Black women in the District suffer from obesity, diabetes, heart disease and generally poor health in alarmingly high numbers, and white women do not. That is the finding of a study released early today by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The study said there is a large disparity in the incidence of certain chronic diseases between black and white women. Kaiser's study was based on data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the federal Current Population Survey from 2004 to 2006. The study reflected health statistics in the states and the District.
Diagnosing of a stillbirth happens when the mother feels decreased movement or other symptoms and goes to the doctor.The time of the diagnosis depends usually on the mother, because if she becomes worried of her baby and goes to check it. When the mother comes to the doctor the doctors can do an ultrasound, Non-Stress test (NST) or CTG to the mother to check the baby. The ultrasound can confirm if the baby has died and in some cases they can determine even the cause. With ultrasound they use sound waves to take a picture of the fetus,
One of the major factors of chronic stress is poverty. This “toxic” stress causes various negative outcomes in childbirth, such as the delivery of premature, low-weight babies, as part 2 of this film discusses. Studies have shown that as the socio-economic status of the mother decreases, so does the health of her child at birth. Some experts suggest that it is this stress in the mother that causes African American infants to be more likely to suffer from developmental problems, such as cognitive, physical, and behavioral deficits (Jackson et al., 2010). Chronic stress, such as poverty, is a physiologic reaction to both physical and psychological stressors.
They face foreclosures and job losses due to the deepening recession. The impact of homelessness begins well before a child is born. The overwhelming majority of homeless parents are single women, many of whom were homeless themselves as children. Homeless women face many obstacles to healthy pregnancies, such as chemical abuse, chronic and acute health problems, and lack of prenatal care. Children born into homelessness are more likely to have low birth weights and are at greater risk of death.
Teen mothers are more likely to drop out of school, remain unmarried, and live in poverty, their children are more likely to be born at low birth weight, grow up poor, live in single-parent households, experience abuse and neglect, and enter the child welfare system. Daughters of teen mothers are more likely to become teen parents themselves and sons of teen mothers are more likely to be incarcerated (Hoffman, 2006). All of this can be linked to the teenager’s lack of access to care, fear and misinformation (Brown, 2010). Demographics Nationwide in 2006, 750,000 women younger than twenty became pregnant. The pregnancy rate was 71.5 pregnancies per 1,000 women aged 15–19.
This article explains how poverty correlates with depression, and the different affects that it has on women in the United States. It also breaks down how the economy is directly affecting these women, and the amount of stress that it has on these families, especially for single parents. The single parents that are discussed in this article feel like they have little control over the things that are happening in their lives, and are at a higher risk of not having a social life which is another reason why depression is on the rise in women who live in the United States. Inequality is another subtopic in this article and it draws on the point that the cost of living in the United States is on the rise, and the prices of minimum wages are staying the same, which is putting more single parents below the poverty line, and causing the parent to work several jobs without affordable day care, and without being able to build that bond with their children. Emerson, E. (2007).
Double Jeopardy Women of color-Black, Latina, Asian American and Native Americans make up 20 percent of the United State’s population. However, women from these minority groups experience the “Double Jeopardy” of racism and sexism in our societies (Gutierrez, 1990). Double Jeopardy is when people experience double discrimination in several dimensions of their everyday life because of their membership in both the subordinate sexual and racial groups. In other words, people who are doubly disadvantaged because they are women and are from a minority group are the victim of double jeopardy. According to previous studies, women earn significantly lower salaries, are overrepresented in low-status occupations and receive average low level of education (Gutierrez, 1990).
Fact 3 Each year, between 50 000 to 100 000 women worldwide develop obstetric fistula. Fact 4 Women who experience this preventable condition suffer constant urinary incontinence which often leads to social isolation, skin infections, kidney disorders and even death if left untreated. Fact 5 Obstetric fistulae can largely be avoided by delaying the age of first pregnancy, by the cessation of harmful traditional practices and by timely access to quality obstetric care. Fact 6 Most fistula occur among women living in poverty in cultures where a woman’s status and self-esteem may depend almost entirely on her marriage and ability to bear children. Fact 7 Obstetric fistula still exists because health care systems fail to provide accessible, quality maternal health care, including family planning, skilled care at birth, basic and comprehensive emergency obstetric care, and affordable treatment of fistula.
Nonpuerperal and puerperal depression are treated similarly unless the mother is breast-feeding. Data regarding the excretion of antidepressants in breast milk are limited.32 The American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Drugs35 concluded that “antidepressants are drugs whose effect on nursing infants is unknown but may be of concern.” Based on some reports, antidepressants considered to have no adverse effects on breast-fed infants (Table 8) may be considered for use in women with postpartum depression. Electroconvulsive therapy may be of value in patients who have severe depression with psychosis and an increased risk of suicide. Some investigators have found that estrogen therapy may be effective in patients with post-partum major depression.38 Double-blind studies are necessary before this therapy can be recommended for general use. Although pharmacotherapies for depression carry some risks, untreated depression may lead to significant problems.
This may represent an ageist bias within psychology and psychiatry. It has been hypothesized that the large number of women seeking psychological support may be a consequence of increased social stress on the older woman. Larson (1978) indicates that subjective well-being is most influenced by environmental factors. The factors having the greatest influence on well-being are hypothesized to be health and socioeconomic status. In 1990, 50 percent of White women had incomes below 646 per month, African-American women had incomes below 419 per month, and Hispanic women had incomes below 426 per month.