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!!!
Hi Gabrielle,
ReplyDeleteI am sorry to read that your cousin died of SIDS. I don't know what I would do if I lost a child.
Regarding breastfeeding, I too nursed all three of my children and believe it is the best nourishment for babies. I also know some mothers who tried nursing their babies but were not able to do so and they felt like failures. In my own research on SIDS, I learned that Japan had the lowest SIDS death of infants in the world. This may have to do with Japanese mothers nursing their children and not smoking. Very interesting topic. Thanks for sharing!
Gabrielle,
ReplyDeleteSIDS is a heartbreaking occurrence. I am sorry for the loss of your cousin. A friend of mine had twins and at about six months old one of them died. I was heartbroken for them and cannot imagine the pain.
I enjoyed your information on New Zealand. It's always fascinating to look at other cultures.
Thanks,
Danielle