more if she would have opted to do genetic testing but she did not want to put herself through that stress
Did you have any prenatal genetic tests? (genetic screening, blood tests, amnio, etc.)
· No does not see the point in doing it because they do not give you concrete answers
· Creates unnecessary stress for no reason
Any concerns during pregnancy? How did you feel during pregnancy?
· Was worried about her stress level because at the start of her pregnancy she broke up with her children’s father
· Stressful in the beginning due to conflict with her now ex-partner
· Once she removed herself from the stressful environment she says she had a great pregnancy and labor
Did you know the sex of the baby before birth? Thoughts about that?
· Yes, wanted to know if she was prepared with stuff from her previous pregnancy or if she would have to invest in getting new boy stuff
Did you make any changes in your diet or change any of your habits—e.g. coffee, alcohol, smoking, etc.
· Had to stop eating chocolate because it did not sit well with her
· She also started eating a lot more cheese, milk and red meat which are things she did not really eat before
· Stopped smoking
How much weight did you gain?
Were there any events during pregnancy that especially concerned you?
· Build up / leaving of ex partner
· Left 3 months into pregnancy because the stress was too much
How did you prepare for the birth? (physically, psychologically)
· Has a yoga ball that she would roll on
· Make herself sit in “indian style”
· Drink raspberry leaf tea (4x a day)
· Envision her cervix opening up like a rose blooming
What was your partner’s reaction to any of the above?
Birth and Delivery—Tell me about the birth.
Where was the baby born? Was the baby “on time”? How many weeks?
· She was born at St. Mary’s Hospital in Waterbury, Ct.
· Baby was born 3 days before her expected due date
· She was 39 weeks at the time she gave birth
How did you realize that labor had begun? How long were you in labor?
· Water broke in the middle of the night while she was asleep
· Was in labor for 15 hours, arrived at 3am to the hospital and gave birth at around 6pm
What kind of birth was it—natural, caesarean ,etc. Who was present?
· Natural birth , her best friend was in the room
· She did not want the father in the room because he would just stress her out
· Her mother was watching her older child
Did you have anesthesia (epidural, other?)? Any special circumstances?
· Yes but she did not take it until it was absolutely necessary for her to
· Also said it hurt for it to go in, unlike with her first pregnancy
How did you feel when you first saw your baby? What did the baby look like?
· Felt relieved and shocked
· Relieved that she had finally arrived
· Shocked because she had a full head of hair and 2 teeth
· Said her baby had really big eyes for her face and that she looked like a character from Dr. Seuss
If this was not your first birth, was it the same or different from previous births?
Partner’s participation and reaction?
· Stress level was higher for this birth because father was not around
· Her vagina tore with the first birth, it did not tear the second time
· Second birth was easier, baby was out after 3 pushes
· Was given a lot more medical attention after second birth
· Bled a lot more from first birth
Postpartum—Tell me about your experiences just after the baby was born.
How did you feel after the birth? Physically? Emotionally? What was recovery like?
· Felt amazing after giving birth she was up and moving not too long afterwards
· She felt fine the first couple of days, but then after about a week she started experiencing cold flashes
· Believes this was due to a clot that she eventually passed after a few days
· Emotionally, she was good but felt like she needed to set a lot of boundaries with people because this was the first time she was living back home with her mother since having children
Did the baby room with you at the hospital? Do you know the Apgar score? Did the baby need any special care in the hospital?
· Yes, specifically chose that hospital because they have a rule that the babies are not allowed to stay in the nursery overnight
· Apgar score; remembers that she was off by 1but that she got 2’s in every other category
· Had to have her teeth removed
How were the first days at home? Breast or bottle feeding? (Are you still breast-feeding? If not, how long did you breastfeed?) What is the baby’s sleeping schedule? (When did the baby start sleeping through the night?)
· First few days was okay
· She only breastfeeds the baby
· Baby wakes up every 2-3 hours, at about 8:30pm she bathes her and at about 9 she puts her to bed
· Baby wakes up again at around 12, she feeds her and then she is asleep for the night until 5-6 in the morning
· Recently began sleeping through the night, about a week ago
Partner’s reaction? (Other children's reaction?)
· Older child was 2 when the baby was born
· Was still nursing the older child when the baby was born so she would always want to be around when she would be nursing the baby
· Now that she no longer nurses her the older child just wants to help out with everything she can
Relationship—Tell me how you feel you are getting to know the baby.
Is the baby the way you imagined s/he would be? Any surprises?
· Baby looks exactly how she pictured her to look like
· Being born with 2 teeth and a full head of hair surprised her
· Also the fact the she tries to hold herself up on her own
How has the baby changed the life of the family? Other parent? Children? Other?
· Mother says she’s personally changed, she does not care about other people’s reactions and opinions
· Realized she could not be with her children’s father because it would not be healthy for herself or her daughters.
· Older child has become more caring, independent and sassy as well
· She feels the older child is sassy due to her age though not so much about the baby
How would you describe the baby’s personality?
· Very nonchalant
· Vocal, makes it known when she doesn't like something by yelling or crying
· Independent, does not like laying down likes to sit up and tries to do it on her own
· Very expressive , with her eyes and noises
How did you choose the baby’s name?
· Wanted to do something to honor her grandmother her passed a few months prior to the baby being born
Part II: Observation of Baby