Childbirth

Pregnancy was a very smooth and amazingly easy period for me. Giving birth; however, was a totally different matter.
I was only 39 weeks when I woke up with a slight show of blood, so I called my doctor to inform her, she asked me to go down to the hospital. Although I had read about it in my pregnancy books, and I knew that it might not be for days until it’s time, I complied and went to the hospital.When I reached there, and against all my protests, they started preparing me for labor and then I was induced. The following 36 hours were very worrying and strenuous… Along with my husband, my childhood best friend, Danya, who was an OB-GYN resident at the time, was with me throughout the whole process. The doctor had me undergo CT-scan, and when she came with the news that I had an abnormal pelvis that makes it impossible to deliver in the natural way, that I can never become dilated, and that I needed a C-section immediately, I just stared at her. Thinking it was all her fault; had she not forced me to go to the hospital too early, this would never have happened…I remember hearing a woman in the other room deliver her baby naturally, I felt the tears rolling down my cheeks and I just could not control my anguish. My friend told me that she is going to ask to transfer me to another hospital; I just could not trust that doctor anymore, if she did all these decisions when I was awake, I could only imagine what she would have done when I was on the operating table. Anyway, to make a long story short, I was transferred to a different hospital, where they told me that I was 4cm dilated and that they were going to wait. I took an epidural and after a few hours, my baby was ready to get out. I was too tired by then, and they needed to use the forceps to pull the baby out. Rola was so tiny and beautiful, they put her next to me for a while, and then they took her to NICU, as they wanted to check that she was okay after what she had gone through.
The few hours of not being able to see my daughter were the hardest on me, and I am so grateful that everything turned out fine at the end. My only remorse is that I could not breast feed, I have breast fed my second baby, though, and it was the most wonderful experience.

Psychological trauma can have a lasting damaging effect on human beings. I know childbirth is very important to childhood development, because the earlier the trauma, the more profound the effect would be. Because the impact of childbirth on infants can be intense, I was concerned that this traumatic experience would cause psychological problems to my child as she develops, and I have kept looking for signs as she was growing up. As a baby, she didn’t sleep a lot, she gave me a really hard time eating, and was very fussy and anxious. Rola is now 14, and turned out to be an extremely sensitive and caring girl. It takes her a great effort to control her temper, but she is quite patient and well-behaved in comparison to her peers. I am so thankful to God for her.



Childbirth in Afghanistan

“More women die in childbirth in Afghanistan than almost anywhere else in the world”( Save the Children, 2010).

Poverty, insecurity, discrimination against women, and shortage of midwives are all factors seriously affecting childbirth in Afghanistan. Afghani women usually give birth at home, not always because they choose to, but because male honor forces women to stay indoors and forbid them to go to the hospital to deliver. That can be acceptable, if the proper tools and skills were provided, but this is not the case for mothers there. At home, women mostly deliver sitting down, which can cause the baby’s body to end up in the wrong position. Frequently, the umbilical cord isn’t properly cut, which gets it infected and causes the infant to die. Most women do not get professional help to deliver as there is a great need for midwives. And when midwives are available, they slap the mothers’ bellies to speed up contractions and yell at her if she takes a long time. According to Unicef (2006), half of women will die due to pregnancy and delivery related causes. 52 babies out of 1000 die within two weeks of birth and 134 before they get to 1 year of age. A third of the deaths are due to obstructed labor, vitamin D deficiency, because women are not exposed to enough sunlight throughout their pregnancy.
In comparison to the Afghani mother’s dangerous challenges at giving birth, my own experience seems not worth mentioning. I feel ashamed and helpless. While we complain about some mistakes that doctors or hospital staff make during delivery, other women in some areas in the world are enduring immeasurably much more. The developed medical conditions that we are blessed with are sometimes taken for granted and that is something that I will never take lightly again.

References
Save the Children UK. (n.d.). Afghanistan. Retrieved from http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/where-we-work/asia/afghanistan
Unicef.(2006). Best Estimates. Retrieved from http://cso.gov.af/Content/Media/Documents/BestEstimatesofsocialindicatorsforchildreninAfghanis382011124523764553325325.pdf


For more information on this issue, visit the following
websites:

http://www.who.int/countries/afg/en/
http://afghanmidwiferyproject.org/?p=804
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/5083304.stm

A Note of Thanks!

It is hard to believe that this course has come to an end. I am grateful that I have made it and look forward to what lies ahead.

I would like to extend my thanks and appreciation to my professor and all my classmates, especially my group members who have indulged me and given me great insight and support throughout this course. Thanks to all who have visited my blog, read my comments, and participated in my discussions.
At the end, I can only say that I feel positive changes in me as an early childhood professional, and I can only attribute it to all of you for the encouragement you have offered me during the past 8 weeks. Thanks to all who have contributed to my learning; for giving me valuable advice and constructive feedback.

Examining Codes of Ethics

NAEYC’s Code of Ethical Conduct and Statement of Commitment lays an outline of professional responsibilities that address four sections of professional relationships: (1) with children, (2) with families, (3) among colleagues, and (4) with the community and society. The Code includes a set of ideals that reflect professional goals, practices, and principles.

The Code of Ethics of the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children is a public statement of principles and practice guidelines, whose purpose is to assist professionals in resolving emerging struggles with children, families, and colleagues.

After examining the codes of ethics, I have chosen to share a few that I feel were the initial reason I have become an educator…

Concerning Children:


•Above all, we shall not harm children. We shall not participate in practices that are emotionally damaging, physically harmful, disrespectful, degrading, dangerous, exploitative, or intimidating to children (NAEYC, 2005).

• To recognize and respect the unique qualities, abilities, and potential of each child. (NAEYC, 2005).

• Appreciate vulnerability of children and their dependence on adults (NAEYC, 2005).

When working with young children, it is vital to understand how fragile they are, and how much they rely on adults to nurture their development and enhance their learning. I feel that when teachers are alone in the classroom, they must be fully aware of the great trust that has been put in them, and live up to the responsibility.

Concerning other adults and the community:


• We shall demonstrate our respect and concern for children, families, colleagues, and others with whom we work, honoring their beliefs, values, customs, languages, and culture (DEC,2009).

• We shall demonstrate the highest standards of personal integrity, truthfulness, and honesty in all our professional activities in order to inspire the trust and confidence of the children and families and of those with whom we work (DEC, 2009).

• We shall honor and respect our responsibilities to colleagues while upholding the dignity and autonomy of colleagues and maintaining collegial inter professional and intra professional relationships (DEC, 2009).

• We shall support professionals new to the field by mentoring them in the practice of evidence and ethically based services (DEC, 2009).


As educators, we have the privilege to influence the most vulnerable element of society; children. Hence, we have to set a constructive example for them so they can impart their own positive attitude to their society. We undertake the task of being role models to others, and in displaying respect to everyone we interact with is crucial to the effects we have on others and our society.

References

NAEYC. (2005, April). Code of ethical conduct and statement of commitment. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PSETH05.pdf

The Division for Early Childhood. (2009, August). Code of ethics. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.dec-sped.org/