Public Health Topic

The public health topic that I chose was nutrition/malnutrition. This topic is meaningful to me in many ways. First, we live in America, where if there is a concern with a child being malnourished, it is mostly due to abuse and/or neglect.

However, in other parts of the world, Africa for example, malnutrition is a way of live due to the lack of resources available to them. In many cases the child is not the only only one who is malnourished, the entire family is. Is can be so death the death is the result.

Ways that this has impacted my work in the future is that my husband and I sponsor 2 children in Africa so that they and their families can get clean water, food, and an education. We all write to each other back and forth, and we also send then Christmas gifts. It is such a joy. 

Childbirth In My Life and Around the World

• What are your thoughts regarding birth and its impact on child development?

I have only experienced one personal birth experience. When I was 19 years old, I gave birth to my first child, which resulted in him passing away within his first 5 minutes of life. I was told when I was 7 months pregnant that he would most likely pass away after birth due to a congenital heart defect. I was given an option to abort or continue to carry. I chose to continue to carry. I was in labor for 22 hours. He was beautiful. What I remember about the event is going under for a C-section because he was breach, and I remember waking up and the nurse handing him to me. He was already gone by the time I woke up, but I still got a chance to spend a little time with him. The nursing team prayed over us, and I handed him back over. That was a very confusing and sad time in my life, but I know that God knows what is best for me. Even in the most difficult times, we still have to trust Him. I chose this example because it is my only experience with child birth, and because I believe it will help someone see the bright side of things. 

I chose to research Africa. Each year millions of babies are born in Africa. (www.unicef) I learned that many of the births end up with both or either mother or child dying due to the lack of care in some parts of Africa. However, not all Africans children die during birth. There are many successful births in Africa as well. The difference that I learned about is that there is a lack of medical care and prenatal care in Africa, resulting in the loss of life.