Child Development and Public Health

The public health topic that I chose this week is having access to healthy water. The reason that I chose this topic is because I believe in the importance of having access to healthy drinking water. Without the access to healthy drinking water, you can be exposed to many different diseases that can cause serious illness and even death. Being able to have access to clean water is vital, I think, in the development of a child, and even an adult. I think that some people in America take having clean drinking water for granted. They expect to be able to turn on the faucet and clean water comes out, or to be able to go to the store and buy bottled water, or to be able to use a toilet, or have a nice shower. Not everyone has those luxuries, even some people in America don't have those luxuries.

While reading an article by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), I learned that "1.7 Billion people in Asia and the Pacific have no access to modern sanitation." This was an astounding number to me when I first read it, and then learned that 780 million people still practice open defecation, which pollutes the water supply and is the "second leading cause of infant and child deaths worldwide," according to ADB. Many people who live in urban areas have to travel long distances to get water from an already contaminated drinking source, or to the stores to buy bottled water. Unclean drinking water allows different sources of germs to contaminate the people living in the areas with this water, such as the breeding of diseased mosquito, or getting a disease like Salmonella, which is transferred through feces. This hinders the health and well-being of the people in the area and their children.

While reading this article I learned some of the things that people are going through in another country, just from trying to have access to clean drinking water, something that I take for granted daily. I plan on trying to raise awareness with people in my area, and see how many people really know and understand about this issue. I think unless you experience it first hand or read about it, this is not an issue that most people think of others having. I was glad that I was able to experience this lesson, and truly learn something about people in another area.


Resources:
Asian Development Bank. (2014, January 7,) Water, Sanitation and hygiene for a Healthy Asia and the Pacific. Retrieved from:
https://www.adb.org/features/water-sanitation-and-hygiene-healthy-asia-and-pacific

Childbirth in your life and around the world

A personal birthing experience for me would be the birth of my best friends daughter Aurora. When my friend Ariele went into labor, I rushed to the hospital with my husband and we waited in anticipation. I have know Ariele for 10 years, so I was very excited! She had planned on having a natural birth, no epidural, or medications. She was in labor over night, so my husband and I rented a hotel room since we live out of town. at 5 in the morning she had to have a C-section, because while pushing, she was told that her birth canal was too narrow for her daughter to fit through. When we were able to see them both, she expressed her disappointment that her birth plan didn't go the way that she wanted, but was happy for a healthy baby girl! I chose this example because it has been a year now, I am now pregnant and have my own birth plan that I would like to follow. But this example always reminds me that it may not go the way that I have planned, and if it doesn't, then that is okay too. I know that there are different ways to have a baby, naturally, with medication, water births, or a c-section, but each way just makes the experience unique and doesn't diminish anyone's motherhood.

In Chin, I have learned that 50% of women have a c-section birth over a vaginal birth, and most who have a vaginal birth have an epidural. Most doctors actually push for the women to have c-sections because it is faster, since China is a over populated area. They can do "10 or 12 c-sections in a day compared to perhaps 2 or 3 vaginal births," says MK one of the best-qualified midwives in China, according to "The Telegraph newspaper." She also says that there is a belief among Chinese families that c-section is a low-risk option, and they believe it is a better option when parents can only have one.

The differences in China verses what my friend experienced is that most Chinese women want to have a c-section, while my friend wanted a natural birth. No matter what kind of birth that you chose, you do whatever you think is right for you and your baby. I think childbirth is beautiful, no matter how you do it.


Resources

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/mother-tongue/9796499/Why-50-per-cent-of-Chinese-women-are-opting-for-C-sections.html