ch 7

Chapter 7 was all about maternal, infant, and child health. This encompasses the health of women of child bearing age from pre pregnancy- through pregnancy; labor, delivery, post partum period and the health of the child prior to birth through adolescence. There were some causes for concern that were brought up in this chapter.

Along the lines of infant and maternal mortality rates in the U.S., concerning whites and blacks, though the mortality rates of infants has gone down in recent decades.. The statistics of black infants-14.1 deaths per 1000 live births. White infants- 5.8 deaths per 1000 live births. Black women- 31.2 per 1000 births. White women-8.1 per 1000 births. So the statistics add up to show that the U.S. is ranked 28th in infant mortality and 20th in maternal mortality. What’s most important concerning the health of a child is the health status of the mother/her immediate environment because the two correlate together.

Family and reproductive health was a subject that was brought up in this chapter. The U.S. census bureau has defined a family as “a group of 2 or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption and they reside together, subfamily counts as well. Another definition was “two or more persons who are joined together by bonds of sharing and emotional closeness and who identify themselves as being of the family.”

There are some health risks that are brought up when dealing with children/infants who are raised in single parent homes. Some of those risks are: adverse birth outcomes, low birth weight, infant mortality, and more likely to live in poverty.

Teenage pregnancy was a big topic discussed it this chapter, there are a lot of statistic s to show how sexually active adolescents have become in recent years. There are a reported 750,000 pregnancies every year…that’s a huge number. And every year it costs taxpayers at least 7 billion dollars in direct costs associated w/: health care, foster care, criminal justice, public assistance, and lost tax revenues. The younger a mother is the more likely she is to smoke during pregnancy, which can lead to all sorts of health problems towards her and her unborn child. At least 31% of teenage girls get pregnant at least once before they reach 20 yrs of age.