How to write an essay on Prenatal Care for the Amish population

How to write an essay on Prenatal Care for the Amish population

  1. Choose two or three areas of prenatal care that you would want to discuss with Mary, and then write brief notes about what you know and/or need to learn about Amish values to discuss perinatal care in a culturally congruent way.

Based on the case, there are many areas of prenatal care that I would discuss with Mary. To start with, I will have to discuss Mary’s reproductive life, given that most Amish women do not practice family planning, which is a major issue for the community. I will have to discuss with Mary the need to control the number of children she bears concerning the number of kids they would desire to raise. I will introduce the aspect of contraceptives to the family and explain the benefits of how it is the perfect birth control method that would help reduce unwanted pregnancies. It is important to consider that the values of the community posit that birth control is against God’s will, and this will mean that we will have to try if the natural methods of birth control are acceptable to Mary (Stein et al., 2021). Some suggestions that could be considered in this case include Billing’s ovulation method, withdrawal, and the calendar rhythm method.

The second area of prenatal care I would discuss with Mary is the need for medical services. It should be understood that the Amish have a different view of health and illness, and these perceptions affect how they accept medical practices (McCrea, 2022). From the case, the family has been advised that baby Melvin must be hospitalized if his respiratory problem does not improve within two days. The family will need to have a follow-up schedule on medical services, including being consistent on medical visits. The same would be needed for pregnant Amish women to have constant visits to the hospital to help reduce birth-related defects and complications. I would also advise that the same visits continue even after a mother has given birth. It is also important to discuss with Mary and her husband whether they will allow baby Melvin to be hospitalized to help treat the problem he is suffering from. The discussion would include an explanation of the importance of technology as a way of gaining the acceptance of modern medicine and treatment methods.

  1. Discuss three Amish values, beliefs, or practices to consider when preparing to do prenatal education classes with Amish patients.

The Amish beliefs, values, and practices are a great pillar towards the success of prenatal education classes. The consideration of the culture of the community is one way of having culturally congruent interventions. Of the beliefs to consider during the classes is the one on birth control. The Amish strongly believe that children are a gift from God, and thus they do not see any need for them to practice birth control (Anderson & Potts, 2020). When educating the community, it would be pertinent to let them understand the need for birth control and explain both natural and artificial methods. It is important to also know that this would not be interfering with God’s work. The second important value is the presence of men during pregnancy and the decision to allow husbands to be part of the delivery process. It is important to let the community know that nurses can allow the husbands to be present during the process, but they must be advised to wear protective clothing. Finally, the value of the community considering prenatal care only in the first trimester and then later in the final days if the mother experiences no problem is important (Anderson & Potts, 2020). The community can understand that prenatal visits are important, and a plan can be made to have the visits after every eight weeks to save on expenditures.

References

Anderson, C., & Potts, L. (2020). The Amish health culture and culturally sensitive health services: An exhaustive narrative review. Social Science & Medicine, 265, 113466. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113466

McCrea, K. (2022). Perceived health care needs of amish populations in two newly established districts. The Journal of Plain Anabaptist Communities, 2(2), 44-58. https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.socscimed.2020.113466

Stein, R. E., Corcoran, K. E., Perrone, C., & Cossman, J. S. (2021). The influence of reproductive history on post-reproductive mortality: A case study of amish women. The Journal of Plain Anabaptist Communities, 2(1), 62-80. https://doi.org/10.18061/jpac.v2i1.7993

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