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 western society and the eastern society on the subject of the, 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:

Germaine Geer in her essay A child is born discusses the state of pregnant women, different methods of having babies and compares the parents‐children relationship in modern west and traditional east societies.

In traditional societies, there are different methods of having babies. These methods are extremely useful because they make having baby less frightening for the pregnant mothers. The traditional behaviors make the pregnant women forget their worries because they are helped by their husbands, their relatives and communities.

In many traditional societies, women are not fully accepted by their new families until they have borne babies. The western people criticize such practice calling it cruel and wrong. In traditional societies, the relationship between the mother and her child is more important than the relationship between a woman and her husband. In such societies, the relationship between the child and other members of the family including grandparents is also very important. In such societies, usually children are not born at the will of parents but born in response to the pressure from the whole family. Irrespective of sex, a new born baby is welcomed and childbirth is widely celebrated in traditional societies. However, no such practice is prevailing in modern west societies. In modern west societies, a child is born in an isolated bed in hospital surrounded by machines and the child birth is not celebrated either.

The modern medical facility which is considered as the pride of modern west has brought a lot of problems in backward traditional societies. The poor and weak patients are given strong and very expensive medicines by the doctors. To save their own dignity as the poor people consider them very respectful persons and lifesaver. Such strong and expensive medicines are neither affordable nor endurable to them being very poor and weak. Giving an example, the writer mentions that in a modern hospital established with foreign aid in South Africa, the condition of African women is very pathetic while having babies in babies in labour room. There are groaning women in the pools of blood but the nurses keep themselves busy in machines and ignore the women exhibiting inhuman culture brought

by modern medicine.

Finally, the writer expresses that the traditional eastern system is far better than the modern west. However, she is in the opinion that unless the western medical technology practiced properly with full accuracy, the population will remain controlled because of high death rate of pregnant mothers and new born babies.

Questions Answers:

1. What differences does the writer show us between a traditional society and modern west in matters of pregnancy, childbirth and child raring?

In traditional societies, when a woman becomes pregnant, she has to observe certain prohibitions and carry out the set rites. All these taboos and prohibitions help her keeping herself mentally free and to lessen the pain and fear. The pregnant lady is helped by her husband and other members of family and community which enhances her sense of security. But in the modern west societies, the pregnant lady has to take care of herself. In such individualistic society, no other family member renders any support that helps the pregnant lady feel secure. She has to undertake all the preparations for newcomer by herself.

In traditional societies, child birth irrespective of its sex is celebrated although there is a greater risk of the lives of the mother and the baby. The woman, after the birth of the child is fully accepted by the new family and she is allowed to visit her father’s house. The women in such societies are started calling after the names of their children ignoring their original identity which the western people criticize calling it a wrong behavior. However, in the west, although modern and sophisticated hospitals are there, a child is born in an isolated hospital bed surrounded by modern medical equipments. There is no one to welcome the child and to support the lady emotionally to help lessen difficulties in western societies.

In traditional society, the children are usually looked after collectively by the family members. The entire family is involved to bathe and to feed the children collectively. In the evening, children are told fairy tales by other members of the family. However, these practices aren’t seen in modern western societies. The respective family mothers have to take care of their children by themselves as there is no help from other family members in the matter of child care.

The writer argues that the traditional east is far better than the modern west in matters of pregnancy, childbirth and child rearing although there is high risk of mothers and children mortality rate in these societies.