Childhood Cancer

I personally struggled with this assignment in that I am fortunate enough not to have any first hand experiences with these stressors. My family lived paycheck to paycheck, but not what I would consider poverty.

After some reflection, I decided to write about childhood cancer. When my son went to Kindergarten this past year, he often talked of a classmate that was sick and how she couldn't come to school very much. I thought it was something along the lines of pnemonia, but realized it was something more when the teacher asked everyone to make individual birthday cards for her and mentioned she would deliver them. I knew then, this was something more. Colin often talked about the special things they did for her and phone calls that were made to check in, but I never knew the real story until later in the year. The class was planning a trip to the zoo at the end of the year and selling t-shirts that Lillia had made. Each classmate had one and chaperones could purchase them as well. They were sponsored by Million Shirt Mom and the procedes from her shirt sales would cover medical costs. It was such a touching moment to see classmates from all the kindergartens wear these shirts and surprise her with this tribute. She was able to come to the zoo trip and many of us were able to hide our tears behind our sunglasses as she looked so frail. Her story is found at http://www.millionshirtmom.com under the topic of "Journey of Helping". This year, Lillia is in remission and attending school. It makes me truly thankful for a healthy child. I believe it was prayer and a support system of the school and family that helped this family. I know they missed a lot of work for doctor's appointments and such. I would hope employers would be empathetic and work with families in these situations so that the stressor of disease is not compounded by the stressor of poverty.

I continue to research more about Germany as my long time family roots are grounded there. I found that Germany shares many of the same stressors that the United States endures and has many of the same support systems that we offer. For children effected by war, social groups come together to create play experiences for children who are missing parents and may not have these experiences. The belief is that humanitarian laws will protect children in that children are the most vulnerable and must be protected, yet this is not always the case. In looking into poverty, I found that that many families who are considered to be in poverty are single mothers who have more than one child to different men and cannot work. They have a welfare system and charities who help to provid the same necessities, but many families life paycheck to paycheck and still cannot put food on the table. Lastly, I looked at noise issues and was surprised that noise levels in classrooms were researched and found that children may not learn speech rules as easily in noisier classrooms and that children suffer from language delays if they live in larger cities where outside noise levels interfere with speech patterns. I did not find any support systems that work for noise, but relaxation techniques were an option that was tested, but showed no true improvement in speech.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

I have three children of my own and oversee the care of many other infants at my facility. These parents entrust their treasures to my staff and, therefore I feel our practices must always reflect current research. I chose to post about SIDS for 2 reasons. #1 As a parent, I could not fathom walking into my child's bedroom and see my beloved infant laying there lifeless with no apparent cause and #2 As a child care professional, I want to expand upon my knowledge of this issue.
 
I had always known that infants must be put to sleep on their backs, but a few ago, our center participated in a mandatory training for child care staff on SIDS prevention. Through this training, I also learned about how elevated body temperatures and smoking increase the risk of SIDS. We also had many parents who napped their infants in their car seats or infant feeding seats and would also expect us to nap them on their tummies. Through the class, we were able to develop policies for not only our staff, but our parents. Our parents are now required to read over our programmatic approach to SIDS reduction and sign off that they will not request our staff to bend the policy unless a medical clearance has been received.
 
I looked at the mortality rate in Germany. I was suprised to see that the rate was much lower in what was East Germany as they had an active monitoring system that researched every death. They realized that back sleeping was the most important factor in SIDS reduction 20 years before the "Back to Sleep" campaign was launched. The mortality rate rose slightly upon reunification due to the West's preference in prone sleeping. The actual statistics can be found at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2065993/.
 
According to the American SIDS Institute, other preventative measures include:
1 - Getting regular check-ups early in the pregnancy and throughout to ensure a healthy weight of the developing infant.
2 - Not using tobacco, heroine or cocaine (seems like a no brainer there, but must be shared)
3 - Not to get pregnany during the teenage years and if so, not to have back-to-back pregnancies during this timeframe.
4 - Wait at least one year between pregnancies.
5 - Place infants to sleep on a firm mattress.
6 - Crib your baby in your room up through 6 months.
7 - Do not place infants in parental beds.
8 - Be cautious not to over clothe the infant as higher body temperatures increase the risk.
9 - Breastfeed when possible.
10 - Keep infants away from people with respiratory infections and be sure they hand wash prior to holding infants.
11 - Offer a pacifier.
12 - If the infant has episodes of turning blue, stop breathing, or going limp, tell the pediatrician at once.
13 - If the infant gags excessively after feeding, a physician should be notified.
14 - Be sure other caregivers are aware of the above preventative measures.

 

Most importantly....place infants to play on their tummies, but backs to sleep.

 

I feel this will assist me in helping parents take better care of their infants. I look forward to sharing these factors with our families and educating them.

Happy Birthday!

I have three children who were all induced as my first child was born at 10 pounds and doctor's were concerned that the other births would result in even larger babies. I knew what to expect with my second birth and believe that I had less anxiety with him. I had sonograms to monitor his weight and it was decided that he should be induced as well.

I was packed and ready to go and arrived at the hospital eager to meet my 2nd son. Everything went along as expected and I had received an epidural toward the end. I remember not being completing impressed with the doctor that was going to deliver him as he had an air about him that he was more of a "pretty boy". I though "you're going to get dirty now!" when he walked into the room and the contractions were coming. My husband was there the entire time and gave me updates. He was so proud to see Colin's head crowning and I knew the end was near. After several big pushes, Colin was born, but his cord was wrapped around his neck. Looking back, I don't remember if I heard him cry, but the doctor quickly removed the cord and assured me that everything was going to be ok. I'm not sure if it was a panic attack or something happened in relation to receiving an epidural and hitting a nerve, but very suddenly, I could not breathe. My chest was tight and I was scared. I couldn't feel anything below my waist. The nurses jumped right in and comforted me while supplying oxygen until my body returned to it's normal state.

Colin's birth was quicker than Brennan's but he weighed in at 8 pounds 11 ounces. My brother was born at 10 pounds 2 ounces and I still curse him that he holds the family record! Maybe if I had 1 more frosty with Brennan, he would have gained a few more ounces. Colin has some emotional issues tied in with anxiety and I often wonder if it had anything to do with the birthing process. I will never know, but love him dearly all the same.

 

Germany

I chose to research Germany's birthing practices and found that women are provided with a midwife to work with throughout their pregnancy and may hire them for postpartum care as well. Hospital stays are much longer in Germany than in the US as vaginal deliveries often stay 5-7 days while c-section births are 7-10 days. Women must pre-register with their hospital, or may use a birthing house. Birthing houses are set up to feel like home without birthing in one's own home. Germans use epidurals as well, but also use other homeopathic methods such as accupuncture and aromatherapy. Since hospital rooms often have 2-4 mothers with their babies rooming in, a mother has the option of going home within 4 hours of birth if medically cleared. The midwife would then assist at home. I found it interesting that several German cities has lists of names in which to choose from so to avoid embarassment by misspelled or exotic names. If parents choose give their child a name that is not on the list, they must apply with the city.

Often times I have wondered what a birthing experience would be like if I had a midwife instead of an OBGYN. As a first time mom, I was clueless what to do when we were all at home. I remember crying endlessly that I couldn't give my child a pacifier because I read of nipple confusion with breast feeding. Later on, I had issues with breast feeding and ultimately gave up with a high amount of guilt. Maybe if I had the support of a midwife at home, I would have been more successful. While it appears that insurance differs from the US to Germany regarding hospital stay, I cannot imagine what it would be like in a room with other mothers and their babies. Then again, I can't imagine going home 4 hours after giving birth even with a midwife. All things considered, I believe Germans and Americans want a healthy baby delivered and want to ensure the mother has the necessary tools to take care of their new bundle of joy when they return home.