Statistics

When I was in nursing school at UT I had to take a statistics class.  Now, I am actually quite good at math but this class proved to be probably the most challenging class I took; the professor seemed to be speaking a completely different language than English.  All I can say is that luckily I was dating my now husband and he liked me enough to walk me through every statistics home work question I had.  I am not sure he would do that if the opportunity arose today.

In any case, last week I spent a day going through notes of the births I attended in 2008 and compiled some statistics, way more fun than the statistics I studied so many years ago.

Total births attended = 29

Births as Primary Midwife = 18    (the following numbers are based on the 18 births as primary midwife)

Smallest baby = 5 pounds 7 ounces

Biggest baby = 10 pounds 1 ounce

6 babies over 8 lb 13 oz    (which is the medical model definition of a "big" baby)

7 girls and 11 boys

4 waterbirths

9 births with the cord around the baby's neck at birth

4 births where the baby's hand was up by his/her face when they were born

All babies were breastfed and 13 of the 18 babies were greater than or equal to their birth weight at 1 week postpartum!

3 births at the Dark of the Moon

5 births during the Waxing Moons

3 births on the Full Moon

7 births during the Waning Moons

7 births occurred during day light hours

11 births occurred when the sun was down

It is always fun to gather these stats and think about the families I have gotten to know and love during the year.  I smiled many, many times last week as I was remembering.