Kim Kardashian has fallen into yet another parenting judgment trap, but this time it’s not for doing anything out of the ordinary, as you would expect from a pregnant celeb.
Kim’s birth plan for baby number two — at least the one being reported around the Internet — is earning her a lot of raised eyebrows from freaked-out Americans. But it’s not that unusual in most cultures.
In case you haven’t had access to the Internet for the past six months, here are the latest happenings in Kim and Kanye’s world. The 34-year-old Keeping Up with the Kardashians reality TV star is pregnant with the couple’s second baby, and it’s a boy! Since this isn’t their first rodeo, Kim and Kanye, 38, have already started to discuss the birthing plan for their second child, due sometime in December.
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So far, the information leaked about the high-profile couple’s birth plan isn’t as weird as you would expect. No dolphins, no yoga masters, no bowls of green M&M’S — Kim reportedly wants her 2-year-old daughter, North West, to be in the delivery room with her and Kanye to watch her new brother’s birth.
Leave it to the public to think something as innocent as a child watching their mother give birth is weird. Some “fans” point to this birthing idea as further evidence that the entire Kardashian clan is crazy, saying that a little girl like North West should never be exposed to watching her mother scream and yell during birth. Other commenters agree that childbirth is complicated and a delivery room is no place for a child. Still others insist that Kim is absolutely, unequivocally going to traumatize young North by allowing her to attend this birth.
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When did birth become something we’re so afraid of? We’ve made great progress thanks to hospitals and modern medicine, but it doesn’t change the fact that birth has been going on since the dawn of time. For millennia, and still in many cultures, birth has been a family affair. Exposing even a very young child to a natural event like childbirth isn’t unheard of — and it’s often encouraged.
For Kim, her choice to allow her toddler in the delivery room has special significance. Kim has been public about her health struggles during this difficult second pregnancy. After making it through a troubling first pregnancy with North, Kim was diagnosed with a highly dangerous condition the second time around — placenta accreta, where the placenta grows through the uterus. Not only can this condition increase the risk of premature birth, but it may require a hysterectomy to protect against infection and hemorrhage that could kill the mother.
If you’ve ever had a difficult pregnancy, then maybe you’ll understand where Kim is coming from. If the reports are true and Kim and Kanye really do want North in the room during her brother’s birth, it could be because Kim knows this may be her last time delivering a baby. As sources have reported, the couple wants this to be a bonding experience as they welcome their last child into the family.
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A 2-year-old may not understand what’s happening in the delivery room, but there’s no indication North will be traumatized. And for older children, the same holds true — we’ve gotten to the point where we think of birth as weird, uncomfortable and clinical, when it’s really a normal way to welcome new life. Inviting a child into the delivery room, regardless of their age, isn’t as weird as we’d like to think. In fact, it can even be beneficial, as midwife and childbirth educator Jo Hunter insists.
Kids are capable of processing much more than we give them credit for. Allowing a child to witness the miracle of life can be a family bonding experience, and they might even learn a thing or two.
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