Here’s why COVID-19 Crisis Could result in more Child Marriages & Female Genital Mutilation

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UNFPA claimed that an additional 13 million girls could be married off and two million more could undergo FGM in the next decade, beyond what would be normally expected.

The coronavirus crisis could push millions of more girls into child marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM), the United Nations said.

“The pandemic both makes our job harder and more urgent as so many more girls are now at risk,” said Natalia Kanem, head of the United Nations’ sexual and reproductive health agency, United Nations Population Fund.

UNFPA claimed that an additional 13 million girls could be married off and two million more could undergo FGM in the next decade, beyond what would be normally expected.

Further, the crisis may push several into poverty, prompting parents to get their daughters married early.

Talking about FGM, Kanem said: “When so many girls and women are unwanted, cut, erased, given, traded and sold, our common future is undermined. We should all be outraged.

” Practices including violent sexual initiation rites, witchcraft accusations, branding, dowry-related violence, force-feeding and body modifications such as neck-elongation are rampant in India.

The report further said that 3,000 girls each day, are forced to marry young to older men. An estimated 4.1 million are at risk of FGM this year.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) female genital mutilation are procedures “that intentionally alter or cause injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.” The procedures are usually performed between infancy and the age of 15.

Highlights

Bedwetting is a medical condition of urinating in bed involuntarily. This may occur in children of age 5 or beyond.

Bedwetting is an involuntary action that occurs during sleep, Hence it can be successfully combated with the help of medical aids and therapy

There can be various physical and psychological reasons that may prompt a child to urinate in bed while sleeping.

Parents play a major role in helping the child combat the condition. But remember it can be done only through encouragement and positive attitude towards the child.

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Waking up my 5-year-old kid everyday in between his sound slumber is a routine episode. This is not to rob him of his peace but to prevent him from bed wetting. Earlier I considered it a casual mishap that might have occurred due to his incapability to hold the urine in sleep. But as bedwetting became frequent I immediately consulted a doctor and numerous thereafter tried some liquids and every possible homemade remedy as well but sigh! To no avail.

This wasn’t just a problem of bedwetting but it severely affected the mental health of my child who would wake up traumatized in sleep utterly oblivious to what has he done, Often he would apologize for urinating in bed and fear being shamed for it.

Bedwetting is defined as involuntary urination in children 5 years of age or older. The medical term for bedwetting is nocturnal enuresis. About 2 percent of adults experience bedwetting
Research

What is bedwetting ?

Bedwetting is a medical condition that involves the incapability of the bladder to hold urine produced during sleep. This condition has numerous physical and psychological implications. If your child is age five and still bedwetting you should consult a doctor.

Reasons behind bedwetting

No, your child isn’t lazy to get out of bed and pee in the washroom at midnight. If you often find the bedsheet drenched. It is probably because your child is suffering from Nocturnal enuresis or adulting bedwetting.

There are myriad reasons behind bedwetting some of them are listed below-

Small Bladder Size: The bladder size of an individual determines its capacity to hold urine. People with enuresis have a small bladder size that sends a signal to the brain of it is full faster than the average bladder size. This coupled with overactive bladder and bladder instability causes the problem of bedwetting.
Urinary Tract Infection: UTIs may occur in the bladder or urethra which may cause pelvic pain, pain, and blood in the urine. In the case of enuresis, UTIs increase the urge to urinate and sometimes unexpected urination while laughing or sneezing. This further worsened incontinence and bed wetting at night.
Hormone imbalance: Our body produces more Antidiuretic Hormone(ADH) at night. These hormones signal the kidney to slow down the production of urine at night. This reduces the sleep to urination during sleep. However, people with enuresis do not produce enough ADH. Thus the ADH abnormalities play a major role in bed wetting
Sleep apnea: Sleep apnea is an obstructive sleep disorder that causes you to stop and start breathing repeatedly during sleep. A study found that 7 percent of people with sleep apnea also end up bedwetting.
Overactive muscles: Detrusor muscles are the bladder muscles. These muscles relax when the bladder is full and contract when it is time to empty it. Individual with overactive bladder muscles are not able to hold urine for longer as the muscles contract at the wrong time and signals the brain to empty it.

Ways to deal with Bedwetting

As a parent, you may play a significant role in helping your child combat Bedwetting. Here are ways that you may adapt to deal with the issue.

Manage fluid intake: Monitor the fluid intake of your child throughout the day. Fluid intake should be more during the day and less at night before bedtime. This will reduce the pressure on the bladder to hold fluid during sleep.
Proper urination schedule: Make sure your child follows a proper urination schedule every 2-3 hours. They should empty their bladder before bedtime.
Avoid Thurst overload: Let your child have regular fluid intake throughout the day. This will avoid thrust overload thereby forbidding the bladder from getting full suddenly.
Be encouraging and positive: In case your child stills produce frequent bedwetting scenes. Instead, of getting frustrated or freaking out on them be supportive and positive. As such changes take time and patience.
Reduce Screen Time: Lesser screen time before bed will help the child sleep better without stress. Stress is also one of the major factors behind bedwetting as the children tend to remain super active throughout the day.

Bedwetting should not be looked down upon as a stigma or a menial deed. In most cases, the child ends up having mental trauma due to bedwetting as they are shamed and berated for it.

Thus, In the best interest resort to medical aids as a solution to bedwetting instead of accusing or punishing the child.

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