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.

Examining Codes of Ethics

                                              NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct  (April 2005)
           
                                                          Ethical Responsibilities to Families
Section II 
I-2.3- To welcome all family members and encourage them to participate in the program.
Significance: I believe this NAEYC code of Ethical Conduct is especially important, our programs are successful because of  our families. Without our families participation in our programs we would have a difficult time in recruiting other students. Family's that participate in the educational program in which their child(ren) are involved in are more knowledgeable about the significance of " play". Children of parents who participate in their education are more confident and willing to participate more in the classroom.

                                                          Responsibilities to co-workers
Section III
I-3A.2- To share resources with co-workers collaborating to ensure that the best possible early childhood care and education program is provided.
Significance: A true leader shares information they receive by attending workshops, professional development, review of current research and experience. We must encourage professional growth within our emerging leaders. There is no reason why workers should with hold information. Sometimes, you learn more strategies and the most hands on advice from other professionals within your field.

P-3A.1- We shall recognize the contributions of colleagues to our program and not participate in practices that diminish their reputations or impair the effectiveness in working with children and families.
Significance: It is so important to feel appreciated and recognized for your contributions to your program. Being recognized gives workers a sense of pride and leadership, it helps workers to continue to makes strides in their field.

                             Division of Early Childhood Code of Ethics  (August 2009)

                                             Professional Development and Preparation

1. We shall engage in ongoing systematic reflective inquiry and self-assessment for the purpose of continuous improvement of professional performance and services to young children with disabilities and their families.
Significance: Self reflection is most effective when identifying areas of improvement. When a professional can identify the areas that they need improvement in, they are more willing to work on them. The teacher is the main person in the class implementing strategies and therefore know exactly where they need improvement. As a professional in the education field, I keep a journal, where I write various things down. In my journal I include things that worked, such as strategies, routines and transitions, things I need more understanding in and things I want to achieve or accomplish within the next school year.

" Passion for Early Childhood" Course Media from Walden University

"I think I had a built in passion, that it was important to make a real contribution to the world and fix all the injustices in the world." Louise -Derman Sparks 

" I  was able to really see what an unique opportunity we have in working with children. We as professionals in the early childhood field have an opportunity to shape a child's future."  Sandy Escobido

Sometimes, we all need just a little motivation on our professional journey from others in our field of early childhood.

Words of Inspiration and Motivation

We have had and continue to have many people to contribute to the early childhood field. Sometimes, we need to stay connected with them.

The two contributors that I am connected to are, Dr. Sylvia Chard and Marcy Whitebook. I will now often refer to some of their quotes when I need motivation to keep pushing to make changes and continue to advocate for children and professionals in the early childhood field.

                    " Young children are inquisitive. They ask questions, wonder about thing , and like to investigate interesting phenomena in their world."   Dr. Sylvia Chard 

                   "Every early learning program should be staffed by teachers and providers who can and do establish warm and caring relationships with children, tends to fire children's curiosity and love of learning, and foster their development and readiness of school. "  Marcy Whitebook

                               

Classroom Evaluation

Today my class was evaluated using the ECERS guidelines. (early childhood environmental rating scale), my class scored very well!  We scored 7 in almost all the categories in our control. So proud of myself.