You Pregnant? Me either...but IF you are (or thinking to be eventually...)

One of the classes that I'm taking is Developmental Child Psychology - sounds interesting, right?  It kinda is, but sometimes I wonder why I'm taking this class (again) for my Reading Specialist certification.  With that feeling set aside, the 2 chapters that we read for last night's class were all about conception (what could happen to the fetus while in womb that could effect it later) and then birth.  While reading this, there were all sorts of cool statistics and facts that I thought everyone should really know, not just those required to take the course, so I'm going to share with you some of the things that I found to be the coolest :)

There is no rhyme nor reason - just the ones I thought were neat-o skeet-o...


-The Lamaze childbirth technique uses breathing and muscle relaxation exercises to teach women how to manage the pain of labor and delivery (I know, I know, we all already knew this) BUT what I thought was interesting: Mothers who choose to take Lamaze classes experience shorter labor, require less medication, and are less stressed and more positive about the birth experience.


-Women who are anxious and under emotional stress during pregnancy also tend to have infants who are physically more active in utero.  After their birth, these infants tend to be hyperactive and irritable, to cry more, and to have feeding and sleep problems, and they are less attentive at 8 months than other babies.  What to learn from this: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." - Philippians 4:6


-In one study, when pregnant women were under severe life stresses, those with supportive relatives and friends had only a 33% rate of complications in pregnancy and childbirth compared with 91% rate for women lacking social support.  LOVE and SUPPORT YOUR PREGNANT FRIENDS!  That means we should all love Mandy Stone and Anne Warnick...oops!  Sorry Anne!


-Safe conception ages range from 20-40; anything earlier or later than that is more susceptible to higher risks (35 year old mothers frequency of delivering a baby with Down Syndrome: 1/385; 40 year old mothers: 1/100; 45 year old mothers: 1/40 - wow. scary)


-Researchers have compiled evidence for differences in newborn temperament among children of different ethnicities and races.  For instance, Chinese American babies, in contrast to European American and Irish infants, have been described as generally calmer, easier to console, more able to quiet themselves after crying, and faster to adapt to external stimulation or changes.  What does this mean?  That Jen and Ben Brzinski's baby will be much calmer and easier to console than the Warnicks could ever hope for their own baby. :-D


REASONS WHY YOU LOVE YOUR CHILDREN EVEN IF THEY'RE DIFFICULT:
-A higher rate of developmental problems appears in later life among children described by their mothers as difficult babies.  Why?  There are 2 factors that may contribute: 1st is a more "difficult" or less malleable child is likely to find it harder to adapt to environmental demands and so is more prone to stress and the toll it takes on emotional well-being.  2nd reason (which is REALLY sad) is that a child with a difficult temperament is more likely to cause adverse reactions from other people and thus suffer the psychological damage caused by social rejection (one of which is parental irritability.YIKES!)


That's all I've got on this.  I realize that I'm a little bit sporadic in my blogging and that's due to my procrastination causing stressful catching up in my classes.  I'm ending that cycle TODAY so plan on hearing a lot more out of me in the near, near future :).  Bye for now Blogland!