January 18, 2014

Ed 6061

Child Development

Walden University

       The topic I chose was breast feeding.  Why? Well I am a mother and I breast fed all five of my children.  Now there is a difference in children and there is a difference on breastfeeding each of those children.   I found that each of my breast feeding experiences were unique.  There are many factors in deciding to breast feed your child.  One of the things I wanted for my children was less likely to be prone to allergies.  I also read that the skin on skin contact between mother and child would increase the amount of neurons developing in the baby’s brain.  And of course nutritionally breast milk is said to be the best and most nutritious form of food for an infant.  So breast feeding it was as far as I was concerned.  Many of my friends thought I should have formula just in case it didn't work.  All my children did well with nursing, two of them I did supplement with formula but all in all they did well with the process. 

        I chose the country of Saudi Arabia to explore breast feeding practices.  I have no reason for selecting Saudi Arabia I just did.  But what I found out surprised me.  In the blog Susie’s Big Adventure it was found that women in Saudi do not normally breastfeed their new born infants in spite of Islam’s directive to do so.  What happened?  According to Susie in the 1970’s baby formula became widely available in Saudi and women switched over to the formula.  It was also noted that the hospital will not release an infant and new mother until the infant can successfully suck on a bottle of formula to feed.  A quote from the blog states “A staggering statistic from a 2005 UNICEF report on indicates that a whopping 60% of Muslim children worldwide die before reaching their first birthdays, due to malnutrition and disease. This tragic result is directly related to the decline in mothers who breastfeed their children.” Retrieved January 18,2014 from http://www.susiesbigadventure@blogspot.com This is a frightening statistic.
It was noted however in another study that the popularity of breast feeding was due to breast mild not being sufficient enough for the child.  The Quran states that breastfeeding will take place for the first two years of life; many mothers discontinued breastfeeding exclusively after six months.  After six months formula was introduced and continued to be interspersed with nursing. 

       For me breast feeding was a desire to provide optimal health benefits for my children for others it may be tradition or practicality.  I have friends who wanted to breast feed and for some reason or another could not.  This made them question their ability to be good mothers.  And that is the real issue where breast feeding is looked up on as an entrance into the “motherhood club”  however I see it as a personal choice and what ever that choice is it should be honored. 

                                                                         References 

http://www.susiesbigadventure@blogspot.com (2010)  Breast feeding in Saudi Arabia a fading art. Retrieved January 18, 2014

Al-jassir M., Moizuddin, SK, Al-Bashir, B. (2003) A review of some statistics on breastfeeding in Saudi Arabia. Retrieved January 18 2014 from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14653507

The birthing experience in three parts 

The experience of birth is the culmination of a miracle to many.  I was a C-section baby, my own children were born in a clinical setting two of them had a nurse mid-wife deliver them the others a doctor.  Some of my friends had a home birth for some of their children.   What I ask myself is why do we choose these various methods of giving birth?  As for my being a C – Section baby the answer was that in the early 1950s 40 year old women did not give birth the baby was scheduled and taken.  The mother had little say in the how, when and where of the birth process.  In my case I read everything I could about pregnancy and birth when I was pregnant with my first child.  We took birthing classes and we thought we were prepared.  But there is always uniqueness about every birth and my first birthing experience was not routine. My son was born in a small clinic in the mountain town we lived in.  The doctor was less than competent and things did not go smoothly.  Both my son and I survived.  My other four birthing experiences were much calmer and better probably because I was in a modern hospital and I knew now what to expect.

    In many places in the world the birth experience is more personal and some times much more life threatening.  In third world countries women give birth without a doctor or nurse present.  Many times they are in a village with no medical care at all.  Family members are there to help but none is properly trained.  If the woman hemorrhages she dies, period. There is no one to help.  Prenatal health care is also absent so pre-born babies are at risk much of the time as well.   The lack of abortion services is also a problem.  As controversial the topic is here in the Western Word it is much more so in third world countries.  An estimated 75,000 women die  annually from a self induced abortion.  Sepis is also another problem and a woman can contract sepis from any number of things that are birth related such as piece of the placenta remaining in attached to the uterus and becoming infected. All of these factors are a grave concern to women do not live in a modern country.

      Of course even in a modern country there are places where third world or at least second world practices of birth occur.  One example of this is on the Native American reservation.  Medial and prenatal treatment may be out of physical reach or financial reach in some cases.  Tradition and culture may take a guiding role in the pre natal and birthing process as well.  It is recognized that Native American women live in two worlds and this can have a bearing on how, where, and when the birth takes place.  In the study I read there were three main factors in a woman not receiving proper medial pre natal care; the “Western model”, substance abuse and domestic violence.  In the 1970’s I was driving to Ft. Worth Texas via the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico.  I picked up a hitch hiking Navajo woman with a 5 day old baby. She was going to see her mother in Window Rock, AZ.  I took her the entire way several 100 miles out of my way as I had picked her up near Gallup, NM.  I will never forget the experience; she acted like everyone does this all the time.  I was astonished at her pluckiness.  I grew up in a household and during a time where pregnancy and birth were shrouded in mystery and no one was supposed to know much about it.  The woman’s name was Virginia Blue Eyes.  The baby had not been named yet.  It certainly made an impression upon me.  

References:

Cesario, S. K. (2001),Living in two worlds. Retrieved January 8, 2014 from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9601302

Maternal Health Issues: The biggest Threats to Maternal Health in the Third World. (n.a.,n.d.) retrieved January 8, 2014 from http://www.developmentgoals.com/threats/maternal-health.html