What do you remember most about Sundays as a child?
I remember lazy days at home where Mum would occasionally do a mini spring clean of the house followed by a late soupy lunch that consisted of thick chicken broth filled with various vegetables and some meatballs thrown in.
On some evenings we would take a stroll or bike at the local lake where my brother and I would try out the various exercise routines littered along the jogging path.
Other days we would have our favorite Japanese at Bangsar Shopping Centre or brunch yumcha at the Shangrila Hotel. Dinners would generally be at our favorite steak place Jakes.
I never really gave these events much thought until recently.
Tomorrow we plan to take P to the playground then relax at home with a nice home cooked dinner. Sounds like any other given Sunday.
The thing is, as parents we don't just love, plan, educate, guide and provide for our children. We create memories that last a lifetime!
Saturday 25 June 2011
Thursday 16 June 2011
Lack of Knowledge Regarding Childbirth Options
Pregnant women show an amazing lack of knowledge about childbirth options, study shows
By Shari Roan, Los Angeles Times
June 14, 2011
Fewer pregnant women and their partners are attending prenatal education classes these days and appear to be quietly following whatever advice the doctor or midwife recommends, researchers said Monday.
Doctors, led by Dr. Michael Klein of the Child & Family Research Institute and University of British Columbia, surveyed 1,318 healthy pregnant women. They found many seemingly unprepared to make their own decisions regarding childbirth options, such as whether to have natural childbirth or a Cesarean section.
RELATED
Birth: U.S. home births increase 20% from 2004 to 2008
More women should have choice of vaginal birth after C-section, panel says
Women today appear to turn childbirth decisions over to their doctors, study finds.
Caesarean sections are a major factor in pregnancy-related deaths, report finds
Fewer than 30% of the women, all first-time mothers, said they had attended prenatal childbirth classes. Many said they used the Internet or books to become informed about childbirth. Still, a shockingly high number could not answer basic questions regarding the pros, cons or safety issues associated with epidurals, episiotomies, Cesareans and other childbirth options. The women who were receiving obstetrical care from midwives tended to be more informed about their options compared with women receiving care from a medical doctor.
"[E]ven late in pregnancy, many women reported uncertainty about benefits and risks of common procedures used in childbirth," Klein said in a news release. "This is worrisome because a lack of knowledge affects their ability to engage in informed discussions with their caregivers."
The study was published in the June issue of Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada.
The type of provider mattered greatly in terms of what kind of care women received. The researchers published a related study in May in the journal Birth that showed younger obstetricians were much more likely to favor the routine use of epidurals and expressed more concerns about the safety of vaginal birth compared with older obstetricians. The younger obstetricians seemed to view C-sections as the preferred option for childbirth, the authors noted. In the United States, efforts have begun to reduce C-section rates. About one-third of all U.S. women have a surgical birth.
Above article from The LA Times.
Although we now have access to a greater wealth of knowledge via technology it is quite alarming as to how little education a lot of pregnant mothers have. Many place full faith in their doctors and immediately opt for a C-section due to the pain.
Unless you really need a C-sec do not! Personally, if you aren't ready to face the pain of labour you aren't ready to have a child. (Prolly will get shot for that comment!) Read up on all the other options available. You will be pleasantly surprised!
By Shari Roan, Los Angeles Times
June 14, 2011
Fewer pregnant women and their partners are attending prenatal education classes these days and appear to be quietly following whatever advice the doctor or midwife recommends, researchers said Monday.
Doctors, led by Dr. Michael Klein of the Child & Family Research Institute and University of British Columbia, surveyed 1,318 healthy pregnant women. They found many seemingly unprepared to make their own decisions regarding childbirth options, such as whether to have natural childbirth or a Cesarean section.
RELATED
Birth: U.S. home births increase 20% from 2004 to 2008
More women should have choice of vaginal birth after C-section, panel says
Women today appear to turn childbirth decisions over to their doctors, study finds.
Caesarean sections are a major factor in pregnancy-related deaths, report finds
Fewer than 30% of the women, all first-time mothers, said they had attended prenatal childbirth classes. Many said they used the Internet or books to become informed about childbirth. Still, a shockingly high number could not answer basic questions regarding the pros, cons or safety issues associated with epidurals, episiotomies, Cesareans and other childbirth options. The women who were receiving obstetrical care from midwives tended to be more informed about their options compared with women receiving care from a medical doctor.
"[E]ven late in pregnancy, many women reported uncertainty about benefits and risks of common procedures used in childbirth," Klein said in a news release. "This is worrisome because a lack of knowledge affects their ability to engage in informed discussions with their caregivers."
The study was published in the June issue of Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada.
The type of provider mattered greatly in terms of what kind of care women received. The researchers published a related study in May in the journal Birth that showed younger obstetricians were much more likely to favor the routine use of epidurals and expressed more concerns about the safety of vaginal birth compared with older obstetricians. The younger obstetricians seemed to view C-sections as the preferred option for childbirth, the authors noted. In the United States, efforts have begun to reduce C-section rates. About one-third of all U.S. women have a surgical birth.
Above article from The LA Times.
Although we now have access to a greater wealth of knowledge via technology it is quite alarming as to how little education a lot of pregnant mothers have. Many place full faith in their doctors and immediately opt for a C-section due to the pain.
Unless you really need a C-sec do not! Personally, if you aren't ready to face the pain of labour you aren't ready to have a child. (Prolly will get shot for that comment!) Read up on all the other options available. You will be pleasantly surprised!
Potty Training
Recently I have started P on a new routine, which is potty training.
Actually, looking back now, P could have been potty trained earlier but I was just plain lazy!
It has been 3 weeks and each morning I promptly place him on his potty, encourage him with the usual sounds of "shhhh shhhhh" and "mmmm mmmmm" then viola within 5 minutes he would have done his deed. Honestly, don't know why I didn't start it earlier! Would have saved me all the dirty nappies!
Although, for now I am stuck as to how I would know when he needs to pee. It's not like he can tell me yet. I did get some potty training underwear that we have yet to try out.
I need tips badly!
Or am I being too optimistic trying to fully potty train a 1 year old? Hmmmm.....
Actually, looking back now, P could have been potty trained earlier but I was just plain lazy!
It has been 3 weeks and each morning I promptly place him on his potty, encourage him with the usual sounds of "shhhh shhhhh" and "mmmm mmmmm" then viola within 5 minutes he would have done his deed. Honestly, don't know why I didn't start it earlier! Would have saved me all the dirty nappies!
Although, for now I am stuck as to how I would know when he needs to pee. It's not like he can tell me yet. I did get some potty training underwear that we have yet to try out.
I need tips badly!
Or am I being too optimistic trying to fully potty train a 1 year old? Hmmmm.....
Monday 6 June 2011
The Global Generation - Home
I was laying in bed one lazy Sunday afternoon and I thought about Ps life. Simple things like what would he look like as he grew older, would he be a noble, honest, strong and determined man, if he would ever remember how attached he was to me as a baby. And then I realized that P is in a rather unique situation. I look at his friends who are of various nationalities and of mixed races. The next generation is so global, so mixed and mashed that the lines of nationalities and races are no longer an issue.
Take P for example. In essence he is a Chinese Australian/Indonesian but he has a Malaysian born Australian mother married to an Indonesian living in Jakarta. Pretty complicated right? Then I look to his playgroup friends and they are a huge concoction of mixed Caucasian with South American, Japanese, Indonesian, Indian, Thai, and plenty more. Majority of them are typical nomadic expatriate families who love travelling and being stationed in various countries.
How do these children grow up I wonder? Where would they call home?
As for P, how Chinese or Australian or Indonesian will he be?
Then I look at my own life. Brought up in an English speaking household where neither parent or my brother can read or write Mandarin. The only thing Chinese we may have in our daily lives would be eating rice and drinking soup for dinner. Aren't we all a confused bunch calling ourselves Chinese with nothing much to show for besides our skin colour.
Perhaps the main question of being so global is where would we call home?
How do we define home? Would home be a house that has fond memories? A city where majority of our lives were spent? Where our family reside? A place where we have decided to start a family? Or simply somewhere we find ourselves most happy at?
I still call Sydney home simply because it is where I am most comfortable and of course where my family are. Jakarta, is a semi-home of sorts, struggling with the love-hate relationship this city offers.
I do wonder how and where P will wind up. Will he be confused? Or would he seize the opportunities set before him and utilize it fully given his unique situation.
But above all, I pray and hope that he finds home in us, his family.
Take P for example. In essence he is a Chinese Australian/Indonesian but he has a Malaysian born Australian mother married to an Indonesian living in Jakarta. Pretty complicated right? Then I look to his playgroup friends and they are a huge concoction of mixed Caucasian with South American, Japanese, Indonesian, Indian, Thai, and plenty more. Majority of them are typical nomadic expatriate families who love travelling and being stationed in various countries.
How do these children grow up I wonder? Where would they call home?
As for P, how Chinese or Australian or Indonesian will he be?
Then I look at my own life. Brought up in an English speaking household where neither parent or my brother can read or write Mandarin. The only thing Chinese we may have in our daily lives would be eating rice and drinking soup for dinner. Aren't we all a confused bunch calling ourselves Chinese with nothing much to show for besides our skin colour.
Perhaps the main question of being so global is where would we call home?
How do we define home? Would home be a house that has fond memories? A city where majority of our lives were spent? Where our family reside? A place where we have decided to start a family? Or simply somewhere we find ourselves most happy at?
I still call Sydney home simply because it is where I am most comfortable and of course where my family are. Jakarta, is a semi-home of sorts, struggling with the love-hate relationship this city offers.
I do wonder how and where P will wind up. Will he be confused? Or would he seize the opportunities set before him and utilize it fully given his unique situation.
But above all, I pray and hope that he finds home in us, his family.
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