I work with many students who experience violence, hunger, and neglect in their everyday life. It affects every aspect of their life. They are not able to concentrate in school because they are hungry or worried about what is happening at home. I have had a few students who have had cavities bleeding in their mouths because they have never been to a dentist. These children have difficulty getting along with their peers and other adults in their life because social skills have not been modeled at home. They have no interaction with books or anything educational at home and, in turn, they are behind in school. Their parents do not attend any school functions from open house to conferences to performances or carnivals. This leads children to believe that school is not important.
It breaks my heart on a daily basis to see my students struggling this way. I wish I could afford to take them all home and give them a proper upbringing. Since I cannot, I make sure that the time they are in my classroom they know they are safe and well taken care of. I try to make our daily schedule consistent and predictable, this may be the only consistency some of them have in their lives. If there is a change, I make sure to inform the students of the change and let them know why. I feed my students a snack in class everyday to make sure they are ready to learn. I fill my treasure box with toothbrushes and toothpaste and make sure the students who need them get them. At the end of everyday I tell the students I am going to miss them and I can't wait for them to come back tomorrow and see me. I hope that I am making a difference in their lives and they know how important they are.
Since many of my students come from Mexico, I decided to focus on life for children in Mexico. Children from low income families in Mexico face many health problems. They are faced with malnutrition, avitaminosis, anemia, dysentery, and infectious diseases. This is evident in the high mortality rates among children in Mexico. For every thousand live births in the country, there are 28 infant deaths and 34 for children under 5 years of age. This translates into 79,000 deaths of children under 5 annually. Also, 14% of children are underweight, with 7% having low birth weights.
The federal government has started a system for general health care for all Mexican citizens. One government program attempts to provide 100% financing of vaccinations for children. Because of this aid, more than 90% of children under 1 year old are now vaccinated for diseases such as measles and polio.
While I focused on children in Mexico, I am also very concerned with the welfare of children from low income families here in the U.S. There needs to be a better system in place to help these young children and give them a solid foundation for a successful life.
Source:
http://www.tulane.edu/~rouxbee/kids00/mexico4.html
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Friday, May 13, 2011
Public Health Issue
The topic I chose this week is breastfeeding. It is meaningful to me because I have been breastfeeding my son for over a year. It was difficult in the beginning because he wasn’t latching correctly, but after the help from many wonderful nurses, he latched on and it has been amazing ever since. Breastfeeding was important to me for many reasons, it is healthier for him, helped me heal quicker, and is free. The most important reason for me to breastfeed was the health benefits for my son. My husband and I are both teachers and come into contact with many kids on a daily basis. I wanted to give my son the immunities from my breast milk to help fight any illnesses we may bring home with us.
A website that has been my breastfeeding bible is www.kellymom.com . There is a wealth of information about breastfeeding, pumping and storing milk, and many other topics pertaining to breastfeeding. There is a link within the site that has information about breastfeeding from around the world. I found all of this information interesting; so I copied and pasted it to my blog. I especially found the information from Poland and the United States interesting.
Parenting magazine had some information on breastfeeding rates around the world in their April 1997 issue. Their article (p. 34) was entitled "Breastfeeding by the Numbers." The information below is from this article.
The World Health Organization and UNICEF have recommended for a decade that mothers breastfeed for at least two years. But most US women who nurse stop before their baby is six months old - and many never start at all. How do other countries stack up?
Breastfeeding Rates Around the World
Country % of mothers who start % who continue 6 months or longer
________________________________________
Sweden 98 53
Norway 98 50
Poland 93 10
Canada 80 24
Netherlands 68 25
Britain 63 21
United States 57 20
________________________________________
Sources: Baby Milk Action, Cambridge, England; Center for Breastfeeding Information, Schaumburg, IL
Chart from www.kellymom.com
A website that has been my breastfeeding bible is www.kellymom.com . There is a wealth of information about breastfeeding, pumping and storing milk, and many other topics pertaining to breastfeeding. There is a link within the site that has information about breastfeeding from around the world. I found all of this information interesting; so I copied and pasted it to my blog. I especially found the information from Poland and the United States interesting.
Parenting magazine had some information on breastfeeding rates around the world in their April 1997 issue. Their article (p. 34) was entitled "Breastfeeding by the Numbers." The information below is from this article.
The World Health Organization and UNICEF have recommended for a decade that mothers breastfeed for at least two years. But most US women who nurse stop before their baby is six months old - and many never start at all. How do other countries stack up?
Breastfeeding Rates Around the World
Country % of mothers who start % who continue 6 months or longer
________________________________________
Sweden 98 53
Norway 98 50
Poland 93 10
Canada 80 24
Netherlands 68 25
Britain 63 21
United States 57 20
________________________________________
Sources: Baby Milk Action, Cambridge, England; Center for Breastfeeding Information, Schaumburg, IL
Chart from www.kellymom.com
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Births in England
Pre-natal care, birth, and postpartum care, including home visits to help with breastfeeding, are covered by a tax-payer funded national health service. Midwives are very common and run prenatal clinics and labor wards. Home births in England are very common.
Thinking about my experience with the birth of my son, home births make me nervous. If I had tried a home birth, there could have been so many complications. His breathing problems after birth would also not have been dealt with in the same way. I am content with my hospital birth.
Thinking about my experience with the birth of my son, home births make me nervous. If I had tried a home birth, there could have been so many complications. His breathing problems after birth would also not have been dealt with in the same way. I am content with my hospital birth.
My Childbirthing Experience
It has been a little over a year since I had my son Liam and I still remember it like it was yesterday. Due to some complications, I had a scheduled c-section. I was OK with that, I wanted him to come out the safest way possible. The c-section was scheduled for a Friday at 12:30 in the afternoon. We were told to get to the hospital at 10:30 to check in and get prepped. By 8:00 on that Friday morning my husband and I were ready to go. We walked around the house, sat in the baby's room, tried to watch some t.v., anything to kill time. Finally it was time to leave. On the ride to the hospital we kept saying that the next time we were in the car together, Liam would be with us. We still couldn't believe it.
On the way I reminded my husband that the c-section may not happen at 12:30 like it was scheduled, if there was an emergency with another birth, we would be bumped. Good thing I told him, by 2:00 we were still sitting in the hospital room waiting to go to the operating room. Good thing there was March Madness basketball on t.v. to keep my husband occupied. :) I just laid there and listened to Liam's heartbeat on the monitors.
Finally it was time to go! They wheeled me down, gave me the spinal, and laid me down flat on the table. I remember the sensation of feeling like I couldn't breath and then a wave of nausea. After that, my body calmed down and my husband came in. Within 10 minutes, Liam had made his arrival. I was crying and shaking and kept waiting for him to cry. My husband had walked over to be with him and I just kept asking, "is he ok?" Finally, the sweetest sound I have ever heard, my baby boy cried for the first time. After that, everything was a blur. I was asking to hold him but they were saying they wanted to watch his breathing so they were taking him to the NICU. They assured me he was fine, they were just taking precautions. They brought Liam to me and all I got to do was touch his cheek. Before I knew it my husband, Liam, and the doctors were gone. There were 2 nurses with me to bring me back to the recovery room.
The next 4 hours were horrible!!! My husband was in the NICU with Liam (which is where I wanted him to be) and all the doctors and nurses were gone. We have no family that lives by us, so I was by myself. All I could think of was holding my sweet little boy. A lactation consultant came in to talk to me and I have no idea what she said, all I wanted was Liam in my arms. Finally, they brought Liam to me and placed him on my chest. There are no words to describe how amazing it felt to hold him.
Our hospital stay was great. We had wonderful nurses who helped me breastfeed and we there for anything I needed.
Overall, I was pleased with my birthing experience. I was happy there was medical technology to discover a few complications that led us to having a c-section. The 4 hours of not seeing Liam were rough but I knew it was necessary to make sure he was healthy.
On the way I reminded my husband that the c-section may not happen at 12:30 like it was scheduled, if there was an emergency with another birth, we would be bumped. Good thing I told him, by 2:00 we were still sitting in the hospital room waiting to go to the operating room. Good thing there was March Madness basketball on t.v. to keep my husband occupied. :) I just laid there and listened to Liam's heartbeat on the monitors.
Finally it was time to go! They wheeled me down, gave me the spinal, and laid me down flat on the table. I remember the sensation of feeling like I couldn't breath and then a wave of nausea. After that, my body calmed down and my husband came in. Within 10 minutes, Liam had made his arrival. I was crying and shaking and kept waiting for him to cry. My husband had walked over to be with him and I just kept asking, "is he ok?" Finally, the sweetest sound I have ever heard, my baby boy cried for the first time. After that, everything was a blur. I was asking to hold him but they were saying they wanted to watch his breathing so they were taking him to the NICU. They assured me he was fine, they were just taking precautions. They brought Liam to me and all I got to do was touch his cheek. Before I knew it my husband, Liam, and the doctors were gone. There were 2 nurses with me to bring me back to the recovery room.
The next 4 hours were horrible!!! My husband was in the NICU with Liam (which is where I wanted him to be) and all the doctors and nurses were gone. We have no family that lives by us, so I was by myself. All I could think of was holding my sweet little boy. A lactation consultant came in to talk to me and I have no idea what she said, all I wanted was Liam in my arms. Finally, they brought Liam to me and placed him on my chest. There are no words to describe how amazing it felt to hold him.
Our hospital stay was great. We had wonderful nurses who helped me breastfeed and we there for anything I needed.
Overall, I was pleased with my birthing experience. I was happy there was medical technology to discover a few complications that led us to having a c-section. The 4 hours of not seeing Liam were rough but I knew it was necessary to make sure he was healthy.
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