Child Development and Public Health

Nutrition/Malnutrition

My choice of public health measures that impact children’s development all over the world is nutrition/malnutrition.  I chose this topic because I know that a child’s development is affected when they do not receive proper nourishments.  As a future educator having knowledge of proper nourishments and child nutrition is very important.  Children’s learning abilities as well as cognitive skills can be altered when they are malnourished.  Malnutrition affects the physical, social, and mental development in children.   

Protein-calorie malnutrition is when a person does not receive enough food to sustain normal growth.  This is mostly common in children in the developing nations.  They often suffer from stunting which is a condition where the children are very short.  This condition comes from chronic malnutrition (Berger, 2012).  Another condition that malnutrition causes is wasting.  Wasting is when the children are severely underweight for their age.   

In Africa wasting has increased tremendously since 2000.  In South Asia the malnutrition rates are really high.  According to statistics at least half of the children over five (5) years of age are stunted and another half under five (5) years of age are wasted because of malnutrition (Berger, 2012).    In India children die from illnesses such as typhoid, malaria, measles, diarrhea, and pneumonia which are directly due to them being malnourished. According to the World Health Organization, malnutrition is the largest contributor to child mortality.   We cannot expect malnourished children to be healthy nor can we expect them to have high educational achievements.  Prevention can stop childhood malnutrition and because we now have knowledge we can protect our health as well as our loved ones.   

Researching this information has made me more aware of the importance of public health measures and the impact that it has on child development all over the world.  As educators we are responsible for being advocates for public health measures in and around our schools.  It is our duty to make certain that our children are in an environment that in conducive to learning.  This means that they are fully nourished, in good health, and ready and eager to learn.

 

References

Berger, K. S. (2012). The developing person through childhood.  New York, NY: Worth Publishes.

 

http://nutritionfoundationofindia.res.in/

 

Childbirth: In Your Life and Around the World

         I am not a parent yet but I would like to share with you the memories of the birth of my only sibling, Triston.  He is now almost seven (7) years old.  He was born on June 14, 2006 a day Before my 17 birthday.  My mother was 41 years old when she found out that she was expecting another child.  Although he was not planned it was a joy for me because I thought that I would be the only child forever.  I even mentioned to my mother that it was a selfish act not to have me a sibling.  She laughed and said you have plenty of God sisters and God brothers.  After my mother told me she was expecting a baby I was overwhelmed with joy.  She did not seem to be so excited about it but eventually she showed joy.  She was high risk because she had hypertension and she was older.  She started to spot early in her pregnancy and was not gaining a lot a weight.  I made sure she was not stressed and I did the chores so that she could rest as much as possible.  When she was 7½ months she started hemorrhaging and was hospitalized for seven (7) days after which her doctor put her on complete bed rest.  I spent most of my time after school playing with her stomach, talking, reading, and singing to my brother.  My brother was due to arrive on June 21, 2006 by caesarean section because she had one with me.  On June 13, 2006 my mother started having contractions.  She got up and cleaned the house which I advised her not to do.  I went to work and she called me at work and said the contractions were getting worse and that she was going to the hospital.  I asked my boss to go home to drive my mother to the hospital.  When we got there her doctor was waiting to check her up.  He said that she was going back to the house and wait it out.  I guess my brother heard the doctor because he started moving around and the contractions starting coming faster and faster.  He then agreed that the baby was trying to come and scheduled her for surgery for the next morning.  I was so excited I slept in the hospital bed with my mother.  The next morning they took her into surgery.  I wanted to go in with her but I was not 18 years of age.  I waited at the window anxiously for them to bring him out. At 12:01 he was born.   After a while his aunt came out holding him and bringing him to the window.  He was beautiful; he weighed 8 pounds, 2 ounces, and was 20” in length.  He was a very special blessing to me.

        I watched my mother’s body grow and change for nine (9) months.  Her skin became darker, her nose spreaded across her face, and her feet even got puffy.   I read articles and looked up pictures on line so that I could understand the stages of prenatal development.  You would have thought that I was the one who was carrying the baby.  When we came home from the hospital my motherly instincts kicked in and I was not the mother.  I helped my mother feed, change diapers, bath, and put him to sleep.  I noticed how he responded to things early in life.  He developed quite fast and I knew that he would be a smart baby.  He was already used to music, singing, and reading because I had done all of that while he was still in my mother’s womb.  Well I said early on that he was an Einstein baby because he puckled his lips back at his dad at 4 weeks.  He has now tested gifted in the first grade. 

       I learned a great deal about childbirth and child development from my mother’s pregnancy and from reading articles and books.  I was puzzled about caesarean sections, and normal births.  I found out from reading and asking questions the reasons why caesareans are performed.   My thought on child birth is that it is very important to receive the best prenatal care as possible as early as possible.   We must take care of our bodies before conception, during the pregnancy, and after the birth.  Watching this was so amazing to me and I know that whenever I am ready to start my own family I will look back on these memories and thank my mother for this experience. 

 
      In Australia expected mothers have a choice of whether to have their babies at the hospital or at home.  Many of the births done in Australia are done independently or by midwives.  In the U. S. we are not given the option to have our babies at home.  Years ago this was the practice that was used in our country.  Midwives delivered babies but certain interventions were not available such as inducing labor and epidurals.  A high number of babies died during the era where midwives delivered babies in the homes.  In Australia midwives get to carry oxygen, suction, and drugs to control bleeding.  In the event the birth becomes complicated the midwives will call ahead to the hospital and inform the doctors that additional help will be needed.  The patient is then carried to the hospital.  From reading the article I think that the child birth process is still the same regardless of whether it is at home or at the hospital.  The difference is that Australia has the option to choose homebirth and the United States does also but only if they have high access health care.  In my discussion my mother had to have a caesarean section in which she had the doctor’s right at her hand.  In Australia the midwife is the only medical person.  She cannot perform a caesarean and so the mother will have to be transferred to a hospital.  To me time is of the essence.  I think that I will take my chances and go to the hospital to give birth it seems to be so much more assuring and safe.  The hospitals are equipped with all the equipment that is needed versus the midwife having just a small variety of utensils.

       I did not gain any knowledge from the comparison of home birth in Australia and the United States but it did give me some insight on how important it is to choose good medical care for child birthing and it also made me aware that hospitals are more equipped to handle issues quickly in the event there is a complication with the birth process.

 

Reference

 

http://www.bubum.com.au/info/articles/birth-labour/homebirth_in_australia.shtml