Childhood Stressors

Racism is one of the stressor I experienced as a child. I was eleven years old and my father was in the air force. We were stationed in England and we lived off the air force base in a village name Ipswich. I was able to go to school on the base by being transported by bus to the air force base but in the village we lived in was predominately Caucasians. Although, I was the only African American in the village I had no concept of racism at that time. I just looked at people as individuals not different races.

One day I was traveling to the town in the village with my Caucasian friend and I past this one house a little old lady came out side and yelled “Go back to Africa!” At that time I just ignored the lady and continue on my way to the town. But after a few more times of walking the same way to the town in the village I would hear her eve time telling me to go back to Africa. I spoke to my parents about the incident and they told me to let her know that I was not from Africa but Was American. Therefore when I went pass her house for the last time she came out and said it again “Go back to Africa” I responded, “ I can’t I am from America” Then the little old lady said “Go back to America, you little black girl!” After that I never walked that way to the town village again.

As a child I was able to cope with this behavior by my parents support and encouragement and they taught me to ignore people who do not realize that we all have the same blood color.

I chose United Kingdom to find resources on “Racism”. Through my investigation I ran into two articles on the Internet that spoke on how racism is so high in the United Kingdom. According to the article on “Education: Black Caribbean children held back by institutional racism in schools,” (Curtis, 2008) says that Black Caribbean students are encountering racism at a very high level to the point that children are not succeeding in school. This article tells a study that the racism is not so much as peer relationships but mainly the teachers who see the black children as behavior problems and that cannot do anything to help them. This is stated regardless of their ability to show what they know but just because they are black. The government is trying to establish laws that regulate the teaching staff to treat all children equally regardless of race, religion or creed. They have been studding the changes since 2003 and have found that providing educators that would like for all children to succeed has made an impact in the children academic scores and improved the behaviors in school but they feel there is still more work to do. (Curtis, 2008)

Resource:                                                                                                                                           

Curtis, P. (2008, September 5). Education: Black Caribbean children held back by institutional racism in schools, says study. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/sep/05/raceineducation.raceinschools

Breastfeeding

      I chose Breastfeeding as my topic because my daughter has decided to breastfeed her baby, which is due in February. The topic is interesting to me because I never experienced breastfeeding and I wanted to know about the benefits. As I was looking for information in a different part of the world, I chose China.

In China, it is common for breastfeeding by women but it is look down upon if it is in public. In Beijing 91.07 percent of babies born are breastfed for their first six months of life. (Jia, 2010) The mothers that return to work before their child is 12 months old are require by law to receive an extra hour during the day to breastfeed their babies and some women are allowed to take breaks periodically during the day to pump their breast. Breastfeeding in China is the most important part of motherhood, because babies grow healthy weights and strong teeth. (Jia, 2010)

      The information about Breastfeeding in China has taught me the importance of breastfeeding. As an educator, I feel it will help me define some of the behavior problems of children in early childhood. Although it seems in many parts of the country that infant formula is not healthy for the child where as breastfeeding is natural milk for the baby. The natural milk from the breast includes vitamins and nutrients. However, the baby feels attached to the mother because of the closeness and the skin contact from the breast has shown a great advantage over children who just receive the formula milk. The advantage is they have a natural soother that teaches them to calm down like a pacifier. Although a pacifier is soother too, it just does not help the child understand about the feeling of a human touch. As an educator, I would like to study in dept about the growth of children that are breastfed and their success in life and is it different from the results of children not breastfed. Not all four of my children were breastfed and sometimes I feel as though there is something I could have done and they would make better choices in life. However, in the United States it is not natural to breastfeed your babies because Americans feel that it is a sexual act and not allow in public. Therefore many mothers choose not to breastfeed because of the American way and because they consider it an inconvenient for working mothers.

Reference:

Jia, Mei (2010, November 8). Breastfeeding moms milked for time. China Daily. Retrieved from http://www.chinadaily.com

Safe delivery of a baby

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3SsGYjir2Y

Childbirth in Africa

I chose Africa as my country to find out more on childbirth. In Africa, they have tribes and in each tribe has an African Birth Attendant. This person is a woman who has given birth and has received education on the proper technique of delivering babies. They began to receive schooling on this in the year of 2003, which was sponsor by Red Cross and other agencies. Although Africa is high in HIV aids epidemic, it was necessary to assist them in the prevention of giving it the children at birth. In South Africa, there are three out ten women, which are HIV positive. Therefore 90% of the children are born HIV positive. They use injections that can save the baby and the mom by slowing down the infection in the body to allow the parent to survive to watch their children grow up. Most of the women that are HIV positive do not know they are until they are pregnant. Therefore, the trainings that the Birth attendants (midwives) receive are vital in their country, because pregnant women will only confide in the midwives in the villages. In the video below it will show you what happens to women in the country that contracted aides and how hospitals, clinics, or midwives assist them in birth.

Before the midwives or birth attendants was taught the proper procedures on childbirth safety, they would use unclean cloth and dirty hands. They would also use knives on more than one woman before washing. At those times, sterilization was unheard of in the villages. Some women would give birth alone although it was very risky to health of the newborn and the infant fatality was very high. However, after the trainings they learn to wash their hands, use gloves, provide sterile blankets, knives, and bandages to tie the umbilical cord to prevent the death of the mother or baby. The video above shows a mother giving birth in one of the huts in her village. It could be in their homes or anywhere in a secluded place. The birth attendants always have some helpers to help with the delivery of the baby. They are there to support the mother and to wrap the baby after birth. The mother sits on a bucket to push out the placenta after birth and then she lays back down for rest with her baby in her arms.

Childbirth

My Birthing Experience

I remember when I first conceived my little girl back in 1988. When I found out I was pregnant was in February of 1989. It was the weirdest thing for me because I had other pregnancies and knew when I was pregnant after the first week due to morning sickness. However, with this pregnancy my husband experienced the morning sickness. He was miserable for the next two months then it went away. I was fine, to me it was the best pregnancy I had ever had and I was enjoying being pregnant. Back in the late 1980’s ultrasounds just begin to take place to the point that you can determine the sex of the child before giving birth. However, I did not want to know in case it was a boy because I already had two boys and I knew in my heart that I would not take it well while caring the baby. However, when it was time to deliver I went into labor after my water broke in the middle of the hallway at about 4:00 in the morning on September 15, 1989. I was walking to put the water on to prepare my husband some coffee before he went to work. Well that stopped instantly I went and took a shower instead, got dress, woke up the boys and my husband and told them it was time. My husband puts on his clothes and runs to the recreation room where the baby crib was and began to paint it. The pains were getting worse and coming sooner. I actually had to yell at him to tell him to leave the baby bed alone and take me to the hospital before I have the baby here. He quickly went to the car started it and began to back out the driveway before I could get out of the door. It is hilarious now when I think about it but back then, I was horrified. Nevertheless, he stopped before he got to the end of the drive way and came back to get me. He grabbed the bag and helped me to the car and the boys got in the back seat. They were just happy that they did not have to go to school because their mom was having a baby and they wanted a little sister.

My Daughter

Now it is 6:00 am and we are on the way to the hospital, which is 20 minutes away. I am in heavy labor now the pains are about 7 to 10 minutes apart. Every time I moaned, my husband would drive faster to the point I told him to calm down or we will not get there safely because we still have time yet. Once at the hospital I was wheel to the labor room and they asked if I wanted an epidural and I said yes well that slowed down the labor to the point that it stopped totally for 6 hours. Then it began again and my cervix began to expand to 8 centimeters where the nurses called in the doctor, when the doctor arrived I was at 9 centimeters. Then labor slowed down again. They said something is wrong, they took a scan to see and found out she was coming out breech, and the umbilical cord was wrap around her neck. At that point, I was very scared and then doctor said he might have to give me a cesarean. I refused and said if I can push out a nine-pound baby, I am sure I can push this one out. Well I did do that and they cut the cord and she is now 21 years old and having her own baby.

South Africa: Thula Mama