Childhood Stressors

I don't feel that the stressors in my life as a child can compare to the stressors that I saw in children who were af fected by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.  My future husband's grandchildren (ages 5 & 6) were affected by the storm and I saw how this catastrophic event caused them to be afraid of a heavy rain and very apprehensive as to when they would be able to return home to New Orleans.  It was an adjustment to be in a different city and especially without their mom for most of the time.  They had to adjust to new friends and new school. When they did return to the New Orleans region several months later, they lived in a trailer with their mother and grandparents.  The  schools were not functioning at full capacity but at least they had somewhere to go during the day.  When we talked with them on the weekend, they sounded content but we knew they sounded different than they had a year ago. 

Although New Orleans is coming back strong again and the children are in their home again, the effects of the storm is still there.  The now 10 year old still does not like storms and they talk about the items they don't have in their school like access to working computers in their classrooms but they do have afterschool programs they attend.  When we visited this past September, the city is vibrant again and we saw children that are happy to be in familiar surroundings which help in their growth because children do need stability.  New Orleans and the gulf coast region have gone through a lot of stressful events lately (e.g. oil spill) but they are strong people that keep pushing forward.

Nutrition and Malnutrition in Children

Good nutrition in the early years of a child is crucial for human growth and development.  Malnutrition affect millions of children and a third of children under the age of 5 die in underdeveloped countries due to the lack of adequate nutrients.  This topic is important to me because if children do not receive meals that are nutrition and have adequate water supply, it will affect how their cognitive and physical being develops.

Since the earthquake in Haiti back in January of this year, the people of Haiti especially the children, had to be very concern about food and water. Organizations like UNICEF and the Haiti Nutrition Project have aided the country in providing food and also teaching the people of Haiti about good health practices.  Mothers are encouraged to breastfeed their infants and young children instead of using powdered formula.  They are also being educated on inappropriate breastmilk subsititute. With the outbreak of cholera, a bigger concern for good health and nutrition is present. 

In my future work with children, I will continue to promote healthy foods for young children and work with organizations to help in the prevention of malnurtition in our country and other parts of the world.

Childbirth - My Life and Around the World

I have experienced 3 vaginal childbirths but my second child delivery was the shortest but also the hardest.  I arrived at the hospital around 12:50pm and by 2:50pm was told to start pushing.  I thought I would deliver my baby before "Days of Our Lives" would go off but I was wrong.  I pushed from 2:50pm until 5pm when finally my doctor stated to me that the baby had turned around and she would have to turn the baby back around.  I pleaded for a ceaseran birth but my doctor said no this would be the best thing. So with the doctor, the nurse, and my husband all in the room, my doctor had to reach into my womb and turn my baby's head around to push into the birth canal.  I thought I was dying but thankfully it worked and at 6:02pm I delivered a healthy 7lb, 10oz baby girl.
As I read about childbirths in India, I was thankful that I was in a hospital with a trained doctor who knew what to do in an unusual delivery.  In India, 43% of births had a skilled attendant at delivery and most are done at home.  They have limited drugs, blood pressure machines, and gloves during delivery.  As I compare my experience to what takes place in India during delivery, I also think about the outcome of child development.  Whereas my child was able to receive additional care after a tramatic delivery, if a child had went through the same delivery in India and survived the delivery, they may not have been able to get additional care during infancy if there was additional complications.  Those complications could affect the biosocial or cognitive skills of the child.  Thankfully my daughter is now 23 years old and never had any affects from the delivery but I did learn that the baby who decided to turn another way during delivery was a very stubborn and head strong child and adult.

Singh, A. (2006). Childbirth in the US and India.