Mothering and Child Death - Essay Example

Mothering and Child Death Insert Insert s Mothering and Child Death Introduction Maternal practices begin in the loveand connection that a mother has for his or her child. The love is intense and meant for the betterment of the child’s development, welfare, and growth. However, some maternal practices are rooted in maternal beliefs, sentiments and practices that bear on child treatment and survival. Child rearing with some maternal practices often results in the death of the child. The deaths have been experienced in Alto do Cruzeiro in the North Eastern region of Brazil. The region is Shantytown of recent rural migrants, and it is dominated by vestiges of semi-feudal plantation economies. The region has experienced child deaths due to a variety of reasons. For example, Nations and Rebhun (1988) assert that it is caused by failure to obtain medical care for severely ill children. Other reasons such as the bureaucratic and geographic barriers also play a factor. The following paper seeks to examine the situation according to two different points of view. The two different points of view are brought forward by two sets of authors through the writing and research that was undertaken in the region. The paper looks at the key arguments that are made by each set of authors. Secondly, an analysis of the political, economic concerns that factor in each of the author’s reasons for the child death. Finally, the biggest points of contention between the two works as well as any points to which the two sets of authors. The main arguments made by each set of author More than 1 million Brazilian children under the age of 5 years die each year mostly as a result of parasitic infections interacting with infectious disease and a chronic case of under nutrition. According to Scheper-Hughes (1985), infant and childhood mortality in the region and other third world countries is a problem of political economy. However, he asserts and brings out another point to the table. Scheper-Hughes (1985) states that maternal detachment and an indifference towards the infants and the babies that are judged to be too weak or too vulnerable to survive the unhealthy and bad conditions of the shanty town living. The author tries to show the link between the economic and the maternal deprivation between the maternal and the emotional scarcity. The author also brings forward the social and the economic context shaping the expression of maternal sentiments and the cultural meaning or implications of mother love and child death. The author also describes the experiences of attachment, separation, and loss. The author undertakes a research study with 72 women who have a 686 pregnancies and 251 of those being childhood deaths. The babies are at the greatest risk of death during the first year of living, and this is mostly contributed by the high erosion of breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is used as the last resort in supplementing the child’s normal food. From birth, the children are reared on mingaus and papas, which are cereals of rice. The authors also highlight the reasons for early childhood deaths, for example, the parents’ preferences in babies. The preference is seen in the case that the mothers readily expressed an early preference for babies that show an early sign of physical and psychological characteristics that are associated with an individual who would become fighters and survivors. Active, sharp, quick, playful and developmentally precocious babies are preferable to babies that are quiet, inactive, passive and developmentally delayed babies. The dissatisfaction of babies who are not preferable become much worse in consideration of the areas poor economic conditions and plagued with malnutrition, parasitic infection, and constant dehydration. All these conditions leave the babies in an extremely bad state because of the negative mother feedback and the economic conditions of the region. The mothers reject and withdraw their maternal affection from the passive and inactive babies. The pattern that the author witnessed on a regular basis across the mothers who were interviewed, and it seems to be the reason offered for the children causes of death. The overwhelming theme that the authors bring forward is the mothers not giving their babies the requisite maternal care needed to ensure the survival of the babies. Of the women interviewed, it was estimated that a considerable amount of babies usually dies before the age of 1 year. The important age that is crucial for the baby to receive the necessary maternal care from the mother. From their economic standpoint, the mothers do not breastfeed the baby because they fear that it is pointless. The mothers fear that they can suck and breastfeed all they want but what they will get in return is blood. The situation is a look at the general region’s resource scarcity and the struggle for these resources. Mothers, also have a negative perception towards breastfeeding, and this negative feeling mostly affects the babies. Mothers had the perception that their milk was worthless or foul due to a variety of reasons. It is said to be salty, watery, and bitter or infected with diseases among others. The breast milk was rejected and labeled as unfit for the newborn babies. It is seen as a way of contaminating the babies’ health. These women refer to their breastmilk as scanty, bitter or sour is representative of the scarcity and bitterness of their lives as women in the area. The author main argument is the death is as a resulting factor from the lack of maternal care resulting from the mothers’ negative perception about breastfeeding. The negative perceptions are as a result of the Alto area. The area is seen as an unhealthy region, contaminated and distraught with infections. Nations and Rebhun (1988), on the other hand, uses a different approach. The authors mainly concentrate on infant deaths as a result of diarrhea and dehydration. The two infant killers are common and serious challenges in poor countries. The two explain the deaths of up to eighteen million children annually. Diarrhea from an anthropological point of view is due to the economic, social and cultural aspects. The disease, the authors, states that it is caused by poverty because it mainly affects those without enough food, shelter, and proper sewage systems. Thus, resulting in fatal conditions for the babies. The authors’ main argument is that the relationship between infant death, diarrhea and poverty is seen in the area that experiences frequent droughts forcing villagers into crowding in the shanty towns. The conditions in the region resemble that of the poorest regions seen on earth because the region was left behind by the economic boom that the country experienced in the 1960s. Due to this reason, the region has seen an infant death of about 52 percent in the entire Brazil country. The situation compares worse in comparison to other regions that have a relatively better economic condition. For example, in the year 1974, out of 1000 infants, more than 140 died in one year while in Porto Alegre, an agro-industrial region experience infant deaths of 54.8 per 1000 infants. The authors try to explain the deaths with two theoretical approaches. The first theoretical approach explains that infant mortality is caused by the interaction of infection with malnutrition. The lack of sanitation, food and basic medical care in this impoverished region and the physical details of epidemiology and pathogenesis are emphasized. The other theoretical approach focuses on the cultural and maternal attitudes and behaviors in reaction to infant mortality. It emphasizes that simple ignorance in apportioning the scarce resources among the children causes mothers to take care of their infants in harmful ways and manner. However, these two reasons do not reflect the entire infant healthcare situation. For example, the fact that the mothers do not have a modern healthcare system through which they can consult. Instead, they have traditional herbalist who themselves are undergoing the same situation with either having lost an infant. The political, economic concerns in each of the author’s analysis The political, economic concerns refer to the issues that stem from the economic, sociology and the political issues that tend to explain the economic and political system and how they influence each other. The authors have highlighted a number of political economic and sociological issues that explain how the situation is in the Alto region. These factors help to mold the lifestyle of the people of the region. Such concerns include education, income and occupation, and the culture. Income and occupation (unemployment): the area has an alarming high number of individuals with not enough jobs. The Alto region is considered among the poorest regions in Brazil, and the situation is further highlighted when the mothers are asked to name the main reason their infants die. They respond by saying it is because they are poor because they are hungry, and this is due to competing for scarce and scarce resources. This is one of the perceived causes of childhood mortality because the first year of the infant is the most important in terms of providing the important nutritional requirements. The absence of a means of income and occupation means that the mothers do not have the necessary means to provide the nutritional requirements. Moreover, the mothers agree that the infant children require milk and vitamins but the single mothers also stated that the lack of food and the insufficient food was a significant cause of the death. The lack of income and occupation leads to this scenario. The lack of a means of income and employment has left the single mothers in a poverty situation where even the water they consume is dangerous to the infant child’s wellbeing. For example, the children in the region according to Nations and Rebhun (1988) die because of diarrhea that is mostly as a result of consumption of unhygienic water and food materials. Even though, the healers and those other parties involved stressing the importance of maintaining a good level of hygiene in the infant children, and some mothers seem not to care or even bothered. The impoverished situation has caused the mothers to not even care about their children in terms of withdrawing maternal support. The mothers do not care about their hygiene, do not even breastfeed them, and they take them to the hospital when the health situation has worsened. The lack of an occupation has forced the mothers of the region into living a certain lifestyle that is devoid of meaningful existence. The single mothers have resorted to unhealthful ways and approaches that place the health of the infant babies in great jeopardy. For example, seeking medical attention late, not breastfeeding because they believe that blood will come out and the overall situation of taking the infant babies to the herbalist. The herbalist, themselves, undergoing the same situation, perhaps may not be in any great position to change it. The situation itself presences a very disturbing situation because it is repeated all over thus becoming a culture. The mothers and the situation need to be urgently addressed if any meaningful progress is to be made. Reduction in infant mortality rate calls for a drastic overhaul of the entire scenario and being replaced with positive development that places the health of the infants and single mothers first. The region’s mothers are also uneducated and illiterate, which illustrates that they never understand that gastroenteric was a significant cause of infant mortality. Other infectious diseases resulting from the living lifestyles are also resulting in the infant mortality rates. Education and literacy are a key determinant to access to health care and are a key determinant of the living standards that the mothers live. Therefore, the poor living standards, inability to have access to better healthcare and the infant mortality are as a result of not having an education or not being literate enough. The biggest points of contention and points of concordance between the two sets of authors The two sets of authors raise various important points about the topic of infant mortality. Infant mortality is a particular problem that affects poor regions and more so to the North Eastern Brazilian region. The region has experienced a worse infant mortality rate in comparison to other Brazilian regions. The two authors, however, raise various points of contention. For example, they raise a contention on the main cause of the infant mortality problem in the Alto region. Scheper-Hughes (1985) holds the thought that the maternal neglect of their roles and practices towards the infant is the main contributor towards infant mortality, but Nations and Rebhun (1988) hold a different view altogether. Nations and Rebhun (1988) views differ from those of the former because they see the former’s reason as one of the cause, but it does not explain the entire scenario. Nations and Rebhun postulate that considering the main conditions of the area, and under which the mothers hail from, it is difficult to cite neglect as the cause of the high infant mortality rates. In the area, malnutrition, poor sanitation, and poor housing take a major toll. They two sets of author further agree with the healers in asserting that carelessness, lack of hygiene and a failure to feed children was not the fault of the individual single mothers. It was a consequence of the inhumane and difficult conditions of live and the severity of the area. This is emphasized by the fact that even the best cared for infants often fall sick. The authors continue to note that it is imperative to note the difference between caring for the child emotionally and physically. Because of the mother’s exhaustion, economic demands, their sickness and the inherent personal failing of carelessness leads them to fail to use or apply the requisite effort in keeping their infants sufficiently clean. That is not indicative of maternal practice neglect as stated by Scheper-Hughes (1985), they further add that when a mother expresses a certain dislike, it more due to blowing off steam than a general hostility. It is not indicative a lack of concern. However, the sets of authors agree that the North Eastern Brazilian Region woes and trouble are made worse because of the political, economic failings. These failings start with the failure in acquiring an education and thus leading to an increase in the illiteracy of the mothers. The illiteracy makes it difficult to obtain better health care. Other political, economic reasons such as poverty and the cultural lifestyle of the region and the people also play a huge factor. Secondly, the two sets of authors also have a concordance on the fact that a failure in breastfeeding is important in infant mortality. The breast milk is nutritionally ideal for the infants, and it contains secretory antibodies and it is an uncontaminated source of nutrition. Due to those reasons make it such an important source of important nutrition that is clean, free and undiluted. The fact is, the mothers in this region have stopped giving it to their infant, putting them at increased risks. Conclusion Infant mortality has been on the increase globally and despite the best efforts of various players in combatting it, there have been minimal efforts in poor countries and regions. This is particularly true of a region such as the one the above essay has comprehensively investigated. The region, a shanty town in the North Eastern region of Brazil with a relatively high infant mortality rates as compared to other Brazilian regions. The above essay has looked at the main arguments by two sets of authors and different authorship on the particular subject as they attempt to pinpoint the main cause of the high infant mortality rate. They came to two different reasons as has been discussed above. Furthermore, the authors also highlighted the political, economic factors that seem to be at play in worsening the situation. The factors include a lack of education and illiteracy, unemployment, culture and lifestyle among others. There is a variety of differences that exist between the two sets of authors and various points to which they seem to agree. These issues have been broadly discussed. References Nations, M. K., & Rebhun, L. A. (1988). Angels with wet wings wont fly: Maternal sentiment in Brazil and the image of neglect. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, 141--200. Scheper-Hughes, N. (1985). Culture, Scarcity, and Maternal Thinking: Maternal Detachment and Infant Survival in a Brazilian Shantytown. Ethos, 291-317. 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