Health of women and children

DescriptionChapters 10,11,13 are crosslink chapters, meaning that it is hard to separate the issues of womens health, infant/child health and communicable diseases. The discussion videos very dramatically present many of the reasons that, especially in some countries, being born female can be dangerous to your health. We might also add, however, that some of these practices can be dangerous to the baby/child’s health as well. Using your textbook readings, discuss the relationship between a mothers health and her childs health. Bring in issues presented in the videos. For example, how might a female, who at a young age suffered female genital mutilation (FGM), be affected maternally? Why childbirth is so dangerous in many area of the world? Think about the young mother in Nepal. Why were cultural practices about childbirth in Nepal still held to, despite the danger to the life of the mother and the child? Discuss the cultural barriers that may need to be addressed (in additional to the actual medical procedures). Why is it important that mothers exclusively breast-feed for the first 6 months? What barriers may be present that would not allow this to happen? (I am thinking food security for the mother). FGM presents so many shocking issues to us, but why is it so culturally ingrained in certain countries. Drawing on your knowledge from discussion 2, is the practice of FGM ethical according to the ethical standards of the culture that supports this practice or is there a human rights understanding that there is no ethical argument for FGM?