Consequences of Stress on Children's Development

Violence

The topic of violence is a stressor that is very common but one that many children keep secret from others. I will share the story of a child who exprienced violence and the effect it had on him. This child came from a family that had damaging habits going on such as drug abuse, alcohol abuse, and  the family inturn regected the child . To find some sort of place of belonging the child joined a sporting activity at school, thinking that for sure his family would be proud of him; when the child saw that his attempts to gain acceptance form his family was not working, he began to act out to the violence around him. The child began to vandilize property and went even as far as setting fire to the front yard. This childs failed attempts and exposure to the violence around him harmed his so psychologically that years later he began to drink, do drugs, fight others, this landed him in prison for many years. Although, this story is not a positive one I find it interseting that he choose to deal with his stress by doing the very things that caused him the stress in the begining.

Stressors of children in Latin America

In Latin America there are many stressors that children face: no access to health care or education, homelessness, poverty, and violence. There are a number of children who live on the streets that experience violence, but according to the organization Children of latin America the children who experience violence on the streets have experienced it within the home. These children who live on the street have been counted out by the society they live in and  "violent and punitive" measures, according to the organiztion, have been taken against them to remove them from the streets in the past. The Children of Latin America organiztion is taking measure to restore children to their families and then begin working with the families by giving supports to the families in an attempt to end the violence that is occouring.

Ref.

Childrenoflatinamerica.org 

Child Development Public Health Topic

Postnatal Mental Health of Fathers

I choose to learn about mental health in fathers since this is an issue that is not really publicized as much as it is for women. I am starting to see the publizied issue of the importance of having fathers be involved in their childs life form organizations such as Early Head Start,  Head Start,  and the Texas office of the Attorney General, but not on a fathers mental health. In a study that was conducted in Australia, 3000 fathers participated in research project that showed 1 in 10 fathers had high levels of distress within their first year after having a baby. This information was printed in an article called Postnatal Depression: It doesn't just affect women by Rebecca Giallo in the Asian Scientist: News and information from the Asian scientific community on September 10, 2012. This article talked about some of the causes men have mental health issues after the birth of a child such as: "low satisfaction in their relationship, low confidence in their parenting role, family income can drop due to one parent staying home for months to care for baby,  and for men whose partners provided a higher portion of the household income, the pressure to provide financially for the family is particularly high with distress and worry." (Giallo,2012) The article goes on to discuss was in which men can seek help such as: talking with partner, doctor, family member or friend. The importance of fathers mental health on a developing child is just as important as the mothers to raising a mentally healthy child. The article stated that,"Previous research has shown that fathers’ with mental health distress is associated with difficulties in the couple relationship, parenting difficulties, and poorer well-being outcomes for their children. Studies have also shown that fathers with good mental health can buffer the potential effects of mothers’ well-being difficulties on their children. Ensuring that fathers are well supported during the postnatal period is not only important for fathers, but also for promoting the well-being of their whole family." (Giallo, 2012)

This information impacts my future work with children  and families because it has informed me on a topic that is extremely important in childrens life. The implications of a father who is not mentally healthy can be tragic within the family because the father may turn to: abusing family members, or even forming some type of drug addiction to cope. (I am not by any means implying that women with  mental health issues can not display some of the same ill effects as a father with a mental health concern.)

Reference

Giallo, R. (2012). Postnatal Depression: It doesn't just affect women. Asian Scientist:News and information from the Asian scientific community. Retrieved on September 14, 2012 from http://www.asianscientist.com/health-medicine/postnatal-depression-in-men-lsac-australia-2012/

Childbirth in My life and Around the World

My Birthing Experience in the U.S.

Thankfully I have had the opportunity to give birth to two beautiful little girls. My second experience with giving birth was very planned out, the doctor told me he would be doing a caesarean at 6am Sept, 28. My first experience giving birth was not as systematic as the second time. During my first birthing experience I was induced at 6am and by 1pm the doctor was ready to get things moving along so he gave me a caesarean. My expectations were disappointed, I thought that I would be allowed to go through this birth on my own but it did not turn out that way. I thought I would be able to say when and if I needed medication for the pain and that did not turn out as I expected. Medication was administered based on what the intensity readings of my contractions were on the monitors regardless of if I was feeling any pain, which I wasn't. As I researched other birthing experiences around the world I am now so thankful to have had a doctor who would not let me go through pain. :)

Birthing Experiences in Northern Thailand

Following information is from a journal article titled Birth and social class: Northern Thai women's lived experiences of caesarean and vaginal birth printed in Sociology of Health & Illness v.27(2) March  22, 2005

"The birth was not long but it was torturing. As it was my first birth, it was so painful. I had great pain on the lower abdomen. And the pain, it was difficult to say what it was like. All I could say was it was like being tortured."

"I gave birth with my legs separated apart, just as what women have to do in hospitals. The doctor would tell us to lie on our backs and our legs are separated on the metal stuff. Even our arms, they will be tied up so that it would prevent us moving around too much."

"I gave birth lying on my back. When I felt the pain I lifted my bottom and the nurse told me not to do so. I think we all have to give birth only in this one position. I think it is for the convenience of the doctor. This is a private sector that I am talking about. What would it be like if you give birth in a public section!"

The three birthing experiences are based on Thai women giving birth within a country that operates out of a social class system. Within this country if you have the means you can deliver your baby within a private sector hospital or maternity hospital with your own doctor being present at the birth. If you are without monetary means you would have to have your baby delivered in a public hospital where there were a considerable amount of diseases, and it was highly likely that the baby would contract those diseases in this public hospital setting. Regardless of the social standing of the women in this country the one of the medical procedures they all had in common was having to have their legs and arm strapped down during the birthing process so they would not be able to move around when they had contractions.

The difference in my birthing experiences and the women in Thai are like night and day. In my birthing experience having pain was not an option, I was free to move around if I so desired, and  I was not concerned about my newborn catching a disease based on which hospital I was in. Unfortunately,  in Thai women are not as enabled as women in the U.S. are when it comes to birthing options (being bound to a particular hospital based on social standing), birthing positions (only being allowed to lay down to give births), and demeaning (by being strapped down to a metal table during birth).

The impact birth has on child development is both frightening and exciting. Frightening for the newborn due to the many lights, different voices, strange faces, being rushed from mother so the nurses or doctors can check them and sometimes not having contact with the mother for several hours if the mother is in recovery for quite some time, as in my case. It is exciting in the sense that now the newborn is exposed to many different new experiences that will help it to grow and learn.