Child Development

Since I do not have a child birth experience, I will speak of my first time new born experience with the birth of my first nephew Michael when I first became an uncle. I was 18 at the time when Michael was first brought home. He was so small. My oldest sister had been working as a nurse aid at a local nursing home before attending college so she was used to caring for people and she naturally took to taking care of her newborn son Michael. My experiences with him when he was first came home was to feed him, change his diapers, and to play with him. I was curious about the skin on the navel and my sister informed me that it would naturally fall off. This was my first introduction in child birth.Michael was born a healthy child and my sister took care of both her prenatal needs and his prenatal needs.
Tibet: The Old Ways Remain
This was a shocker to me because of all of the technology that is out there for child birth. The Tibetan women gives birth alone with 66% of the Tibetan women having home births in an animal pen. There is a high mortality rate because at birth the mother cuts the umbilical cord with an unclean knife. There is limited access to doctors and emergency services because of poverty and the mountains. Lastly the child is not first nursed until he or she is given a a paste of butter, honey, saffron water and musk water, thought to protect the child from harmful spirits. I have learned that as long as women have access to doctors, midwives, health care and a healthy diet then there will be less problems with the birth and the opposite with no access to doctors, midwives, health care and a poor diet.