Stressor

This week we were asked to write about a stressor that had affected either us or someone we know.  I chose to write about the stressor of poverty and how it affected a friend of mine.  I will call him “A”. Before I begin I would like to define what poverty is just to give us some perspective.  Dictionary.com defines poverty as “the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support; condition of being poor” or “deficiency of necessary or desirable ingredients, qualities”.

My friend “A” grew up in poverty.  When my friend’s his father lost his job because the company moved to Mexico where they could make their products cheaper; it through his family for a loop.  His mother was mentally ill and unable to get disability and unable to work, so his father was the sole bread winner.  They were barely getting by while he was working and loosing his job did not help the situation at all.  They struggled with knowing where their next meal would come from and working whatever jobs they could get to make enough to eat.  Many times their only meals came from school.  Sadly this affected my friend in many ways but the ways that it has affected him the most have been biosocially and pychosocially. 

Due to the fact that they ate what was cheap and easy to make he formed poor eating habits.  Also having very little to eat he would over eat when there was food.  This later in life has caused “A” many problems.  He is very over weight and has a difficult time knowing when to stop eating, even though his situation has improved.  Also due to his extreme poverty he was never able really to learn how to interact with other correctly. This also still causes him many problems because it is difficult to know what is appropriate for different professional and social situations. 

I think that he used laughter and education as a means to help him cope with their poverty.  He read a lot and learned how to use his hands.  Through that he was able to maintain some form of spirit until things got a little bit better. 

I found this stressor of poverty something that is so widespread throughout the entire world.  Even, here at home, in the United States we are struggling with high amounts of poverty.  Our numbers are not that of countries like African; however they are just not acceptable for a developed country like America.  The U.S. Census Bureau reported for 2010 the national rate of poverty was 15.1% and has been on an increase for the last four years. http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/income_wealth/cb11-157.html

There are many reasons for the rise in poverty. Loss of jobs due to the economic downfall, resulting in a lack of income, segregation due to race and lack of income and many others.  Being in poverty typically will mean that you are then going to have a lack of food.  This would then speak to the problem of hunger in America.  Thousands of adults and children are going hungry every day in America. 

America isn’t even the worst of it though; places like Africa have situations that are even worse than ours.  According to worldpoverty.org many places are experiencing absolute poverty, “Absolute poverty involves people and their children having extreme difficulty in merely surviving. Such poverty at its worst can involve hunger amounting to starvation, often combined with inadequate shelter or housing and clothing. Absolute poverty has been common in more primitive societies, and is still common in many Third World countries in Africa, Asia and South America especially where it can afflict the majority of the population.”

Just as mentioned above hunger in these places usually ends in starvation.  Children in this type of stressor have little means of coping.  Their brains will cease to develop once the starvation has progressed far enough.  Our bodies will steal all the nourishment that it can for our brains to continue to develop until it can steal no longer and then our bodies start to break down.  If a child is starving their biosocial development will cease and the child physical and mental growth will stunt.  This will also begin to affect their cognitive development and well as psychosocial development. 

There are many things that are being tried to help stop these issues of poverty and hunger.  However, with the economical down spirals of so many countries aide is becoming scarcer.  There is one organization that is trying a new approach in hopes that it will have more permanent results.  The Hunger Project (THP) is a global, non-profit, strategic organization committed to the sustainable end of world hunger. They have recently started trying to teach the people how to take care of themselves more and provided them with the resource but are making the people responsible for making something out of them.  I think that this approach is one of the best ways to begin to combat hunger and poverty.  I would encourage you to check out their website. http://www.thp.org/

Breastfeeding in Public

This week I chose a topic that is both important for our future children but also very close to my heart; Breastfeeding. I breastfed both my children, and I was very lucky because I had enough milk and minimal problems.  I think that to breastfeed is one of the most wonderful gifts of nature ever, however not everyone is as lucky as I.  I researched a lot before I had my children and I also had planned out that I was going to nurse my children so I was ready when the time came.  I took classes at my hospital and spoke with their lactation department.  I think that part of my success was having so much information at the tip of my fingers. 

My family was supportive, but they were supportive in an apprehensive way.  I made it clear that I was going to nurse and they didn’t have a choice in it and that I wasn’t going to be ashamed either.  I think that in the US we are encouraged to do what is best for our babies, but you better not let anyone see it.  I think the biggest thing in the US is that people don’t think of breasts like they should… Mammary glands.  They are more of a sex symbol and you can’t have that just flashing everyone.  Sadly I think that is why so many of our young women just give up or don’t even try.  I can say that over the last five years things have improved.  When I started nursing my son you couldn’t find a nursing station anywhere.  You were just supposed to go to the bathroom, sit on the toilet, and figure it out from there.  When I had my daughter there seemed to be more popping up all over the place.  I think that as a society we are starting to change. It is slow and steady.  My hope is that in the next few years it will be taboo to feed our children formula unless you medically can’t or there isn’t enough milk in your system. 

In other countries it is vastly different from here.  Many women nurse as long as their baby wants to, which is sometimes even to the age of 4 or 5.  In many countries it is expected and frowned upon if you are not able.  In several countries England, Scotland, and Ireland to name a few, it is illegal to ask a nursing mother to stop nursing in public.  That is completely different than here, because if you aren’t covered completely in some parts of the US, the law will allow you to be arrested for indecent exposure.  It isn't illegal to breastfeed in public however it is illegal to expose yourself in public.  Women have been charged with this; however many times the charges are dropped.  The point is that we shouldn't even bee bothered with this silliness because it is what is best for children.  I personally think that whoever thought up that law was just one sex starved person because there is nothing sexual or indecent about breastfeeding. 

I try whenever possible to influence others that I know to nurse.  I will continue to do this but I will also have more reason to help others understand its importance and acceptance around the world.  

I have included a link about breastfeeding in other countries.

http://www.007b.com/public-breastfeeding-world.php

Personal Birthing Experiences

When thinking about birthing experiences I think that the ones that come to mind first are my own children.  What could be more amazing than bringing a new life into this world?  I can say that the part that I wasn’t prepared for was how hard I would have to work just to have natural birth.  It seems that the trend in the U.S. is that all women should be strapped to a table and doped as much as possible as soon as possible and we will need to cut the baby out as soon as we can.  In some cases the doctors just let the women schedule the birth when they come for their first appointment.  I found it difficult to even reason with the nurses about what I wanted.  When my son was born it was very difficult to get them to listen at all because I was a first timer and my water had already broken.  With my daughter I was induced but I was able to convince them not to give me Pitocin and I did get to use a birthing ball.  I was very excited about that.  I think that my favorite part of giving birth was being able to hear my children cry and to know that they were ok.  I can honestly say that holding them for the first time was the most amazing think I have ever experienced. 

When comparing the U.S. and China in their birthing practices I found it interesting that they don’t allow men to have any part of the process. Sex during pregnancy is forbidden and women must be cautious of everything they see and do because they believe it will affect the disposition of the child.  According to an article on BabyZone.com “Chinese women will often drink a strong herbal potion to ease the strain of labor. Custom dictates that women not fear the laboring process, since birth is considered a women's career to the ancient Chinese. Chinese women traditionally labor in an armchair or futon.”  It seems to me that in other cultures the birthing process is much more a spiritual process than in Western society.  I also think that we don’t value our bodies own ability to work through the difficulties of child birth, we immediately turn to medicines.  I wonder at what cost do we chose comfort over nature. I do understand that there are certain circumstances that don’t allow us any other choice; however I think that we must also be cautious about how we intervene in the ways of nature. 

I also think that it is a fine line that we have walk in order to make sure that we aren't harming more than we are helping.  Medicine can do some mighty powerful things but it is very important that we are careful with something so powerful. 

I am also including a link to the article where I found the information about China.

http://www.babyzone.com/pregnancy/labor_birth/birthing_traditions/article/childbirth-traditions-china