Lifespan Development: Caucasians, Essay Example

The subject for this project is a forty two year old Caucasian male. He was the first of three children born to a young couple in their 20’s in the late 1960’s. His brother who was the second child was born two years later. Following his brother was his sister, five years later.

He was born two weeks early from his due date, which is considered normal (“Your Baby”, 2010).

During infancy stage of his development, he was easy going as well as easy to pacify. He seemed very interested and curious about the world around him during this stage. During the early childhood stage of his development, he was very quiet and very adventures.

He grew up in a small town in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The town at that time was abundant with jobs and the quality of life was great. Even though most of the homes at that time in the area did not have running water, the quality of life was still great. The reason that the quality of life of great the people there helped one other in time of need and the crime was very low.

In the 1960s society, especially in the area where the subject and his family lived, there was no adequate education about the proper steps needed to be able to prepare for birth. Therefore, the mother of the subject did not have any means on basing her plans or preparations for the birth of her son. According to the subject’s parents there was no viable means of birth control at that time. Because of the lack of education and awareness on the topic of pregnancy, most people during that time did not go to the doctor when they suspect a pregnancy.

However, the family of the subject did take the initiative to move into a home which had the benefits of running water; this was in preparation for the birth. In the area they lived in during the 1960s there were no readily available prenatal vitamins to take. There were also no Lamaze classes which help promote good nutrition and a safe pregnancy during that time (“About lamaze international,” 2010). Although, when it came to nutrition the mother did try to stay healthy by eating what she believed to be healthy. The classification of the five basic food groups were not developed at that time, it was 1992 before the first food pyramid came out (Greene, 2002). Thus, information on the required daily intake of nutrition and vitamins were not readily available for people.

The subject’s mother also ensured her health as well as her baby’s by first not taking anything that has teratogens in it. She also made sure she ate a well balance prenatal diet.  In the early part of 1960’s teratogens were found to cause birth defects expressly if it were taking during the first trimester (Gormly, 1997).

During the pregnancy, the mother did not have any abnormal stress or anxiety. This is common for women who are in their first trimester, although it can take also the whole span of the pregnancy. The fact that the mother did not experience stress or anxiety is a very good thing; this is because recent studies have shown that abnormal, stress and or anxiety can have adverse effects on the unborn child (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2008).

It was two weeks before the due date of the child when the mother’s water broke. During this time she said to have been playing cards and eating a bag of potato chips when she went into labor. She recalled to have went into labor and starting to vomit, this was then that she was rush to the hospital. When she arrived at the hospital her blood pressure was dangerously high, so they gave her general anesthetic to help her relax, during the time this was in the form of gas, this was to ensure that her blood pressure would come down. She had an allergic reaction the general anesthetic and went into a semi-coma. Because she went into a semi coma, she was not able to push the baby out naturally, thus resulting in the need for doctors to use forceps to pull the baby out for a safe delivery.

Because they were forced to use artificial measures to be able to pull him out it caused bruises on his face and head and even pinch some nerves around the fontal cortex of his brain. The labor was short especially for a first baby. From labor to birth, the mother endured only for six hours. When the subject was born he was 19” long and weighed 7lbs 9 ½ oz and he had full head of hair. He also was born with one eye brown and one eye blue. This is a healthy weight and length for a new born (“Your Baby”, 2010).

According to research, relaxation is the key to having baby without having to use any type of anesthetic for the pain during labor (“Relaxation Techniques”, 2007). Even though it is rare, there are several ricks in using anesthetic. One of the problems with using anesthetics is that the mother would have a hard time or would not be able to push the baby out of the birth canal (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2008). Since the anesthetic numbs the muscles that is needed to push the baby down the birth canal. This results in using mechanical devices that also has other issues concerning the safety of the baby and the mother. Some of the problems in using mechanical devices like the forceps which was used with the subject are; for the mother it would be loss of blood, bleeding from the cuts in the cervix or vagina. This could lead to infetions. For the baby; bruises on the face and head, bone fractures, brain damage, and could cause loss of life.

During the first year of life his parents stimulated cognitive activity by reading to him, taking him out for walks and rocking him in their arms. Research has proven that infants may not seem to respond much to things occurring around them, although they are absorbing everything like a sponge (Chinappi, 2010). Parents and caregivers are encouraged to increase a child’s cognitive abilities by shaking a rattle or speaking to their babies and wait for responses. Speaking to babies does not only increase cognitive activity, it also formulates attachments.

The subject started walking and crawling around the same age his siblings did, which was around when he was nine months old, he could accomplish walking about five to six meters. However, it was stated by the subject that he took longer to learn how to talk as compared to his siblings. He started speaking well past the age of two years, and they believed that it might have been because he had hearing problems. Although, tests which were conducted shows he only had selective hearing.

The subject grew up in a standard environment with both parents present, in a suburban community. His parents did not have any marital problems during the time of his childhood, and there were no resentments or jealousies stated between siblings. The mother maintained a healthy emotional status during the early stages of childhood, as well as encouraged the subject to speak and learn by reading and speaking to him often.

However, the development of his selective hearing has not been pin-pointed. The subject now stated no problems with it, nor did it hinder his childhood development, therefore it may just have been very minor.

Many gender self-concepts and gender theories begin at an early age. An appropriate theory in the subject’s case is gender-role theory. Since the subject had both a mother and a father who were both correctly labeled during the time of childhood, it was established which of the parents played a specific gender role. Neither of the parents were absentee, nor did either feel any emotional restraints which hindered them to perform their part as a parent.

References

Your pregnancy: 38 weeks. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-38-weeks_1127.b

About lamaze international. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.lamaze.org/WhoWeAre/AboutLamaze/tabid/105/Default.aspx

Relaxation techniques for women giving birth naturally. (2007). Retrieved from http://www.givingbirthnaturally.com/women-giving-birth.html

Chinappi, J. (2010, August 10). Infant cognitive activities. Retrieved from http://www.brighthub.com/education/early-childhood/articles/47788.aspx