Consequences of Stress on Children's Development

     Stressors can definitely affect a child’s overall well being, affecting their, biosocial development, cognitive development, and psychosocial development. I have a personal stressor experience that I would like to share and hopefully I can offer support or reassurance that it does get better with time and a strong support system. When I was in seventh grade I was robbed at gun point on my way to school, it was one of those cold winter days with thick layers of snow on the ground. To make a very long story short, my perpetrator was 23 years old and identified by myself along with several others girls in a police lineup, which I learned he had actually kidnapped those girls and raped them. I felt so blessed to not have been raped, but I also felt very sad for the other girls he sexually violated. Violent crimes are crimes that hit a person very deep, I was afraid to walk alone, always paranoid and constantly looking over my shoulders. This crime still affects me as an adult because I never really feel safe; I always lock the car doors, even while waiting in the car for my husband as he quickly runs in seven eleven to the cash station. I may sometimes judge people for looking as what I believe to be suspicious, my family especially my mother was very supportive of me and helped to give me the belief that I will feel safe again.

     I looked into violent crimes in London, (sex crimes in particular), and London has launched the “Safer London Foundation” which tackles young men and sexual violence against girls. The foundation works with young men at risk of becoming gang members, discuss issues of sex, power and control, with the aim of helping them avoid becoming involved in sexual crimes. I think that this is a great foundation, because men who commit violent crimes are usually victims themselves or have some dysfunctional family issues going on. This foundation reaches out to these young men, by forming peer groups to help them discuss their issues and keep them on the right track. I’ve attached the link below for anyone who wishes to check out the website.

http://www.saferlondonfoundation.org/news/?p=175

CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND PUBLIC HEALTH

     The public health topic that I think is meaningful to me is (SIDS) sudden infant death syndrome. This topic is important to me, because I work in a center that serves children from six week old, all the way to school age children. I have had the opportunity to work in the infant classroom room as a floater or to cover lunch breaks. The infant rooms where I work  has a large variety of different age infants, some six weeks, two months, six months, ten months etc. We have training once a year on sudden infant death syndrome, to keep the teachers aware that this is real and how to properly take care of infants to prevent this from occurring.

     Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the unexpected, sudden death of a child under age 1 in which an autopsy does not show an explainable cause of death.

Causes, incidence, and risk factors

The cause of SIDS is unknown. Many doctors and researchers now believe that SIDS is caused by several different factors, including:

• Problems with the baby's ability to wake up (sleep arousal)
• Inability for the baby's body to detect a buildup of carbon dioxide in the blood

SIDS rates have dropped dramatically since 1992, when parents were first told to put babies to sleep on their backs or sides to reduce the likelihood of SIDS. Unfortunately, SIDS remains a significant cause of death in infants under one year old. Thousands of babies die of SIDS in the United States each year. SIDS is most likely to occur between 2 and 4 months of age. SIDS affects boys more often than girls. Most SIDS deaths occur in the winter.

The following have been linked to a baby's increased risk of SIDS:

• Sleeping on the stomach
• Being around cigarette smoke while in the womb or after being born
• Sleeping in the same bed as their parents (co-sleeping)
• Soft bedding in the crib
• Multiple birth babies (being a twin, triplet, etc.)
• Premature birth
• Having a brother or sister who had SIDS
• Mothers who smoke or use illegal drugs
• Being born to a teen mother
• Short time period between pregnancies
• Late or no prenatal care
• Living in poverty situations

     I decided to check the sudden infant death syndrome in Korea, I found out that (SIDS) does occur in Korea, because many of the above factors, that occurs to American babies. I found out that in Korea, it’s a cultural belief and tradition to have babies sleep with adults or siblings, because this encourages breast feeding and bonding with the mother and or siblings. Also, in the Korean culture, most babies are found in a blanket on the floor or in an adult bed. This finding reflects a Korean tradition of placing an infant on a blanket over a Korean-style floor (ondol) The “Back to sleep” campaign has gained attention in Korea to help educate parent and to help reduce the incidents of sudden infant death syndrome.

     Sudden infant death syndrome rates have declined dramatically with the “Back to sleep” campaign. As an educator I will continue to stay abreast with the latest developments about this heath topic and advocate for my parents, by providing them with information and resources to help them learn more about this silent killer.

Resources

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in Korea: A Retrospective ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC359460

Sudden infant death syndrome - National Library of Medicine ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH000253

 

    

   

MY CHILD BIRTH EXPERINCE AND AROUND THE WORLD

Childbirth in Your Life and Around the World

     Child birth is such an exciting, scary, and awesome experience! I would like to share my personal experience with child birth, when I gave birth to my daughter thirteen years ago! When you give birth, you experience a sea of emotions; my thirteen year old daughter was my third and last child. I was thirty years old when I gave birth to her, during one of my Doctor’s visit my Doctor gave me some very unsettling test results. The test results said that I had a possible chance of having a child with Down syndrome, I was devastated, but, my family and especially my husband were very supportive. Our culture and the faith in the Lord helped get us through that time, fast forward my daughter was born healthy and she does not have down syndrome, but, if she did we would have loved her still the same! I was able to remain calm, positive, stress free,   eat healthy, and continue with my prenatal care, thus; improving my child’s chances of being emotionally healthy, because the unborn fetus is impacted by social/emotional health.

     The country that I chose to learn more about in regard to child birth is Jamaica, I chose this country, because it is my favorite vacation destination! I wanted to learn more about their testing when it comes to Down syndrome and other genetic defects. I learned that not until recently, Jamaica has testing available for genetic testing, but, the cost is so expensive and the turnaround time for test results is long. The CARIGEN genetic institute of the Caribbean has be offering the service locally for half the cost of a karyotype, with a turnaround time of about three to five working days. I was very happy to hear that, because these women  and their children deserve the same quality health care as their American counterparts!

References

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20070305/news/news2.html

Here is a picture of my beautiful daughter, dressed for Halloween! She is in eighth grade, time sure does fly!