Saturday Sidebar: “How did you feel when you held your baby for the first time?”

This week’s Saturday Sidebar Question comes from World Moms Blog writer Purnima.  She asked our writers and readers:

“How did you feel when you held your baby for the first time? Share with us your birth story.”

Check out what some of our World Moms had to say…

Mama Mzungu from Kenya with her baby

Mama Mzungu from Kenya with her baby

MamaMzunga of Kenya writes: “My first emotion when I saw my second son for the first time was “it’s about time!!” We had our second child in Nairobi in a modern hospital. It was fully equipped for an emergency and the doctors were a bit more used to working with foreigners, which clinched our decision to have him in the capital city instead of where we were living in Western Kenya. But the experience was very much like how birthing must have been in the US 40 years ago. My husband was not allowed in the room with me and in fact I saw very few men in the labor ward at all. Laboring women were literally leaning on one another for support in a kind of sisterhood that I almost envied. I ended up with a c-section, and by the time I was fully lucid, I was back in the room with my husband waiting anxiously for someone to bring the baby. We waited. And waited. And waited. FOUR excruciating hours later we got to hold him. He cooed sweetly, breast fed like a champ and seemed oblivious to all our pre-existing panic, which washed away as soon as we saw his beautiful little face. You can read more about this only funny in retrospect experience here.”

Alison Lee of Malaysia writes:
“I blogged the birth story of my second son here.”

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World Moms Blog

World Moms Blog is an award winning website which writes from over 30 countries on the topics of motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. Over 70 international contributors share their stories from around the globe, bonded by the common thread of motherhood and wanting a better world for their children. World Moms Blog was listed by Forbes Woman as one of the "Best 100 Websites for Women 2012 & 2013" and also called a "must read" by the NY Times Motherlode in 2013. Our Senior Editor in India, Purnima Ramakrishnan, was awarded the BlogHer International Activist Award in 2013.

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SOCIAL GOOD: One Mom’s Mission to Save Lives in Laos

SOCIAL GOOD: One Mom’s Mission to Save Lives in Laos

One-year-old Nadya at a temple in Thailand.

 

In 2009, I moved with my husband, one-year-old daughter  and four-year-old son to work with trauma survivors at the Mae Tao clinic on the Thai-Burma border.  While there, and at Angor Children’s Hospital in Cambodia, I learned that midwifery care was non-existent.  Wanting to find ways to support pregnant mothers, I trained as a doula and, later, as a Lamaze childbirth educator.

In 2011, I traveled to a ground-breaking, private birthing center in Uganda (Shanti Uganda) to try out my new doula skills.  In addition to working at the Shanti Uganda Birthing Center, I volunteered at the local hospital. What a life-changer!

There was a shocking lack of sterile supplies for birthing, for example one woman gave birth on the dress she wore to the hospital.  I later learned that in addition to lack of supplies being unpleasant for the mother, it was unhygienic and could cause infection.

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World Moms Blog

World Moms Blog is an award winning website which writes from over 30 countries on the topics of motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. Over 70 international contributors share their stories from around the globe, bonded by the common thread of motherhood and wanting a better world for their children. World Moms Blog was listed by Forbes Woman as one of the "Best 100 Websites for Women 2012 & 2013" and also called a "must read" by the NY Times Motherlode in 2013. Our Senior Editor in India, Purnima Ramakrishnan, was awarded the BlogHer International Activist Award in 2013.

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Saturday Sidebar: How and where did you meet your husband/partner? – Part 1

This week’s Saturday Sidebar Question is a spin off from Mama Kat’s writing prompts.

“How and where did you meet your husband/partner?”

Check out what some of our World Moms had to say…

A lady in France

A lady in France

ALadyInFrance of France writes:
“My husband and I both came to church in NYC the same day for the first time. He was an atheist but he thought he might meet some girls. I found him to be proud and unfriendly so I kept telling people I wasn’t interested when they suggested we should go out. Three years later we finally did go out, and this October will be 12 years.”

There is more to this story. Read it here in the French lady’s site. The pictures are priceless. You should hop on there to see them.

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World Moms Blog

World Moms Blog is an award winning website which writes from over 30 countries on the topics of motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. Over 70 international contributors share their stories from around the globe, bonded by the common thread of motherhood and wanting a better world for their children. World Moms Blog was listed by Forbes Woman as one of the "Best 100 Websites for Women 2012 & 2013" and also called a "must read" by the NY Times Motherlode in 2013. Our Senior Editor in India, Purnima Ramakrishnan, was awarded the BlogHer International Activist Award in 2013.

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GUEST POST: Grief: What We’re Not Supposed To Talk About

GUEST POST: Grief: What We’re Not Supposed To Talk About

I’m not going to apologize for being sad.

I have been thinking a lot lately about how it has been two weeks, 15 days to be exact, since my miscarriage (well, finding out about it anyway). And how although I have so many friends who have been supportive and such, I sense that the general feeling in our culture, when death happens, or a loss occurs, is to “get over it”.

Scattered throughout my days I hear these messages whispered in my ear..

 move on

occupy your time

stay busy

you will get over this

I suppose in some ways I’m telling myself those things. I know people mean well. It’s just in our culture to stick a band-aid on things that are wounded and keep on going.

But you know what? I don’t want to get over it. Not right now. Nope. I’m sitting down right here on the ground and crossing my legs in the sand. I don’t care if it has been two weeks, or six… or two years or a decade. Maybe never. (more…)

World Moms Blog

World Moms Blog is an award winning website which writes from over 30 countries on the topics of motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. Over 70 international contributors share their stories from around the globe, bonded by the common thread of motherhood and wanting a better world for their children. World Moms Blog was listed by Forbes Woman as one of the "Best 100 Websites for Women 2012 & 2013" and also called a "must read" by the NY Times Motherlode in 2013. Our Senior Editor in India, Purnima Ramakrishnan, was awarded the BlogHer International Activist Award in 2013.

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Travel Itinerary for the Week of September 10th!

We kick off this week in Canada on Monday, where Toronto mom Kirsten Doyle is wondering about how to approach one of the uglier aspects of parenting: keeping our kids safe from predators. How much do we tell them, and how do we answer questions we may not be quite prepared for?

On Tuesday, we head to India, where The Alchemist has a social good post for us. She talks about her ongoing journey of spiritualism and her quest for enlightenment through an organization that has some surprising similarities with World Moms Blog.

On Wednesday, we’re off to the Philippines to hear from Mrs. P. Cuyugan. She talks about the challenges of raising a child, working, and going to school, and describes how she’s managed to get by with a little help from her mother.

On Thursday we will be in Brazil with Eco Ziva, who is talking about prejudice. She tells us about the cultural implications of raising girls as compared with boys, and talks about how she is trying to teach her kids about tolerance.

On Friday we have a guest post! Chantal Hayes from North Carolina talks about her grief after a pregnancy loss, and how she is just not ready to move on.

On Saturday, check out the Saturday Sidebar with Purnima, where the World Moms give their thoughts on an important topic, and chime in with your answers to this week’s question!

Follow our twitter stream on Monday night (@WorldMomsBlog) because Jennifer Burden will be at the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in NYC then at the Strut: “Moms on a Mission” show representing World Moms Blog!

Check out our sidebar for this month’s giveaway — a signed copy of “Confessions of a Scary Mommy” by Jill Smokler!

— World Moms Blog

Our World Moms Blog logo was designed by the creative Erica Joyner Designs in Virginia, USA.

This World Moms Blog Travel Itinerary is written by Kirsten Doyle @ Running For Autism

 

World Moms Blog

World Moms Blog is an award winning website which writes from over 30 countries on the topics of motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. Over 70 international contributors share their stories from around the globe, bonded by the common thread of motherhood and wanting a better world for their children. World Moms Blog was listed by Forbes Woman as one of the "Best 100 Websites for Women 2012 & 2013" and also called a "must read" by the NY Times Motherlode in 2013. Our Senior Editor in India, Purnima Ramakrishnan, was awarded the BlogHer International Activist Award in 2013.

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