Sara, an extremely wealthy philanthropist (imagine a female Bill Gates), has made a commitment to helping all children born in Vermont get a good and healthy start in life. Sara has identified you as a child development expert in your region and arranges a meeting with you to discuss what to invest in so that families in your region will be better able to give their prospective babies a better start. What will you say are the best investments Sara can make? What are the limitations? How will the various cultures of the families in your community (think racial, ethnic, as well as socioeconomic) influence your recommendations?
Be certain to consider what you have learned from your readings on families, prenatal development, and childbirth when answering these questions and making your recommendations.
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I suggest to Sarah that prenatal education for new parents and even before they become expected parents would be a good investment. A class for high school students in their senior year explaining the importants of good nutrition, the effects of drug use, smoking and alcohol have on the unborn child. Would be a high priority. She should also focus on the child birth education as well for expectant mothers.
ReplyDeleteIn My community she should put a lot investment in to drug abuse as well as alcohol and smoking in expectant mothers. The Social economical status in my community for child bearing age women is mixed between poor and the middle class. I feel that this issue of drug abuse, alcohol abuse and smoking covers both social economic levels. Contrary to statistics not all poor woman abuse drugs there are many middle class and rich that abuse drugs as well.
A expectant mother or a woman considering becoming a mother needs to know that her child‘s physical development and learning ability begins during the important prenatal months, three fairly distinct stages of prenatal development: germinal (first two weeks following fertilization), embryonic, (third thru the eighth week when a recognizable human being emerges) and fetal (beginning of third month to birth).
The mother’s healthy nutrition is important for brain development. A fetus depends on its mother for healthy nourishment. Women need to know that a healthy diet is essential to a healthy happy baby. Alcohol and cigarettes should be avoided since these can harm the fetus and impair the formation of brain cells. Also teratogens are another risk they can cause birth defects eg; drugs, chemicals, infections, and pollutants. It is known that ingestion of these certain substances for example have a negative impact on fetal development.
I think that interesting prenatal education with the science of human development in high school would help foster a better beginning for unborn babies’ futures. We know that “Babies are having Babies” young girls are becoming pregnant and not knowing what it means or what the responsibilities that comes with a baby. I am not so sure that these young girls understand that a fetus is a human being. And that they need to care for a fetus as the would a baby in their arms.
Child birth education should consist of all the options that a woman may have. For example a midwife at home, or doctor or midwife in a hospital. The options for pain management as well the culture of the expectant mothers should be give great consideration. Each culture has different ideas and goals. For example some cultures view it okay for birthing mothers to use medication for pain management other cultures view it as un acceptable.
If woman have prenatal education before and become aware that a fetus is a little person and how to take care of their bodies to help develop a healthy little person I think it would be beneficial for all. Helping families make informed childbirth decisions would be of great importance to every woman who will be giving birth.
After reading Awakening Children's Minds by Laura Berk and also based upon observations and discussions with families of preschool aged children, it seems the best gift a philanthropist could give to families is the gift of time. If one were to think very creatively about this, one could come up with different ways to address this need, which is a far greater need than (for example) high quality daycare, which is the usual response. Making childcare more affordable is a band-aid solution. A more comprehensive solution gets to the heart of the matter, which is that parents need to spend more time with their children, actively engaged in all kinds of learning and sharing activities from cooking together to reading to drawing to playing games.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to this need is also a need for parent education. The "need" for two-income households has to be put into perspective in order for parents to not feel guilty about not bringing in more money. Parents need to be informed that it is the time they spend with their children that is important, not how many games they bring home or how often they go to McDonald's.
If I were asked this question by a philanthropist, I'd recommend spending her money on parent education, on family workshops, and possibly on giving money to parents who spend quality time with their children (somewhat the way that respite care works). Family workshops could be set up as playgroups with early educators present who actually work with the parents, showing them how to engage their children, explaining what their child is trying to communicate if they aren't talking yet, and modeling appropriate interactions with children and other adults. As part of this, good nutrition could be shared as well as developing a budget and creating meal plans within that budget that meet nutritional needs.
One limitation of this (in our area) is the culture of poverty. Those living in generational poverty do speak differently and interact with one another in a way that we, as educators, may not appreciate. That would be a hurdle for the educators working with these families. Another hurdle might be transportation, so perhaps the philanthropist could provide a transportation service to bring families to these playgroups.
As for age, I'd say the sooner the better. Expectant parents could spend time with young children and the parents of those children, so they are better prepared when the time comes. This will not only put into perspective the huge responsibility they have ahead of them, but hopefully, the huge responsibility they have as their carry their child to term.
Thanks Cindy and Daryl for your comments. I am having trouble with this blog so therefore have e-mailed my comments to Manuela to post. You both brought up interesting thoughts-ones that I did not think of! Cindy, I think the point on educating high school folks is a very important part of getting these babies off to a healthy start! I put in a long list of ideas, but I do agree time is so important. Daryl, spending time with your kiddos and educating is crucial. I wish I could be part of that one income family too. I did include day care on my list, but I still feel it is just one of the many things that can help babies get a better start to life. lisa
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