Childbirth in My Life and Around the World

Personal Childbirth Experience

The childbirth experience I am going to share is that of my daughter Lauren primarily because it was so scary.  The reason it was scary was because when they broke my water the doctor informed us that she had a bowel movement and that it would cause complications at the time of delivery.  They wanted to make sure that she did not inhale the meconium into her lungs.  There were pediatricians on hand to take care of her once I delivered.  My husband had removed the tape from our video recorder and put it in the trash can because he thought she was dead, but fortunately she was not we joke now that she was to stubbon to let a little meconium aspiration come between her and experiencing life.  If you are wondering she is still stubborn today as a 20 year old.  I was fortunate to have many doctors available that morning to make sure that I we were both taken care of and everyone survived.  We were lucky because she did not have any long term impact from this, but in some cases there is brain damage and permanent lung damage.

One of the reasons meconium apiration syndrom occurs is because the placenta is drying up because the mother has gone to far past her due date.  I wanted to have a my daughter naturally so we held off another week before scheduling a cesarean.  The cesaren was scheduled for 6:30 January 24 and  she was born naturally at 6:35 January 24.  

Child birth is a very tramatic process for both the child and the mother, it amazes me that child birth does not impact child development more often.  I wanted to ensure that my baby was fully developed and having a cesarean early caused me concern that what if the baby is not ready.  Cesarens are becoming very common in the United States and if they are medically necessary then I think that they are fine, but so many people are choosing to do them because they can schedule it to fit into thier own schedule with disregard for is the baby really ready and fully developed.

Childbirth in Venezuela

I chose to learn more about child birth in Venezuela because my husband is orginally form Venezula and the majority of his family still reside there.  When I first asked him where he was born he looked at me like I was crazy and responded a hospital of course.  I said, "well I was just wondering I don't think we ever talked about it before."  He responded that even his mother was born in a hospital, but his dad was born at home.  He dad is 71 year old.  So from my peronal interview I thought well Venezula and the United States seem very similar, but I wanted to learn more.

In one article I read it mentioned that cesarean rate had increased by 22% from 2002 to 2009 (Devereux, 2010).  The article went on to share that many doctors were encouraging cesarean's because they are quicker and they can schedule them during office hours and make more money (Devereux, 2010).  I thought is was interesting that in Venezuela just like in the United States there is a movement toward cesaren delivery and I think they are for similar reasons.  While the health care in Venezuela is very behind the United States generally in regards to child birth they have a lot of similarity.  I also talked with my neice because she just had a baby about six months ago and he doctor wanted her to have a cesarean, but she chose to do have a natural delivery.

While I don't think doctors in either country are disregarding the baby's development when scheduling cesarean births I do think that development can be compromised if the baby is not ready and the delivery takes place.

This was a very interesting comparison and great to reflect on my own person birthing expereinces.  I have three children and all three experiences were extremely different.  It was hard to chose, but near death experience of the baby won out.


Devereux, C. (2010, June 17).  Why so many c-sections in Venezuela?  Retrieved from Globalpost website: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/venezuela/100615/childbirth-cesarean

A Note of Thanks and Support

Dear Colleagues,

I has been a wonderful experience getting to know you all over our blogging.  I was very nervous about blogging and you all made it very fun and easy.  I appreciate your support and wish you all continued support with your blog.  I am hopeful that we will be in additional classes together, but I will stay connected to your blogs because you all will always have a special place in my professional journey as my group that helped me get started.  Getting started with anything is always the hardest and I thank you all for your support of me during this class.

Sincerely,
Jill

NAEYC Code of Ethics

NAEYC Code of Ethics--As a person that does presentations on the Code of Ethics at first thought I was immediately thought well of course P1.1--Above all, we shall not harm children.  We shall not participate in practices that are emotionally damaging, phyiscally harmful, disrespectful, degrading, dangerous, exploitative, or intimidating to children.  This prinicple has precedence over all others in this Code (NAEYC, 2005) means the most to me and has the most impact because as an early childhod professional we have to be committed and passionate that first and formost we believe in protecting young children.

The next thought was I-1.1--To be familiar witht he knowledge base of early childhood care and education and to stay informed through continuing education and training (NAEYC, 2005).  Every week we have reflected in some what the valued of staying informed and seeking more education.  We are living this ideal simply because we are on this quest for more education.

The third and final ideal that I will share in this posting is I-3B.1--To assist the program in providing the highest quality of service (NAEYC, 2005).  This ideal is why I am in the early childhood field and why I am seeking more education and why I want to be a strong early childhood advocate because I believe all children should have the opportunity to attend a program that is providing the highest quality of service.  I have dedicated my lifes work to assisting centers and homes in seeking the ultimate in quality for the children and families that they serve.

NAEYC. (2005, April).  Code of ethical conduct and statement of commitment.  Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PESETH05.pdf

Early Childhood Resources

Position Statements and Influential Practices

• NAEYC. (2009). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/dap
  
• NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on child abuse prevention. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/ChildAbuseStand.pdf
  
• NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on school readiness. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/Readiness.pdf
  
• NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on responding to linguistic and cultural diversity. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/diversity.pdf
  
• NAEYC. (2003). Early childhood curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation: Building an effective, accountable system in programs for children birth through age 8. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/pscape.pdf
  
• NAEYC. (2009, April). Early childhood inclusion: A summary. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/DEC_NAEYC_ECSummary_A.pdf
  
• Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families. (2010). Infant-toddler policy agenda. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://main.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ter_pub_infanttodller
  
• FPG Child Development Institute. (2006, September). Evidence-based practice empowers early childhood professionals and families. (FPG Snapshot, No. 33). Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~snapshots/snap33.pdf
   

Part 2: Global Support for Children's Rights and Well-Being

• Article: UNICEF (n.d.). Fact sheet: A summary of the rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.unicef.org/crc/files/Rights_overview.pdf
  
• Websites:
  
• • World Forum Foundation
    http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/about-us
    This link connects you to the mission statement of this organization. Make sure to watch the media segment on this webpage
    
  • World Organization for Early Childhood Education
    http://www.omep-usnc.org/
    Read about OMEP's mission.
    
  • Association for Childhood Education International
    http://acei.org/
    Click on "Mission/Vision" and "Guiding Principles and Beliefs" and read these statements.

Part 3: Selected Early Childhood Organizations

• National Association for the Education of Young Children
  http://www.naeyc.org/
  
• The Division for Early Childhood
  http://www.dec-sped.org/
  
• Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families
  http://www.zerotothree.org/
  
• WESTED
  http://www.wested.org/cs/we/print/docs/we/home.htm
  
• Harvard Education Letter
  http://www.hepg.org/hel/topic/85
  
• FPG Child Development Institute
  http://www.fpg.unc.edu/main/about.cfm
  
• Administration for Children and Families Headstart's National Research Conference
  http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hsrc/
  
• HighScope
  http://www.highscope.org/
  
• Children's Defense Fund
  http://www.childrensdefense.org/
  
• Center for Child Care Workforce
  http://www.ccw.org/
  
• Council for Exceptional Children
  http://www.cec.sped.org//AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home
  
• Institute for Women's Policy Research
  http://www.iwpr.org/
  
• National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education
  http://www.ncrece.org/wordpress/
  
• National Child Care Association
  http://www.nccanet.org/
  
• National Institute for Early Education Research
  http://nieer.org/
  
• Pre[K]Now
  http://www.preknow.org/
  
• Voices for America's Children
  http://www.voices.org/
  
• The Erikson Institute
  http://www.erikson.edu/

Additional Website Resources for Early Childhood Professionals

National Women's Law Center
http://www.nwlc.org

National Family Child Care Home Association
http://www.nafcc.org

National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies
http://www.naccrra.org