In 2004 like most expectant mothers, I was excited and nervous as to what the future held for my family. Would my baby girl healthy or would she be born like me with a congenital heart defect? As an adult living with such a chronic disease, I knew what that entailed; a lifetime faced with numerous hospital visits, surgeries and procedures. Thankfully she was healthy and strong, but many mothers are not as fortunate.
Congenital heart defects or diseases (CHD) are defined as “conditions that are present at birth and can affect the structure of a baby’s heart and the way it works (“Mortality From,” 2011).” These defects range from mild to severe and impact the infant’s blood flow through heart and body (“Facts about”, 2014). The more complex or severe CHDs are considered Critical Congenital Heart Diseases (CCHD) and usually require surgery or catheterization intervention within the first year of life (“Facts about”, 2014). CHD is the number 1 birth defect in the United States, affecting 1 in every 100 live births. It also ranks as the leading cause of infant related deaths (“About CHF”, 2012). The American Heart Association (AHA) states that roughly between 4 and 10 infants are born with CHD with about 1,500 do not survive to see their first birthday (“Small Hearts”, 2012). With this compelling data, I’m encouraged that Healthy People 2020 listed CHD as a Maternal, Infant and Child Health target objective.
The overall goal for the Maternal, Infant and Child Health topics seek to improve the welfare of mothers, infants, and children in the United States. This population not only determines the health of the next generation, but also serves as a forecast into the future of public health (“Maternal, Infant and Child,” 2013)...
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Child Nursing, 4th Edition. W.B. Saunders Company, 2013. VitalBook file.
Raingruber, B. (2014). Contemporary Health Promotion In Nursing Practice. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
T, Katheryn. (2014, February 10). [The Pulse]. Our #CHDWeek Message: Pulse Ox Saves Lives! Retrieved from. http://yourethecure.org/aha/advocacy/details.aspx?BlogId=1&PostId=2465 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Healthy People 2020. (2013, September 18). Data2020 Search Results. Retrieved from. http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/Data/SearchResult.aspx?topicid=26&topic=Maternal, %20Infant,%20and%20Child%20Health&objective=MICH-1.7&anchor=85903
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Healthy People 2020. (2013, November 13). Maternal, Infant and Child Health. Retrieved from. http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topicsobjectives2020/overview. aspx?topicid=26
“Hypoplastic left heart syndrome accounts for 9% of all critically ill newborns with congenital cardiac disease, causing the largest number of cardiac deaths in the first year of life.(2) ” HLHS is a severe heart defect that is present at birth. HLHS combines different defects that result in an underdeveloped left side of the heart. This syndrome is one of the most challenging and difficult to manage of all of the congenital heart defects. Multiple portions on the left side of the heart are affected including the left ventricle, the mitral and aortic valve, and the ascending aorta. These structures are greatly reduced in size, or completely nonexistent causing the functionality of the left heart to be reduced, or non-functional all together.
Cook, Selig, Wedge, and Gohn-Baube (1999) stated that an essential part of the country’s public health agenda is to improve access to prenatal care, particularly for economically disadvantaged women. I agree with this statement because access to care is very important for the outcome of a healthy mother and child. Improving access to prenatal care for disadvantaged women will not only save lives but also lighten the high financial, social, and emotional costs of caring for low weight babies. Some of the barriers that these women face are mainly structural where the availability of care is limited; the cost of care is a financial burden; and the time to seek care is problematic due to being single mothers working more than one job (Lia-Hoagberb, 1990). Additionally, there is the issue of prenatal care being delivered differently depending on one’s race. A study found that White mothers delivering ve...
Lowdermilk, D. L., Perry, S., Cashion, K., & Alden, K. R. (2012). Maternity & women's health care (10th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby.
There are tons upon tons of babies born every day. Among those babies there is bound to be some suffering from birth defects. Things such as severe genetic abnormalities or exposure to environmental toxins. These things can come from parents abusing drugs or alcohol while pregnant. The people involved need to take more responsibility to make sure these things don’t happen during pregnancy. As it stands though these things do happen. When they happen people have to make the choice if they will keep or abort the baby due to these genetic abnormalities or problems because of environmental toxins.
Infant mortality is considered a worldwide indicator of a nation’s health status. The United States still ranks 24th in infant mortality compared with other industrialized nations, even though infant mortality has declined steadily over the past several decades. Compared with the national average in 1996 of 7.2 deaths per 1,000 live births, the largest disparity is among blacks with a death rate of 14.2 per 1,000 in 1996 which is almost 2½ times that of white infants (6 deaths per 1,000 in 1996). American Indians as a whole have an infant death rate of 9 deaths per 1,000 in 1995, but some Indian communities have an infant mortality rate almost twice that of the national rate. The same applies to the Hispanic community, whose rate of 7.6 deaths per 1,000 births in 1995 doesn’t reflect the Puerto Rican community, whose rate was 8.9 deaths per 1,000 births in 1995.
One in every thirty-three babies is born with a handicap (“Data & Statistics”). The test for birth defects can be done during pregnancy or after the infant is born (“Data and Statistics”). In 2004-2005, the CDC counted 21 diseases as major birth defects (“Data and Statistics”). The list includes: “Central nervous system defects, Eye defects, Cardiovascular defects, Orofacial defects, Gastrointestinal defects, Musculoskeletal defects, and Chromosomal anomalies” (“Data and Statistics”). 20% of infant deaths are caused by birth defects making it the leading cause of all infant deaths (“Data & Statistics”). These defects can happen as a result of a failed abortion or during a pregnancy after an
Tetralogy of Fallot is a critical congenital heart defect that is presented at birth and alters the lives of families around the world. To many, TOF could be seen as inferior to other illnesses and defects due to a lack of comprehension towards the condition itself. Tetralogy of Fallot is an unfamiliar defect caused by a lack of blood flow and inconsistencies in the heart's structure, leading to the “blue baby”. TOF is often detected after an abnormal heart murmur has been picked up during an ultrasound during pregnancy. The key to spreading awareness in any sort is public and communal education. Informing the public on this illness along with many others, that is held amongst many, is important in order to elucidate and bring light to this illness that is jeopardizing a majority of our world's children, such as my son.
Five year old Jacob Turner is a healthy boy without many cares in this world. His father takes sole care of him because his mother died suddenly. Genetic testing after death, showed a genetic mutation in Jacob's mothers genes that caused her to have an irregular heart. Unfortunately, Jacob has also inherited this mutation, but fortunately, this disorder can be controlled by medications. Now, Jacob's father has another problem. No insurance company will cover young Jacob because of his known heart irregularity.
Giving life to a baby suffering from a serious metabolic disease or disability, and watching the baby suffer can be highly traumatising for the family as well as the newborn
Statistics show the impact that preemies are causing as the rate of preterm birth increases every day. Any part of the world is affected no matter how advanced they are in technology. “One of every eight infants born in the United States is premature babies” (Medline Plus). These statistics are extremely high, however people can change it by getting involved in the community and helping preemies have a less chance to lose in their battle for life. In 2003; 499,008 infants were born prematurely (National Center for Health Statistics). The rates of preterm births have increased over the years. "In 1995: 11.0% of live births were born preterm, In 2006: 12.8% of live births were born preterm"(March of Dimes-Peristats). As the numbers keep increasing, many families are suffering and losing hope for they’re babies. African American women have the highest rate of preterm birth in 2004 with a 17.6% (Reedy, 2007). These statistics demonstrate the high frequenc...
Healthy people 2020 states “The risk of maternal and infant mortality and pregnancy-related complications can be reduced by increasing access to quality preconception (before pregnancy) and interconception (between pregnancies) care. Moreover, healthy birth outcomes and early identification and treatment of health conditions among infants can prevent death or disability and enable children to reach their full potential.” (CITE HEALTHY PEOPLE) Objective maternal, infant, and child health (MICH)1.1 has the goal of “reducing the rate of fetal deaths of fetuses at 20 or greater weeks gestation”. (C...
Pasquariello, P. S., Jr. (Ed.). (1999). Book of pregnancy and child care. New York City, NY: John Wiley & Sons.
Nies, M. A., & McEwen, M. (2011). Community/public health nursing: Promoting the health of populations (5th ed.). St.Louis, MO: Saunders.
The most important indicators of a community’s overall health are maternal, infant and child health. It deals with the health of women of childbearing age from pre-pregnancy, labor, delivery and the postpartum period and the health of the child prior to birth up the adolescence (McKenzie & Pinger, 2015, p.192). The health data that is collected towards maternal, infant and child health are used to see the effectiveness of disease prevention and health promotion services in a community. Prenatal health care is one of the fundamentals of a safe pregnancy. An infant’s health mostly depends on the mother. A child’s during the ages of one to nine are very important to the child’s development and the future (McKenzie & Pinger, 2015, p.217). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends vaccinating children against most vaccine-preventable diseases early in life. One of the community programs for Women, Infants and Children are maternal and child health bureau, which is in charge with the responsibility for promoting and improving the health of our nations mothers and children. Another is woman, infants and children program, which is a clinic-based program designed to provide a variety of nutritional health related goods and services to pregnant, postpartum and breastfeeding women, infants up to
Nies, M. A., & McEwen, M. (2011). Community/public health nursing: Promoting the health of populations (5th ed.). St.Louis, MO: Saunders.