Early Childhood News

When children are made to live in stressful situations the hypothalamus section of the brain is greatly affected in a negative manner (Berger, 2012).  Children in the US and in other sections of the world suffer from violent situations, poverty, and hunger which impede healthy child development (Berger, 2012). When children are mistreated early on in life the outcome can prove to be emotionally devastating (Berger, 2012).

              I have a neighbor that is now the foster mother of two children that came into care three years ago.  The children were living in a very violent household where the parents fought constantly, used drugs, and neglected their two children ages five months (a girl) and two years old ( a boy).  The mother had threatened to kill the little boy on several occasions as a revenge tactic to the father because he was repeatedly unfaithful.  When the police took the children out of the home, their bodies and clothes were filthy and they were malnourished.  The baby girl was sucking on a bottle that contained very old milk.  So they were taken by Child Protective Services in the middle of the night.  When my neighbor picked up the children they were in bad condition and the boy would not speak and he refused any attachment.  Attachment is extremely important with the caregiver at birth and when infants are denied bonding, they can be scarred for the rest of their lives (Berger, 2012).  It was evident that these children were lacking parental bonding.  My friend has worked wonders with these children because when she first received the boy he was diagnosed as possibly having autism but now he is a bright little boy with great verbal skills and now tests above average.  The children now attend a private school and are thriving well.

              A lot of the children in Somalia are starving and are malnourished because of the constant infighting in the country.  There are 1,500 homeless families that are living in refugee camps.  The NGO created child family spaces (CFS) as a remedy for the terror and hunger that the mothers and children are experiencing.  The constant violence in Somalia has affected children emotionally because they are now malnourished in addition to living in fear.  The Save the Children organization has provided food and medical services for the mothers and children that are housed at the refugee camp in Jawie.

 

References

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

            Publishers

When children are made to live in stressful situations the hypothalamus section of the brain is greatly affected in a negative manner (Berger, 2012).  Children in the US and in other sections of the world suffer from violent situations, poverty, and hunger which impede healthy child development (Berger, 2012). When children are mistreated early on in life the outcome can prove to be emotionally devastating (Berger, 2012).

              I have a neighbor that is now the foster mother of two children that came into care three years ago.  The children were living in a very violent household where the parents fought constantly, used drugs, and neglected their two children ages five months (a girl) and two years old ( a boy).  The mother had threatened to kill the little boy on several occasions as a revenge tactic to the father because he was repeatedly unfaithful.  When the police took the children out of the home, their bodies and clothes were filthy and they were malnourished.  The baby girl was sucking on a bottle that contained very old milk.  So they were taken by Child Protective Services in the middle of the night.  When my neighbor picked up the children they were in bad condition and the boy would not speak and he refused any attachment.  Attachment is extremely important with the caregiver at birth and when infants are denied bonding, they can be scarred for the rest of their lives (Berger, 2012).  It was evident that these children were lacking parental bonding.  My friend has worked wonders with these children because when she first received the boy he was diagnosed as possibly having autism but now he is a bright little boy with great verbal skills and now tests above average.  The children now attend a private school and are thriving well.

              A lot of the children in Somalia are starving and are malnourished because of the constant infighting in the country.  There are 1,500 homeless families that are living in refugee camps.  The NGO created child family spaces (CFS) as a remedy for the terror and hunger that the mothers and children are experiencing.  The constant violence in Somalia has affected children emotionally because they are now malnourished in addition to living in fear.  The Save the Children organization has provided food and medical services for the mothers and children that are housed at the refugee camp in Jawie.

 

References

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

            Publishers

Public Health Measures in Early Childhood

One of the major public health measures that affect children all over the word is immunizations (vaccinations) (Berger, 2012).  The US and most nations practice immunizations to prevent childhood diseases such as mumps, measles, whooping cough, pneumonia, rotavirus, and polio (Berger, 2012).  Polio disease used to be prevalent in the United States before the vaccination was created (Berger, 2012).  Immunizations programs are often halted when countries are experiencing war, and this has occurred in Afghanistan (Berger, 2012).  There are some people in the US that are not allowed to receive immunizations safely because they have been stricken with HIV, rubella, or are receiving chemotherapy (Berger, 2012).  If the majority of people (called a herd) in the US are immunized, then the people that can’t take immunization are usually safe from the diseases (Berger, 2012).

I was glad to find out that there is now a vaccine to prevent chicken pox called varicella (Berger, 2012).  When I was a child everyone would get the chickenpox and it was treated like a “rite of passage” Unfortunately there is still no vaccine to stop malaria, typhoid, cholera, shigellosis, and AIDS (Berger, 2012).  This topic is very meaningful to me because I am concerned about children and sickness interferes with a child’s success.  It is my hope that the diseases I have mentioned will be eradicated in my lifetime.

 

References

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

            Publishers.

 

Childbirth Memories

Childbirth Memories

            I can remember vividly the birth of my son because I was in labor for 23 hours.  I had gone to my doctor’s office on Friday morning and I was checked and told to go home and come back if I experienced labor pains.  My husband brought the car around to the front door of the hospital and I told him that I was hungry so we stopped by a fast food restaurant.  While he was inside getting the food I was hit by a strong labor pain that knocked me out of the car seat.  My husband came back to the car and I told him that I thought I needed to go back to the hospital immediately.  I was checked in and I just knew that my son would be born within the hour.  To my disappointment my son was not born until 23 hours later.  I felt like I was in a torture chamber because the labor pains were consistently hard.  I could not have anything to eat but my husband was served meals for lunch, dinner, and breakfast the next morning.  He drifted off to sleep several times but I really couldn’t sleep because of the annoyance of labor pains.  When I was finally rolled into the delivery room, the forceps broke when the doctor was trying to pull my son out and my bladder was ruptured.  I ended up having a blood transfusion because of the injury.  Three years later I have my daughter and I was in labor for only an hour. My son and daughter have grown up to be loving and caring people, and I will cherish them forever.  My history let me know that birthing experiences can differ within the same family.

            In the Netherlands Dutch women decide rather they want a home birth or a hospital birth and most of the women prefer home births (Schalken, 2013).  They are also encouraged to obtain the services of a midwife because doctors only handle high risk pregnancies (Schalken, 2013).  The use of epidurals (pain killers) is a rarity (Schalken, 2013).  The mothers that do choose a hospital delivery barring any complications they are usually sent home after two hours (Schalken, 2013).  The health insurance does cover the use a nurse to help the mother at home for seven days.  The nurse takes care of the baby and also cleans the house and prepares meals (Schalken, 2013).

 

References

Schalken, L. (2013). Birth customs around the world. Parents, Retrieved from

http://www.parents.com/pregnancy/giving-birth/vaginal/birth-customs-around-the-world/?page=2

 

 

 

Childbirth Memories

            I can remember vividly the birth of my son because I was in labor for 23 hours.  I had gone to my doctor’s office on Friday morning and I was checked and told to go home and come back if I experienced labor pains.  My husband brought the car around to the front door of the hospital and I told him that I was hungry so we stopped by a fast food restaurant.  While he was inside getting the food I was hit by a strong labor pain that knocked me out of the car seat.  My husband came back to the car and I told him that I thought I needed to go back to the hospital immediately.  I was checked in and I just knew that my son would be born within the hour.  To my disappointment my son was not born until 23 hours later.  I felt like I was in a torture chamber because the labor pains were consistently hard.  I could not have anything to eat but my husband was served meals for lunch, dinner, and breakfast the next morning.  He drifted off to sleep several times but I really couldn’t sleep because of the annoyance of labor pains.  When I was finally rolled into the delivery room, the forceps broke when the doctor was trying to pull my son out and my bladder was ruptured.  I ended up having a blood transfusion because of the injury.  Three years later I have my daughter and I was in labor for only an hour. My son and daughter have grown up to be loving and caring people, and I will cherish them forever.  My history let me know that birthing experiences can differ within the same family.

            In the Netherlands Dutch women decide rather they want a home birth or a hospital birth and most of the women prefer home births (Schalken, 2013).  They are also encouraged to obtain the services of a midwife because doctors only handle high risk pregnancies (Schalken, 2013).  The use of epidurals (pain killers) is a rarity (Schalken, 2013).  The mothers that do choose a hospital delivery barring any complications they are usually sent home after two hours (Schalken, 2013).  The health insurance does cover the use a nurse to help the mother at home for seven days.  The nurse takes care of the baby and also cleans the house and prepares meals (Schalken, 2013).

 

References

Schalken, L. (2013). Birth customs around the world. Parents, Retrieved from

http://www.parents.com/pregnancy/giving-birth/vaginal/birth-customs-around-the-world/?page=2