A friend shared this video with me and I thought I should pass it along. Though I am not fluent in Spanish, by any means, this is a beautiful video. I would like to make one comment, one which has also been mentioned by the authors of this video: "Colecho, dormir en compañía de un ser amado ... no duerman con su bebé si fuman, toman alcohol, tranquilizantes o son hiper-obesos." In other words, if you smoke, drink, or use any types drugs (including over the counter or prescribed medications, recreational drugs, or anything that alters your mental state or makes you sleepy), or if you are overweight it is advised that you DO NOT co-sleep with your baby or child. When co-sleeping the risk of suffocation for your baby or child is greatly increased. However, it is also felt that co-sleeping is a great way to bond with your child. So the key here: be responsible. If you do co-sleep, BE SAFE. I will look into resources for affordable "baby-beds," wedges, bed guards, and other co-sleeping products and websites that reduce the the risk risk of accidental suffocation. However is should be noted, that most pediatricians advise against co-sleeping. Well, I hope I have not squashed the beauty of this film to badly...
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Saturday, June 12, 2010
The American Dream
The following link will take you to the Posada Project website. There you can click on the movie trailer, to get a sneak peak of the this powerful documentary. Posada tells the tale of three immigrant youth as they travel to the U.S. The youth are arrested by immigration and battle to stay in America.
Migrant Films : Posadas Project
Each year tens of thousands of youth attempt to cross the U.S.-Mexico boarder and each year tens of thousands are detained and deported. Many youth are subjected to various forms of abuse along their passafe. One woman reported that the girls she traveled with were given injections of birth control.
Overall, it is estimated atleast 5 in 10 women are raped. And what makes this even worse, there is nothing they can do. They risk their life for "a better life" and "to live the American dream." Yet once in America they live in fear of being deported. If they get raped, who are they going to tell? Often these women and girls get raped numerous times along their journey.
What happens if these women and girls get pregnant? As undocumented immigrants they don't have health insurance. Any contact with a health care worker is considered a great risk. Many of these women go without prenatal care and arrive only at the hospital to give birth. This is a huge concern. By not receiving prenatal care, these women are now at a high risk for complications -- complications which could be fatal.
I keep reading arguments that "illegal" immigrants are a financial burden on the U.S taxpayers, due to "their use" of emergency medicine. Statistically speaking, Latino immigrants are overall healthier than Americans. Hmm... why could that be? I found it interesting to note, that foreign-born immigrant women were not only healthier, but they had healthier pregnancies with fewer complications than their American-born counterparts. Is it possible, that if these "immigrants" had access to healthcare, that their use of emergency services would decrease? On many occasions the thousands of dollars, which are accrued by emergency procedures, could be prevented by one or two health care visits adding up to only a fraction of the cost.
And what happens to the pregnant women who are sent to detention centers? The amount of time spent in a detention center varies, from days to months, and sometimes years. For a pregnant women, this is catastrophic. Often times, undocumented women do not receive adequate prenatal or gynecological healthcare. Sometimes these women are completely denied prenatal care.
What if these women have other children? What happens to the children?
And again, check out my reddit profile, to find a list of other resources and related topics: http://www.reddit.com/user/Adria_12/
Migrant Films : Posadas Project
Each year tens of thousands of youth attempt to cross the U.S.-Mexico boarder and each year tens of thousands are detained and deported. Many youth are subjected to various forms of abuse along their passafe. One woman reported that the girls she traveled with were given injections of birth control.
Overall, it is estimated atleast 5 in 10 women are raped. And what makes this even worse, there is nothing they can do. They risk their life for "a better life" and "to live the American dream." Yet once in America they live in fear of being deported. If they get raped, who are they going to tell? Often these women and girls get raped numerous times along their journey.
What happens if these women and girls get pregnant? As undocumented immigrants they don't have health insurance. Any contact with a health care worker is considered a great risk. Many of these women go without prenatal care and arrive only at the hospital to give birth. This is a huge concern. By not receiving prenatal care, these women are now at a high risk for complications -- complications which could be fatal.
I keep reading arguments that "illegal" immigrants are a financial burden on the U.S taxpayers, due to "their use" of emergency medicine. Statistically speaking, Latino immigrants are overall healthier than Americans. Hmm... why could that be? I found it interesting to note, that foreign-born immigrant women were not only healthier, but they had healthier pregnancies with fewer complications than their American-born counterparts. Is it possible, that if these "immigrants" had access to healthcare, that their use of emergency services would decrease? On many occasions the thousands of dollars, which are accrued by emergency procedures, could be prevented by one or two health care visits adding up to only a fraction of the cost.
And what happens to the pregnant women who are sent to detention centers? The amount of time spent in a detention center varies, from days to months, and sometimes years. For a pregnant women, this is catastrophic. Often times, undocumented women do not receive adequate prenatal or gynecological healthcare. Sometimes these women are completely denied prenatal care.
What if these women have other children? What happens to the children?
And again, check out my reddit profile, to find a list of other resources and related topics: http://www.reddit.com/user/Adria_12/
References and Resources
As part of my project, I am required to post articles to a bookmarking site -- I believe that is what it is called. I am relatively new to cyberspace, so please bear with me! 
Anyhow, if you would like to check out what I have been reading, I am slowly but surely posting them at: http://www.reddit.com/user/Adria_12/
Anyhow, if you would like to check out what I have been reading, I am slowly but surely posting them at: http://www.reddit.com/user/Adria_12/
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Who is an "undocumented immigrant?"
An “undocumented” or “illegal” immigrant refers to ANY person who has entered the country without official authorization. Contrary to popular belief, undocumented immigrants encompass a wide variety of cultures and ethnicities. As of March 2005, the Current Population Survey (CPS) reported an estimated 9.6 to 9.8 million “illegal aliens;" take into account that these are only the survey participants. Though the majority of this population is of Mexican origin (5.9 million), immigrants may come from a variety of other countries. The following chart depicts both documented and undocumented immigrants, who were living in the U.S., at the time of the CPS.
My point being, that as a whole, we need to recognize the cultural diversity of both our "legal" and "illegal" residents. We need to STOP stereotyping people based on the color of their skin and notice how our actions and our biases affect not only those whom we discriminate against, but the greater society. In future posts, I will examine how discrimination acts as a barrier to health care (particularly prenatal care) and how this barrier, in turn, affects America as a whole.
My point being, that as a whole, we need to recognize the cultural diversity of both our "legal" and "illegal" residents. We need to STOP stereotyping people based on the color of their skin and notice how our actions and our biases affect not only those whom we discriminate against, but the greater society. In future posts, I will examine how discrimination acts as a barrier to health care (particularly prenatal care) and how this barrier, in turn, affects America as a whole.
A Purposeful Purpose
The current focus of this blog is to gain awareness of the obstacles to accessing prenatal care, for the undocumented portion of immigrants, whom are living in the United States. My goal is to discuss these obstacles and to provide information and resources aimed at resolving these barriers. I am starting this blog as a class project; however, I have hopes it will expand beyond my course and be both a resource and education tool for addressing health care disparities as a whole.
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