Consequences of Stress on Children’s Development

Consequences of Stress on Children’s Development

Growing up in a war zone

My ex- mother in law is French. I asked her to tell me what it was like growing up during the Occupation. She sat back in her chair, drawing a crocheted afghan up and tucking fit snugly across her body and under her legs. “Oh, I don’t like to be cold,” she shivered. “I was so cold all the time during the war. There wasn’t a warm building in all of Paris during the Occupation, even for the German soldiers. I’ve never forgotten how hard that was.”

At eighty three years of age, her French accent is as distinct as it was when she arrived in America as a war bride so many years ago - and her memory of those bleak years is still strong and colored with vivid detail.

Jacqueline's early life was greatly affected by the rapid advance of the German army in WWII through France.  As the German war machine spilled westward beyond Paris, young Jacqueline was sent to stay on a relative’s farm outside of Paris. It wasn’t too long, however, before the German soldiers began to show up at such farms.  Jacqueline remembers her first view of the feared Boches.  "One day some German soldiers came to the farm and commandeered a team of my uncle’s Percheron horses for the German army.  That was my first sight of a German soldier in uniform.  One of the soldiers gave my brother and I some candy - which we promptly threw on the manure pile.  After all, we had been told that, in World War I, the Germans poisoned little children this way!”

There was no heat in the bedroom that Jacqueline and her brother shared. They quickly discovered a way to get warm at night. "We each had a bed, and there was a barrel of Calvados (apple brandy) at the foot of Jean Claude's bed.  We would sneak sugar cubes from the kitchen at night and let some of the Calvados drip from the tap onto the cubes.  This is called ‘petit canard’ (little duck) by the Normans.  We would suck on the sugar cubes and it didn't take long for the Calvados to warm us as we crawled into bed. “

As the German soldiers began roaming the countryside, demanding food and liquor from the Norman farmers, it became apparent that life on the farm was no safer than living in the city. Jacqueline and her brother were reunited with their family in Paris.

One thing that stands out in Jacqueline's recollections of Paris is how so much of her life was influenced by the German occupation and then the liberation.  It is difficult for anyone not experiencing the daily presence and always ominous threat of the hated Germans to understand what it was like.  There was no “freedom of speech" or any of the other freedoms that we take for granted and no civil liberties except as permitted by the German occupiers.  Everything was geared to what the Germans demanded.

 Jacqueline remembers one aspect of the occupation very distinctly - "la Gale du Pain".  “The only bread available at that time was a dark brown, very coarse bran-filled loaf, with many bits of straw baked in, some pieces almost one inch long! Because of chronic food shortages and the tight rationing, this coarse bread was a large part of a typical Parisian diet,” she recalls. “Because of this excessive roughage, many, many Parisians, and I mean by the thousands, developed this itchy skin condition which they called "the bread rash" (la gale du pain).”

Jacqueline described the treatment.  "We would be taken to l'Hospital Bicétre.  There, we would be separated, males and females, and then told to strip. First we would be thoroughly washed, and then the nurses would brush us with rough bristled brushes which would open all of the sores.  Then they would use large paint brushes to apply an ointment all over our bodies.  Thousands of people went through these 'mass production' treatment lines every day.  After we got dressed again, we would go home, riding on the subway.  In the subway we could tell who else had just been to the hospital. Everyone smelled of this strong la gale ointment odor!"

Rationing, food shortages, coffee made from chicory and maybe even sawdust, filth and disease -- there was no one to complain to about all this.  But somehow, like all the other French, Jacqueline and her family survived. “When I hear young people these days complain about not having enough money or toys,” she smiles “I often wish they could go back in the past for just one week to live during the Occupation, and then they would realize how lucky they are.”

Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding

Many parents prefer bottle-feeding their baby over breastfeeding, primarily because of time and schedules.  There is certainly nothing wrong with bottle-feeding a child but as you will learn in this article, breastfeeding has many excellent benefits.  The importance of breastfeeding far outweighs any negatives. The average time a mother breastfeeds  is one year, although some women go even longer.  The one thing that cannot be argued when it comes to the importance of breastfeeding is that the milk offers the child much more than any bottled milk could ever achieve.

For instance, human milk provides immunological, nutritional, and developmental benefits.  Studies have been done showing that babies who were never given breast milk tend to have more problems with ear infections, respiratory infections, gastrointestinal issues diabetes, and even forms of childhood  Going a step further, some studies have even suggested that breastfed babies are more intelligent than those raised on a bottle.

Today, we live in a world of toxins and chemicals that can lead to illness or, especially those with lowered immune systems.  Therefore, the importance of breastfeeding in this case is that babies are not subjected to contaminants, or they have a better ability to fight them off.  By being able to resist toxic effects from the environment, babies are healthier and happier. Over the past 15 years, the importance of breastfeeding has become quite apparent.  In fact, a declaration was signed in the United States back in 1990 stating that of all contributors to an infant’s life, breastfeeding was the most valuable. .

It has also been found that breastfed babies tend to gain and learn at a younger age.  Other benefits include convenience.  For mothers, they never have to worry about buying formula, bottles, and nipples, mixing the formula, heating it to the right temperature, and then feeding the baby.  Instead, the milk is perfectly mixed and at the ideal temperature all the time.  With breast milk available, many working mother are able to continue this process by expressing milk throughout the day and then adding it to a bottle.

Of course, the importance of breastfeeding also goes into the benefit of breastfeeding.  Formula is expensive, period.  As you can see, there are many wonderful benefits for the baby and the mom when it comes to breastfeeding, which is why more and more mothers are making this choice.  This very personal decision is one that needs careful consideration since there are so many factors involved.  Most importantly, if you choose not to breastfeed, it is perfectly fine.  Your baby will still grow and strong.  Therefore, never feel guilty for the choice you make.  Although breastfeeding does offer some special things to the baby that formula cannot offer, making the choice to bottle feed is not the end of the world.

BLOG: Week 1

BLOG: Week 1

My Personal Birth Experience

A personal birthing experience for me was the birth of my son. This was my first child. I remember lying in the hospital bed having contractions. Everything was going fine. In the final stage of labor, I begin to bleed heavy. I was in a lot of pain. I was nervous and afraid. Doctors and nurses came with different types of machines and equipment. The doctors were able to see and monitor my baby. My baby was stuck in a transverse position. The baby’s side was trying to come instead of the baby’s head for delivery. My baby was stuck! Thank God I was in a clinical setting. The doctor said the baby had to be delivered by cesarean section. My blood pressure was very high and my body was going into shock. I was taken to the Operating Room for emergency surgery. I was scared and concerned about the baby’s health. After the baby was born and I came out of recovery, I had no interest in my baby. I was in a lot of pain. I did not want to see or hold my child. I only wanted something for the pain and was tired and sleepy. Later that day, I noticed a change in my appetite. These were signs and symptoms of postpartum depression. I feel that first time births should be done in a clinical setting because, I never had any complications doing my pregnancy or delivery until the baby was ready to be born.

If I had not been in the hospital, I probably could have died and my baby also. In Netherlands delivery at home attended by a registered midwife or nurse has been the norm for quite a while. Deliveries are considered a natural part of life. The United States is medicalized. Netherlands has one of the lowest infant mortality rates of the world. Netherlands has a large network of certified midwifes, who guide almost all pregnancies. Only when serious problems occur during pregnancy or delivery an obstetrician is involved. The family doctor is almost never involved in pregnancies / deliveries. Like the United States, women do have checkups every month. Your blood pressure is measured, your weight, and they feel your belly: first the size of the uterus, later the position of the baby. The only difference with a delivery at home is that you use a labor room in a hospital. In the United States, a delivery room is also available.

BLOG: Week 2

Child Development and Public Health

Immunization is meaningful to me because vaccines are among the safest medical products available and can prevent the suffering and costs associated with infectious diseases. It’s not only important to stay healthy to protect yourself, but also to protect your children, your grandchildren, coworkers, and the older people in your life, too. Without, immunization, I would have to miss work leaving those unable to care for themselves and depend on me in everyday life. Vaccinations from birth through adulthood provide a lifetime of protection against many diseases and infections. During the 20th century, many infectious diseases-that killed thousands of people each year-were either eliminated or controlled by immunizations in the United States.

Unlike some countries, immunization is not mandatory, in Canada; it cannot be made mandatory because of the Canadian Constitution. Only three provinces have legislation or regulations under their health-protection acts to require proof of immunization for school entrance. Requiring proof of immunization for school entrance serves two main purposes. First, parents who have forgotten to have their children properly immunized will be reminded and can rectify the situation. Second, parents who do not wish to have their children immunized must actively refuse and sign documents attesting to that fact. In some provinces and territories, the public health-care system administers immunization programs; infants and children receive their vaccinations at public-health clinics. In other provinces and territories, vaccinations are primarily given by private physicians who order vaccines from local public-health units.

This information has a great impact on my future work because an unvaccinated person is a threat to people. Diseases do not stop at the borders. People can bring vaccine preventable diseases into our country and spread them to people who are not vaccinated. Our society depends on everyone working together to ensure that all of us can be safe. One of the ways we can play our part is to make sure that your family gets the right shots at the right time. Shots may hurt a…little, but the disease they can prevent can hurt a lot more.