Any Polish Mammys on here?

gaeilgegrinds1

Reason I am asking is two-fold, my OH and I hang out a lot with a couple, Irish man and Polish woman, she's recently pregnant. They are so relaxed, I think they've a totally different attitude to it, a really positive one.
Also, was mentioned on the maternity programme on rte aswell that they all go into labour easily themselves and all breastfeed. So wondering what kind of upbringing do they have that makes it all seem so positive? I think we're scared from a young age into thinking it's horrid. I found the whole experience very easy compared to what I had thought it would be to be honest about it.

cch

Sweeping generalisation alert here - possibly it's because they're younger, fitter, not overweight and have a different body shape to us (not having a stubby torso like most Irish women?)
Regarding breastfeeding that's probably cultural, maybe the formula companies didn't have as much of an impact in communist countries in the past 40 years or so??

SanFran07

NMH did a study about 2 years ago exploring why non nationals seem to give birth to their first babies comparable to second time Irish Mums (shorter more straightforward labours with less take up of epidurals). As far as I can remember they looked at BMI, height etc - all physical characteristics but they never considered culture or attitudes to giving birth.

gaeilgegrinds1

Sorry if I caused insult there cch, I didn't intend it. I have a fairly similar bodytype to most of the Polish Mammies I know so am wondering does that have anything to do with the first lad popping out...interesting...I'll have to look up that information, I find it fascinating!

wmpdd3

The girls I work with have been researching birthing since they were teenagers as well as marriage. They really go into what they want, some go home for extra tests that are not standard here. They work very phically jobs but are not afraid of cutting this back for the last few weeks before birth.

I admit most of the girls I know are 19 - 32, but they do have a slimer average build. 5 girls I know really well are fitness freaks. they are obsessed with volley ball.

Its true about the breast feeding it was the only way outside the cities and you couldn't really choose formula unless you knew you had a steady supply.

Like us they try all the tricks and old wives tales to bring on labour but most of the girls went a few days over then went into labour. One girl had a emergency section at the end of her labour and her family were so shocked, they all came over to make sure she was OK.

Cat Melodeon

I think cch was talking about her own generalisation, not yours gaeilgegrinds!

I have a good friend from near Krakow. She moved back to Poland before Christmas but had her daughter here 2 years ago (we were pregnant at the same time) and found the attitudes to pregnancy and early motherhood in Ireland (in general) completely alien. The one thing that used to drive her crazy was the way that we had to go to a hospital and meet a consultant for every single antenatal appointment. She did not consider herself to be sick or to need the attention of a doctor.

We live in a rural town with a 1hr 20 min drive to the hospital she was attending (she wasn't aware that there was a closer one, still 35 miles away). According to her, if she had been in a similar location in Poland she would have attended her local GP clinic which would have had a midwife permanently attached to it. Once a week, a consultant would travel from the hospital in the city to the clinic in the small town - she thought it was insane and a criminal waste of resources to force upwards of 100 women to travel long distances to attend hospitals each day when it would make so much more sense for the few members of an antenatal team to travel to locally based clinics.

Childbirth itself she saw as a natural process that women are designed to do and she had no fear of it. She wasn't looking forward to it or anything, but she definitely saw it as something normal that a woman does on her own with a bit of help from a midwife and your family. Her mum and sister both came over for the birth, I think there was a bit of a row when only one person could be with her during labour and she chose her mum rather than her husband as her mum had experience. She thought formula was for sick mums & babies, there was no advertising of it when she was growing up and it was normal to breastfeed so she never considered anything else but breastfeeding. I found her a breath of fresh air as I was the only person I knew (outside of the interweb) who was breastfeeding and most of my Irish friends found me a bit deviant. She wasn't particularly strident in her beliefs - I don't think she'd even describe them as beliefs - she's just very matter-of-fact about what is normal and what is not.

I think that attitude makes for a very positive outlook on what your body can do. If you tell yourself/are told enough times that pregnancy/labour/breastfeeding is hard, you will start to believe it. We are conditioned from a very young age through the experiences of our peers and through popular culture that you need a doctor to have a baby, that you have to panic and rush to a hospital as soon as you think you feel a contraction (from Friends to practically every baby-related film I've ever seen), that breastfeeding is hard and a bit yucky, Sure, there are no medals for going the normal, natural route, but it certainly would ease the pressure on the maternity system if more Irish women were able to go that route. I completely understand why it isn't that way, it couldn't be any different when we have such a medicalised culture surrounding pregnancy, childbirth and infant care.