The birth story in "Swaddling Clothes" is probably one of the saddest birth stories I have ever heard. The way Toshiko's husband acted was completely uncalled for. How could a man possibly treat a woman with absolutely no compassion as she is giving birth. It wasn't the nurse's fault that she went into labor while on the job. Women don't control when they are going to go into labor. Obviously the woman couldn't help that she started going in to labor while at her clients house. Toshiko was in shock and barely even moved, but her husband was more concerned about moving his expensive rug so it didn't get ruined during the birth. The worst part about it all was the fact that after the baby was born, he wasn't even wrapped in a blanket, rather dirty newspapers. How horrible. I honestly don't understand how Toshiko's husband and the doctor could be so cruel. Luckily Toshiko finally snapped out of her haze and went to fetch new flannel linens for the baby to be wrapped in.
My birth story is way different from the birth story in "Swaddling Clothes." For starters, I was born via C-Section. The main difference, is that as a newborn, I was treated like a princess. The newborn in "Swaddling Clothes" was treated like an unwanted human being. I was wrapped in fresh new linens right away, the other baby was wrapped in dirty newspapers. What seems like such a minor detail, is instead extremely important.
The connection between the short story and real life is that just like how Toshiko couldn't get the image of the birth out of her head, neither do those who witness actual births in real life. Bringing a new life into the world is an experience that every mother treasures and never wants to forget. The main difference between the short story and real life is that the images of the births aren't both magical. In real life they are. In the story though, the baby was just tossed to the side and treated like a chore, who could possibly want to remember such an image.
A person's birth story relates to the rest of their live because it will never be forgotten. The birth of a baby is miraculous, it is never forgotten. People will always bring it up because they never want to forget the moment that their baby was brought into the world. A person's birth can potentially affect them for the rest of their life depending on the circumstances. A healthy baby's birth can affect them in a positive way. A baby that is born with complications, their birth story can be bittersweet. Every is told the story of their birth and it stays with them forever and ever because that was the starting point of them entering the world. Nobody wants to forget the moment that they were given a chance at life, whether the circumstances were good or bad.
