Lifespan;Labor and Childbirth
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Lifespan
Labor and Childbirth
Method
The learner applied previous knowledge about labor and childbirth as an efficient method of exploring the topic. The method offered an excellent choice given that the learner had a considerably rich background of the process of labor as well as parturition. The learner took an informed position when studying the topic, and it was possible to refer to earlier sources to establish consistency in the understanding of procedures. The learner acquired thorough knowledge on how to spot labor, understand its stages, strategies of pain management, as well as how to induce labor and carry out a safe childbirth. There was reliable information describing normal and abnormal labor as well as safe childbirth.
Discussion
Labor is associated with pain and it happens when delivery time approaches. It is important for women to prepare for the processes. Preparation measures involved in the management of labor include ensuring that one has access to a reliable pain management plan (Iravani, Zarean, Janghorbani, & Bahrami, 2015). Accuracy is vital when predicting the occurrence of labor and childbirth as such an understanding allows women to avoid misleading experiences. Failure to prepare for labor puts women at the risk of too much suffering. Expectant mothers should learn the early signs of labor for them to make timely arrangements with their healthcare attendants. A few days to delivery, women experience a “lightening” sensation that indicates the descending of the fetus to the pelvic (Womenshealth.gov, 2010). As labor approaches, women also experience contractions whose pattern of occurrence become more regular and frequent with time. An experience of persistent back pains and bloody vaginal discharges are indicators that women are on labor (Womenshealth.gov, 2010).
Labor involved three stages each with its unique occurrences. The first stage is usually long, and it takes close to twelve hours. The processes entails opening of the cervix to prepare for delivery. The second stage entails childbirth, where women push to expel their babies, and it could take as short as twenty minutes or as long as two hours. It is important for women to time crowning for them to commit themselves to pushing. Proper timing of crowning minimizes energy wastage and unnecessary pain. The third stage of labor and childbirth involves expulsion of the placenta. The process takes approximately thirty minutes and its completion marks the end of labor.
There are numerous approaches to managing pain experienced during labor. Some are pharmacological while others are non-pharmacological and work by enhancing relaxation. Opioids are the commonest pharmacological approaches to managing pain. The drugs work by blocking pain mediation as they bind to opioid receptors. Pethidine is the primary opioid of choice for analgesia during labor while other possible alternatives include morphine, pentazocine, butorphanol, nalbuphine, and tramadol (Olayemi, 2011). Side effects associated with opioids include drowsiness, nausea, vomiting, as well as a possibility to impair the breathing and heart rates of the baby (Womenshealth.gov, 2010). Non-pharmacological approaches to pain management that women apply include the use of a birth ball, cold or hot objects, listening to music, assuming recommended positions, and the use of aromas among others (Kozhimanil, Johnson, Attanasio, Gjerdingen, & McGovern, 2013). Research findings indicate that 70% of American women apply the non-pharmacological techniques to managing labor pains (Kozhimanil et al., 2013).
Women also practice labor induction. They could do it personally or have it done by their clinicians. Labor induction is at time necessary, but it could lead to complications especially if done without medical guidance, and more so if performed before the 39th week of pregnancy (Kozhimanil et al., 2013). Adversities associated with labor induction include birth weight abnormalities and an elevated likelihood for the necessity of caesarian delivery. Non-pharmacological self-induction methods include engagement in exercise, sexual intercourse, nipple stimulation, and use of castor oil (Kozhimanil et al., 2013). Women may also seek the use of herbal medications to induce labor. Medical procedures that induce labor involve either the use of medications or the performance of certain stimulatory practices. Common approaches include the use of pitocin, cervical gel, or procedures such as membrane rupturing or sweeping (Kozhimanil et al., 2013). It is always important that the involved parties establish the clinical need for labor induction prior to carrying out the process. It is necessary to take caution as the method puts both the lives of the mother and that of the newborn at a significant risk of complications.
It is possible to predict the occurrence of abnormal labor in women. In most cases, abnormal labor is associated with inadequate contractions of the pelvis and the uterine walls (Abraham, & Berhan, 2014). The elongation of any stage of labor also constitutes an abnormality. Labor abnormalities often necessitate caesarian sectioning.
Early Childhood
Method
The learner selected a sentence of interest from readings and reflected on it. The following is the sentence of interest:
“The pre-school years (i.e., 1–5 years of age) is a time of rapid and dramatic postnatal brain development, i.e., neural plasticity, and of fundamental acquisition of cognitive development i.e., working memory, attention and inhibitory control” (Rosales, Reznick, & Zeisel, 2009, Pg. 190).
The method offered an excellent choice as it presented the learner with an opportunity to explore authoritative sources to either support or refute the statement. The method helped the learner take a position and explore scholarly evidence to support it. The learner found that the statement was correct, and there was sufficient scientific evidence to support it.
Discussion
Early childhood involves intensive brain development both structurally and functionally. The brain attains 90% of its adult size when people are at their pre-school stage, and the rate of its growth at the phase is equivalent to a four-fold (Stiles, & Jernigan, 2010, Pg. 328). The increased developmental ability of the brain is attributed to the high level of plasticity that the brain expresses at the stage. The brain also has a considerably increased ability to adapt to situations owing to its high level of plasticity (Stiles, & Jernigan, 2010, Pg. 328). It is important to present preschoolers with a healthy environment as the approach of development that the organ undergoes relies on one’s experiences. Usually, brain development relies on processes that are competitive to each other, and experience determines the process that would dominate the other (Stiles, & Jernigan, 2010, Pg. 328). Brain development is unequal at different stages of growth. Experiences would have varied impact on the development of the brain at different growth stages (Kolb, & Gibb, 2011, Pg. 270). Early childhood is among the stages that bear most influence from experiences owing to the associated high level of neuroplasticity. Growth is usually intensified at the stage, and brain perturbations occur to a great extent in children than in people who are at other developmental stages.
Structural brain development taking place at the preschool age include thinning of the cortex at the caudal-rostral gradient (Kolb, & Gibb, 2011, Pg. 266). The process begins at age two and it advances as far as to age twenty. Cortical thinning influences functional development of the brain, and it is particularly associated with behavioral development. MRI studies have indicated that cortical thinning results in the acquisition of dexterity (Kolb, & Gibb, 2011, Pg. 266). There is significant evidence that slow that changes in cortical thinning in early childhood result in poor development in skills such as language competence in children who express normal intelligence (Kolb, & Gibb, 2011, Pg. 267).
Environmental factors that affect brain development in early childhood include nutrition, engagement in exercises, and exposure to violence. Nutrition is of particular importance as it presents genes with molecules that would influence the expression of traits (Rosales, Reznick, & Zeisel, 2009, Pg. 191). The generation of electrical potentials is crucial in the development of brain functionality, and nutrients such as folic acid, sphingolipids, choline, docosahexaenoic acid, gangliosides, zinc, and iron are essential (Rosales, Reznick, & Zeisel, 2009, Pg. 191). Some of the nutrients make up the structural and functional units of neurons.
There has been research-based evidence linking engagement in exercises to enhanced ability in mathematics and other executive functions among children (Davis, Tomporowski, McDowell, Austin, Miller, Yanasak, & Naglieri, 2011, Pg. 91).. There is a high likelihood that the underlying principle would apply to preschoolers as well. In addition to being beneficial in weight maintenance in children, physical exercises also enhance cognitive development in children (Davis et al., 2011, Pg. 91). Cognitive development is a primary developmental process occurring at the preschool age as the statement of interest indicated (Rosales, Reznick, & Zeisel, 2009). Exposure to violence is an environmental factor that contributes severely to brain development. Significant anatomical and physiological impairments of the brain occur in children who have witnessed domestic violence (Tsavoussis, Stawicki, Stoicea, & Papadimos, 2014)
References
Abraham, W., & Berhan, Y. (2014). Predictors of labor abnormalities in university hospital: unmatched case control study. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 14, 256. http://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2393-14-256
Davis, C. L., Tomporowski, P. D., McDowell, J. E., Austin, B. P., Miller, P. H., Yanasak, N. E., … Naglieri, J. A. (2011). Exercise Improves Executive Function and Achievement and Alters Brain Activation in Overweight Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Health Psychology : Official Journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association, 30(1), 91–98. http://doi.org/10.1037/a0021766
Iravani, M., Zarean, E., Janghorbani, M., & Bahrami, M. (2015). Women’s needs and expectations during normal labor and delivery. Journal of Education and Health Promotion, 4, 6. http://doi.org/10.4103/2277-9531.151885
Kolb, B., & Gibb, R. (2011). Brain Plasticity and Behaviour in the Developing Brain. Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 20(4), 265–276.
Kozhimanil, K. B., Johnson, P. J., Attanasio, L. B., Gjerdingen, D. K., & McGovern, P. M. (2013). Use of non-medical methods of labor induction and pain management among U.S. women. Birth (Berkeley, Calif.), 40(4), 10.1111/birt.12064. http://doi.org/10.1111/birt.12064
Olayemi, O. (2011). Parenteral opioids for maternal pain relief in labour: RHL commentary. World Health Organization. Retrieved from http://apps.who.int/rhl/archives/CD007396_olayemio_com/en/index.html
Rosales, F. J., Reznick, J. S., & Zeisel, S. H. (2009). Understanding the Role of Nutrition in the Brain & Behavioral Development of Toddlers and Preschool Children: Identifying and Overcoming Methodological Barriers. Nutritional Neuroscience, 12(5), 190–202. http://doi.org/10.1179/147683009X423454
Stiles, J., & Jernigan, T. L. (2010). The Basics of Brain Development. Neuropsychology Review, 20(4), 327–348. http://doi.org/10.1007/s11065-010-9148-4
Tsavoussis, A., Stawicki, S. P. A., Stoicea, N., & Papadimos, T. J. (2014). Child-Witnessed Domestic Violence and its Adverse Effects on Brain Development: A Call for Societal Self-Examination and Awareness. Frontiers in Public Health, 2, 178. http://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2014.00178
Womenshealth.gov. (2010). Pregnancy: labor and birth. Retrieved from http://www.womenshealth.gov/pregnancy/childbirth-beyond/labor-birth.html
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