Introduction Maternal education has often been suggested and examined while looking at factors that influences child morbidity. While correlations between maternal education and child health have been observed in diverse parts of the world, and much discussion has focused on the various pathways on how maternal education has contributed to lowering child morbidity, there is an important literature gap that has not been bridged. Research on predictors of child morbidity has always focused on maternal characteristics, neglecting the role of the father in influencing the health of the child. It has often been argued that children of educated mothers experience lower morbidity than children of uneducated mothers (Desai), however, there is the question …show more content…
As South Korea is still a highly patriarchal society in today’s context, the father may still be the ultimate decision maker when it comes to health behaviors of the children. In this context, the effects of the education levels of the father may be stronger than that of the mother, reflecting a stronger social class determinant of the family (Park). It has also been proposed that paternal education may better reflect a mother’s social and economic circumstances than her own education. Hence, paternal education is an important socioeconomic marker that may predict birth outcomes over and above maternal socioeconomic indicators (Shapiro). Situating itself in a highly patriarchal context, this paper intends to contribute to the literature on paternal education and child morbidity by examining the impact of paternal education on preterm births in South …show more content…
Social and instrumental support provided by the father to the mother and child, as well as health literacy, are important mediators of the association between education and health outcomes (Shapiro). Paternal involvement may promote healthy prenatal behaviors. Paternal involvement reduces stress, a conceivable cause of antagonistic pregnancy outcomes (Alio). Fathers have an imperative role to play in pregnancy and childbirth, where they provide psychological, material and financial support to the mother during the prenatal period and beyond. There is a steady association between paternal involvement and positive health-seeking behaviors in pregnancy, such as accessing prenatal care in the first trimester and reduced tobacco and liquor consumption. In addition, there will be more supervision of the pregnant mothers by the fathers with more education. There is an association between paternal involvement in pregnancy and optimum outcomes related to clinic utilization and increased adherence to treatment services (Alio, Mbah). Engaged and committed fathers play a vital role in the positive growth and development of strong children, families, and communities (Perry). Support during pregnancy influences preterm birth risk and possibly ameliorates the effects of chronic stress, life event stress, or pregnancy anxiety in pregnant women. Support from baby’s father is the most critical source of support with regards to
Duman, N., & Kocak, C. (2013). The effect of social support on state anxiety levels during pregnancy. Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journal, 41(7), 1153-1163. doi:10.2224/sbp.2013.41.7.1153
Schaffer, M.A. & Lia-Hoagberg, B. (1997). Effects of social support on prenatal care and health
"Father absence and the welfare of children." Coping with divorce, single parenting, and remarriage: A risk and resiliency perspective (1999): 117-145.
Fatherless has been one of the most important challenges and epidemics in our generation. The effects of growing up...
How the provision of information in the antenatal period can positively affect health and life style choices in the pregnant woman and her family.
Over the years, the social determinants of health (SDOH) have been receiving more attention due to its importance in determining peoples’ health access, health quality and health outcome. The social determinants of health have been described by various scholars as the situation or environmental condition in which people are born, or where they grow, live and work; unfortunately these conditions have continued to affect and determine people’s ability to access proper care.1-5 In other words, the SDOH continues to consciously and unconsciously influence people’s access to most opportunities in life including access to healthcare services both in developed and developing countries.2 This issues have continue to deteriorate in most developing countries increasing people’s susceptibility to multi-morbidity among different age groups, with a slight increase among the elderly.6
There is an abundance of materials and resources that aim to educate, inform, and prepare new parents for the transition into parenthood. Nevertheless, most of these resources focus on child safety and how to meet the child’s basic needs. New parents should be knowledgeable in these important subjects, but they should also know how beneficial parental involvement and co-parenting can be for the child’s development. Furthermore, parents also need to be aware of the things that can be detrimental such as certain discipline strategies and “helicopter parenting.” Most importantly parents must know that the quality of their relationship also impacts the child’s development and that this also works the other way around. Becoming parents can also
Social determinants of health has been a large topic for many years and can have a positive and negative effect on individuals, families and communities. (World Health Organisation, 2009) The social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age, including the health system. These circumstances are shaped by the distribution of money, power and resources at global, national and local levels, which are themselves influenced by policy choices. Social determinants have many factors and in this essay education will be the main social determinant of health discussed and how this could have an impact on the physical and mental sides of health.
Tunick, Barbara. "Issues in Brief: Risks and Realities of Early Childbearing Worldwide." The Guttmacher Report. (Feb. 1997); 10-14.
Most of time the children often are born and die within a week because of the poor condition of their mothers. According to UNICEF mothers incur hypertensive disorders leading to death or disability (UNICEF). With the help of UNICEF and The United Nations administering preventative care in early stages to help stop transmission of HIV to infants (UNICEF). In these countries pre natal care is bypassed and is a foundation factor in the Infant Mortality Rate. Lack of pre natal care has driven Asian continent to high infant mortality rates.
The fetus relies on the its mother for nutrition which is why it is important that a mother maintains a healthy diet and nutrition. Mothers who fail to intake the necessary proteins, vitamins, and minerals during pregnancy is subjected to the malformation of their child. Maternal age is as well associated with the unpleasant pregnancy outcomes. For example, in adolescence the mortality rate of an infant is higher than to mothers of older age. When women of age 35 years or older has become pregnant the risk that the child will have Down syndrome increases. Emotional states and stress during pregnancy can have long term consequences such as having a child with emotional or cognitive problems, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and language delay. It is concluded that mothers who suffer from depression during pregnancy can be linked to preterm birth, low weight at birth in full-term infant, and an increase risk that depression will develope in the adolescence. Not only does maternal characteristics influence the prenatal development of the offspring but so does the paternal. A father who smokes around the pregnant mother leads to a risk of early pregnancy loss and leukemia may also arise from second hand smoking. The father who is of age 40 or older is at risk of
All mothers, especially first time mothers need help moral support and advice during the first few days after their delivery to ensure proper care of their newborn. The care and help given to first time mothers is of utmost important during this period as to maintain the normality in their babies as well as to prevent any further complications. Typically all pregnant women are counseled during their antenatal period on how to prepare themselves mentally on the care of their babies after birth. Upon delivery, majority of the mothers would stay for a short period in the hospital. During this short stay, they would need time to recuperate, need to know what care to give their baby and how to carry out the care and also learn what to do if their baby is feeling unwell. Thus it is important for health care providers to assist first time mothers be it at the hospital or at home since it is a crucial period for them and they often requires more help and moral support especially when it comes to the proper care of their newborn. ("Routine care of a newborn baby")
The Millennium Development Goal Report 2013 states that the progress towards achieving the target of reducing maternal mortality by two thirds between 1990 and 2015 significantly falls short of the set goal and the indices are still poor in the developing countries especially sub-Saharan Africa (United Nations, 2013). The People’s Health Movement (PHM), through its WHO Watch clearly identifies the huge omission of Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) in the WHO’s revised strategy on traditional medicine (PHM WHO Watch, 2013). The magnitude of this omission appears to be puzzling owing to the fact that in just about three decades ago the WHO aimed to reduce death of women associated with child bearing through the training of TBAs and promoted their integration into the orthodox health care system. The WHO calls for a collaborative effort in achieving the goal of reducing maternal deaths. Yet, one can insinuate that the TBAs are no longer seen as a resource to be harnessed by public health professionals in addressing the issues associated with childbearing (Langwick, 2011). The ‘friend or foe’ mentality can clearly be observed in a statement made by one of Nigeria’s chief leaders in the fight towards reducing maternal mortality published in Nigeria’s foremost editorial daily newspaper magazine, the Punch. He said that ‘it was no longer acceptable for women to give birth in TBA centres, TBAs were no longer required in labour and delivery because of the availability of enough trained or skilled personnel, and he promised to jail any TBA involved in a maternal death’ (Punch, 2013). As such, it is important for us to critically analyse and evaluate the relevance of TBAs in promoting health from a contemporary global health perspective. I...
Many people are needed to reap a field when the crops are ready. Therefore, many children must be born. The birth rates in third world cultures are very high as a result. Males are obviously preferred. Because of the...
One of the most common arguments is that aged parents are more likely to have a stable living and financial situation. The main reason is they want to educate their children with high class education. When parents are working in a well-established career, they can concentrate more on their children. In many cases, they have already committed to each other, and they could be cooperating to give proper guidance to their children. However, studies have shown that there are greater risks of health complications on mothers who wait longer to have children; it is possible to increase the chance of a delivering preterm or a low birth weight babies. For instance, after age 40, the rate of the physical complications is higher to carry an unborn baby, including diabetes and high blood pressure. Moreover, psychologists are worried about the possibility of another factor that could be ignored; the characteristic making bette...