I'm sure it's just a matter of preference, but when describing a birth does it sound better to say "she gave birth to her first child on..." vs. "she delivered her first child on.."? I think "delivered" sounds better and more to the point, but my mind keeps associating that word with the doctor that pulled the baby out of the womb rather than the woman pushing the child out. Thoughts?
I like "gave birth to" if you are talking about the past. "Delivered" seems to be more appropriate describing the birthing process while "gave birth to" seems to be a more 'has a child' description. When you say, "on" how long past tense are you referring to? IOW, are you describing an event contemporary in that part of the story, or something that happened a while ago in the story?
I guess I think of the mother giving birth, the doctor delivering the baby, and the baby being delivered.
The "on" was merely there for illustrative purposes to fill out the words. But yes there is a woman giving birth right now in a 3rd person past tense story.
On another note that's in line with the whole childbirth thing, what do you call that slime and stuff that's all over a baby when it first comes out? Afterbirth?
no, the 'afterbirth' is what movies and tv shows always ignore the existence of... it's the placenta and the rest of its attached umbilical cord that's expelled with subsequent contractions, after the baby comes out... the mommy doesn't just lie there, all relieved and pretty and waiting to have her baby placed in her arms, as movies/tv would have you believe... she still has more painful, hard work to do... what you're referring to is just the blood and other fluids that a newborn is covered with, after a vaginal birth... under that would normally be the 'vernix' which is a whitish protective covering...
