Childhood Stressors

I am so thankful that I can say that I never experienced any major stressors during my childhood, or know anyone who has.  That being said, I do remember as a teenager thinking my life was so stressfull and feeling like I lived in poverty because my parents couldn't afford $49 jeans from the GAP (and now those same jeans are $69).  It wasn't until I grew up, got married and had kids that I realized I had a good life and parents have to balance money to put food on the table...which means there are little to no extra funds for things like that.  Now that I have three kids, I can appreciate a bag of hand-me-down clothes a co-worker gives me for my daughter because I know that it saves me a lot of money next fall.  I feel fortunate now to know that I did not live in poverty as a child, and do not live in poverty now (although I still can't afford $69 jeans from the GAP).  I know from working with parents and providers that so many people in my own area live in poverty. 
Looking at other countries, poverty is a common thing, and something people struggle with whether it is generational poverty or a one-time point in someone's life.  Australia is a country that is not generally thought of when I think of countries with a large poverty problem.  However, according to ABC online reporter Emma Rogers (2006), 14.7 percent of children living in Australia live in poverty.  Although that number has decreased over the past year, the research has shown that the largest problem is still homelessness.  Not having adequate housing causes many other issues such as stress, poor nutrition and and lack of supervision of the children.  The stress of livining in poverty in Australia has also led reserchers to connect it to abuse and neglect of children, which causes another set of stressors to live with. 
Rogers (2006) reports that there are several programs available to work with those living in poverty to reduce the amount of stress they feel.  Barnaros Australia is a charity organization that works with families in poverty help avoid abuse and neglect of children.  The Abused Child Trust is another organization that also works with families to avoid or stop violence and neglect to children.  They have seen a direct connection with those families they work with the poverty level. 
I feel very fortunate to live in the United States, where we have a number of government programs and state and local charities and programs to help those living in poverty.  I feel that although our programs are not perfect, they are working on it and are very helpful with some people living in poverty. 
Resource:
Rogers, Emma. (2006). Australia not immune to child poverty.  Retreived from http://www.fightpoverty.mmbrico.com/facts/australia.html

Breastmilk is Best

What better way to follow up a post on birthing experiences then to post about what comes after birth...breastfeeding.  I am a huge advocate for breastfeeding, although I do respect those people I know choose not to do it.  I like to encourage people to at least try it before deciding they can't or don't want to continue.  I was able to breastfeed all three of my children, although none for the entire year I would have liked.  In the United States, breastfeeding is encouraged by doctors and pediatricians for at least one year, with the first 4-6 months being exclusive breastfeeding.  Not all countries encourage breastfeeding as much as this one, but trends are being made around the world.  According to a publication by UNICEF (2010), Benin and Sri Lanka both increased the rates of exclusive breastfeeding by a significant percent between 2009 and 2010.  Some of the things that changed in the countires looked at were communication with pregnant women and campaigns to educate not only pregnant women but also hospital administrators.
For the countries that do support breastfeeding, there are some that support it even more than the United States.  In the US, while it is encouraged, it is not generally accepted in public places.  In an article by Teri Brown (2011) in other countires, such as Africa, it is a natural thing to see women breastfeeding (without blankets to cover them up).   Brown (2011) notes that in United Kingdom, it is not generally accepted for women to breastfeed in public and there are mixed feelings about whether to encourage breastfeeding at all due to many women having to return to work soon after giving birth.  In France and Ireland, women generally try to breastfeed but give up after only a few weeks.  The education is not there to encourage them to keep trying. 
After reading about other countries, I feel very fortunate that we have the education and support that we have.  I think it is important to encourage women to not only try to breastfeed but to continue and also to use the resources available like lactation consultants.  For my current job, I think it is important to educate child care providers, especially those that do not have children or had children when breastfeeding was not as encouraged as it is now.  Child care providers need to be educated on policies and changes they can make so that breasfeeding mothers can feel better about going back to work and make it easier for them to continue to breastfeed.  I also will try to educate businesses to have policies and procedures in place so that women can easily pump and have paid pumping breaks or allow them to leave work and visit baby and be able to nurse him or her. 
Resources:
UNICEF (2010, April).  Consolidated report of six-country review of breastfeeding programmes. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/
Brown, Teri (2011, March 12). Breastfeeding around the world. Retrieved from http://www.breastfeed.com/

Birthing Experience

What mother doesn't like to discuss the birth of one of their babies!  With three kids to discuss, I am choosing to tell you about the birth of my first child.  We did everything we were supposed to do, my husband and I both quit smoking and I ate a lot of what I was supposed to, stayed away from alcohol and got a decent amount of exercise at work.  We did the birthing class and practiced the breathing and positions.  Then, one night my water broke and we headed to the hospital.  It was pure torture.  It was all back labor, excruciating pain.  The breathing and different positions were pointless.  After 14 hours, I had finally dilated enough to get my epidural.  The nurse continued to come in and check me periodically.  She would tell me how far I'd gotten and then walk out of the room.  After three hours of that, she came in and said, "You aren't moving fast enough, Dr. wants to do a Cesarean.  They'll be ready downstairs in 20 minutes."  That was it, I took one look at my mom and then my husband and started crying like a baby.  I felt defeated, like I failed as a mother already and my child hadn't even been born yet.  Push the clock back a few weeks when I was watching The Baby Story on TLC.  In all of those shows, the nurse checks the mom and then tells her they might discuss doing a cesarean if she doesn't progress.  I felt cheated that I didn't get the option, and I didn't get a warning.  It was 17 hours of pain for nothing.  With my second two children, I didn't even try.  I said, "go ahead and schedule and cesarean...I'm not going through that again."  Looking back now, I am thankful that all of my children were born healthy and continue to grow and amaze me on a daily basis.
The country I chose to look at was Australia.  The birthing experiences are not much different in Australia than in the United States, but I did find a fascinating article that discussed birthing centers and how to define them.  The birthing center is a bridge between hospital births and home births.  They are typically a midwife-run center and focus on a less clinical type of birth and more of a home-like atmosphere to give birth.  When comparing this option to my own birthing experience, I can see where some people would prefer that location and setting.  They do have pain control measures, although not the epidural.  Without knowing how a birthing experience will be, I am not sure that I can predict that setting would be beneficial.  For me, I may have been allowed to continue labor much longer before the cesarean section.  By the reading, I can see that it would have been more of my choice.  On the other hand, I worry that if my doctor's decision to do a cesarean had been out of urgency for the safety of both me and the baby, it may have been too late by the time we arrived at a hospital and was able to deliver the baby through surgery. 
Resource:
Laws, Paula, Lim, Carylyn, Tracy, Sally, Sullivan, Elizabeth (2009).  Characteristics and practicies of birth centres in Australia: Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 49, 290-295.  Retreived from http://www.library.cornell.edu/.