Consequences of Stress on Children's Development

I spoke with my best friend regarding any stress she may have felt growing up and she said isolation. Her family was close knit and didnt feel the need to have friends outside of the family so she couldnt have sleepovers or even friends outside her family and if caught she would be disciplined. She said she tried following those rules until she was in middle/high school she found herself sneaking to have friends.  I think that type of treatment made her the social butterfly she is today.  There is an old saying "She meets no strangers" and that is her personality today she talks to everyone and does it with such ease.

The country I researched is Africa the stressors are poverty and HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Children endure exhaustion and stress from work and worry, as well

as insecurity and stigmatisation as it is either assumed that they too are

infected with HIV or that their family has been disgraced by the virus. Loss

of home, dropping out of school, separation from siblings and friends,

increased workload and social isolation may all impact negatively on current

and future mental health

In order to help children and their families

the strength and quality of social institutions, such as the

family, school, church and community associations are critical for children’s

capacity to cope with the effects of the epidemic, and to avert personal

distress, maladjustment and social disorder. It is also true that these

institutions are likely to be weakened as a result of the epidemic, as key

individuals become ill and die, and as those people who remain become

demoralised and overwhelmed by loss and the demands placed on them by

difficult conditions. Therefore, every effort has to be made to support and

strengthen these social institutions in the face of the epidemic, as they

provide the cornerstone for the protection of children. In particular, schools

need to be adapted to provide a range of supports for children: schooling

must be available to all children and every effort must be made to ensure

that all children remain in school; educators and older children can be

sensitised and trained to provide support for children; food and clothing,

especially uniforms, can be provided through schools; and shorter- or longerterm

accommodation can be developed for children in especially difficult

circumstances. Maintaining children’s schooling is an important intervention

in several ways. It retains children’s connectedness to peers, familiar adults

and to an institutional identity. Schooling provides children and society with

future knowledge and skills. Keeping older children in school could also help

to prevent vulnerability to HIV infection, by protecting children and reducing

the child’s need to seek shelter, food and clothing through risky encounters

with unscrupulous adults.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) -is the unexplained death, usuallyduring sleep of a seemingly healthy baby (Mayoclinic).

This topic is meaningful to me  because Im a parent and educator. I currently work in the infant room at my current job and in the very very near future I will be opening my on family home childcare so all the information I learn will allow me to give adequate care to the children in my care. I also want to be able to educate young mothers on the importance of making sure their children are safe.

This chart is showing the Mortality Statistics of SIDS by country

Rank	Countries	Amount
# 1	United States:	2,523 deaths
# 2	Germany:	429 deaths
# 3	Japan:	363 deaths
# 4	Brazil:	318 deaths
# 5	Argentina:	303 deaths
# 6	Mexico:	261 deaths
# 7	South Africa:	164 deaths
# 8	Chile:	144 deaths
# 9	Canada:	121 deaths
# 10	Australia:	103 deaths
# 11	Korea, South:	87 deaths
# 12	Spain:	70 deaths
= 13	Ecuador:	65 deaths
= 13	Egypt:	65 deaths
# 15	New Zealand:	62 deaths
# 16	Paraguay:	56 deaths
# 17	Colombia:	45 deaths
# 18	Poland:	43 deaths
= 19	Austria:	32 deaths
= 19	United Kingdom:	32 deaths
# 21	Nicaragua:	30 deaths
# 22	Sweden:	28 deaths
= 23	Uruguay:	26 deaths
= 23	Venezuela:	26 deaths
= 25	Netherlands:	25 deaths
= 25	Peru:	25 deaths
# 27	Israel:	24 deaths
# 28	Hungary:	22 deaths
= 29	Kyrgyzstan:	20 deaths
= 29	Norway:	20 deaths
# 31	Denmark:	19 deaths
= 32	Dominican Republic:	17 deaths
= 32	Latvia:	17 deaths
# 34	Czech Republic:	15 deaths
# 35	Kuwait:	14 deaths
= 36	Finland:	13 deaths
= 36	Croatia:	13 deaths
# 38	Romania:	11 deaths
# 39	Lithuania:	10 deaths
# 40	Cuba:	8 deaths
# 41	Slovakia:	7 deaths
= 42	Costa Rica:	6 deaths
= 42	Belize:	6 deaths
= 44	Moldova:	4 deaths
= 44	Estonia:	4 deaths
= 44	Qatar:	4 deaths
= 44	Bahrain:	4 deaths
= 44	Puerto Rico:	4 deaths
# 49	Luxembourg:	3 deaths
= 50	Panama:	2 deaths
= 50	Malta:	2 deaths
= 50	Barbados:	2 deaths
= 53	Iceland:	1 deaths
= 53	Bahamas, The:	1 deaths
= 53	El Salvador:	1 deaths
= 53	Slovenia:	1 deaths
	Total:	5,721 deaths
	Weighted average:	102.2 deaths

This information was provided by World Health Organisation Statistical Information System.

This information allows me to educate others on the importance of safety and well being for infants. We have many parents that are unfamiliar with SIDS so they ask caregivers to lay their child on stomach because they sleep better. I recently had director to get pamphlets so we could post and inform our parents of SIDS.

West Africa birthing practices

It is customary for delivery to occur with the woman squatting on the ground surrounded by sisters and female relatives, some of whom function as midwives. Midwives get paid only if delivery is successful. A stool is also often used in childbirth. The name given to a child in the Yoruba tribe in Nigeria has to refer to the circumstances of the individual's birth. The contact with the earth (as in the squatting position) has religious overtones--it indicates the fecundity of the earth, and the mother's contact with it. Infertility is considered the greatest tragedy in traditional African society. In Senegal, a childless woman pays a fertile one a certain sum in return for bearing her a child who would be raised as her own (this tradition is not unlike surrogate motherhood in Western countries). Men are never present at birth; however, in urban settings this practice is changing. The burial of the placenta and umbilical cord is thought to restore the woman's fertility and help heal her womb. This practice was even recorded in 19th century Sweden harkening back to heathen times. In Ghana, an infertile woman urinates on the ground where the placenta is buried in the belief that her fertility will be restored. The birth of twins is regarded as a great blessing, and as a sign of fertility; however, the inability of the mother to breast-feed both twins may result in the death of the weaker child. The harmony of nature, animals, and human beings is paramount in traditional West Africa religion and life, and undoubtedly Western culture could learn from some of these beliefs (.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6558064)

As I read these practices I am amazed!!!   I am thankful that I was in a medical facility surrounded by trained staff regardless how pregnant my nurse was. In many African countries there are a lack of hospitals, lack of road access and transportation and trained personnel.

The birth of my daughter Ayana

My pregnancy with my daughter I was miserable. Although I had my family support my relationship with her father was stressful but that's another BLOG!! I was on bed rest the last 3 months of my pregnancy because she was sitting on my Sciatic Nerve so my leg would give out at any given time. My doctors were great and she was delivered at Women's Hospital! I remember going into labor about 7am 8/31 that lasted about 2-3 hours. I ended up having her naturally with NO DRUGS (of course it wasn't on purpose) because my attending nurse  was about 8 months pregnant so she couldn't get the medicine authorization form to me quick enough before Ayana decided to make her entrance!!! I lost consciousness a few times because the pain was truly unbearable but my mother was by my side the entire step of the way!  I say I may want another child but then I think of my daughter's birth and I question that maybe I will stick to being Aunt or Godmother :)  My daughter ended up staying in the hospital an extra day or two (I'm trying to remember) because of something regarding  our compatibility, so now I must investigate to see exactly what that entails. My daughter is now 9yrs old sometimes she acts like she's 29yrs old and I have to tell her : If you only know the pain I endured to have you, you would appreciate me more often. I love her and wouldn't trade her for the world but Im sure there's times she would like to trade me in :)