Childbirth In Your Life and Around the World

The personal birthing experience that comes to mind is the birth of a coworker that I took part in. The employee began to go into labor and started to panic. This was her first child and so I found myself in a position of assisting her with breathing and so forth. I had to hold her hand because she was just so scared. I was with her in the labor room acting as her coach. The baby born to her was premature and very low weight. The baby remained in the hospital for quite some time before coming home. What I remember is how the baby looked and she was so tiny. She weighed less than 4 pounds and they were not sure if the baby would survive. I chose this because I would constantly wonder if the fact that she smoked, drank, did not eat properly, or take care of herself had a lot to do with the early and premature birth.

My thoughts regarding birth and its impact on child development is that as children develop from infants to teens to adults they go through a series of developmental stages that are important to all aspects of their person hood including physical, intellectual, emotional and social.  The proper role of the parent is to provide encouragement, support and access to activities that enable the child to master those key developmental tasks. Since parents are their child’s first teacher throughout their lives it is important that we expose them to challenges that are age appropriate and that will encourage development allow them to explore and learn from interacting with their environment. I say this because the premature birth as well as the parent’s inability to take care of herself has effected this child’s development in many ways. This child has experienced physical, intellectual, social, and emotional problems as well her cognitive abilities.

This calls to mind what is said in the publication The Developing Child in the 21^st century A global perspective on child development. “Development is thought to be continuous and cumulative and the early years are almost always described as vital to late development. For example children who have a difficult start in life are often expected to be less likely to succeed in life (Smidt, 2006). I can personally attest to the fact that this is indeed the case with this particular child. What you do can impact your child’s development. In Uganda they have a high number of babies born premature which strains the health budget and retards
development.Of the 1.5 million children born in Uganda every year, 210,000 are born premature. This implies that 14% of Ugandan babies are born before their due date which results into death of some, while others grow up with many health problems.

Uganda has the highest number of babies born premature and the highest number of deaths due to the complications from premature birth. Many of them have undeveloped lungs which causes breathing difficulties along with other health problems. The economy also is affected because premature babies are vulnerable to illnesses that are very expensive. Some of the babies are born blind or end up with some form of disability.

I learned that due to the illnesses they are affected by this can in turn affect the child's development. One big illness is Malaria and children on't survive. In my personal experience this parent's actions was a result of her child's premature birth and development problems. In this case the environment and other factors not directly related to the mother had an effect. It is also important that mothers practice good hygiene and complete the required visits that are so needed in detecting premature birth.

Resource:
Smidt, S. (2006). The developing child in the 21st century: A global perspective on child development. New York, NY: Routledge.

Premature birth rate continues to rise in Uganda, Retrieved on November 1, 2013 from: http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/637400-premature-birth-rate-continues-to-rise-in-uganda.html