So I am not going to post about our farm today so if you are looking for the farm blog, you can skip this post and come back tomorrow.
I wanted to post about my other life, and specifically causes of the pediatric deaths that I have personally seen.
Child abuse*
Pneumonia
Pertussis (whooping cough)
SIDS*
Hypoxic birth injury
Choking
Suffocation*
Premature delivery
Congenital heart disease
Seizures
Accidental gun shot
Intentional gun shot (homicidal)
Neonatal sepsis
Pulmonary hemorrhage from prematurity
Chronic lung disease from prematurity
Surprisingly I have not witnessed deaths from a motor vehicle accident nor from suicide, but my close colleagues have, even very recently. I have known children who have died from chronic disease like diabetes, cystic fibrosis, cancers, genetic disorders, and neurodegenerative disorders, but I was not present for their deaths.
For some reason people today do not think children are still dying in our communities. And I think people are making poor decisions due to lack of this knowledge. I know the pediatric death rates have dropped significantly, largely due to public health improvements, but there still are childhood deaths. And as you can see from the list, many of these are preventable. And the degree of suffering by these children and their families as well as by health care professionals is tremendous. So I wanted to share my incredibly sad list in the hopes that there may be some knowledge that could be shared for some good.
Thanks for your patience. The regular farm blog will return tomorrow.
*multiple cases
That kind of thing must be really hard on you. I know how sad they make me feel. It’s difficult, too, when a loved one loses a pregnancy. My younger daughter had two miscarriages. She does have three great adult kids, though and I love them all dearly.
Hard to believe that there are people who think children no longer die of childhood diseases, abuse, etc. I suppose this is why some people think vaccinations are unnecessary, nay DANGEROUS. On a related note, the US has the highest rate of maternal deaths in the developed world….
Read and understood. Sad.