Stressors in the Life of a Child I Know

My younger brother has really struggled in life due to being diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactive disorder at a young age.  He had minimal verbal skills at four-years-old and at the age of five-years-old he was prescribed Ritalin.  Once he did learn to talk he stuttered almost every word. Raised by a single parent, we were at times subjected to chaos and poverty.  In addition to the chaos that comes with a single parent trying to work two jobs and raise two children, my brother’s medication caused him to be on an emotional and physical roller coaster.  One minute he would be zoned out for several hours at a time coloring and without any warning, he was raging through the house.  By the time my brother was ten-years-old he had been hit by a car two times; both times causing serious injury, the second time more severe than the other.

He is now an adult and struggles to be a functional member of society.  I do not feel he has ever fully recovered from the injuries or the medication.  There were times he resorted to street drugs and alcohol to help him work through the emotional and physical stressors he continued to feel as a teenager and an adult.  Needless to say, this behavior impacted his life even harder and he is still paying the consequences at the age of forty-seven years old just as he continues to struggle in finding joy in life.  Berger states, “It is possible for deep emotional memories from early childhood to interfere with verbal, rational thinking, as when a person might have a feeling of dread in some situation but not know why” (2009, p.229).  Unfortunately, my brother did not beat the odds; he continues to stutter in his verbal communication, he struggles to think rationally and his feelings of dread over power him finding happiness.

Berger, K. S. (2009). The developing person through childhood (5th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.

Nairobi’s Most Vulnerable Population

In my work as a Grantee Specialist, supporting the success of American Indian/Alaska Native Head Start programs, I sometimes hear complaints about the numerous regulations mandated to maintain the federal dollars invested into each program.  There are close to 2,000 federal regulations and it can be quite overwhelming for Head Start staff in trying to maintain compliance.  My role is to find solutions and break through the overwhelming feelings by putting a new perspective on why there are so many regulations; CHILDREN DESERVE THE BEST!  We are serving the most vulnerable population!  The 2,000 regulations support high quality services for every child and family enrolled in the program. 

There are other countries that do not have subsidized programs that can protect and educate their most vulnerable population.  Currently Nairobi has approximately 60,000 street children, between the ages of 4 and 18, living on the streets because they have been abandoned by their parents.   The children are victims of poverty and abuse with no access to education.  When found by police, the child will be institutionalized until a juvenile court ruling determines the future for the child; which can be continued confinement in an institution or resources become available to support family reunification.

When children are exposed to stressors of this extreme, abandonment, poverty and abuse, their limbic system cannot development to its full potential and children are not able to rationalize and have a deficit in social skills.  Berger states, “Children whose earlier experiences were stressful and who lacked nurturing caregivers may have impairments of their limbic systems” (2009).

Thanks to an Italian Cooperation project named, “Children Community Safety Nets”, there are Italian teachers working with the Nairobi police force on changing their approach to children and this team of teachers is also working with the staff at three different ‘remand’ schools; the Children Remand Home, Dagoretti Rehabilitation Institute and the Thika Children Rescue Centre.  The Italian teachers and the Nairobi staff worked together to develop a manual that guided step-by-step instructions for supporting children learn how to gain a sense of self, learn how to improve relations with others, learn how to cope in the current environment and how to make good choices that will produce positive future consequences.

References:

Berger, K. S. (2009). The developing person through childhood (5th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.

Cooperation: in Kenya for the protection of vulnerable children. (16 May 2011). African Press Organisation. Database of Press Releases Related to Africa.  Retrieved May 28, 2011, from ProQuest Central. (Document ID: 2348083091).

For this assignment I have chosen to research mental health for mothers.  I have chosen this public health topic because in my work with American Indian/Alaska Native Head Start programs I have seen an increase in children with special needs.  This increase in children with special needs can be contributed to the increase in fetal alcohol exposure.  The cycle of mental health illness across generations continues to affect the communities I work with in Washington State.  There are several programs that can address alcoholism, drug addiction, and domestic violence as mental health is included in the United States health care system; without the inclusion of mental health in our health care system the percentage of prenatal alcohol exposure would far exceed what it is now.  I am hoping the impact on my future work with American Indian/Alaska Native Head Start programs will allow me to gain more knowledge to advocate for more resources within the Indian Health Services to support an increase in resources for the prevention of drug and alcohol abuse.

In our text there is a beautiful picture of mom and infant from Namibian.  The capture below the picture states, “Mother holds her child very close and has massaged his whole body with butterfat and red ochre.  Touch and caress, more than words and toys, express love in a proximal culture” (2009, Berger).   When I read this I decided to see how mental health was addressed in Namibian as this strong act of love for child supports social/emotional health.  Namibian still has its struggles with mental health in adults and children.   The Namibian government has been working diligently to include mental health in their system of health care but due to the priority of communicable and life threatening diseases on current health resources, Namibian lags behind in the development of resources to support mental health issues.  Just as with the United States, drug and alcohol abuse are on the rise which compounds the mental health issues in Namibian.  The Namibian government is currently working with the World Health Organization (WHO) to have mental health included in their system of health care.

Berger, K. S. (2009). The developing person through childhood (5th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.

(nd).  Republic of Namibia.  Ministry of Health and Social Services.  National health policy.  Retrieved May 14, 2011 from http://www.healthnet.org.na/documents/policies/Mental%20Health%20Policy.pdf

Western vs. Inuit Childbirth Practices

The assignment for this week in my Early Childhood Development class is to provide a reflection on a personal birthing experience and share information on childbirth in another culture.  It is hard to believe that the most recent birthing experience for me was on February 19, 1981.  My experiences with the Inuit culture in Alaska have inspired me to learn more about the ‘traditional’ birthing experiences of the Inuit women.

 

From the day I found out I was pregnant I knew my baby would be born in a hospital.  At the age of 21-years-old, I did not know I had alternate ways to give birth.  I was very lucky in that I had the best prenatal care offered in the state of Montana.  As with many new moms across our great American lands, I had mixed emotions and had many questions about pregnancy and the upcoming birth; will I go full term?, will caffeine hurt my baby?, will my baby be healthy?, will I need an epidural during the childbirth?.  From the minute I found out I was pregnant the joy I felt in my heart is beyond words; these feelings of joy were overriding my fears. After nine months of taking extra care of my body and my baby, the time finally arrived!  At about 2:00 pm on February 18, 1981 I began to feel short intermittent labor pains. At a little after midnight on February 19, 1981 I went to the hospital as I was fearful if I waited much longer the baby would be born in the living room of our home with a father whose high blood pressure would not allow him to be of good assistance. My husband had the support of his mom and step dad while I was giving birth.  At 3:10 pm a beautiful, healthy, 6 pound 4 ounce, baby girl was brought into this world.  She was greeted by mom, dad, grandma and grandpa.  I was home the next day with our beautiful bundle where family and friends greeted us with balloons and baby gifts.

While I was working in rural Alaska several of my colleagues would have to fly from their home village to a hospital in Nome or Anchorage two to four weeks before they were to give birth.  Since federal funds were used to transport and pay for the medical expenses of having the baby, many women could not afford to bring family members with them; therefore not having a support network of family to help them during the last weeks of pregnancy and through the childbirth experience.  Many Inuit women were also leaving other children behind to be taken care of by dads, grandparents, and aunties.  This type of childbirth is a very stressful experience for the entire family including the village population where family and friends live. 

Having a midwife was not an option in my six years of living in rural Alaska which was the practice before Western practices were adopted with funding from the government.  There are now programs in place to train midwifes so Inuit families can be together when a new baby is born.  In the article “The Evolution of Inuit Women’s Birthing Practices in Northern Canada”, Purdon provides an example of how an Inuit community in Canada is working to train midwives, “The women of the North are now speaking out about alternatives to the government standard on birthing in the North. A traditional midwifery program has been brought to Nunavut Arctic College, and these first steps have begun to weaken the strong-hold the government has on women’s birthing practices. There seems to be a shift in control back to the women who this affects and they are in turn, taking this control and creating healthier, more appropriate experiences for women” (2008). 

We know the stress a pregnant mom feels in her life can have a negative effect on the baby in the womb.  Eliminating the stressor of leaving their home villages to have a baby will ultimately result in healthy, happier infants and their families.

Reference:  Purdon, H. (2008, February).  The Health e-Zine.  The evolution of Inuit's women's birthing practices in northern Canada.