Consequences on Stress on Children's Development in Africa

Children in Africa are exposed to a numerous amount of stress that impacts their development. It's unfortunate that they are in an environment where they have to worry about the next attack on their village, whether or not they will have enough to eat, where they are going to live and how they are going to survive after the disease HIV/AIDS has claim their parent or adult guardian. As we know, Africa has been hit the hardest with the disease HIV/AIDS effecting 60% of the population. I will discuss the effects of this horrible disease on children's development.

If a family member is affected with HIV/AIDS and can no longer complete any work related duties, the families income decreases by 60%, they go into debt and food consumption drops by 41% (Richer,2004). Families often relocate to the home town village of their parents. Sometimes there are family members that are willing to assist in help the sick parent. The children's work responsibility increases, children as young as 5 years old have duties they now have to complete for the families survival. Work responsibilities include domestic chores, farming and begging for food and supplies. Children's school attendance is affected because of their new responsibilities and in some cases where the child is still able to go to school they refused to attend in fear of being made fun of.

One of the most important effect of AIDS on children is emotional. Children watch their parents and sometimes guardians suffer over a long period of time and because of their deaths , children are sometimes separated from their siblings and are left abandon, lonely, or become an orphan. Children want to know about their future and would like for their parents to educate them about this disease but parents are silent in helping their children understand what is going to happen next. This stress triggers anxiety, depression, fear, sadness and withdrawal.

Overall, there is a consensus that the first priority is to strengthen the family and to educate the people of Africa about this disease and its effects on the family structure and the country. It is also to support families and children when the parents first become sick. The organization that is trying to make a difference in Africa is www.developafrica.org , they are trying to help educate the people and make them more knowledgeable about the prevention of this disease.

Richter, Linda (2004). The impact of Hiv/Aids on the development of Children. Published in Monograph No.109.

Consequences on Stress on Children's Development

I remember spending the night at my them BFF's house for the first time ever. We stayed up late, played on the phone did each other's hair and talked about what career's we wanted. That Saturday morning her mom woke up up very early as our punishment for laughing and playing all night. I remember thinking, my mom would have never done this to us.We did all that we were told to do sweep, wash dishes, mop the floor, clean the bathroom and dust the living room. We were tired and worn out. My friend called her grandmother to complain about what her mom made us do, her grandmother requested to talk to her mom and that was the beginning of the sleep over form hell. Once her mom ended the conversation, she stormed into the room, where we both were watching television, with a belt. Her face was red, her eyes were huge and her lips were tight. At that moment she just began attacking her daughter, repeatedly hitting her with the belt. She was screaming and had balled up into a fetal position. I was frozen, stuck and confused by what was going on . I wasn't being hit but, I flinched with every hit her mom landed on her body. I was so afraid that she was coming for me next. After, the beating was over, her mom separated us and began yelling about how she was a good mother, how she gave up so much for her and how could she call to say she didn't want to be there anymore. Obviously  the phone conversation made her irate. I wanted to cry but didn't .I wanted my mother so bad to come and rescue me. 

As soon as my mom entered she sense something was wrong. My friends mother began to explain what happened and her actions. My mother entered my friends bedroom and saw her still balled up on the floor. She was sore to the touch, black and blue and blood soaked into her clothes. My mom exit the room with disgust. She asked if I was hit and immediately asked my friends mom to talk in the other room. Soon after we left. I never spent the night again. I was too afraid. 

In school her grades were never steady, she was always in danger of failing. She didn't have many friends, her attendance was poor and she was aggressive towards all adults and authority figures. We are no longer friends but, I would like to know how she is functioning as an adult. 

Child Development and Public Health

Breastfeeding is a topic that is meaningful to me because I breastfeed both of my children. I was only able to breastfeed my first son six weeks but, with my second I was able to breastfeed him until he was six months old.

Breastfeeding is beneficial to both mother and baby. The benefits for babies are that it provides all the nutrients and antibodies they need. It protects babies from illness because their immune systems are not yet fully developed. Babies who are breastfeed are less likely to experience ear infections and diarrhea.

The benefits for mothers are that it decreases her risk for breast cancer, type 2 diabetes, ovarian cancer and are less likely to suffer from postpartum depression. I enjoyed breastfeeding for the following reasons, I didn't have to sterilize any bottle or nipples, the baby bag wasn't heavy, it saved me money and it allowed me to have more quiet time with my new baby.

I looked into breastfeeding in Africa. I just recently researched the traditional and cultural ways to give birth in Africa, so I decided to further my investigation. The husband, the village elders, education, socioeconomic status and their culture and traditions determines whether or not a mother will breastfeed her new baby.

• more than 95% of infants are breastfeed in Africa 
• average duration of breastfeeding is 0-6 months before they are introduce to water and porridge
• AIDS epidemic is threatening breastfeeding in Africa 
• World Health Organization (WHO) is promoting exclusive breastfeeding for moms in Africa 
• all villages and huts are not properly equipped with clean and sanitized water so formula and bottle feeding are impossible and unsanitary for those living there. 
• decision making individuals like husband and grandmother are not properly educated about the benefits of breastfeeding 

Improvements are being made by educating mothers on their perception of breastfeeding and providing them with the proper counseling and support by the World Health Organization. 

Differences and Similarties Between Delivery Process

                                                       Differences

• Birth taken place in a medical facility 
• Birth directed by a medical trained professional 
• Under the doctor's care during pregnancy 
• Hospital was equipped with proper resources to help if a problem occurred. 
• Equipment to monitor baby and mother's progress throughout delivery. 
• Support throughout pregnancy and delivery

                                                      Similarities 

• Mother's concern for a safe delivery
• No medication was used for delivery 

The impact of the birthing experience on development is crucial. Many times we don't recognize our blessing, having a safe, secure and equip environment to deliver our children in. The circumstances in which we have our children in can and will have an effect on their future development. If , the proper precautions don't take place and the professionals are not knowledgeable about alternate ways of safe delivery complications can occur. These complications can have a developmental effect on our children. Some of the developmental effects from labor and delivery are cerebral palsy, delayed speech, sensory impairment, brain damage, physical disabilities, hearing impairments, motor delays and blindness all of which can persist beyond early childhood. This assignment has definitely opened my eyes and mind to be more knowledgeable about how developmental problems may occur in children. 

Births in Africa

Did you ever wonder how births happen around the world? Well, I never did. I never really thought about it until this course Early Childhood Development. I've decided to look into the birth traditions and rituals of Africa.

It is normal for delivery to happen with a woman squatting on the ground . In some cases the mother is supported by sisters, relatives and neighbors for the first time but, is expected to do it alone after. Midwives are an essential part in this delivery process, they are considered the backbone for all deliveries that  takes place in the low socioeconomic villages of Africa. Families in Africa live in small groups and settle in tents or homes made out of local materials.

Maternal death rate is extremely high in Africa. According to www.womendeliver.org in Sudan 509 women die for every 100,000 live births. Most midwives do not have the proper training to identify complications during the delivery process. Women are literally in labor for days before, the man decides to seek help. Many families are miles away from the local hospitals with no means of transportation. The transportation women have are cows in their village. When these women reach professional help, they pass out from exhaustion, and the babies are dead. Many of the women Dr. Waaldijk operates on are extremely young, have not yet developed fully in order to safely deliver a baby and have suffered from obstetric fistulas. Obstetric fistulas is when the baby is stuck in the birth canal, resulting in the stop of blood circulation, holes in their bowels and urethra's. This is prevented by having c-sections. Many women in Africa are not knowledgeable about the fistula repair centers and they suffer for years in their hut alone, embarrassed and neglected by their husbands, families and neighbors.

After a successful birth their are different placenta traditions. Some women bite the cord and bury the placenta after giving birth, some treat the placenta as a dead twin of the live child and give it full burying rights, some believe that when the cord falls off it signifies that the baby belongs to the mother and the community, some believe that the place where the placenta is buried is a place where they can later connect with ancestors and some bury it to symbolize ongoing life.

Child Birth Experience

On July 25, 2007 at about 35 weeks pregnant, I woke up at about 10am to use the bathroom when I felt a big rush of water. I realized that my water had broke! The first thing I thought about was my mom telling me the night before to make sure my bags were packed, so I called my mom first. "I think my water broke", I said, my mom so excited about the arrival of her first grandchild yelled , "okay, I'm on my way." About 15 minutes later my mom arrived and we were on our way to the hospital two towns over. My doctor worked out of Meadowlands Hospital and I heard they had a very good staff and the hospital was very clean and family oriented. Luckily, my doctor was at the hospital doing rounds when I arrived. After, being checked by my doctor she told me that I was not fully dilated yet so she was going to do her office hours until 4pm and then come back to deliver. My family aunts, cousins and friends started arriving waiting in the lobby for the delivery. I went to sleep for a few hours but it felt like I had a full nights rest. At about 5pm I started feeling contractions, the tightening of my stomach muscles. I was instructed to breath through it. At this time I thought maybe I should have signed up for those labor and delivery classes but , it was too late now. The pain really wasn't that bad, it was more uncomfortable than painful. By 5:30 I was fully dilated and was being prepped for delivery. I was moved from the general room to a private delivery room. My mom, my aunt the doula , a woman trained to support the laboring woman(Berger, 2010) and dad was present. Cameras were fully charged and ready for my baby boy to enter this world. The contractions was beginning to get stronger but still manageable. I remember squeezing down on the handles of the bed and closing my eyes to get through them. I had completely blocked out everything everybody was saying. The nurse came to my side asking, if I needed anything and I said no. A few minutes later I felt the need to go to the bathroom, of course they refused to let me go so I began pushing. When the doctor looked over, she was shocked that the baby's head was already coming. Four pushes later my son Riley was born at 8:13 pm weighing 7lbs 8ozs and 21 inches long. I remember holing him in my arms and saying " he don't look like me". He had his own team of doctors who immediately took him to get cleaned up and conduct the Apgar scale assessment, a simple rating scale of five vital signs(Berger, 2010) . My support team left me and followed the baby to the nursery. My doctor congratulated me and told me job well done. She never had a first time mother deliver with no medication. Holding my son for the first time, I was so pleased and couldn't have chosen a better team or hospital to have this life changing experience at.

Berger, K.S. (2010) The developing person through childhood.