Documentary - "Babies"

This documentary is an illustration of four different cultural upbringings in the following countries: Mongolia, Japan, USA, and Namibia. Each video depicts different lifestyles and traditions that these babies are faced with, or blessed with, depending on the country. Comparing these cultures and their healthcares is imperative for gaining a general understanding of the medical and health concerns that develop within under-developed societies in comparison to developed countries. It is evident that Japan and the USA are the developed countries, while Mongolia and Namibia are still struggling for healthy survival practices. For many reasons, a lack of resources and awareness can be basic causes for an unhealthy upbringing of one’s child. In this case, we see that both of these factors play a role in Mongolia and Namibia.

In this documentary, many different health related aspects were briefed throughout the film. For example, some areas that we felt were most pertinent to healthcare were: Bathing, Feeding, Waste Removal, and Overall General Sanitation. The following table acts in accordance to the film, so although these may not necessarily be the “general” habits, these were some things we saw in the film.

	Bathing	Feeding	Waste Removal	Sanitation
Mongolia	From a bucket of dirty water	Breastfeeding from mother and little food often	Baby laying in his own pee all day since no diaper to absorb it	Poor sanitation. Naked bottoms not protecting from diseases
Namibia	Mother would lick her child clean	Children eating from the mud , but later it showed one major meal	Baby would poop on mothers leg in use of toilet, and mother would wipe it with leaf	Poor sanitation. Children playing with the animals and then sticking hands in mouth
Japan	In a clean bin, and sometimes with breast milk even	Nutritous meals for the baby with milk bottle	In a diaper, and then distributed into a receptacle	Overall good sanitation habits.
USA	In a bathtub with soap and clean water	Breastfeeding, bananas, and other nutrients	Diaper, which was switched out often, and bottom cleaned	Very good sanitation. Child taken care of by both parents.

It is amazing to see the development of each child and how the impact that the mothers nuture and care has on each one of them. The American child that was taken care of by both parents and brought to parenting classes developed good motor skills early on and was nurtured, fed, and received lots of attention and care. The baby was handled and looked after, as well as in Japan. The babies in Mongolia and Namibia were obviously not taken care of as well, however we feel that the mothers really tried, yet there was just a major lack of resources.