Watson and Mason’s article, “Power of the first Hour” and Risworth, et al.’s article “I was on the way to the Hospital but I Delivered in the Bush” both focus on aspects of maternal and infant care and demonstrate the fundamental differences between western policies enacted to improve women’s lives in developing countries and the local realty in those developing countries.
Watson and Mason ‘s article discusses the campaign by Save The Children to encourage breastfeeding by organizing a campaign entitled “Power of the first Hour,” in which they encouraged breasting feeding in the first hour of a child’s life, as the key to prevent the child’s death. While, the campaign had best of intentions it demonstrates a profound misunderstanding of why women chose not to breastfeed their children and invisibilizes women. This campaign assumes that women, especially in developed countries, who bottle feed their child are “uneducated on infant health, childcare and child rearing and as lacking agency and empowerment.” (573) However, in most cases women have very valid reasons for not breastfeeding their child that has nothing to do with their “lack” of education but numerous interrelated factors that cold make it impossible to breastfeed their child, leaving bottle feeding as the only viable option. Women may not be healthy enough to produce milk or they have another conditions such as HIV/AIDS, which could make it dangerous to breastfeed, therefore the choice to bottle feed is the wiser
It relies on persuasive tactics to ensure compliance. Being medical-based, it aims to reduce morbidity and reduce premature mortality and is conceptualised around the absence of disease. As midwives do not regard pregnancy and child-birth as states of ill-health, its validity in midwifery care must be questioned (Dunkley, 2000a). The benefits of breastfeeding are well-documented (Appendix Two), however difficulties arise in making this information relevant and personal to each woman. Often, simply giving women ‘information’ makes little difference to them (Dunkley, 2000b).
Infant mortality is a major issue the world struggles with. Today, with advances in medicine and technology, the infant mortality rate decreases every year. However, in the past and in other developing countries, access to resources necessary to having and raising a healthy child are not available. In the article “Death Without Weeping”, the author, Nancy Scheper-Hughes, discusses about her time spent at Alto do Cruzeiro, Brazil. Hughes goes on to explain why the infant mortality rate was high in Alto do Cruzeiro. She also discusses how the women and children are treated in the community.
The immediate and long-term benefits of breastfeeding have been demonstrated. Mothers are encouraged to begin breastfeeding immediately after delivery, however mothers choosing to breastfeed find numerous challenges once returning to work. There are not appropriate accommodations to support nursing mothers in the workplace. Although there are laws in place to support accommodations in the workplace these laws are not enforced and therefore it is virtually impossible for mothers to continue to breastfeed as a result of the significant barriers they face to effectively find suitable accommodations in the workplace. There needs to be a standard for enforcing these policies if the goal is to move toward encouraging all mothers to breastfeed throughout the first six months of life.
There were numerous powerful testimonies and striking findings noted throughout the and first two chapters of the book Birth Matters by Ina May Gaskin. As a health care provider, and therefore someone who is entrusted to care for individuals during their most private and sacred times, I found Gaskin’s statements regarding the environment and care surrounding birth experiences very impactful. According to Gaskin (2011), the “women’s perceptions about their bodies and their babies’ capabilities will be deeply influenced by the care they recieve around the time of birth” (p. 22). The statements made by Gaskin in Birth Matters not only ring true, but inspires one
The medical industrial complex (MIC) holds many influences in the care of women, especially poor marginalized women. MIC is simply a platform of the network among corporations that supply health care services and products to make money. Oparah and Bonaparte explain how the individual’s ability to pay determines the quality of care they receive (Oparah & Bonaparte, 2015, pg. 4). In relations to birthing, hospitals aren’t a place for an intimate connection between a woman that’s about to give birth and their newborns. It’s more of a time efficiency center where doctors (mainly white men) would purposely perform cesarean deliveries to not only save time, but to make a
Kids are important to life and its existence, it is a natural thing. Our world must face all the moral that comes with it. This involve mothers to feed their babies through breastfeeding at any given time and at any place. The moment woman has a baby, she is faced with many decisions. One of the significant decision is whether to breastfeed her child. Almost everyone will suggest that breastfeeding has many benefits. These benefits are for the breastfeeding mothers, the babies, and for the economy.
Midwifery has been practiced in several communities of the world since time immemorial. A midwife is a trained person, mostly a woman, who assists in the pregnancy, delivery and post-partum care of an infant. In most countries of the world, the act of midwifery has been neglected for more modern and westernized medical practices deemed safer. In the First nations community, midwives have always been an integral part of the health system assisting expecting women during delivery. In the mid nineteenth and twentieth century, midwifery was outlawed in many communities and reserves ‘for the sake of the health of the country’ (Parkland Memorial Hospital School of Nurse Midwifery). With the outlaw of midwifery in First nation reserves, expectant mothers were transported to hospitals and clinics in urban centers for delivery. With this came several new challenges for expectant first nations women and mothers including, ‘increased maternal newborn complications, increased postpartum depression and decreased breast-feeding rates’ (O’Neil et al., 1990, Smith, 2002 and Klein et al., 2002a. The relegation of first nations midwifery has done more harm than good because it makes the birth process more medical, has led to the inflict of new post natal diseases and has led to the neglect of the traditional and spiritual roles in child
It is shown that the longer the duration of breastfeeding, the less likely they are to develop these health issues (Godfrey, Lawrence 1598).
For hundred of years, women have wrestled with their womanhood, bodies, and what it means to be a woman in our society. Being a woman comes with a wonderful and empowering responsibility--giving birth. What sets us aside from other countries is that the process and expectations of giving birth has changed in our society; coming from midwifery, as it has always been since the early times, to hospitals where it is now expected to give birth at. Midwifery was a common practice in delivering babies in
Today there are two countries in the world that do not currently guarantee paid maternity leave for employed new mothers and/or expecting mothers, those countries are the United States and Papua New Guinea, according to the International Labour Organization, an United Nations agency (Rubin 2016). In recent years, the controversial issue of guaranteed maternal leave has been a prominent topic of debate amongst political activists and elites, particularly in the United States, where reform is both an ethical protection for employees and a feasible option for employers, but has yet to be achieved. It is this absence of policy that has been linked to significant health related issues of which does not only effect mothers, but their children as well. In addition to these adverse health impacts, it generates economic hardships to mothers and families. Thus, the consequences to mothers, families, and newborns that the absence of guaranteed paid maternal leave presents and the potential benefits of guaranteed paid leave for these individuals as well as employers, creates a case for policy reform in this particular area that would implement such protection.
The Ottawa Charter emphasises the importance of global health promotion by identifying necessary conditions, sectors and resources involved in obtaining optimum community health. This is broken down into five strategies building healthy public policy, creating supportive environments for mother and child, strengthening community actions, developing personal skills, and reorienting health services (McMurray & Clendon, 2015). This essay will address optimum maternal health being ensured by the support of nurses and midwives to maintain healthy lives for both mother and child. Proceeding with a brief description of maternal health, followed by the role of the nurse/ midwife in response to the condition. This will be in relation to the five major
A study ‘Experiences of childbirth by mothers at the tertiary hospital in Limpopo Province’ was conducted (Maputle & Nolte 2008), and experiences of the mothers during childbirth revealed the major concept ‘woman-centered care’. ‘Woman-centered care’ emerged as a
Supporting a child is incredibly difficult without a proper environment and sufficient necessary resources. Within the dystopia created, the particular setting raises more than just the ordinarily present issues that come with the idea of a newborn. Of the most fundamental issues, comes the lack of sufficient medical care that is necessary to not only aid in the birth, but also in the
Breast feeding has been in practice for a very long time, as early as 2000 BC. Before the invention of formula, bottles, and pumps this was the safest most common way for a mother to feed their infants. In fact, for 99% of human history breast milk was the sole source of nutrition for children until the age of two. In today’s society there are many different and opposing personal stand points on where or not a mother should breast feed their children. It is a very controversial topic with many variables. In breast feeding there are several benefits, reasons, and cultural effects that go into making the decision to engage or stay away from breast feeding. There is also historical causes and cultural differences that lead influence a mothers
All mothers have a choice in how they decide to raise their family. In the hospital, the health care team is supposed to be there in support to protect and to educate their patient, help them in identifying their rights, and educating them with proper and abundant information. The dilemma I am exploring specifically relates to the postpartum floor at Kaiser Walnut Creek, which is the idea of breastfeeding versus formula feeding. According to Healthy People 2020 as cited by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2011, 81.9% of mothers breast-fed during the early postpartum period, 60.6% until 6 months, and 34.1% until 12 months. In addition to the increasing rate of breast-feeding, there are many benefits for the newborn, as well as the mother. The newborn will have passive immunity against infections, decreased rate of sudden infant death syndrome, reduced risk of allergies and asthma, and decreased incidence of diabetes mellitus and obesity later in the future. The mother will have easier postpartum weight loss and lessens bleeding, delayed fertility, and reduced risk of breast and ovarian cancer. In addition, breast-feeding is convenient and cost effective (Ladewig,