Birthing Around the World

I myself have never given birth. I have also never experienced the birth of a family member or someone close to me. However, I am pregnant and will be experiencing birth in February. We are so excited and cannot wait to meet our son!

In high school, I did do a career shadowing project with a labor and delivery nurse. I was able to experience  the birth of a little boy. There was a woman in excruciating pain and she was throwing up and everything but once her son was out and she was holding him you could tell that the pain and the sickness were a distant memory for her. It was amazing to watch and I will never forget it.

In South Africa, women are horribly afraid of giving birth. They are expected to watch another woman give birth in order to face their fears. After birth, the mother is to be secluded to her hut until the bleeding stops and the placenta and cord is buried. It is said that the mother bites the cord and placenta is buried so that it is returned to mother earth. After that the mother waits for her child to urinate and pass a stool before the child is introduced to the village outside of the hut.

I learned that birthing in South Africa is something that I would not be interested in doing. However, I believe that if I was born and raised in South Africa, I wouldn't know any differently and would very easily participate in the birthing rituals performed there. I can't wait to give birth in a hospital with doctors to take care of me and the baby and be my support system if something goes wrong.

Littlejohn, M. (2010-2013, November 2). Spiritual Birth. Retrieved from Spiritual Birth: The Spiritual Art of Birth: www.spiritualbirth.net

Course Resource Page:

• NAEYC. (2009). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/dap
• NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on child abuse prevention. Retrieved May 26, 2010, fromhttp://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/ChildAbuseStand.pdf
• NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on school readiness. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/Readiness.pdf
• NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on responding to linguistic and cultural diversity. Retrieved May 26, 2010, fromhttp://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/diversity.pdf
• NAEYC. (2003). Early childhood curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation: Building an effective, accountable system in programs for children birth through age 8. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/pscape.pdf
• NAEYC. (2009, April). Early childhood inclusion: A summary. Retrieved May 26, 2010, fromhttp://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/DEC_NAEYC_ECSummary_A.pdf
• Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families. (2010). Infant-toddler policy agenda. Retrieved May 26, 2010, fromhttp://main.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ter_pub_infanttodller
• FPG Child Development Institute. (2006, September). Evidence-based practice empowers early childhood professionals and families. (FPG Snapshot, No. 33). Retrieved May 26, 2010, fromhttp://community.fpg.unc.edu/sites/community.fpg.unc.edu/files/imce/documents/FPG_Snapshot_N33_EvidenceBasedPractice_09-2006.pdf
• Turnbull, A., Zuna, N., Hong, J. Y., Hu, X., Kyzar, K., Obremski, S., et al. (2010). Knowledge-to-action guides. Teaching Exceptional Children, 42(3), 42-53.
• Article: UNICEF (n.d.). Fact sheet: A summary of the rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Retrieved May 26, 2010, fromhttp://www.unicef.org/crc/files/Rights_overview.pdf
• Websites:
• 
  
• World Forum Foundation
  http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/about-us
  This link connects you to the mission statement of this organization.
• World Organization for Early Childhood Education
  http://www.omep-usnc.org/
  Read about OMEP's mission.
• Association for Childhood Education International
  http://acei.org/
  Click on "Mission/Vision" and "Guiding Principles and Beliefs" and read these statements.
• National Association for the Education of Young Children
  http://www.naeyc.org/
• The Division for Early Childhood
  http://www.dec-sped.org/
• Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families
  http://www.zerotothree.org/
• WESTED
  http://www.wested.org/cs/we/print/docs/we/home.htm
• Harvard Education Letter
  http://www.hepg.org/hel/topic/85
• FPG Child Development Institute
  http://www.fpg.unc.edu/
• Administration for Children and Families Headstart's National Research Conference
  http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hsrc/
• HighScope
  http://www.highscope.org/
• Children's Defense Fund
  http://www.childrensdefense.org/
• Center for Child Care Workforce
  http://www.ccw.org/
• Council for Exceptional Children
  http://www.cec.sped.org/
• Institute for Women's Policy Research
  http://www.iwpr.org/
• National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education
  http://www.ncrece.org/wordpress/
• National Child Care Association
  http://www.nccanet.org/
• National Institute for Early Education Research
  http://nieer.org/
• Pre[K]Now
  http://www.pewstates.org/projects/pre-k-now-328067
• Voices for America's Children
  http://www.voices.org/
• The Erikson Institute
  http://www.erikson.edu/
• YC Young Children
• Childhood
• Journal of Child & Family Studies
• Child Study Journal
• Multicultural Education
• Early Childhood Education Journal
• Journal of Early Childhood Research
• International Journal of Early Childhood
• Early Childhood Research Quarterly
• Developmental Psychology
• Social Studies
• Maternal & Child Health Journal
• International Journal of Early Years Education
•  
• Extra Resources:
• www.calsac.org
• www.helpkidzlearn.com
• www.smartkidswithld.com

Personal Childhood Web

My mom definitely cared for me when I was younger. She awent to school and worked full time but was always there for me to help with homework. She paid for me to attend dance classes and made it possible for me to go to birthday parties and friends houses. She also threw me the best birthday parties.
My dad was amazing while I was growing up. He coached my soccer team for years. He was always there for advice and bonding time. He and I would watch football together and spend quality time while my mom was attending school.
My grandma is still in my life today. She used to pick me up from school and take me to her house to do fun activities. I would go swimming in her pool. She would allow me to have friends over. She always had crafts and games for me to play with her.
My grandma was an amazing woman. She always took me school shopping and allowed me to have friends over to swim. She always wanted to go out to eat and buy me whatever I wanted. She supported me going to community college and was willing to help with anything she could.
My grandpa worked for many years but always found the time to come to my dance events. He was so proud of my tap dancing. He loved every minute and never thought twice about not having a grandson.

Their love and support today has been the push to go back to school. Without a support system, I may have never considered going to back to school because I have never been much of a school person. I have learned how to be supportive of others. I have learned how to care for others more than myself at times. My family has always put me first and I want to put my children first as well.

I am still creating memories with my dad every time I am with him. One of my favorite memories with him was actually last year. We went to Pittsburgh and went to a Steelers game. Best day ever! My mom and like to go shopping and spend time going to lunch. My grandma and I like to watch movies together and do puzzles together. My grandparents that have passed away gave me memories all the time. We would go miniature golfing, bowling, fishing, to the movies. They would always take me to do stuff rather than sitting in front of a television.

Working with Children

Working with children has allowed me so many opportunities to learn things about myself. I have learned patience, love, how to be caring, and appreciation. Over the years, I have heard many stories from the children that I work with as well. They tell me stories about their weekend adventures, what they did for their birthday parties, stories about their families and many others. However, just recently, a girl started in my program that really touched my heart. She was sexually abused by her biological father until she was 6 years old and removed from her home. She has no self esteem because she thinks she looks like her father. She suffers from PTSD and cusses and talks explicitly about sex. I have to remember what she has been through while remembering as well that she needs time to adjust and make new friends. I cannot believe that she wasn't removed from her home until 6 years of age. It makes me sick to think about it. Thank goodness she has parents now that have adopted her and love her and want to give her a good life. My heart just goes out to her because I will never understand what she went through and how she is feeling.

I love the book, Are You My Mother?  by P.D. Eastman. It shows children that everyone has a mother but that it doesn't always have to be the normal mommy that you think it is. Sometimes kids have grandparents that take care of them. Sometimes children are adopted. Sometimes children are living with other relatives. It shows that children have friends and others that care about them.