One of my "MAJOR" childhood stressors..

I have experienced more than one stressor, but I will pick the one that I remember the most about and that is “Natural Disaster”.  I will never forget I was in the 5^th grade it was an “Ice Storm” that lasted about 3 days. It was cold, dark, and just downright miserable. I was so uncomfortable. We did not have any lights or water for over a week! I had no idea how important water and lights were until we did not have them anymore.

            My parents did all in their will to satisfy me and make me comfortable. I was not trying to hear any of it or appreciate it. I just wanted some lights and a nice warm bath. I could not get use to the oil lamps or the jugs of water being boiled. Sorry guys, I was only in 5^th grade!

            I dreaded the night time, because that meant we had to light the oil lamps. They were so much trouble and the mood was so depressing. I would just lie on the couch or in my bed for hours at a time until I feel asleep. It seemed morning would never come, but it eventually did. The inconvenience did not seem to bother my parents much. My mom tried to cook things that were easy to prepare in these circumstances. My dad seemed to continue with his usual business. I was the only one who wanted to disappear.

 

The country I chose: South Africa

 

One of the stressors in South Africa is child poverty.  In South Africa 66% of children are growing up in poverty.  The households in which these children live are often too poor to afford to buy even the most basic necessities. Poverty has been one of South Africa’s greatest challenges and is a cycle that can’t seem to be broken as generations after generation remain in poverty once at that point. The poverty rate in South Africa is the highest among children from newborns to 4 years old and gets slightly lower in percentage as the age of the children get older.

In South Africa, poverty means more than just a lack of money. The poverty that these children live in affects their access to schools, health care, and their chance of growing up in an environment that could help them possibly break free of the poverty. Most of the children in South Africa who are living in poverty are malnourished from birth. This lack of nutritious food affects the physical and mental growth and development of the children, as well as their overall health. A lack of access to clean water and adequate sanitation methods also leads to health problems amongst this group. Diseases are spread quickly and easily when they are caught, especially amongst children in South Africa.

 

Now my view:

            As I research on South Africa, I now know how blessed I was doing the “Ice Storm”. The children in Africa are living like this on a daily basis. They are even getting sick, because their water is not safe/clean. It does not seem South Africa will be coming out of this poverty anytime soon. Even though I was already grateful, I am even more grateful now.

 

http://www.babylifetime.com/article/1607/child-poverty-in-south-africa-regions/

 

 

My Topic of concern: SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)

I am choosing the concern of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), because I have experienced it in my family. My sister had a baby that died from SIDS about 18 years ago. It was a boy. He was at the babysitter’s when he passed away. The babysitter had just fed him, and then laid him down to nap. She went back to check on him and he was not breathing. She called 911 and the ambulance came, but they could not revive him.

 

         This devastated our entire family, because doing that part in our lives we had not been to use to death in that type of magnitude. My sister went into a “world” that she blamed God, doctors, and whoever else was in her sight. My sister’s husband tried to talk to the babysitter and her family to let them know that she was not to blame in this tragic situation. The babysitter still was so devastated that committed suicide the very next day. That was another blow for our family.

We managed to get through it by prayer and intense love from our family and friends, my sister slowly recovered from her depression. Her and her husband were blessed with a baby girl soon after and she has grown to be a beautiful, smart, and strong young lady.

SIDS is rare in China. Most Chinese sleep in a supine position, in which babies sleep on their backs.  Immunologic maturity - Chinese infants were found to have higher IgG levels at birth and a different pattern (more mature) of serum immunoglobulin’s all through early childhood. Their leucocyte functions have also been found to be more capable in phagocytosis and intra-cellular killing compared to reports from Caucasians. These might protect against inappropriate response to seemingly trivial infections which often are the antecedent events of SIDS. The parental over-caring and over-proactive behaviors are closer and more vigilant of the supervision of infants.

I am and plan on working with children ages 3-5 and SIDS is not an issue at that, but I would like to do more studies on it. It is still a lot of unanswered questions. I always hear the older generations say, “children slept on their stomachs all the time back in the day and nothing happen to them.” I answer and say, “Babies died from SIDS back in the day, it was just not a name for it.” I would like to find out more facts on the subject of SIDS.

Case: Sudden Infant Death are Rare in China-But Why? (Yeung, Clap-Yung) www.cchi.com.hk/searchans/case2htm

 

 

"Personal Birth Experience"

Personal birth experience

My personal birthing experience will be my own. I have had three births, but I will talk about my third birth.  My third pregnancy was a total shock, because I was determined that I was done having babies.  I had two boys and they were a lot to handle, especially being six years apart.

            At the beginning of the pregnancy, I was not sick at all. I did not begin to experience morning sickness until I had gone to the doctor and was told I was pregnant. As I can recall, I vomited walking to the car.  My third birth was very different.  I have even changed as a parent. When I had my first child, I asked a lot of questions about different baby issues and I also had heard a lot from my friends and relatives involving children.  As years go on, I am continuing to be very “seasoned” as a parent.

            I am blessed to have a lot of great parents and grandparents in my life.  They are always willing to advise me when it comes to my children’s health or well-being.  As I previously stated, doing my first birth I tried to do everything right including: resting, eating right, and taking medications. By my third birth, I had slacked off. I did not do anything damaging to my body, but I also did not do everything I was supposed to do either.

            I feel my careless actions have caused my 3^rd baby to be a little smaller than my other two children at his age. By all means; I did not intentionally do him harm. I guess I had become use to be pregnant. Thankfully, he is learning and developing well in spite of my choices.

           

          birth-in another Region

            The region I chose was Africa. I chose Africa, because the television always has its own depiction of how childbirth is done in Africa. The women have it so hard when it comes to getting the prenatal care, but in America we do not take advantage of the resources. Research shows that 1 in 13 women die from pregnancy and giving childbirth. The woman/baby are at a high risk of getting an infection doing the birth (worldbirthaid.org).

            Mothers and babies in America are really blessed to have so much access to different resources to make childbirth and raising children healthy and convenient.