Health Needs of Childrearing Families

Becoming a parent is a significant and life-changing developmental transition for both fathers and mothers. While giving birth is an exciting and most often positive life event, making the transition may challenge family health and contribute to challenging shifts in family relationships. Healthy People 2010 identified health priorities including increased quality of life and a decrease in health disparities and objectives focus on childbearing families. The “Millennium Development Goals” relate to the health of families and the impact of poverty, malnutrition, and infectious diseases on outcomes for family members. It is essential that the health of childrearing families is viewed within sociocultural contexts since attitudes, beliefs, behavior, and rituals associated with bearing and rearing a child are culturally bound. For example, Orthodox Jewish and other ...