A Child Is Born
Germaine Greer
Theme
‘A child is Born’ by Germaine Greer discusses on the matter of childbirth and childcare. She shows the differences in between the rich technocratic Western society and the poor traditional Eastern society on the subject of pregnancy, childcare and child rearing. She is of the opinion that the Eastern society is better in comparison to Western society. In the Eastern society, the pregnant woman feels secure in pre-natal as well as post natal activities. This is hardly found in the Western society.
Summary:
Childbirth management in the Eastern society varies from place to place. The mother is familiar about the way of giving birth to child in such society because they are used to in such customs. They don't feel so much physical and mental tension while giving birth. The approach in Eastern society is ritualistic. She is covered with taboos and prohibitions which reduces her psychological burden. All the relatives including the husbands remain present during the process of giving birth. It decreases the pain of the mother. Their presence gives a sense of security to her. They create such an environment which make mother feel safe. Nevertheless, the chance of death of mother is high in Eastern society. In many of the Eastern societies, a pregnant woman goes to her mother's house. For example: the writer presents us an example from society of India. In Rajput society, the woman goes to mother's house prior to giving birth and after the birth to the child. She is taken care properly. The birth of the child is celebrated with singing and dancing. The pregnant woman is taken care not only by family members but also by the members of the community. It gives her a sense of security and she becomes less worried about giving birth. There is difference in child rearing also. In the Eastern society the mother gets respect after she gives birth. She is called by the name of her first child. The newly born child is taken care by all the relatives. The mother has to spend less time in taking care of child. So, the child-family relation is stronger than child-mother relation. Thus, the Eastern society is better than the Western society in the matter of childbirth and childcare. The Eastern society, however is not unaffected by the method of Western society.
Because of modernization, people in the Western societies are forced to use modern equipments. The modern equipments certainly have saved the lives of mother and child; nevertheless they are unable to reduce the anxiety of mother while giving birth. A pregnant woman in the West has to take care of herself with the guidance of nurses and doctors. The nurses and doctors do not give caressing hand to the pregnant woman. The health of mother and child is safer but mother is emotionally weaker. Child is born to fulfill the needs of parents only. The child grows up with its parents and dolls. So, child - mother relation is stronger. The mother has to bear all the problems during child birth and child rearing.
Q. What differences does the writer show between a traditional society and modern society in matters of child bearing?
Q. Is the writer in favor of traditional child birth system? Why?
This essay shows the differences of child birth system of western and eastern world. In the traditional world a women becomes mentally strong because her family supports her and she feel safe at the time of pregnancy. But, in the modern society the woman feels alone because her husband would be far away in the course of job. She has to give birth of her baby with the help of machines. Those machines and nurses don’t understand the pain of pregnant women. She becomes mentally weak. So, the writer is in support of the traditional child birth system than the modern society.
Q. What kind of treatment does a woman in Bangladesh receive during the pregnancy and after the child birth?
In this essay, the writer shows the traditional child birth system of Bangladesh. In that society the pregnant women loved by her husband and her relatives. She didn’t have any worry and fear because her family supports her and she becomes mentally strong. After birth of the baby, the woman is taken as the member of the family. The children are cared and reared by the whole family
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Credential: Dr. Ramesh Adhikari
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