Consequences of Stress on Children's Development

Growing up I was fortunate enough to not personally deal with any of these stressors on the list, but as a collective, my community has experienced lots of violence. Murder, robbery, arson, vandalism, you name it. It is sad to say that I have to raise my children in such a cruel world. But when I sit back and look at other regions in the world, I see that we are a tad fortunate than they are. Won't say lucky but I will say blessed.

I decided to discuss natural disasters and Japan. The most recent natural disaster to strike Japan is Typhoon Man-yi. A landslide claimed the life of a woman. 200 domestic flights were cancelled and their is a fear for a popular plant considering contaminated water seeping through the ground. There was also 2 tornadoes to hit Japan in September injuring at least 65 people. Natural disasters are really common in other regions of the world, and it seems to be difficult for these other countries to bounce back. I breaks my heart to see such tragedies occur.

http://www.disaster-report.com/2013/02/natural-disasters-in-japan-2013.html

Child Development and Public Health

For this week's blog, I decided to select two topics that are of extreme interest and importance to me. The topics that I chose to share with you guys are SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) and Breastfeeding. These two topics are meaningful to me because SIDS is a serious affecting babies everyday. Parents put their babies to bed one minute and the next minute, their babies are dead. This is a touchy topic because it hit close to home. My baby cousin died from SIDS. People may never really know what causes it, but I believe they should really look into it. Breastfeeding is meaningful to me because it is, in my opinion, the ONLY way to properly give your baby the nourishment that their little bodies need as well as pass down antibodies from you. I breastfed both of my babies and they are by far the healthiest little people I've seen. I am an advocate for breastfeeding; I encourage any pregnant mother that I encounter to choose breastfeeding and I go as far as to share my reasons why. It also saves you money! (EVERYONE WINS!)

Another part of the world that I chose to explore was New Zealand. New Zealand is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean with a population of about 4.4 million people. SIDS is the leading cause of death in infants one month to one year in New Zealand; it claims the life of about 45 infants each year. Most of the victims are between two and four months old. Breastfeeding in New Zealand is not as popular. In 1800s New Zealand, breastfeeding was the norm, but by the 1960s, bottle feeding became very popular. Everyone's attitude about breastfeeding became skewed. By the mid-1880s breastfeeding began to become time-consuming and inconvenient to the lifestyles urban, middle class women wanted to have. So they were encouraged to start bottle feeding their babies to avoid the stresses of breastfeeding.

I learned that people are encouraged to put their babies on their back to sleep to avoid SIDS. Although lying flat on your back is a big choking risk factor, it is important. I argue this to this day. Also, SIDS occurs in families of ALL races and socioeconomic status; it is NOT caused by suffocation/choking or immunizations, it is NOT contagious nor is it a result of child abuse/neglect, and it CANNOT be prevented.

My information was borrowed from:

www.sids.org.nz and http://breastfeedingnz.wordpress.com/breastfeeding-in-new-zealand-did-you-know/

Hope you enjoyed my post!!!

Week One: Birth and Its Importance to Child Development

• Write about a personal birthing experience. It can be your own birth, your child's birth, or one you took part in. What do you remember about the event? Why did you choose this example? What are your thoughts regarding birth and its impact on child development?
• Choose a region of the world or a country, other than the U.S., and find out how births happen there. Write about what you learned, and the differences and similarities with your experience (in the personal example you provided). What additional insights, if any, about the impact of the birthing experience on development, did you gain from this comparison?

  
I am the mother of two and I can remember BOTH of my birthing experiences like they occurred yesterday.  Before I gave birth to my three year old son, I was in so much pain. The doctor would not admit me to the hospital until I was four centimeters. It was PURE TORTURE! So I walked and walked and walked and WALKED. I was in severe pain until I finally went back to the hospital. I was admitted and the medical team gave me some medicine to help me relax and rest. Epidurals are a pet peeve so I did not want that. However, I was only at the hospital for an hour when I was told it was time to push. I pushed for half and hour and my little fella made his debut. 

When I gave birth to my one year old daughter, the experience was really different than it was with her big brother. I was annoyed, frustrated, and TIRED of being pregnant so I really wasn't as cooperative as I should have been. So this experience was quite difficult. I felt EVERYTHING. It was really painful! I was admitted to the hospital at five centimeters and it took me 10 whole hours to deliver my daughter. It was really tiring and all I thought about was seeing her face and getting some rest. I pushed almost two hours before my ladybug made her debut.

I chose these two experiences because they are a part of me and my life. What other experiences to discuss but my own? Birth is important to child development because it is indeed part of this process. The child has to develop in the womb as well as outside the womb with the help of its mother. Children aren't born knowing what to do so mothers and fathers have to teach them and allow them to experiment in order for them to develop properly.

In China, women believe in herbal remedies and ancient customs to help them conquer birth as well as go through pregnancy with ease. Women must drink herbal potions during labor and they are told to not be afraid during labor. They also find it unlucky to throw showers or take up other customs that associate with pregnancy. In the US we believe in baby showers and medicine and doctors. This would be a nice way to attempt to experience pregnancy but I don't think I could do it.