Consequences of Stress on Children's Development

            When reflecting on stressors, poverty and my two little cousins came to mind.  To make a long story short, my aunt met their dad while she was in her first semester of college in which she had a scholarship.  She dropped out of college and got pregnant.  Their dad disappeared for a while when my cousin Josh was born.  My mom and grandparents raised Josh the first couple of years.  During this time, my aunt met up with the dad and got pregnant again.  This time after having my little cousin, Talesha, my aunt took them and went to live with the dad.  During this time, neither parent had a steady job, both were drinking and into drugs, and lived in an unsafe shack.  In fact they had to move out because the building was condemned.  The more my family tried to reach out and help, the further they pushed us away.  Other stressors kicked in such as exposure to alcohol, drugs, and violence.  The dad was always in trouble with the law and had a violent temper.  My aunt tried to separate from him.  My aunt and cousins had to go into hiding until law enforcement found and arrested him on unrelated charges.  He has spent numerous years in jail, the majority of the children’s lives.  He is out now but they do not communicate with him.  As of right now, my cousins are both in their 20s.  Josh just obtained his GED and was accepted into the local community college.  Talesha just received financial aid to attend the community college.

            Josh and Talesha had to overcome a lot in their childhood, especially poverty.  Poverty hindered their development.  For example, they did not always receive the necessary nutrition, which affects their cognitive and physical development.  They did not live in the safest of environments, which affected their psychology.  They did not development proper secure attachments to either parent.  They are closest with their mother.  In fact, they are both living at home.  Granted this has not always been the case.  Both moved out at 18 thinking they knew it all.  They started following in their parents’ footsteps and realized this was not the path they should take.  They realized in order to get anywhere in life, they need a decent education.  Thankfully they are both in community college working on obtaining their 2-year degree.  Maybe they can break the poverty cycle.  My family has always tried to help them.  Sometimes it was accepted, but most of the time it was not.  We were always, and still are, there for them and thankfully they know that.  I am just glad they are turning their lives around.

            When thinking of a country that has a special affinity, I immediately thought of Aruba.  This is where my husband and I honeymooned in 2005.  We fell in love with the island and cannot wait to go back.  When reflecting on our trip, the children on this Caribbean island do not have the same stressors as one would think.  Aruba lies outside of the where hurricanes hit so children do not have to suffer through that natural disaster.  Due to tourism, it is one of the more well off countries in the Caribbean.  I kept looking to find the percentage of families at or below the poverty line, however, I could not find a statistic.  I remember when we were there and exploring driving on a lot of dirt roads and seeing hut type houses.  Since they are part of the Dutch Antilles, they are under Dutch government and have an education system based of the Netherland system.  I think the biggest stressor these children see is drug smuggling activity.  They are exposed to drugs and put in the danger of being kidnapped and/or killed if something goes wrong.  However, you do not hear of the drug violence in Aruba like you do in nearby Venezuela so they must be doing something right to protect their citizens.  Their motto is “One Happy Island” and that it is.  Everyone is very friendly and willing to help.  I do like how the island has set itself up for tourism.  Part of the island, the “west coast” is where all the resorts and hotels are located.  The rest of the island is for the people of Aruba.  They do have an oil refinery and I can speak from first hand experience you would never know it existed.  The water and air around it are clear and you cannot hear a lot of noise from it either.  They have safe drinking water.  Since they do not have access to fresh water on the island, they have to desalinate the seawater.  In 2005, it was the 2^nd purest water in the world behind Kuwait.  The water was amazing.  I learned a lot on our trip.  Also, Arubans observe siestas everyday.  The island shuts down from 12-2 and everyone goes home to take a nap and spend time with his or her family.  I love this and can see why this would make it “one happy island.”  I believe this has the greatest impact to reduce the stressors on children’s development.  Everyone is rested and spends time together.  I think our country could take a page out of their book and observe siestas too.  What a difference a nap and family time would make!

Child Development and Immunizations

        I chose to research and talk further about child immunizations.  This topic is important to me both personally and professionally.  When I had my son, I knew without a doubt that I wanted him to receive his immunizations.  My cousin had a boy four months later and did not want her son vaccinated.  Her mother and her were against the vaccines because they heard that they did more harm than good.  Meaning they had heard the rumor that the MMR caused autism.  I reassured them that research proved time and time again that MMR did not cause autism.  I also informed her that him not receiving his vaccines would do more harm than good.  My cousin did decide afterwards to have her son receive his immunizations.  I also had a co-worker who was adamant that her three children were not going to receive immunizations because of them causing autism.  They range from seven to four years old and none of them have received their immunizations.  The irony is that one is autistic and the other two show tendencies.  On a professional level, my job works closely with the NC Pre K program in our county.  One of the program requirements is that children be current on their immunizations for health and safety reasons.  This year we encountered a child who has all their immunizations but the MMR.  They have a signed doctor's note saying that the parents refused for their child to receive this shot and have been counseled on the risks.  We did admit that child into the program because of having the medical note.  I am just glad that everyone else around this child at school has been immunized and can hopefully protect the child through the idea of herd immunity (Berger, 2012, p. 150).
        Although our texts this week referred to the immunizations in other parts of the world, I chose to concentrate on the immunization practice in Japan.  I was surprised by what I learned from the website Japan Healthcare Info.  In Japan, there are two types of immunizations:  routine and voluntary.   Routine vaccines are required by law and include pollo, measles, rubella, and HPV.  However due to side effects and infant deaths, the administration of the HPV vaccine has been suspended.  These vaccines are free to everyone and can be given at the local health center or by appointment with a designated pediatrician.  Voluntary vaccines are not required by law and include the flu, chicken pox, mumps, and hepatitis A and B.  The cost of these shots vary depending on the shot the child is receiving.  In order to have them administered, the parents have to contact a pediatrician or a private clinic (japanhealthinfo.com).  I think it is interesting that some shots are required by law and others are not.  In Japan they have split up the MMR shot into different categories.  Whether or not parents are scared of their child becoming autistic, by law the children have to receive the measles and rubella portion.  I need to do further research about autistic children in Japan.  If the rates are equal to or lower than America's, it will be further proof for me to use with parents that the MMR does not cause autism. 
       This new research and knowledge can help me educate parents that the MMR does not cause autism.  If the parents are still scared, I can talk with them like I did my cousin and show them how the benefits greatly outweighs the risk.  I would also like to do further research into different countries that require the MMR or parts of it and compare it to their autistic rate.  The more evidence I have, the more credible I can be when talking to parents. 
       Advocacy is a big part of what I want to with my professional life.  I can use this new information and advocate for immunizations to be available to every child no matter where in the world he/she lives.  I know that immunizations are spreading around the world but small and rural towns still do not have access to them.  I want to help advocate to get the immunizations everywhere because it is so important that children have them to protect them from potential life threatening diseases.


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

Japan Healthcare Info. (n.d.)  Vaccination.  Retrieved from http://japanhealthinfo.com/child-health-

        and-childcare/vaccination/

Childbirth in My Life and Around the World

        I chose to write about the birth of my amazing son.  It started out I was two weeks past my due date.  I was due June 4 but I had told everyone they had my due date wrong and he would be born in the middle of June.  I told my midwife that I did not want to be induced when I went past my due date.  She honored my wishes.  On June 14, I had an ultrasound done and it was decided it would be best to induce the following morning because I was losing fluid, which was dangerous for my son.  Well that afternoon, my son decided he was going to come on his own.  My husband was golfing with my cousin when I went into labor at 2:10.  We called him and they came straight home.  I swear my husband took the longest shower ever.  My labor came quickly and the contractions started at 5 minutes apart.  I thought before hand that I wanted to have a natural childbirth and go without drugs.  I admit I quickly changed my mind and asked for the epidural as soon as I got to the hospital.  Sadly the practice I had been seeing has several midwifes and doctors that work on rotations.  The midwife that I had seen the majority of my pregnancy was unable to attend my birth because she was not due to work until the next day.  I had a midwife that I had seen only once and a nurse.  To me, the nurse was useless and sat around writing stuff down instead of helping me.  My mom and husband were in the delivery room with me and they had to do all the work such as getting me ice and cold cloths.  While I was pushing, his head was stuck in the birth canal because he decided he wanted to greet the world face up instead of face down.  We were literally stuck until the doctor could come and vacuum him out.  At the time she was delivering twins via c-section.  I was nervous because every time I tried to push, his heart rate would go down.  Thankfully she arrived and he was born.  They put him on me and it was the best feeling in the world.  Then they cleaned him up, did his measurements, Apgar test, footprints, etc.  I was in labor a total of 10 hours and 10 minutes with 2 hours and 10 minutes spent pushing.  It was worth it because I have this incredible boy who is my whole world.  He was born June 15, the middle of June as I predicted.  I entered the hospital on Thursday, he was born after midnight on Friday, and we went home on Saturday.
         I picked this example because it is the only birthing experience I really know.  I've heard stories about other birthing experiences but I do not know what is fact and what was embellishment.  So I chose to use my own experience with my child.  It also took place 6 years ago and for me, that is the latest birthing experience I know.  I am sure a lot has changed since then.
         I think in ways childbirth can impact child development.  If I had to keep waiting on the doctor to help deliver my son, some complications could have risen.  His heart beat was dropping every time I pushed.  If this had continued his heart would have continued to slow down and I shutter to think what could have happened.  If complications arise during childbirth, development can be affected.  For example if the baby cannot get enough oxygen, cognitive development can be impaired.  Physical development can also be affected.  For example my husband's hip was dislocated during his birth.  To this day, he still has trouble with it.  Childbirth can also have a positive impact on development.  I remember the elated feeling I had when my son was born and how we quickly bonded as a family.  I do believe the positive feelings and bonding that we shared impacted my son.  My son had a secure attachment and was a happy baby. 
         I looked at the child-birthing experience in India.  There are still a lot of home births with an increase of births taking place in a public hospital.  Private hospitals are available but are for the wealthy and healthy babies.  Most of them do not have the equipment to handle a difficult birth or birth defect.  Women who are in labor are isolated away from any pollutants and usually do not have access to pain medication.  After the birth, the mother and baby are kept isolated up to 40-60 days.  The length depends on how big the family is that can take of her and the baby.  This is known as confinement and it is done due to beliefs related to the birthing process.  Other woman take care of the mother and baby including what they eat, how they bathe, etc. 
         There are a few similarities between my experience and the experiences I read about in India. More births are taking place in public hospitals like I had my son.  The mother and baby are both taken care of after the birth.  My mom helped me after I delivered.  There are several differences.  It seems a lot of birth rituals still take place based on a belief system such as the long isolation of the mother and baby.  I was discharged from the hospital about a day after giving birth.  Women in India are kept for longer.  If they deliver in a hospital, they usually stay at least 3 days if not longer. 
         No matter where you are, women go through similar yet slightly different birthing experiences.  I believe that no matter where or how you give birth, if there are complications, odds are a child's development will be negatively impacted.  But whether positive or negative, childbirth has an impact on a child's development.


                                                                           Reference
 Indian ethnicity and background.  Retrieved October 31, 2013, from
 
                   http://www.health.qld.gov.au/multicultural/health_workers/indian-preg-prof.pdf