Stressors on child development--War

I have been thinking about this assignment all week, and I truly cannot think of any stressors I experienced personally. I feel very connected to a family I knew in Missouri who were foster parents to 2 siblings, Mariah and Taven. I was Mariah's teacher when she was 2, 3, and 5; and I also taught Taven when he was 3. I watched their development for three years. Their mother was given two specific chances to have them back while I was there, and honestly, it broke my heart because they were no longer in my care. I could not provide the consistent care they needed during those times of transition. They had a special bond because they had to stick together while their lives were in chaos. A couple times, I heard stories about mom or dad that I had to report. Social Services sent people out to investigate, but those two never said what they said to me those times. Emotionally and socially, I noticed certain behaviors that were cause for concern on their development, but it all factored into what was happening in their lives. The foster parents that had them all those times they were taken from mom were such great people. They also legally adopted another boy that had been in their foster care for 2 years. I can see things differently now after reading the text this week. They did have a delayed development in speech and social skills.

Another thing that I started thinking about, due to my own situation, was the stress of war on families. I am married to a Marine, and although we do not have children yet, when we do, how much will be around for? What will our future children experience in their development if their father is not around that much, and it's out of his control? I know 2 families going through this right now. One family, the mother is a Marine and deployed, while the father raises their 3 children, aged 1, 2, and 4. Isn't it harder for the father to play both roles as mother and father, than it would be for a mother? The other family is one of my friends whose husband is Air Force, stationed in Georgia now, but they have 2 kids, aged 3 and 6. The 3 years in Missouri, I met him twice. When they first came to my daycare, the youngest was 1 and the oldest was 3...dad has been away for a long time. Those two are growing up with a fantastic family of a mom, grandma, aunt, and greatgrandma living very close, but what is happening in their development without a male figure? I have never noticed anything stressful with their situation, except what it does to mom who also plays both roles of mother and father, and does not have the day to day support from her husband. What I gained in this reflection is that these children are doing okay considering they have a network of support from family. There will be challenges arise that would be easier faced with both parents, but for the most part, they are doing just fine with consistent care in their school and daycare, and with secure attachment to their family.

Along the lines of armed services, I chose to look further into the role of war in child development. I found a website that covers this type of stress, from an organization working to provide support for families. In Uganda, there has been a very long war between Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army. This army would emprison children in order to force them to fight and mold them into the soldiers they want for their army. Women and children were being abandoned, either by death from the war or from the fathers leaving due to the stress. Mothers became very depressed and stressed; therefore, not providing adaquate care or nutrition to their children. Women were also forced into marriages with soldiers, and they became pregnant often and close together. These women would abort or abandon many of these children. The number of orphaned and abandoned children has vastly increased due to this war. The SOS Children organization is helping these orphans cope with life in Uganda. They opened a SOS Social Centre to support the mothers and children abandoned, as well as the abandoned children. The website says this: "Education, health care and employment are human rights. Due to poverty, illness and the political unrest in the area, the number of children without the support of their natural family is increasing steadily and SOS Children is constantly developing its approach to child care in order to meet these changing needs.The aim of our “Family Strengthening Programmes” and SOS Social Centres is to respond realistically and effectively to the situation of orphans, vulnerable children and their families and to prevent child abandonment. Through skills training, literacy classes, education, counseling and improved nutrition the families know they can become independent, self-reliant and confident in their own ability to provide for the children in their care. Ultimately the communities want to care for their children." (SOS Children, n.d.)

SOS Children. (n.d.) Child soldiers in Uganda. Retrieved from http://www.child-soldier.org/children-in-conflict-child-soldiers-in-uganda

Breastfeeding

I wanted to look more into breastfeeding around the world because I have heard so much stigma attached to seeing women breastfeed, and especially being in child care, teachers have had some negative opinions on feeding infants their mother's milk or seeing mothers' boobs who come to the center to breastfeed. These opinions bother me because I have always wanted to breastfeed. I have not had children yet, but I when the day comes, I want to breastfeed. It saves money on top of all the amazing benefits listed in our text. I had not considered all the long-term benefits of breastfeeding before. Reading about breast-fed babies having higher IQ's, being more likely to attend college, later puberty which affects the numbers of teen pregnancy, and being less likely to become obese or hypertensive by age 12 was all new facts to me (Berger, 2009). I was aware of all the childhood benefits such as less sickness, infections, and better bonding situations which leads to stronger emotional development, and I was also aware of the benefits for the mother, another reason why I want to breastfeed.

I found this awesome website called Breastfeeding in Public Around the World (n.d.), and it is a place where women, and men, can comment on what they have experienced when it comes to breastfeeding. I was shocked to see so much stigma attached to breastfeeding in our very own country! Many of the women posted about feeling anxious about doing such and always trying to find a private corner or asking first if it was ok or if there was a better place to do so.

Interesting points from the website from other countries:

• In Egypt, it is against their religion to breastfeed in public.
• In Ghana and Kenya, a woman is looked at negatively if she does not breastfeed as soon as her baby cries out for it; it is nothing out of the ordinary to see women breastfeeding.
• In Nigeria, it is highly recommended for the first two years; even on the farms, women have figured out how to keep on working while feeding their infants strapped to their backs.
• In India, there were differing views on what was normal; however, there is a general trend that the more educated women do NOT breastfeed in public, it is only in the rural areas where breastfeeding is commonplace.
• In Taiwan, it is not common to breastfeed infants in public, if at all.
• In Australia, not only is breastfeeding acceptable anywhere a mother is, but they are also protected under law to breastfeed their infants.

Reading all of these stories shared by women, and men, all over the world, causes me to rethink my own attitudes from when I have witnessed someone else breastfeeding, I have been one to stare occasionally when it is in a socially awkward position, like a shopping mall. Maybe it will shift again once I have my own children, but sometimes, I cannot help but look and see what is happening. I also feel offended when I hear about breasts being such sexual objects, but when it comes to breastfeeding, it all goes downhill. Maybe, the US needs legislation to protect women's right to breastfeed in public. Some states have issued this, but what about the others?

After I wrote that, I googled state legislation for breastfeeding in public and found this website that lists all states, including Puerto Rico and D.C., and what laws are in place. I was astonished that we have so much protection for breastfeeding! Here's the website: http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=14389
It was very interesting to see the three states that I have lived in; they have several different laws!



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

Breastfeeding in public around the world. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.007b.com/public-breastfeeding-world.php

• Write about a personal birthing experience. It can be your own birth, your child’s birth, or one you took part in. What do you remember about the event? Why did you choose this example? What are your thoughts regarding birth and its impact on child development?

I have not given birth. I do not know much about my own birth, except that I was HUGE and my mother gave birth to me vaginally. I have a very close friend that gave birth two years ago, and I would like to share some of her story. She worked throughout her entire pregnancy. We worked together at a KinderCare Learning Center in Missouri, and I was the first person other than her husband to know she was pregnant. She kept it a secret from her family and our employers for several months. She worked through several illnesses, specifically ear infections that she was prone to. The day her water broke was the first day she called out of work because something just did not feel right to her. She was taking a nap and the sound of her water breaking is what woke her. She called her husband to come home and take her to the hospital. Once they were there, it was only a few hours of labor before her daughter was born. She did receive an epidural. She want home the next day, and I visited her that afternoon. Within that first week, she knew something was still wrong. A week after giving birth, she drove herself to the emergency room with a horrible headache that she had had most of that week. She was in pain and miserable, called a friend to watch her week-old baby, and drove to the hospital. Apparently, in the event of getting the epidural, the nurses had messed up. She was given pain medicine and when the time came for all the medical bills, she was not surprised to see the hospital had provided many of their services with no charge due to the mistake.

I chose this story specifically from when I researched other countries' and cultures' ways of giving birth.

• Choose a region of the world or a country, other than the U.S., and find out how births happen there. Write about what you learned, and the differences and similarities with your experience (in the personal example you provided). What additional insights, if any, about the impact of the birthing experience on development, did you gain from this comparison?

In Japan, most women go through childbirth with no painkillers. This is rooted in Buddhist tradition that said labor pains are a test for mothers with what is to come in motherhood. Fathers are not allowed to be in the delivery room unless they have taken a prenatal class, as well. What I really found interesting is that women usually stay in the hospital for five days with a vaginal birth, or ten or more days with a C-section. Then, the family lives with the mother's parents for about a month, and the mother stays in bed with the baby for 21 days. If my friend had stayed in the hospital for at least five days, they would have caught on to the problem before she had to go to the ER. I think the mother-baby bonding time after birth is very important, even if research is showing it is beneficial, but not necessarily imperative to a healthy development. Development does not start at birth, it starts during pregnancy. I read about several different countries' traditions with birth, with and without doctors or midwives, and I think culture and tradition plays a huge role in delivery. As we have read this week too, I think development has to be defined by having history and culture in mind.


Schalken, L. (n.d.). Birth Customs Around the World. Retrieved January 7, 2012 from: http://www.parents.com/pregnancy/giving-birth/vaginal/birth-customs-around-the-world/