Essay On Vlbw Infants

The Battelle Developmental Inventory – 2nd Edition (BDI-2) is psychoeducational testing instrument used in special education to assess developmental disorders in infants and young children. This paper looks into how the validity, reliability and norms for the BDI-2 were originally developed.

Infant mortality rate constitutes the death of a baby before their first birthday. Mortality rates around the world differ tremendously with America leading the first world countries at an alarming rate of 6.1 deaths per 1,000 births. Conversely, Finland and Japan secure the last, most desirable position, with deaths totaling 2.3 per 1,000 births, as of 2010. (Ovaska-Few, 2015) In 2014, over 23,000 babies died in the United States. (CDC, 2016) Exploring the mortality rates in America brings light to a dire need for additional interventions and research as to why this developing nation has the highest rate of infant deaths before the age of 1 year old. African Americans face the worst outcomes of infant death compared to whites, Latino, and their Native American peers in North Carolina. (Ovaska-Few, 2015) This paper will explore why African American are the leading race for infant mortality and the steps that health communities need to take to address this devastating occurrence.

In the US, black women are over three times more likely to die from maternally related complications than white women, and their babies are less likely to survive their first year (Oparah & Bonparte, 2015). Birthing Justice: Black Women, Pregnancy and Childbirth, edited by Julia Chineyere Oparah and Alicia D. Bonaparte tells the stories, experiences, oppression, and subjection of black women in the maternal health care system. Each chapter in the book explained a certain key point in the experience of black women and the health care system. In the following, I will discuss how the medical industrial complex or the introduction of medical treatments has not only stripped women of color, trans women, poor and immigrant women of their autonomy, but has sustained the hierarchy of patriarchy in the health system.

In addition to infant mortality, infant survivors of LBW and preterm delivery, often experience greater problems in childhood and adulthood. Some of these experiences include higher rates of respiratory illness, impaired growth, cognitive and emotional deficiencies, lower academic achievement and risk of hypertension, diabetes and mental health issues (Behrman and Butler, 2007, Conley and Bennett, 2000 and Raikkonen et al., 2007). The Center for Disease Control (CDC) report that African American pregnancies are at an elevated risk for poor birth outcomes. Figure 1. shows national birth outcomes for African American, Hispanic, and Caucasian pregnancies, as reported by the CDC in 2013:

It should be noted that these services vary according to population needs, with some studies even indicating that services vary based on the racial background of the participants (Evans, Labbok, & Abrahams 2011). This should be a cause for concern, and discrepancies in services provided must be avoided to limit further disparities. Data from the Centers for Disease Control (2016) found that in 2010, the rates for breastfeeding initiation was 74% for Native American women, which was lower than other groups. In order to better combat breastfeeding disparities, the WIC program continues to tailor their breastfeeding support services to achieve the Healthy People 2020 goals by increasing the number of trained staff, holding community involvement sessions, and constructing additional educational components.

“Down’s syndrome or learning difficulties are at a lower risk of 4 in 10 infants per 1000 live infants born”.

The United States is a melting pot of cultural diversity. For a country that was founded by individuals fleeing persecution, it has taken us many years to grant African-Americans equal rights, and even longer for those rights to be recognized. Despite all the effort to eliminate inequality in this country, health disparity among this minority group remains a significant issue. Research in this area has pointed to several key reasons for this gap that center on differences in culture, socioeconomics, and lack of health literacy.

The costs of this expansion will mostly go toward labor, as labor is the single largest component of costs for early infant and toddler care centers (Marshall et al., 2004). For teachers to stay invested in the children they teach and care for, they must be fairly compensated to maintain the high quality of care. According to a study in Massachusetts, 72 percent of typical full-time, full-year center expenditures go toward labor (Marshall, et al., 2004). In dollar amounts, “average expenditures per child care hour were $4.42 for centers serving infants and $4.28 for centers serving toddlers. These correspond to full-time care expenditures of $10,343 and $10,015 for the two groups of centers [infants and toddlers, respectively]”

In African American women low birth weight has been associated with several chronic diseases, such as obesity, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus. African American women increased risk of preterm birth is a longstanding epidemiological enigma and a major public health problem(ciatation from african american womens lifetime upward economic mobility and preterm birth). To further investigate this public health problem, I have analyzed the work of previous researchers who found a correlation between chronic disease, preterm birth risk factors, and low birth weight babies in women of african descent.

Premature birth is an important public health priority in terms of health of women and infants. Every year an estimated 15 million preterm babies are born and this number is still rising (WHO, 2015).In 2014, 1 of every 10 babies born in United States were premature and black infants were 50% more likely to be born premature than white, Hispanic and Asian/Pacific islander infants (CDC,2015). Almost 1 million children die each year due to complications of premature birth (WHO, 2015). Major survivors face lifelong disabilities like learning disabilities, hearing, visual, feeding, digestive, breathing and respiratory problems (CDC, 2015) and low birth weight (March of Dimes, 2014). A major challenge in decreasing the rate of preterm birth is

In the United States, there are disparities between the different racial groups when it comes to low birth weights and premature births. Evidence of this can be seen with information collected Reichman (2005). She found that African Americans have the highest rate with this accounting for 13.0%. While whites are reporting 6.5% and Hispanics are seeing figures of 6.5%. However, inside the Hispanic demographic there are differences in these numbers as Puerto Ricans have 9.4%. These disparities are not tied to economic status with many educated African American women having children of low birth weight. Whereas, there are differences between select segments of the Hispanic population in contrast with other sub groups. (Reichman, 2005)

Furthermore, most births were analyzed states of a hospital, because most hospitals shown at CSL were located in urban centers, our results may not generalize women experience in the most rural regions where the factors alternatives for SGA risk may be more or less influential than those arising from the social context of racial and socioeconomic inequality in an urban environment. The effects observed throughout the state here are potentially actionable, but certainly not negate any local effect that might be present. Finally, we analyze only three indicators of structural racism, and these indicators have not fully understood the ways in which the practices and policies at the state level systematically disadvantaged members of the black population, one of the trends dictate the health of the population. Further work is needed to develop quantitative indicators of structural racism and understand how to conceptualize and directly measure racism and its adverse health

Infant attachment is the first relationship a child experiences and is crucial to the child’s survival (BOOK). A mother’s response to her child will yield either a secure bond or insecurity with the infant. Parents who respond “more sensitively and responsively to the child’s distress” establish a secure bond faster than “parents of insecure children”. (Attachment and Emotion, page 475) The quality of the attachment has “profound implications for the child’s feelings of security and capacity to form trusting relationships” (Book). Simply stated, a positive early attachment will likely yield positive physical, socio-emotional, and cognitive development for the child. (BOOK)

In many aspects of health and disease, biological and genetic variables are considered to be the most important in reaching a medical solution to a problem. Nevertheless, evidence suggests that social disparities between African Americans and the rest of the American population may have a greater influence over disease prevalence then genetic differences. It is common knowledge, that as a race African Americans are far more likely to live and

8oz. and were thus considered low birth weight births. Preterm births increased from 9.4% in 1984 to 11% in 1993(as cited in MCN, 1998). African Americans had low birth weights that more than doubled those of whites and very low birth weights were three times higher. Many of the low birth weight births resulted in death. According to the National Vital Statistics Report, the figures for the United States from 1998 are as follows: