Stressors on childhood

In looking at this subject and the list of any number of stressors children can have in their life, from poverty to war.
 I can say that I have personally had a better life than many. I can not personally say that or anyone I know have experienced of these as children. Living in the United States we are fortunate for the most part. There are still cases of racism that touch the lives of many but in that there is a reminder that have work still to be done. The following is a recounting of a soldier's thoughts of war. I am touched that he has chosen to share them with me although I will not share his name, so with that here is it...

"War is a scary thought for any person. The unknown of what may happen at any given moment. Not sure if you will be triumphant or go home in a body bag. One thing I know is that war never ends. I have been deployed five times and currently serving on my fifth deployment and even with us being a resilient country, we are not making any progress with an enemy that has the capability to hide and accomplish the things they want to accomplish. Still losing American lives but we are absolutely sure we are making a difference. If we are making such a great difference, please show us how instead of constantly being told you are and we are not seeing it. While being deployed in the Middle East you have the tendency to be involved with a natural disaster at any given moment. In both Iraq and Afghanistan, sand storms occur out of nowhere and destroy hundreds of houses and military equipment. There have been witnesses to hail storms that drop hail the size of baseballs that can kill a person in certain parts of Afghanistan."


War happens it is a reality in many children's lives around the world, their childhood is not made up of cartoons, and Saturday mornings. They have to learn to live in a world where guns, ammunition , and vehicles of war are not a part of the latest video game but a part of everyday life. For a child in a war torn country, are more prone to emotional and behavioral disorders, due to the severe violence that they have been witness to. Trauma such as war can have effects on the information processing of a child as well as deteriorates concentration and memory functioning as well.

Whether we agree with war politcally or not; it is a factor in the lives of millions of children around the world. On any given day of the week you can turn on the television and see an act of war in some area of the world.

Immunizations and Children

Recently while perusing through the recent postings of one my social media sites, I was struck by a posting of a friend of mine. The topic happened to be on immunizations and her personal choice to no longer submit herself and her children to immunizations of any kind. This was based upon her personal and religious beliefs of the subject. I am not going to go into my personal beliefs religiously on whether I feel this is a sound decision, however it did make me think. I remember a huge debate and I am assuming the debate rages on whether or not the immunizations our children recieve have caused a rise in the cases of diagnosed austism in children. Now as we move into an age of "natural"  is best,  once again the medical advances that once were praised as miracles are under attack.  In my opinion, if a vaccine is capable of saving the life of one child then that was a life worth saving. I personally have chosen to vaccinate my children against preventable diesases in order to ensure that they lead happy and healthy lives.  As parents  we worry naturally, I know I have always searched for ways to protect my children in every way possible and to me immunizations were just one more way to ensure that they were protected.

Small pox since its eradaction has saved more than 5 million lives. Polio which causes life long paralysis since immunizations have begun have thousands of children have been saved. The list goes on and on,  as people have chosen to stop some immunizations the cases of preventable diseases goes up and yet no evidence linking immunizations to cases of austim or to they causing the disease  they are meant to prevent hasnt been shown. Fear is understandable,  I get that, but as parents I feel that we have a responsiblity to take all the facts and make a decision. The lives of the children whose lives we are meant to protect depend on it.

Immunization: the story so far

Progress to date against diseases for which vaccines already exist and deaths from diseases for which vaccines might be developed

	Annual deaths (all ages) if no immunization	Prevented	Occurring	% prevented
Smallpox	5.0 million	5.0 million	--	100
Diphtheria	260,000	223,000	37,000	86
Whooping cough	990,000	630,000	360,000	64
Measles	2.7 million	1.6 million	1.1 million	60
Neonatal tetanus	1.2 million	0.7 million	0.5 million	58
Hepatitis B	1.2 million	0.4 million	0.8 million	33
Tuberculosis	3.2 million	0.2 million	3.0 million	6
Polio (cases of lifelong paralysis)	640,000	550,000	90,000	86
Malaria/other parasitic infections	2.2 million	--	2.2 million	0
HIV/sexually transmitted diseases	1.3 million	--	1.3 million	0
Diarrhoea/enteric fevers*	3.0 million	--	3.0 million	0
Acute respiratory infections	3.7 million	--	3.7 million	0

Chart curtsesy of www.unicef.org

Links for vaccincation facts and Parental choices

http://www.vaccinateyourbaby.org/why/preventing.cfm
Vaccine Exemptions Fast Fact Sheets
http://www.vaccinateyourbaby.org/pdfs/exemptions_fast_fact_sheet.pdf

A new life....

We each begin life as a new born babe, swaddled in the safe arms of our mother. As a mother I have looked at my children in awe and wonder, to me they seem like three miracles of life. It is hard to imagine my life without them, they all have burst forward grabbing onto to life with such personality and exuberance, wisdom and love that I am blessed to call myself their mother.  I can remember the day each was born , such joy and love overwhelmed my soul its hard to put into words for you to read. Even as I sit here its hard not to be overwhelmed with my love for my three miracles of life, for that is what each child is a miracle to the lives that they are on this life to touch.  So I am going to share a story with you of one of my angel's births. My beautiful and only daughter, not because she is my favorite but because she was my first...

My Story....

I was 18 when I met and fell in love with a boy, for in essence isn't that where all birth stories begin. This boy it would turn out would be the love of my life, my best friend , my companion, and the future father of my children. We rushed our selves into marriage, as impulsive teenagers do, much to the dismay of our parents . Thinking ourselves adults already since we both had made the brave decision to join the service. Well shall we fast forward just 11months after marriage , I found myself following my now soldier husband and I am 9 months pregnant and out the service. Stationed 1100 miles away from home and any family support.  As most soldiers do he has been to training in and out on field exercises for the better part of two months. I was often alone and yes afraid that any day the baby would come and he would be off training and possibly miss the whole event. Yes, scared was an accurate description of what I felt a lot of days . April 1, he calls from the company to say he is on his way home me thinking its April Fool's Day tell him please don't play it's not a funny trick. Jubilation! Relief! He is home, if only for a few days he is still there.  My labor began at around 2:30am, I woke up in shock and pain. I cant say that I remember exactly how great the pain was I just know that I felt pain.  I didn't know what was happening, I was 19 how could I know what was happening. My husband,  wakes up to me moaning on all fours rocking next to the bed. He, thankfully was in a better frame of mind than I was because he immediately called the hospital, who verified that they thought I was labor. After that I just remember him saying that I needed to get off the floor, he didn't want the baby to born on the floor( I still chuckle when I think on that) . I just wanted to rock, I do not know how I knew but somehow I just did that me rocking in that position would be the best for me and it would ease my pain. When we finally got to the hospital, I remember being asked what was my pain management plan and all I could think was give me whatever you got back there. I was checked and the nurse told me that I was too far along in my labor to receive in any drugs.  This is the  part that is not my memory but of my husband's.... According to him I was able to manage some of the pain by biting down, I wanted to bite the bed,  anything, he again  thought that it wasn't clean enough( in a hospital not clean enough I don't think I cared too much .. o.K!)  So he gives me his hand to bear down and as he is falling asleep next to me all he feels is me biting into his hand.  OK, I will admit I don't remember doing that but after that he says he gave me the big pack of gum he had and told me to bite down on that.  When our son was being born he refused to hold my hand or come near my head, he said he wasn't going to lose his finger because I couldn't control my animal urges.  Aside from the biting,  my daughter came into the world almost 6 hours after I woke up initially in labor without any incident. At 8:04am we welcomed, our daughter into the world. The doctor who attended  my birth and during this time at the hospital I was at, had a tradition of letting the father of the child deliver the baby during the last moment , as long as there were no complications. Well needless to say my husband, glove less and all delivered his daughter and was the one to place her on my chest during her first moments of life.  I still remember the look of joy on his face, mixed in with disgust, childbirth is not a pretty or clean business.  Our daughter was beautiful in all of her 8lbs 4oz glory, curly hair  who personality matches her dad's.

There are many reasons this story  touches me  one at the point my daughter was born she was actually 5 days overdue, I had  spent so many nights praying that she would not be born while I was by myself I lost count, I think I made my prayer a mediation chant. She was actually born  two days before her father's birthday, and even now they celebrate together.  Even though I was scared much of the time during my pregnancy, not sure what was going to be the outcome. The minute she was born everything came into focus and I was centered. Every birthing experience is different but if they all were exactly the same, life would have no color and uniqueness. My child was delivered into the hands of her father and immediately given to me.

Brazilian Birthing Experiences vs. My Birthing Experience

In Brazil the birthing experiences for women may seem very similar on the surface. However in the references that I have found give birth in a hospital setting such as I did. On one website it is mentioned that many doctors find it convenient to schedule c-sections or Cesarean section, when births do not happen according to their plan. In many cases only one relative and not husband are allowed in the Labor and Delivery RM. In another article women seemed to have a high value in their ability to maintain self-control. Finding that their positions during labor helped or weakened their feelings of control. They believed that good self-control contributed to a good birthing experience.

In comparison when giving birth in the US, I will go into further detail I was on a military installation at the time. Yes, I was in a hospital assisted by a Nurse Practitioner and a Doctor,  I believe both were soldiers. I was given as close to a natural birthing experience as possible.  A C-section, was never even mentioned. My husband was not only in the room as my coach but he was an integral part of the whole birth. I'm sure if complications had come up I would have been writing a very different story, but again I know that my husband would still be a part of it.

Where both countries have a similarities and I would venture to guess all women have a similarity is our ability to maintain control during the process of giving birth. Not to control the birth itself, a baby will come when it comes, but to maintain control over our emotions and become brave when we may be unbelievably afraid. To suddenly find strength when we are tired beyond all reasonable imagination. To push new life, with that last ounce of strength we have in our being because deep in our souls we know this is our meaning in life.


http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2393/13/171
http://www.gringoes.com/articles.asp?ID_Noticia=365