Stressors and Development

The story I am sharing is two-fold. It highlights the issue of poverty and also disaster. The school district I worked for in Michigan was the biggest and poorest in the Western Michigan area. Most of the kids at the school I worked for were living in poverty. They didn't have adequate coats, shoes or food. It was nearly impossible to reach parents' because phones had been shut off or they didn't own one. The children were constantly moving to different apartments because they got evicted and couldn't pay.  Many families lived with relatives to save money because of this many of the children slept on the floor, shared a bed with siblings or cousins or didn't have a bed at all. Over 90% of our school recieved free lunch because of their families income.  My classroom was no exception. All of my 6 students recieved a free lunch.

Antwaine came into my classroom half way through my first year teaching. He was a big, bright eyed child who had a love for music and drawing. He instantly made a place in my heart and we became close. I remember the first time I met him.  He came with him mom and baby sister to sign up for school. I showed him the classroom and where he would be sitting. They were in a hurry though because they had to catch the bus back home. See, Antwaine's family didn't have a car and it was an hour bus ride to get to school. His mom had taken two young kids on the bus to get there. I was in shock! A few months later, Antwaine had missed a couple days of school. I called to see if everything was okay and couldn't get through. The secretary had been trying as well. She finally got a hold of someone in his family and had learned that there had been a fire at Antwaine's apartment. Everyone was okay but they had lost everything. They were staying with some friends out of the distirct but because they didn't have a car Antwaine couldn't get to school.  As a school, we donated and pooled resources to help his family as much as we could. He was able to come back to school a couple weeks later but he was more reserved, quiet and didn't want to talk about what had happened. I respected his choice but encouraged him to talk to me if he didn't it. I did the only thing I knew to do: give him something familiar, establish normalcy.

He moved the following year but I have never forgotten him or his story.  Poverty is an issue that is global and we all know someone who has been effected by poverty... It was hard for me to choose one region that is being effected by poverty because EVERY region is effected. So, I gathered some facts about poverty in America and throughout the world.

Poverty in America:

Poverty is defined as the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions (wikipedia.org, 2012). The american poverty rate is increasing. In 2010 the nations poverty rate was 15.1% or 46.2 million people. This is the highest it has been since 1993. The poverty level for 2011 is 22,350 for a family of four. And nearly 60% of American's will spend at least one year in poverty between the ages of 25-75 (Poverty in the united states, 2012).

Poverty throughout the world: (Shah, 2010).

UNICEF reports that over 22,000 die each day due to poverty. Most of these children die quietly in remote villages.

27-28% of children in developing countries are considered to be malnourished, underweight or stunted. The two areas that make of the bulk of this are South Asia and sub-Sahran Africa.

The number of children living in the world is 2.2 billon. The number of children living in poverty is 1 billion which means every other child is living in poverty.

References:

Poverty in the united states. (2012). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_poverty_guidelines

Shah, A. (2010). Poverty facts and stats. Retrieved from http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats

Child Development and Public Health

The public health topic that interested me the most was immunizations. This topic is very relevant to me in my teaching career because I teach children with autism. There have been many claims by parents that once their child received the MMR vaccination their child started showing signs of regression and autism.  I have worked with several parents who believe this and who have decided NOT to vaccinate their children.  There are conflicting reports some researchers say vaccinations do not cause autism while others believe they do. Recently, a study stating that autism was not caused by vaccinations has been called into question. 

The area of the world I researched was Africa. I choose this region because I know there is a lack of vaccinations and I wanted to learn more about what is being done to help this problem. For many years, vaccinations in Africa have been subpar.  Vaccination rates have dropped over the last 10 years in low income countries including Sub-Saharan Africa.  Vaccination rates peaked in 1990 with 55%, however, that rate has dropped to 33% in 2000.  This decline has left many children with a lack of immunizations and at an increased chance of catching a disease.  The lack of immunizations can be attributed to many different things including weak health service delivery systems, civil unrest and a lack of commitment by governments. There are now programs to help with vaccinations. The goal of these programs is to administer three doses of DPI to 80% of a determined population.  The programs also want to increase funding, strengthen government health systems and implement new technology and vaccinations Miller, Sentz, 2006).

References:

 Miller, M., & Sentz, J. (2006). Vaccine-preventable disease. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2284/

Birth!

When I originally read the blog assignment for this week I was very unsure what to write. You see, I have never given birth or experienced someone giving birth. All of my girlfriends are single or had children before I met them. I was too young to remember my siblings birth and I certainly don't remember my own.   I contimplated for a long time what story I would write for this blog. 

The only birthing experience I have any personal knowledge of is my own. This is not because I remember anything about my own birth, however, I was home in Michigan for the holiday's and my mom shared with me a journal she had written about being pregnant with me, the story of my birth and a few stories throughout my first year. She gave this journal to me because I am 11 weeks pregnant with my first child and she wanted me to be able to read her thoughts and feelings about being pregnant and encouraged me to share my own feelings about it.

So, let me share with you the story of how I was born. :-)

My birth didn't go according to plan.  My parents went into the hospital on a Wednesday at 8 pm. My mom had been feeling contractions all day on Tuesday but they were not regular or intense, however, all day Wednesday they became increasingly tense and more regular. They admitted my mom an hour after monitoring her.  They broke her water and hooked her up to an IV and attached a fetal monitor to my scalp (good thing I have no memory of this).  She had difficulty relaxing and concentrating because there was a problem with my heartbeat. My heart rate kept dropping and they doctors were watching it closely.  The doctors decided it was time to go into delivery. They discussed a C-section but then I stabilized and my mom began pushing.  When she started pushing I went into distress and they rushed her into an emergency C-section. My mom was put under anestisia and my dad couldn't be in the room. It turned out the cord was wrapped around my neck and was causing the falling heart rate.  I was fine once I had been delievered. My mom woke up later in recovery and saw me for the first time in my dad's arms.

I had been told this story before, however, reading it in my mom's words really impacted me.  I don't remember any of this and I am now a healthy 28 year old, married with my own child on the way.


Birth on other areas of the world:

When researching different birthing practices around the world I came across an interesting article on parents.com that talked about several different regions. One of the regions I found most interesting was Japan. I know nothing about Asian culture and figured this would be a good learning experience for me.

In Japan, a majority of women give birth without painkillers. Doing this relates to a Buddhist practice of suffering. The labor and pains of delivery act as a test for women in preparation for the role of motherhood.
Most women give birth in a hospital which is similiar to the US and my own story.  Father's can only be present if they have taken prenatal course and if a c-section is performed they may not be in the room. The hospital stay in Japan is longer than in the US. Women who give birth vaginally may stay up to 5 days and those who have a c-section may stay up to 10.  Another interesting custom is that the mother and child stay at the mother's parents house for a month after giving birth. It is also tradition that mother and baby stay in bed for 21 days and at that time friends can stop by to visit.


References:

Schalken, L. (2012). Birth customs around the world. Parents Magazine, Retrieved from http://www.parents.com/pregnancy/giving-birth/vaginal/birth-customs-around-the-world/?page=4