Public Immunization

The aim for immunization is to avoid the spread of any communicable diseases. Coming from a country where high value is placed on the immunization of infants. As a newborn, I was immunized and vaccinated my mother still has the card after 20+ years to prove that I was immunized as well as bearing a permanent scar on my right upper shoulder.  My aunt who in 2004-07 was the Chief Education Officer was quoted in an article stating that it was mandatory for children to be immunized prior to being admitted into schools.  In Jamaica the policy is that children who have not been immunized cannot be admitted into government-funded schools, as for private schools they have the option to not have the rule. However, if a principal decided to accept a student who is not immunized they can face legal charges. In Jamaican, under law, full immunization is a fundamental right of the child so; parents can be fined or imprisoned for failing to immunize their children.

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has lauded the Jamaica Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) as one of the best in the world. In 2010, Jamaica achieved a 100% coverage for tuberculosis, 92% for polio, whooping cough, and hepatitis b and 88% for measles, mumps and rubella. The Expanded Programme on Immunization established in Jamaica in September 1977 and has contributed greatly to the reduction in infant and child mortality. Prior to its introduction, the infant mortality rate from infectious diseases including vaccine preventable diseases such as measles, polio, neonatal tetanus, tuberculosis, diphtheria, bacterial meningitis and pneumonia was very high at some 51 per 1000 live births in the 1960s and 32 per 1000 live births in the 1970s. The infant mortality rate now stands at 21 per 1000 live births.

I am amazed at my small country in many ways, having read about the lack of an immunization structure even in first world countries. 

Childbirth in your life and around the world

When I think of childbirth, the one word that comes to mind is OUCH!! Although I have not had the great fortune to experience the pain that may come with childbirth, I have had the great pleasure of being in the room while my Goddaughter Jayla was being born. My best friend and I made a pact a long time ago that we would be in the room for the birth of each other’s children. The day was like any other day, I went into a routine where I called my best friend at eight in the morning to ask if she had gone into labour and not told me….this morning she did not laugh as she usually did as she had experienced a lot of discomfort during the night and not slept. I told her I was on the way to pick her up to go to the hospital, long story short that was the day Jayla decided to grace us with her presence. I remember it like it was yesterday, but everything happened so fast, we were in the room together I coached her through the breathing exercise we had watched on YouTube. The doctor came into the room and prepared himself, I held my best friends hand and at that, time we were both crying and I kept saying, “This is it”, repeatedly. The process was over in about half an hour, I was able to see me Goddaughter through the tears I could not hold back; the experience was great for me. I cannot wait until I get to give birth.

While reading Chapter 4 on prenatal development and birth in our textbook, it showcased how women in many western countries are having babies the non-conventional way. Therefore instead of spending time in the hospital delivering babies, they choose different methods, for example giving birth in the bathtub.

I have chosen Japan as the region of the world other than the US to find out how births happen here, as I am currently working in Japan. As a foreigner living in Japan, I have heard stories about giving birth here as an “outsider” ,for instance, it’s widely accepted in Japan that pregnant women can eat certain foods like raw fish, but in the US that is a major pregnancy taboo. Another of these cultural differences is in the standards of weight gain in mothers and average birth weight in babies. A growing belly is a usual site for pregnant women but as a foreigner, the average range of weight gain according to American standards may be deemed as extreme compared to standards for Japanese women.