Consequences of Stress on Child's Development

As a foster parent, I have come into contact with children who have lived through some of the worst things they will ever have to go through.  I have had several children who came from abusive homes.  These children have been affected physically but the mental and emotional effects go deeper than any scar.  A lot of times, these children do not know how to respond to their feelings so they act out physically.  Other children are just the opposite and completely withdraw from the world.  In both cases, counseling is a definite!  Some children end up getting put on medication, removed from foster homes and put into group homes or even live in short term treatment facilities.  Abuse is such a horrible thing especially when children are the ones who have to suffer. 

  Six months ago, I took in a 15 year old girl who had been abused from the time she was 6 years old until she was 10 years old.  The physical abuse ended when she was finally removed from the home and placed in her first foster home.  Unfortunately, she did not know who to deal with the feelings she felt as a result of the abuse.  She was moved several times for behavior problems.  By the time she was 13, she had been in more than ten homes and was finally put into a group home.  After intense counseling and one on one therapy, she was moved from the group home and placed with me temporarily.  She did well at first but quickly took a turn for the worse.  She could not handle life on her own and needed to return to the group home where she could receive closer supervision and more one on one therapy.  This young girl’s childhood was taken from her and now years later, she is still being affected by it.  My hope and prayer for her is that she will learn how to value herself as a person and put the past behind her.  I cannot imagine the fear, frustration, and pain she must be feeling.  It breaks my heart.

  

Child development is affected by many different stressors.  For children living in Africa, these stressors include HIV/AIDS, poverty, and lack of clean water.  UNICEF is “ensuring children's survival and wellbeing through Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV, Neonatal Care & Support, Pediatric ART Care & Support and Safe Infant Feed & Nutrition Programs” (UNICEF, 2010).  They are also ensuring children receive quality education through programs such as Safe and Child Friendly Schools, Early Childhood Development, Sport for Development and Adolescent Development Programs.  In addition to these programs, UNICEF is working with the local government through the Social Transformation and Strategic Leveraging Program in order to “support the South African government in developing and strengthening policies, budgets and programs that improve the quality of life for children and women”.

        UNICEF is not the only organization working to make a difference in Africa.  There are other organizations such as the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa and the Educational Development in Africa, Inc. who advocate for the people living in Africa to help get them to food, water, educational resources, and health services they desperately need.

Resources:

Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa. (2011).  Children’s agencies and       development in African societies.  Retrieved from http://www.codesria.org/spip.php?article1250. 

Educational Development in Africa, Inc. (2010).  Retrieved from http://www.edinafrica.org/index.htm

UNICEF. (2010).  Early childhood development.  Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/southafrica/early_childhood.html.

Child Development and Public Health

The topic I chose this week is nutrition.  This topic is very personal to me because my oldest daughter, age 9, struggles with food on a daily basis.  For the past 2 years, my daughter has been slowly losing weight and seems to be under nourished.  I have done everything I can in order to increase her food intake, whether it is healthy foods or junk food, with no increase in weight.  Because of this, she has now been put on several supplements to make up for the vitamins and minerals that she is not getting through food.  She now has to take a liquid multivitamin (which contains trace minerals), vitamin D, iron, and fish oil.  Nutrition has now become a major part of my life and I am interested in learning about how other countries handle nutrition.

“More than half of all child deaths are associated with malnutrition, which weakens the body's resistance to illness. Poor diet, frequent illness, and inadequate or inattentive care of young children can lead to malnutrition” (Mother and Child, 2011).  Knowing this really stresses the importance of good nutrition, especially in children.  This problem is not going to go away and it is definitely not something we can just ignore.  “According to the United Nations State of Food Insecurity in the World report, 820 million people in the developing world are undernourished” (Nutrition, 2012).

            “With more than 200 million hungry people, India has the largest number of hungry in the world” (Mother and Child, 2011).  Because of this fact, I chose to look at nutrition in India as a whole.  I was shocked to read the following facts on the UNICEF website:

“• India has the highest number of low birth weight babies per year at an estimated 7.4 million.
  • Only 25 percent of newborns were put to the breast within one hour of birth.
  • Less than half of children (46 percent) under six months of age are exclusively breastfed.
  • Only 20 percent children age 6-23 months are fed appropriately according to all three     recommended practices for infant and young child feeding.
  • 70 percent of children age 6- 59 months are anemic. Children of mothers who are severely anemic are seven times as likely to be severely anemic as children of mothers who are not anemic.
  • Only half (51 percent) of households use adequately iodized salt”(UNICEF, 2012).

UNICEF is working with the government to help reduce and prevent malnutrition in children and to improve children’s overall health.  

 

            Through this assignment, I have gained a greater insight of the problem at hand.  I plan to implement more nutritional activities in order to introduce children to different foods as well as provide extra vitamins and minerals through these foods.  Good nutrition is important for children who are undernourished as well as children who fall on the other end of the spectrum and are overweight. 

Resources:

India Nutrition. (2012).  Retrieved from UNICEF website: http://www.unicef.org/india/nutrition.html

Mother and Child.  (2011).  Retrieved from Mother and Child Nutrition website: http://motherchildnutrition.org/. 

Nutrition. (2012).  Retrieved from Children International website: http://www.children.org/Nutrition.asp.

Childbirth- in my life and around the world!

        As a mother of two, I have obviously had an active role in the birthing process.  However, I did not choose to write about either of these experiences.  The birth I would like to share was the birth of my “foster granddaughter” because through this experience, I was given a new outlook on the birthing experience.
         In July of 2010, I took in a 17 year old, who had just found out the day before coming to live with me that she was pregnant.  For the next several months, we bonded rather quickly.  I went with her to all of her prenatal appointments, held her hand when we saw the heartbeat for the first time and cried with her when we found out that the baby was a girl.  We went through birthing classes together and talked a lot about all of the changes she was going through and what it was going to be like to be a mom.  On December 16th, 2010, Cheyanne was induced and my foster granddaughter was going to be born.  Medication was given through an IV to start her labor around 7 am.  An hour later, the doctor checked on Cheyanne and she asked for some pain medication, which was given through her IV.  The doctor said she probably would not deliver until after dinner time, famous last words!  Not even thirty minutes later, after the doctor had left, Cheyanne told me she felt the need to push.  I called the nurses back in and it was definitely time. 20 minutes and 4 pushes later, Kyanna entered the world and my view of the birthing experience was forever changed!
        During those very long 20 minutes, I realized what a miracle the whole birthing process is.  Although I had already had two babies of my own, this experience was completely different because I could actually see what was happening.  I was able to help coach her through her breathing, hold her hand while she pushed and cut the umbilical cord.  My life has been forever changed because of this.
        Although Cheyanne and Kyanna are no longer in my home, I have a bond with them that will never be broken.     

        I chose to compare my experience to that of childbirth in Japan.  The first major difference I noticed was that in Japan, women were rarely given pain medicine.  In the Japanese culture, “enduring pain is supposed to make you a better, more fearless mother” (Kriegman, 1993).    Cheyanne wanted to have a natural birth but ended up having some medication just to get her through.  By the time she asked for an epidural, it was too late but she did have the option.  Another major difference is that in Japan, new mothers move back to their childhood home to be taken care of for two or three months.  During this time, new moms are taught how to take care of their baby and specifically how to breastfeed by the birth mother’s mother or grandmother.  Bottle feeding really isn’t practiced in Japan.  Cheyanne was encouraged to breastfeed and was told all of the benefits of breastfeeding but chose to bottle feed instead.  The last major difference I saw was that in Japan, co-sleeping is the norm.  Here in the US, we are taught that there are risks of SIDS associated with co-sleeping so babies are put in cribs or bassinets.

Resource
Kriegman, Michele.  A Japanese Birth.  Midwifery Today no. 26, pg 32-40 retrieved from    http://www.kriegman.com/culture/japanese-childbirth.html.