Breastfeeding

I chose this topic because with my first child I decided not to breast feed. It was really for my own selfish reasons. I thought to my self there is no way I can be in public and have to stick my boob out to give to my baby. I never did any research on breastfeeding or studied why women chose breast milk over formula. I jusy went by what I saw when I was a child growing up. Being uneducated I feel that I missed out on one of the special bonds between a mother and infant. With this new baby on the way I do plan on breast feeding. I have done research, talked to other mothers who have breast fed, and have seem how it is more cost effective than buying formula. This subject is very meaningful to me, because now 8 years later after my first child, I see the value behind it!

I read an article about breastfeeding declines in Asia, is lowering the survival rate for infants. I thought this was pretty interesting as women in the US who chose not to breast feed have other options with formula that will provide some of the same nutrients that breast milk has. One of the researchers prove that one in 10 mothers still breast feed when their infant are 6 months. Due to the poverty and lack of clean water it is more safer to breastfeed.

Now that I have done my research and will soon hopefully become an expert on breastfeeding I will be an advocate on how breastfeeding is more healthy for your child. Not to mention from what I hear it helps you lose your baby weight a lot faster.

My Birthing Experience and Women in South Africa

I have a daughter who is 8 yrs old and I am currently 4 months pregnant. My birthing experience with my daughter was a very short, but painful one. I was induced at midnight on a Wednesday morning.  I was told that I would not have my daughter until  around Wednesday evening. Well the contractions began to stress Myah's heart and after getting an epidural and doing bed exercises at 7 am I had my daughter through an emergency C-section. I didnt get a chance to live out that whole birthing experience, being dilated for 10 centimeters, yelling at my husband, or any of those crazy things you hear women do when they are in labor. I hope to have a better story with my second birth! I chose to talk about my birthing experience because it is so near and dear to me. I love my daughter and to know that in such a short time that her life was at risk made me fall in love with her even more! My thoughts on child birth and the impact on child development is I think there are some parents that need a license to parent before they gave birth. I feel your environment, your outlook on life and how you choose to raise your child plays a really huge part in how well your child will be in life and in with other children as well.

I read about women who give birth in South Africa. Birth among the Bantu people was traditionally attended by an older woman such as a grandmother or a traditional birth attendant. After a birth, the mother is secluded in her hut with the baby until she stops bleeding and burial of the placenta and cord has great importance. When the cord falls off, it is understood that the newborn now not only belongs to the mother, but to the whole community. Traditionally an animal is slaughtered as a sacrifice and the skin of the animal is given to the new infant as a protective clothing or sleeping mat. The burial spot of the placenta seals the attachment of a person to their ancestral land and it is a place to which many will return as adults. This burial place of the placenta is a place to connect with their ancestors in times of trouble, to dream and eventually to die.

NAEYC and DEC Code of Ethics

1. Appreciate childhood as a unique and valuable stage of the human life cycle
2.Respect diversity in families, children, and colleagues
3.We shall demonstrate our respect and concern for children, families, colleagues, and others with whom we work,   honoring their beliefs, values, customs, languages, and culture.  Again, we cannot be advocates without respect.  We all learn from each other and children teach us as well through their innocence.

These three code of ethics are very important to me because they all represent what I believe will make me successful in working with kids. I believe that all families are diiferent, but for the most part want the same success for their child as we educational professionals do. I try my best to live by theese code of ethics on a daily basis and also try to help my teachers do so as well.

Course Resources

National Head Start Association
http://www.nhsa.org/

NAEYC
http://www.naeyc.org/

Dallas Association for the Education of Young Children
http://www.daeyc.org/

Inspirational Quotes

"I always wanted to be a teacher. I had a built in passion to make a contribution to the world."

Louise Derman Sparks-Professor Emeritus Pacific Oak College, CA

Harriet M. Johnson and Holly Robinson Peete

Harriet M., Johnson-“My conclusion is that they are leading productive lives. They are learning to live happily away from intimate contact with the family whose concerns are most emotionally bound up with theirs; they are establishing control over their own bodies so that they approach the physical environment with readiness.

Holly Robinson Peete-To that end, below I highlight 8 things about autism the media is not covering enough. They are not hot-button, provocative or headline-grabbing, but with 1 in 110 children affected by autism (and rising), these issues desperately need more attention:
 Holly then stated 8 issues about autism
1. autism is unaffordable
2.parental guilt
3.puberty plus pubert can be a volatile mix
4.minority children are much later diagnosed than other children
5.autism can be tough on a marriage
6.autism's effect on siblings
7.adults living with autism
8.autism advocates who actually have autism

Personal Childhood Web

Grandmother-She was the one who gave me courage to be the best I can be and to follow my dreams. She always told me, never stay mad at someone because while you continue to be mad that person has moved on with their life.

My mother- because of her I am the strong willed, can do anything type of woman.

Mrs. Strickland(3rd grade teacher)- no matter what always dress to impress. A woman should never be seen at her worst. Never let no man or woman know just how bad things may really be.

Raymond(cousin,father)- because of him, I believe there a good men around who will always continue to be that fatherly figure in a little girl's life,

Aunt Stephanie- Showed me continous love. Treated me like I was her own and was always there for me.

Each one of the people that I have mentioned above made me the woman I am today. If it had not been for their love and support and not getting in my way even when they saw disaster coming my way who knows where I would be today. They continue to support me each and everyday and for that I will always LOVE them.

They all showed me different aspects of life at different times in my life and it always seem to come at the right time, when I thought I was just about to give up. Knowing that these 5 people would not let me do that I had no choice but to keep pushing on.