Consequences of Stress on Children's Development

As a child, my twin and I were blessed to never experience any of the indicated stressors. However, there are many that children that I knew growing up and have taught experience one or more stressors in their childhood. There are two children that particularly stand out in my mind. There were two brothers that attended the center I use to work for. These innocent children experienced hunger, chaos, and violence in their home. Their mother received assistance to where they had no reason to go without food, but for some reason these poor children were not being fed properly and it was evident every time they stepped into the center.  In addition to hunger, these children witnessed physical and verbal altercations between their parents. At one point in time, the children and their mother were living in a home with 6 others and had to sleep on the floor. After the Department of Social Service began to investigate the living situation, the mother eventually moved into a place of her own and began to provide these precious children with the nutrients needed through food. It's sad that it took for the proper authorities to step in order for the mother to begin properly providing for her children. On the same note it turned out to work in the boys favor because they did begin to receive the essentials needed to thrive and develop appropriately.


One region that I am interested in learning more about is Haiti and how the development of their children has been affected by the natural disasters that have taken place over the years. Two of the most recent natural disasters are the earthquake that killed over 100,000 Haitians in January of last year and the hurricane in January of this year. As a result of these natural disasters an outbreak of Cholera has been spreading rapidly throughout Haiti. There have been many relief funds set up to provide medical supplies, clean water, and rebuild homes and communities. One fund that was of interest to me was the "Haiti Relief Fund: From Relief to Development". This fund is focused around providing education to children and youth of Haiti. Currently, the president of this important and imperative fund is in the process of building a school in a "slum" community that houses more youth than adults. In addition to the school for educational purposes, donations for medical supplies, chlorine, and clean water are being collected and needed to minimize the spread of Cholera.


http://haitirelieffund.org/haiti-relief/haiti-relief-fund/haiti_relief_development/

Child Development and Public Health

For this week's blog assignment, I will discuss Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). This health topic is important to me, because as a former infant/toddler room teacher, I am familiar with importance of being educated on SIDS and ways to reduce the risk. When in my care, I had to ensure that each child under the age of 12 months were properly placed to sleep, in the proper sleeping environment. I was responsible for precious cargo and did everything that was required of me to keep those in my care safe and healthy.

When researching SIDS around various parts of the world, I noticed that many countries have been SIDS campaigns and have been vigorously working conducting studies in order to find ways to continue lower the number of deaths from SIDS. Beginning in 1987, New Zealand began a 3 year long study to determine the factors of SIDS. Research proved that factors such as sleeping position, maternal smoking, and those infants who were not breastfeed increased the risk of SIDS. In 1991, a formal campaign was launched in order to raise the awareness and reduce the risk of SIDS.


One interesting fact that I discovered was that there was committee working to conclude if there was correlation between immunization and SIDS. The committee concluded that immunizations received during infancy was not a factor of SIDS. I also discovered that Australia and New Zealand are in the process of having the name changed to Sudden Explained Death in Infancy (SUDI). The U.S. CDC is also working towards shifting the name to SUDI and having SIDS fall under this new terminology. Even though I am familar with SIDS and ways to lower risk, it does not hurt to stay informed of new developments in order to share this information with providers and parents.

Mitchell, Edwin, Brunt, Jan, Tuohy, Patrick, & Thompson John. ( 1997). Risk factors for sudden infant death syndrome following the prevention campaign in new zealand: a prospective study. Pediatrics Vol. 100 No.5. p. 835 -840

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. (n.d). Retrieved May 14, 2011 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudden_infant_death_syndrome

Almario, D., McCormick, M., Stranton, K., & Wizemann,T. (n.d.). Immunization safety review: vaccination and sudden unexplained death in infancy. Retrieved from http://sids.org/nmontharticle.htm

Special Delivery: Who Says Good Things Don't Come in Small Packages

I was not present during the birth of my godchildren or nieces & nephews, so I will share what I've been told about my birth. My twin and I were born 2 1/2 months premature. I weighed 2 lbs 8 oz and my twin was 2 lbs 10 oz. From what my mom has told us, she had to placed on bed rest and given medication to stop her from giving birth at 4 months. Because we were born prematurely, my mom said that everything happened so fast. She was not able to receive an epidural and said she was unable to hold us until her and my dad came to visit us in the hospital. Due to the fact that we were so small, the hospital where we were born was unable to care for us, so we were airlifted to a hospital 2 hours away. From my personal birth experience, I am a living witness to the role that speedy and accurate medical attention can play in premature births. Once we were released from the hospital 2 months later, we went for routine check ups at the Children's Hospital in order to ensure that we were developing appropriately.

According to the website allafrica.com, there has been a decrease in the number of maternal deaths during birth. In 2000, 750 per 100,000 births in Tanzania resulted in death. That number was down to 470 per 100,000 births in 2009. In Uganda, the number of women dying during birth was contributed to factors such as not giving birth in medical facilities, severe bleeding, and the fact that the resources for caesarian deliveries are not easily accessibly. These facts are surprising and sad.  It’s the 21^st century and women have to die while brining another life into this world, because the ability to perform a caesarian section is not available in their country.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201004190870.html