Consequences of Stress on Children's Development

I chose to talk about violence in the home and its affects on children.  My best friend throughout middle and high school is a product of a violent home.  She had authoritarian parents who were not only mentally abusive but physical as well.  I used to feel so bad for her because she could never go anywhere with the rest of her friends and she along with her siblings were spanked or "whipped" as we from the south say, on a constant basis.  This abuse caused her to be afraid of a lot of things such as speaking in public or having a decent conversation.  It was as if she could not make decisions for herself and she was very angry although she was good at covering it up.  It was not until her adult years and she had children of her own that she realized she was angry and was following in the same pattern as her parents were to her.  I admire her because she realized this early on and decided to become a person who was not angry.  Her children are very sweet and well-rounded individuals.

Each child has the right to be protected from violence, exploitation, and abuse.  With this being said, millions of children all over the world, from all socio-economic backgrounds, from all ages, religions, and cultures suffer from violence, exploitation, and abuse on a daily basis (Unicef, 2013).

Some young boys and girls are particularly vulnerable because of gender, race, ethnic origin, or socio-economic status.  These levels rise when the children are disabled, orphans, indigenous, from ethnic minorities, or other marginalized groups (Unicef, 2013).  Other children who are at risk are those living and working on the streets, in institutions and detentions, and live where inequality, unemployment, and poverty are highly concentrated (Unicef, 2013).  Other populations of concern are migrants that are unaccompanied and child refugees.

Most of the time, violence, exploitation, and abuse are someone that the child knows including parents and other members of the person's family (Unicef, 2013).  Others include teachers, caretakers, employers, law enforcement authorities, state and non-state actors and other children.  The sad thing is that only a few of these people are held accountable for their actions.

There is a significant amount of evidence showing that violence, exploitation, and abuse can affect the child's physical and mental health in the short and long term by impairing their ability to learn and socialize.  This can also have an adverse affect on adults later in life (Unicef, 2013).

Early Childhood and Public Health- Immunizations

I chose to talk about the vaccination issue in the country of Afghanistan.  This country caught my interest because of the statistical chart (Table 5.1) in the text on p. 149.  All of the countries listed on the chart showed improvements in the death rate for children under the age of five since 1990, except for Afghanistan (Berger, 2012).  Although this is because of the war, I was curious about the fact of why so many deaths occur because of vaccinations.  Vaccinations are usually one of the things that people can get for free or fairly cheap.

Through further research, I found that in the year of 2012, about 2,600 children in Afghanistan were diagnosed with measles (Madhok, 2013).  This virus could have been fought if they were vaccinated (Madhok, 2013).  Several obstacles make it difficult for children to get vaccinated such as; a health infrastructure that is fragile, difficult geographical terrain, and the constant conflict (Madhok, 2013). Another reason for this problem is the lack of understanding the importance and safety of getting immunized.

Each day in Afghanistan, children are at risk for diseases that are preventable such as tuberculosis, tetanus, diphtheria, polio, measles, hepatitis B, hemophilus influenza type B and pertussis (whooping cough).  Most of these children are under one years old (Madhok, 2013)    

The Unicef organization along with the ministry of Public Health and other partners have made strong efforts to ensure that routine vaccinations are provided.  These efforts have helped tremendously in improving vaccination programs against diseases that are preventable, including polio (Madhok, 2013).  Since implementing these programs, the number children who contracted measles went from 1,117 cases that were confirmed in 2012 to 123 in 2013, the drop is pretty significant (Madhok, 2013).

References:

Berger, K. S. (2012). The developing person through childhood (6th ed.). New York: Worth Publishers.

Madhok, R. (2013). In Afghanistan, reaching the hardest to reach with vaccines. Retrieved from: http://www.unicef.org.
        

Childbirth in My Life and Around the World

I'm choosing the birth of my youngest son Aiden as a personal birthing experience.  I chose this story because it is a miracle that we are both alive.  The birth of my baby was a scheduled c-section because the laws in Monterey, California states a c-section must be performed if you have had one done in the past.  This worked out for me because I could schedule the date around our impending military transfer.  Everything went according as planned, and then all of a sudden, my doctor said "Oh crap, her uterus is ruptured."  I'm on the table awake of course, but could not move because of the epidural.  So I'm lying there in a frenzy wondering what the heck was going on...am I going to die? They had already stated that the baby had the cord wrapped around his neck twice......I'm asking my husband is everything okay with the baby?  As the doctors are working quickly to repair the ruptured uterus, they began to tell a story about a doctor whose wife had a uterine rupure.  They stated that the baby died, but the wife was lucky to be alive.  Needless to say, they fixed everything and I feel great now!  Afterwards, the doctor told me that I was lucky to be alive because in those situations the mother and baby usually die.  I was in so much shock that I just said, "yeah, we are lucky."  As I think back on that experience, it is funny as well as scary.  However, the staff at the hospital were phoenomenal.  They brought the baby to me fairly quickly so that I could breast feed and begin the bond through skin to skin contact. 

Another country's birthing experience besides the U.S. that caught my interest is Africa.  The birthing experience in South Africa is absolutely horrendous.  The medical staff at the hospitals are extremely rude and abusive to the pregnant women.  Patients or previous patients at the hospitals in South Africa discussed their birthing experience as follows:

Women experience verbal and physical abuse. HIV-positive women are commonly taunted by nurses about enjoying sex and blaming them for getting pregnant if they knew about their HIV-status. Many were told they should receive no care because they were migrants. Being shouted at for "messing up" when they bled on the bed during labor, they were ordered to clean it up.

They were pinched, slapped, and handled roughly during labor.

Nurses continuously ignored calls for help.

Serious treatment delays.

Facilities denied referral letters for pregnancy or childbirth related problems.

After delivery, the mother and baby are left unattended for very long periods.

Women are discharged inappropriately.

Women sent home with no antibiotics or pain medication.

Women in labor women were refused admission, they were not even examined.

Women sent home after Cesarean section with no medications, painkillers, antibiotics, etc.

One witness described a woman who had life-threatening obstructed labor. She was refused entry into a community health center two times. Fortunately, she eventually had a C-section when another hospital accepted her.

Migrants commonly undergo C-sections without informed consent.

Staff asking for bribes and gifts.

Families never told why the pregnant mother or newborn died during childbirth.

This type of behavior should not be tolerated and no human being should have to suffer that type of pain especially after giving birth.

Also this type of behavior goes on in 87% of the hospitals in South Africa.

Reference:
The shocking truth about giving birth in South Africa. Retrieved from: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/232413.php