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Summary P5, M3, D2, P6, M4 Unit 22 Research methodology Project for Health and Social care
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This criteria covers unit 22 Research Methodology for Health and Social Care: P5, M3, D2, P6, M4
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Gabrielle Elmes (497977) Health & Social Care Level 3 Year 2 UNIT 22 TASK 3 15/5/2021Carrying Out And Reviewing Your Research Project
Gabrielle Elmes (497977) Health & Social Care Level 3 Year 2 UNIT 22 TASK 3
15/5/2021
P5 - Carry out the planned research project
SUBJECT
Pregnancy Research
QUESTION
Does the age of the pregnant mother affect the health of her child?
HYPOTHESIS
The reason behind my question is the independent variable (The pregnant mother)
and the dependent variable (The age of the mother) This question came about
since there are already known health facts about the age of the mother (35 and up)
affecting the health of the child for example:
‘’Babies born to older mothers (35 and up) have a higher risk of certain chromosome
problems, such as Down syndrome.’’ (MayoClinic)
The relationship between the dependent and independent variable led to me
developing the question: Does the age of the mother affect the health of the child?
The people involved in my research project will be mothers who have biologically
given birth to children consisting of all ages to see the connection between age,
pregnancy and the child’s health so my research findings are targeted to my
question. By doing this I can see is it truly the age of the mother pregnant that
determines the health of her child or could it be down to other environmental factors
such as housing, drinking, smoking etc.
I will have to include in my questionnaire their age with each child, which (if any
children) have an ailment. To make it valid and eliminate other sources I will have to
ask if they drank, smoked and housing conditions, diet while pregnant along if they
have any conditions. I think they will be reliable as it is anonymous so I cannot trace
it back to themI will ask the questions in a way that is not condescending or
judgemental so as to not influence incorrect replies. With diet however, unhealthy
and healthy as the answers does not give you a proper in depth look and the make
up of their diet and would be interesting to investigate its effects on pregnancy and
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, Gabrielle Elmes (497977) Health & Social Care Level 3 Year 2 UNIT 22 TASK 3 15/5/2021
the babies health in itself, but just needs to be brief for the aims of my project as it is
not the main factor. In addition to this, I have included if they took any specific
medications that might be a influencing factor. To get the most information from my
survey questions, I will use qualitative and quantitative measures to ensure I gather
in depth data.
For example, on the question ‘How old were you with each child?’ I have made it so
they can specifically write the age and not give a roundabout age which might not
give me the specific data I won’t, but for questions to see if it might have influenced
the babies health such as ‘Did you have a healthy diet?’ I have given a brief ‘Healthy’
‘Unhealthy’ option since this is more of a possible influence and not the aim of my
project. I need to know what age they were with each child so if one of them has an
ailment and the other doesn't I can correlate if it had to do with age. They must be 18
and up to answer (but if they had a child before this but are now 18 they are allowed
to answer as long as they are 18 when taking the survey)
In my survey when I have asked if their children have conditions, I made it clear to
include any condition even eczema not just major ailments like ‘down’s syndrome’
because maybe the age of the mother affects the health and quality of the child’s
skin too. To test my question ‘Does the age of the mother affect the health of the
child’ I will send a survey on facebook because this is the platform with the most
mothers.
RATIONALE
What led to me developing this question further was a research finding from
Tommy’s:
‘’Consistent with ageing, the placenta in older mothers does not work as effectively.
Researchers supported by Tommy’s are investigating why this happens.’’
In addition to the one I have already stated above:
‘’Babies born to older mothers (35 and up) have a higher risk of certain chromosome
problems, such as Down syndrome.’’ (MayoClinic)
I have chosen this topic as I have always had an interest in Pregnancy (I am going to
be attending midwifery university) and the reason for why children are born with
certain diseases? Can we prevent this? When I saw similar research projects and
facts on age in relation to a healthy child it intrigued me to find out more. I have
chosen this particular aspect as there is actually little research on the effects of age
on a child’s health, the only real known ailment associated with age is down
syndrome. However, if older pregnancy age can lead to down syndrome? Can it lead
to anything else? In addition to this, does the younger the mother have an affect on
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, Gabrielle Elmes (497977) Health & Social Care Level 3 Year 2 UNIT 22 TASK 3 15/5/2021
the childs’ Health since this is not looked into in depth. This led me to get the
question ‘Does the age of the mother affect the health of the child’ since it is then
looking at the age spectrum and not just older pregnant women and their child’s but
the younger side too and comparing this. I wanted to follow in more detail from the
Tommy study above on the interesting point that with older pregnant women, their
placenta is less effective at providing for the baby, so by comparing all pregnancy
age (older to younger and vice versa) we can see a proper comparison ad not just
focus on ‘older pregnant women’. Referring to more sources in my literature review
such as PMC ‘The relationship between age of mother and child health and development.
Which states:
‘’The children of teenage mothers scored better than those of older mothers on the
total Denver Developmental Screening Test, as well as on the Fine Motor sector.’’
Does this indicate the placenta of older mothers are therefore not providing the same
quality as younger mothers? Does this then mean that the pregnancy of an older
mother increases the risk of their children having a health problem over a younger
mother? This definitely influenced my question and hypothesis to do this research
project. The main piece of research which influenced my question was this finding by
P B Rothenberg and Andrew Fenelon entitled ‘’Maternal Age and Offspring Adult Health:
Evidence From the Health and Retirement Study’’ which states:
‘’We find that offspring born to mothers younger than age 25 or older than 35 have
worse outcomes with respect to mortality, self-rated health, height, obesity, and the
number of diagnosed conditions than those born to mothers aged 25–34.’’
Thanks to my rationale, there is validity and reliability behind my hypothesis and
research question.
RELEVANCE TO SECTOR
This is relevant to the maternity / child health side of health and social care.
Especially since I am going to be going to midwifery school. Therefore, My interest in
this topic in health and social care made me want to research a question in
relevance to my future vocation.
I feel this is a relevant question to be researched in the area of healthy pregnancy to
increase the health / future health of children. It therefore raises awareness of the
health risks associated with particular ages and pregnancy leading to earlier
detection and prevention of their child’s health. By addressing age affects certain
health of the child, guidance can be made to keep a healthier pregnancy in relation
to your age to decrease the risk of their child developing a health problem associated
with their age and children’s health from my research project.
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