Consequences of Stress on Child Development

Poverty

Poverty is a global stressor affecting children worldwide and St. Lucia is no exception.  In the rural community where I teach, a large number of children come from poor families.  Although primary education is free and compulsory, poor families often find it hard to afford uniforms and school books for their children.  As a result a large number of children come to school with no school books, notebooks, pencils or erasers.  Some do not attend school because of lack of finances to buy school uniforms or lack of a warm meal to eat at lunch time.  This then had consequences as children are not getting what they need to develop physically, cognitively and psychosocially.  In an effort to help these children cope the staff decided to embark on a number of activities.  We sourced funding so that these children would receive a nutritious meal at lunchtime, since although we have a low cost feeding programme a number of parents could not afford.  In addition, we looked for corporate citizens both locally and internationally to adopt the school.  These individuals provide us with school materials and stationary for these children.  These items include books, bags, pencils, pens, erasers, sharpeners, shoes as well as clothing items.  We also have a welfare committee which raises funds to help purchase uniforms and toiletries for some children; and a sponsored barber who comes bimonthly to cut the hair of the boys.  Last year, I had a parent who came to me directly to inform me that neither she nor her husband were working and as a result she could not afford to provide the child with her necessities for school and was worried that this would affect the child’s performance.  I informed her that I would adopt (not legally) the child and provide her with whatever she needed and I stuck to my work.  It was only Tuesday this week she came by to thank me again for the support and interest I have continued to show in her daughter’s well being.

Guyana is known for its wealth of natural resources such as gold and bauxite, high levels of biodiversity and one of the lowest rates of deforestation in the developing world.   Despite its abundant resources, Guyana is one of the poorest countries in the Western hemisphere. Until the 1990’s 80% of the country’s industries were owned by government, but mismanagement coupled with falling commodity prices and high fuel prices caused the standard of living to fall drastically causing problems such as violent crime and widespread poverty.  Roughly two thirds of Guyanese citizens are living in poverty or 29% of the population can be classified as being extremely poor and as such poverty of one of the major stressors affecting children.  In an effort to minimize the impact of this stressor the World Bank is currently working in Guyana to refocus public expenditure so as to improve infrastructure and the quality of health, education and water services.  In addition the World Bank is advocating for the privatization of most industries in an effort to increase opportunities for investment.  The United Nations Development Programme is also working to empower vulnerable people by improving the economic status of indigenous groups and the establishment of community livelihood projects that will result in job creation.

References:

Poverty in Guyana: The Borgen Project. Retrieved from http://borgenproject.org/poverty-in-guyana/

Child Development and Public Health

Immunization

According to J. P. Baker (2000) cited in Berger (2012), immunization/vaccination have had “a great impact on human mortality reduction and population growth than any other public health intervention besides clean water.” (p.149)

A vaccine is essentially the introduction of a small dose of inactive (killed or weakened) virus into a healthy person.  This triggers the body’s immune system to produce antibodies, thus providing immunity.  In today’s society it is necessary that young children be immunized at an early age.  Without immunization, children’s chances of dying from infectious diseases such as measles, mumps, whooping cough, polio, pneumonia increases immensely.  Moreover, immunizations do not only protect children from such contagious diseases, but also from complications such as deafness, blindness, sterility and meningitis (Berger, 2012).  Additionally, immunization offers protection beyond the individual child and to the community by extension.  When many children are immunized against a disease, transmission of that disease is reduced, and those individuals who are not vaccinated can be indirectly protected through a phenomenon known as her immunity.  While some diseases have been practically eliminated, outbreaks can still occur, especially when immunization rates have plummeted. Therefore, it is essential that children continue to receive these vaccines.  Swierzewski (2008) is of the view that accurate records of children’s immunization should be kept by parents and caretakers as this will help them know the due date of the next shot.

Although immunization coverage has increased world during the past decades, WHO’s African region has consistently fallen behind.  Nonetheless, immunization coverage in this region is increasing dramatically.  Between 2000 and 2004 coverage of the DTP-3 vaccine increased from 54% in 2000 to 69% in 2004 across the region.  Due to donor funding a number of new vaccines have been introduced and there has been advances in the control of polio and measles.  However, continued donor support is needed in an effort to achieve greater improvement and to sustain the eradication of polio and measles.

In St. Lucia, it is mandatory that children’s immunization charts are up to date before entering formal schooling, and as such the school population is protected from these contagious diseases.  According to the World Health Organization (2009) “vaccines have the power not only to save, but to transform lives- giving children a chance to grow up healthy, go to school and improve their live prospects.”  Therefore, as an educator, I feel obligated to helping my children reach their optimal.  As a result, I will continue to educate parents on the importance of immunization and the impact it will have on the future lives of their children.  I will help them understand that despite the fact that the shot may create some discomfort for the child or the child may get a fever, the disease that it prevents can have a more detrimental effect.  Additionally, I will advise them to keep the record card of the child’s immunization in a secure place as it will remind them of the dates for the shots and they should stick to these dates since these shots are free at the community health centres.

My interest in immunization was sparked when I took my class to the community health centre last week to receive their vaccine (which should be received at age 12). The child whom I wrote about in last week’s discussion had to take three shots since his mother had not taken him to get the previous ones.  Knowing that vaccines protect children against serious illness that may result in disabilities and even death I became interested in the topic.

References

Arevshatian, L., Clements, C. J., Lwanga, S. K., Misore, A. O., Ndumbe, P., Seward, J. F., & Taylor, P. (2007). An evaluation of infants immunization in Africa: is a transformation in progress? WHO

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

Swierzewski, S. J. (2008). Overview of childhood immunizations. Retrieved from http://www.pediatrichealthchannel.com/childhood-immunization/overview-of-child-vaccines.shtml

World Health Organization (2009). State of the world’s vaccines and immunization (3^rd ed.). Gineva, Switzerland.

Birthing Experiences around the World

I have had no personal birthing experience of my own since I am not a mother.  Nonetheless, the most experience I encountered took place twelve years ago.  My older sister had a beautiful baby girl.

It all started when she went to the gynaecologist because she was having some stomach pains.  When she arrived she had to give a urine specimen.  After a few minutes the doctor told her that she was pregnant.  They arranged her prenatal visits and she kept to her appointments.   The first two months of pregnancy was not so difficult.  However, towards the third month, she began experiencing some excruciating pain and she began experiencing difficulties, her gynaecologist discovered that she had multiple fibroids competing the foetus.  As the months went by, her pregnancy became very complicated which led to her being hospitalized for six months.  During that time, the doctor monitored her closely to ensure that the baby had a better chance of survival.   She was on medication which helped to curb the pain.  Towards the eighth month of her pregnancy her water bag broke and he was rushed to emergency surgery.  Through caesarean, she gave birth to 5lb 5oz, premature baby girl.  After she recovered from surgery she was unable to hold because she was placed in an incubator to help her to breathe normally.  The following day, my sister was taken to the ICU unit to see and hold her for a short time.  However, we the family member were unable to see her.  After they were discharged, we (the family members) had to sit with her (the baby) in the sun for sun baths in order to help her recover from the jaundice.  My sister was not allowed to do any work or visit any one since most older people believed that you should allow your body to heal before you start going places and doing regular activities.

The experience of having a baby in China is much different then having one in a western country like the USA. Routine and free prenatal care is limited in some areas. Technically it is also illegal for the those giving the ultrasound to disclose the gender of the foetus. Many hospitals in China only give epidurals for those having caesarean births and women labour together in one room. This type of system may not allow for many family members to be present during a delivery. After giving birth, care is provided by an elder female relative. The period of care right after the delivery is known as the sitting month, so resting for approximately one month after delivery is not unusual. Depending on regional differences, women may not leave their homes, take a bath, wash their hair, expose themselves to cold water, cold temperatures and wind, or ingest ice water or cold food, raw vegetables, salads or fruits. It is believed that women are undergoing a cold stage right after delivery due to loss of blood. In order to restore balance, they need to consume foods considered hot, hot water, soups, ginger, wine and food high in protein. The personality and disposition of an unborn child is thought to be strongly influenced by the state of his mother’s mind and body while expecting. For this reason, Chinese women are strongly urged to control their thoughts and actions (meaning no gossiping, no temper tantrums and no hard physical labour while baby is incubating).  Gift-giving before birth is considered very unlucky in Chinese culture, not to mention you could be stepping on grandma’s toes. The mother-to-be’s own mother is typically responsible for the new baby’s entire layette. A month before birth, the maternal grandmother sends a gift of clothing for the newborn to hasten delivery, then three days after the baby arrives; she visits with the remainder of her grandchild’s wardrobe and gear. 

There are a number of similarities and differences between the birthing experience in China and my country St. Lucia.

Similarities:

• ·         The women have labour together in one room in which the sections are separated with curtains
• ·         Family members and fathers are not allowed in the delivery rooms
• ·         They both have caesarean sections
• ·         Female family members provide support after the birth of the baby
• ·         There is a waiting period after birth to engage in activities
• ·         They both believe that the state of the mother’s mind and body influences the unborn child’s personality and dispositions

Differences

• ·         Epidurals are used in China but not in St. Lucia
• ·         In St. Lucia ultrasounds are given to determine the gender of the foetus in China this is illegal
• ·       In St. Lucia, baby showers are given for the expectant mother in which family and friends supply     gifts and layette, but in China it is considered unlucky to give gifts before child birth
• ·         In St. Lucia there is no restriction on what you must eat after birth like there is in China

Reference

 Medical Chinese, Retrieved from www.ethnomed.org  

 Childbirth of the world. Retrieved 2013 http://www.angelfire.com/wi/caretheworld/english/ebirthworld.htm