Urban Jamaican Children’s Exposure to Community Violence.

The country for which I have a special affinity is Jamaica, West Indies. I have chosen to look into Violence as a stressor that impact the development of children in this country. Research was done by the West Indian Medical Journal on Here is an abstract from the research:

Exposure to violence in childhood is associated with aggression in adulthood. The high level of community violence in Jamaica is likely to expose Jamaican children to violence. There has been no detailed study of the exposure of Jamaican children to violence in their daily lives. Some 1674 urban 11-12-year-old children, previously part of a national birth cohort study, completed a questionnaire detailing their exposure to violence as witnesses, victims and aggressors. Their parents completed a socio-economic questionnaire. Jamaican children had high levels of exposure to physical violence. A quarter of the children had witnessed severe acts of physical violence such as robbery, shooting and gang wars, a fifth had been victims of serious threats or robbery and one in every twelve had been stabbed. Children reported being least exposed to sexual violence and to being shot at. Robbery was an almost universal experience affecting children from all schools and socio-economic groups. The single commonest experience as a victim of violence was the loss of a family member or close friend to murder, affecting 36.8% of children. Children's experiences of witnessing violence occurred chiefly in their communities but their personal experiences of violence occurred at school. Boys and children attending primary school had greater exposure to violence as witnesses and victims. Socio-economic status discriminated exposure to physical violence as witnesses but not as victims. Intervention strategies to reduce children's exposure to violence should include community education on the impact of exposure to violence on children, particularly the loss of a significant person, and the development of a range of school-based violence prevention programmes. (West Indian med. j. vol.61 no.4 Mona July 2012)

Take a moment and watch this video below, to hear some of the steps that are being taken to reduce violence and its effects on children.

http://televisionjamaica.com/Programmes/SmileJamaica.aspx/Videos/17840

VIOLENCE; Its Effect On Child Development

There are many different stressors that even small children are faced with, no matter where in the world they live. Violence is one that those stressors that I have seen impacting young children that affect them through adulthood.

In Jamaica there are high levels of community violence in some areas, especially in the inner city communities. Much of this is caused by what is known as grass root political influence, a high rate of unemployment and lack of a social structure. There is an openness of everything that happens in these communities, everyone has knowledge and is affected by the violence somehow. These are called garrison communities and there is no secret about what takes place in these communities. The sad fact of it all though is, that everyone there knows what happens and knows how to see and be blind and to hear and be deaf.

I taught first grade in an inner city elementary school, the neighborhood children were very used to violence. Every day they would have another gruesome story of the previous night’s occurrence. They could relate the full details of what took place, whether it was a stabbing, or shooting, fire set to a neighbor’s house or spousal beatings. Some of these kids demonstrated very aggressive behaviors while others acted shy and withdrawn. According to an article written by Novella J. Ruffin, a professor from Virginia State University, “Children react in different ways to stress. Some children become ill. Some may become withdrawn and nervous while others show anger and demand attention”.

Stressors impact different children in different ways, depending on factors such as their personality, ability, or their coping method. The child study center in an article by Sabine Hack, stated that; “Stress can affect children's physical health as well. Asthma, hay fever, migraine headache and gastrointestinal illnesses like colitis, irritable bowel syndrome and peptic ulcer can be exacerbated by stressful situations” (http://www.aboutourkids.org/). It is not always obvious, that these children were undergoing stress. This is so because children, in this case, were often coached not to discuss anything that is happening in their community and that they should trust no one. There was one little girl in particular, When this happened, she would sit staring into space. When I ask her what was wrong she would say “I feel sick” or “my stomach hurts", or she would just start crying. At other times she would be very aggressive when asked to share with others. I started letting her pick a special book that she likes and take it home over night. I also gave her special duties in class that she chose to be in charge of. She was an only child so I did the buddy program in my class, and made sure that she was comfortable with the buddy she had for the week. My daughter was also in the first grade and was one of her frequent buddies.

One Thursday afternoon she asked if she could come home with us for the weekend, I sent a note home with her for her mom to come and see me. Her mom shared her concern for her exposure to so much violence, and express joy when I said yes to her spending the weekend. Overtime she became less stressed, knowing that every other weekend she would go home with us. She learned to play a lot and did children and family activities all weekend long. She once told me that she wanted to call us mom and dad when she was at our house, she has been calling us that for the past twenty four years.

Reference

Novella J. Ruffin, Ph.D., Assistant Professor and Extension Child Development Specialist, Virginia State University, Virginia Dept. of Education Licensed School Psychologist and NCSP 

http://www.aboutourkids.org/articles/stress_in_children_what_it_how_parents_can_help

Public Health: The wonders of Breast Feeding

Breast milk is widely acknowledged as the most complete form of nutrition for infants, with a range of benefits for infants' health, growth, immunity and development.
-- Healthy People 2010, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia

I am a firm believer that children who are breast fed for up to a year are the healthiest babies. Breast feeding has great benefits for both mother and child as the milk is naturally proportioned to build up and maintain a perfect immune system for the baby. also,the mother benefits greatly as well, as stated by one research specialist.Researcher Dr. Eleanor Bimla Schwarz, an assistant professor of medicine, epidemiology, obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences, said: "Breastfeeding is an important part of the way women's bodies recover from pregnancy. There are certain hormonal and physiological changes the body expects to go through after pregnancy and when those changes don't happen, that leaves certain body systems in a precarious way. The longer a mother nurses her baby, the better for both of them."(http://www.llli.org/nb/nbmarapr09p46.html).

According to an article in NRDC Newsletter (http://www.nrdc.org/breastmilk/benefits.asp)

Studies have demonstrated a number of important health benefits to breastfeeding. Among them:

• Breast-fed children are more resistant to disease and infection early in life than formula-fed children
  
• Breast-fed children are less likely to contract a number of diseases later in life, including juvenile diabetes, multiple sclerosis, heart disease, and cancer before the age of 15
  
• Mothers who breastfeed are less likely to develop osteoporosis later in life, are able to lose weight gained during pregnancy more easily and have a lower risk of breast, uterine and ovarian cancer
  

Breastfeeding also has economic advantages: it's cheaper than buying formula and helps avoid medical bills later because it helps equip the baby to fight off disease and infection. New parents are well advised to learn all they can about the pros and cons of breast milk and formula.(NRDC)

Breast feeding is of such great interest to me, in that when I have completed my studies I plan to get involved in an on-going project hosted by the University of the West Indies on the education of mothers on the benefits of Breast Feeding their babies.

 I read the report on a study that was done and presented by the West Indian Medical Journal,on Breastfeeding patterns among six-week-old term infants at the University Hospital.

Some of the findings reported were that " a higher proportion of mothers in lower socio-economic groups were breastfeeding at six months postpartum compared with mothers in higher socio-economic groups. The fact that breastfeeding favours good weight gain has been a common finding of the more recent studies at the UHWI (4, 14, 15) and was found here also. This agrees with information from international agencies such as the World Health Organization which states that breastfeeding, especially exclusive breastfeeding, favours the best weight gain.

In the Caribbean, a high proportion of women have always provided their infants with additional food items along with breastmilk (4, 6, 11, 14, 16) though we found a decline from previous reports. The items have changed from primarily ‘bush teas' and orange juice to water and commercial formulae. This may reflect the greater urbanization of the population and greater access to tinned formula feeds.

Complementary items were most commonly introduced in the first month of the infant’s life, especially two to four weeks postpartum. The primary reasons given to start additional foods have remained consistent: to give water and; inadequate breastmilk (4, 11, 14–16).

My hope for the future is to be an advocate of the "Breast is Best" concept because I do believe that it is so.I have started at home with my own daughter who just had her first baby, she was breast fed for a year and have agreed to do so for her daughter.

A penny for your thoughts: Is this appropriate?

Multi-tasking, Gisele-style: The supermodel feeds her daughter while having her hair, nails and make-up done

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2522180/Gisele-Bundchen-tweets-image-breastfeeding-stylists-dance-attendance.html

How Births Happen in South Sudan
Statistics state that women in South Sudan has a one of seven chance of dying in childbirth. it is reported that there is a high maternal mortality rate of two thousand and fifty four maternal deaths per one hundred thousand live births.
The reporter went on further to say that a major problem for women and girls is the common practice in South Sudan of early marriage, with girls as young as 13 marrying much older men, often becoming a second or third wife. There is currently no law to protect young girls from this practice or no minimum age to marry in the nation. These early marriages result in pregnancies before girls are physically mature, putting them at risk for obstructed labor and other complications.
After reading about the women of south Sudan,and the age at which they are married and become pregnant I sighed. I felt really sorry for these girls who do not even get to be regular teenagers before they are forced into an uncertain adulthood. When my daughter told me she was pregnant I cried because I did not think, in my motherly mind, that her body was ready. Even though she is married, I still see her as my baby girl. 
Now as I reflect on the experience over those three days of labor at my daughter's side, I can see her as a mature adult. I think of those little girls at 13 years old and pregnant, and remember my daughter at 13, I see an innocent child. I see her growing body just barely reaching puberty. One can well understand that in  every aspect of development, they are far from being women but mere children. It is no wonder the death rate is so very high, something needs to change.
http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2013/07/25/in-south-sudan-too-many-young-women-dying-in-childbirth/

My Birthing Experience
I had the most bitter sweet experience over the past seven days, it was emotionally draining and psychologically charged. Our only daughter is married and was expecting her first child on December 31, her father's birthday. We, especially my husband, have been very excited about this great event over these 9 months.To make it even more exciting, our daughter and hubby chose to have her come home for the birth of her baby, where I can be home and support her on this very new journey. She wanted me to be there and still be home to carry out my own obligations.
    December came and the plans were in full gear, everything was set and so we went and got our nails and feet done and waited for the event.We had been scheduled for an ultra sound on the 30th (day before expected delivery date) all was well with that. We went to her dr's appointment on the 2nd,where they scheduled her for an induction on the 8th. We did not want that but we trusted our physician. On the evening of the 3rd we received a phone call from our OB/GYN dr, informing us that my daughter needs to come in tomorrow morning, 4 days early to be induced. when we inquired, the umbilical cord was around the baby's neck. We were devastated! I accompanied my daughter as I was her birthing coach. She was induced at 11:30 am on saturday and did not deliver that baby girl until Monday morning, by C-section.
      It was a long and difficult journey, I never left her side, I felt the pain, the anxiety and frustration when she stayed at 1cm for 2 days, then 2 1/2cm for 5 hours. It took 9 1/2 hours to get to 9 cm, imagine the agony! At 3 cm she got the epidural but at 9 cm the contractions lost their strength so we painfully decided to do C section. We were sad that after all of that time we had. I had the opportunity to be in the OR, what an experience that was when I saw my grand daughter emerged! 9lbs and 22 inches, amazing, beautiful and adorable.
Now the journey of recovery and healing began, we were discharged on 1/9 but before we could leave the room she suddenly started to shiver, she came down with a fever  of 102 so we were readmitted, such a disappointment but we were at the right place! We were discharged 1/10 at 9pm. Phew!! what an experience it was, but it gave us the opportunity to share one of the greatest and most significant moments that was as bitter as it was sweet.

I choose this experience because it is so recent, its still happening as I am writing. I just sit and look at my grand daughter and is amazed at the wonders of God's hands!
I see the child bearing process from conception to birth and beyond as one that needs proper management. Eating, exercise, emotional and mental state of mind are all aspects that contribute to the well-being of the child through his development. Research is on-going in an effort to improve the life span from birth through life.

my 4 days old grand daughter

Hannah is trying to figure what Nana is doing.