Chaos and Enviromental Pollution

When I started to read our blog assignment on stressors I immediately thought of a friend that I had while in elementary school through high school.  She had one of the most stressful lives, brought on by the chaos in her family.  Her mother was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and throughout her life was on and off drugs, such as meth and cocaine and never took her bipolar medicine correctly. Now, you would never guess looking at their house that that there would be a mother inside with a significant amount of mental health issues, but there was.  My friend made it to high school with grace, moving through the motions and holding her head high even when it was chaotic at home.  In high school, her parents finally split, and she was to live with her father.  As much as her mother was going through, her mom took care of her and suddenly her father was the sole person responsible for her upbringing. My friend clearly resented her father and began to act out, which in return caused greater tension between the relationships in the family and cause my friend to act out even more. 

She began by choosing boyfriends that her father didn't like and from there it when downhill.  She ran away from home twice with her boyfriend for weeks at a time because she could not handle her now overbearing father.  The second time he put her in a juvenile detention center (because he didn't know what else to do).  Once she was out, she on her own terms decided to take a break with this new boyfriend.  The boyfriend was outraged and then shot himself on her front porch (he did survive).  She had reconnected with all of her friends after this incident (talk about some serious trauma) and tried to build a better relationship with her father.  About a year later found a new boyfriend, in which her father liked until her found out when he was 11 that he had been charged with molestation.  My friend still "loved" him and her father refused to let her to see him. They sneaked anyway they could to see each other and she eventually ended up getting pregnant. Her father forced her to get an abortion (which she still struggles with today) and her boyfriend got in a car accident that killed another person. All of this happened with in about a half a year.  It was utterly chaotic for her.  She had a father that was trying to do his best but did not know how to talk with her and a child rebelling because her father could not talk with her.  She suffered from trauma and was expected to act like a "normal" kid.  I am happy to say she will be graduating from college with a degree in educational psychology in about 2 weeks.

She was able to get out of her terribly chaotic upbringing and turn her life around.  Her father was also able to do the same thing.  They now have a great relationship where they talk about the future and not about the past.

Environmental Pollution- Clean water- in India:

"On April 01, 2010 at least 18 babies in several hamlets of Bihar’s Bhojpur district have been born blind in the past three months because their families consume groundwater containing alarming levels of arsenic,..." (www.Gits4u.com, 2011). 

Imagine, having this as a stressor in your lives. Drinking water seems like such an easy thing, to me. People need 20 liters of water (5.2 gallons) for drinking and their sanitation needs (www.Gits4u.com, 2011). This can be a huge stressor for children and their families because 38 % in India live below the poverty line (Azad India Foundation, 2010). Living below the poverty can directly decrease families chances to access to clean water.  Foundations such as UNICEF have goals to achieve by 2015 and are making progress to try an provide clean water (UNICEF, 2010). 

Azad India Foundation (2010). Poverty in india. Retrieved from http://www.azadindia.org/social-issues/poverty-in-india.html

UNICEF (2010). Goal: eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/mdg/poverty.htm 

www.gits4u.com (2011). Environmental pollution in India.  Retrieved from http://www.gits4u.com/envo/envo4.htm#Groundwater%20exploitation 

Personal Birth Experience and China

Being only 24 I have not had any birthing experiences that I have been apart of, except for my own birth. From what I was told is that I had the most perfect birth and the doctor said he should of video taped it so that he could share it with everyone. I am the youngest of three children and the only girl.  My parents always chose to wait to find out the sex of their babies until they arrived. My mother said that she was sure that I was going to be a boy and that my name would be Travis Michael, well to say the least she was surprised when I arrived a girl.  I was born at 4:36pm on June 2nd, 1986 and they named me Abby Jayne, not Abigail (they were not fond of the full name).  I know that my dad ate a turkey sandwich that day and his breath smelled of coffee (that is what my mother told me). After coming out the doctor determined that I was premature (and I was well over 8 lbs., good thing I didn't go full term) by the way my hands looked and a few days after coming home I got jaundice and had to return to the hospital.  I then spent the next several days in our bay window soaking in the sun. I think the birth of a child is an amazing thing and the birth can have an impact on child development.  Often we hear grand stories about how children are brought into this world, but it is not always the case.

 A child feeding the pigeons in Shijiazhuang, China

 

Last year I taught at a University in China and for as long as I can remember I have ALWAYS wanted to adopt from China and adopt children in general. China is full of tradition, so I chose to look at what traditions are performed during pregnancy and birth and after the baby is born verses what traditions I know about here in the US.

When a man and women get married in China, it is tradition to have him carry her across the doorway over a pan of burning coals (this is suppose to allow for an easy labor) (Brown, 2011).  Carring a woman across the threshold in America is common, although it is not thought of as to help with labor.

It is believed that everything women do will influence her unborn child.  She will read good poetry, beautiful stories before bed and eat light colored food (it is thought that light colored food will produce a baby with fair-skin, something that is valued in China). The soon to be mother is not to laugh too loudly, lose her temper, sit on a crooked mat, there is not to be construction in the house and is to never attend a funeral (Brown, 2011).  I believe that this is somewhat similar to the US, women generally take great care of themselves before pregnancy and during.  However, some of our acts are different. We typically take pre-natal vitamins, refrain from drugs and alcohol, take to our babies, get some exercise, etc.

In China, it is unlucky to have a baby shower, typically a baby shower is given afterbirth.  Mothers and Grandmothers give the soon-to-be mom clothes before the baby is born (Brown, 2011).  Different from the US, most people have a baby shower pre-birth for the first child, after the first child it is typically given after the baby is born.

Herbal tea is given to ease the labor and women are not to fear labor because it is considered their job (Brown, 2011).  From my knowledge in the US, women are given ice chips and an epidural.  :) I believe for some women it can be very scary going into labor and I believe, that it is okay to be nervous.

Women in China often give birth in a armchair or futon (Brown, 2011), whereas in the US, if you are giving birth in the hospital it is typically in a bed. 

For the first month the new mother is, somewhat, left in isolation to get to know her new baby (Brown, 2011).  Where as here, I believe, it can be very much of a team effort for the first month of a new baby.

I thought a lot of these traditions were very interesting, China is full of a rich history that is based on their traditions. 






Brown, L.M. (2011). Childbirth traditions around the world: china. babyzone, Retrieved from http://www.babyzone.com/pregnancy/labor_birth/birthing_traditions/article/childbirth-traditions-china-pg2