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Newbie Prophet

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I'm writing a story about a mother and the odd events happening around her child. The first is when she gives birth to Angela, her child, there's no crying. I know about the Apgar score where the staff gets the baby to cry but before that, do babies cry naturally after coming out of the womb or are they silent?

Another is when the mother suspects that her child is schizophrenic but the doctor dispels that theory. I'd like information on that as well. If possible, could you provide me links to the information as well? Thanks a bunch.

Muffers's Husband

Mind-boggling Blob

The only link you'll ever need.

Unfortunately, I don't know about these topics myself without researching it, but good luck!

Newbie Prophet

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Is that just a link to google?

Muffers's Husband

Mind-boggling Blob

Yes it is. 3nodding
Yes, most babies cry at birth, as the transition between liquid environment and air environment are drastically different and the baby does no know how to handle it. Also, most babies poop int their lungs when they're born, so that's freaky.

It's not a bad thing that a baby doesn't cry, though that might be a sign of brain damage or not breathing.

I'm not sure how one could tell a baby is schizophrenic, given babies.

Dangerous Enabler

Babies don't "poop int their lungs" - the amniotic sac doesn't have anywhere for feces to go, so some gets aspirated. So a lot of the time they get poop in their lungs.

Babies usually have fluid over their noses and mouths, and won't cry - or breathe - until that's cleared. Hospitals, etc., have things that look like miniature turkey basters to clear the lungs, but for a home birth wiping the face with a clean blanket will likely do it. If the baby doesn't cry out, that's a sign that something is desperately wrong: wailing afterwards is optional.

Schizophrenia typically has late-adolescent onset. If you're talking about an actual child, there is basically no decent diagnostic criteria under four that accommodates for the fact that kids under four basically can't tell the difference between real and not-real anyway. Also having a young child diagnosed pushes the bounds of suspension of disbelief.

Newbie Prophet

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phantomkitsune


Opps, I forgot to mentions that her mom suspects it when Angela is a bit older. Perhaps six or seven.

Just to be clear, a baby staying quiet, until the doctor does something to make them cry, means there might be health problems.

I like your avatar by the way.

Dangerous Enabler

Six or seven is still INCREDIBLY young - it's still super normal to have imaginary friends at that age. The difference between real and not-real isn't super established even for neurologically normal kids. Like, if you want specific symptoms, it might be worth researching what sort of diagnoses usually accompany those symptoms in kids. Research is your friend, especially in dealing with mental illness.

If the baby's airway has been cleared and they are quiet, there might be a problem.

Thanks!

Guildswoman

I didn't think babies cry immediately out, but the doctor will always try to make the baby cry if their not. Sharp slap on the bottom. gonk Waaaaaaaaaa....

As for child schizophrenia, it is rare. Especially since ALL children are insane by adult standards. But it can happen.

If you find this book you'll find the traits you can give a child that could point towards schizophrenia, but nearly always don't.

Also, leads on a whole bunch of other childhood problems.

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phantomkitsune
Babies don't "poop int their lungs" - the amniotic sac doesn't have anywhere for feces to go, so some gets aspirated. So a lot of the time they get poop in their lungs.


Sorry, bad wording on my part (I kept reading it that way, but it's probably for simplicity's sake in the article).

Also, the stuff clogging the nose and mouth is sometimes broken, giving them a chance to cry at birth (sometimes not, births aren't all that consistent in baby goo I hear).

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NothingComes
I'm writing a story about a mother and the odd events happening around her child. The first is when she gives birth to Angela, her child, there's no crying. I know about the Apgar score where the staff gets the baby to cry but before that, do babies cry naturally after coming out of the womb or are they silent?

Another is when the mother suspects that her child is schizophrenic but the doctor dispels that theory. I'd like information on that as well. If possible, could you provide me links to the information as well? Thanks a bunch.


If I remember correctly babies do not automatically cry when they're born. There's still fluid and gunk in the nose and mouth that are sucked out by a turkey baster resembling thing only much smaller and medical.

As far as any information goes, go to google and search in the terms and/or go to your local library and look up information on those topics in the catalog. If you have trouble ask library staff. If all else fails ask local doctors or other medical personnel. But first things first is internet research and library visit.

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No idea about childbirth stuff, but I can talk about child schizophrenia at length.

Pediatric schizophrenia is rare, and it sure as hell ain't pretty. Schizophrenia normally doesn't rear its ugly head until a person is in their early to mid-twenties. Schizophrenia affects maybe 1 in 100 adults; in a child of 6 or 7, we're talking one in millions. Some psychologists and psychiatrists aren't even convinced that kids that young can have full-fledged schizophrenia, and are incredibly reluctant to diagnose it.

Childhood schizophrenia isn't a subtle thing that a mother would "suspect" her offspring has. Schizophrenia itself is not a glamorous illness, and its pediatric version is a far nastier beast than the adult version. Most of these kids have symptoms that are far worse than what you'd ever see in adults. If they develop "negative" symptoms they're going to be very similar to kids with autism (in fact, many kids diagnosed with schizophrenia may be just mis-diagnosed autistics); poor verbal skills, poor social skills, arm-flapping, repetitive movements, listlessness, apathy, social withdrawal... in some cases, these kids don't speak at all. They have problems with cognition, and very little motivation to do much of anything.

The "positive" schizophrenia symptoms might actually be even worse. They have delusions and hallucinations that may be incredibly frightening, aggression, violent behaviour, incoherent speech, and long episodes of catatonia where they just stare off into space, refusing to move, speak or acknowledge anything going on around them. Most cases of schizophrenia have both positive and negative symptoms, but kids with predominantly positive symptoms are a nightmare to take care of. They have to be put on anti-psychotics, which shrinks their brains and can make their cognitive problems worse. They can be such a danger to themselves and others that they must be carefully supervised at all times. They can be unpredictable, and many of them feel as if they have no choice but to listen to what the voices tell them to. Many of them have sudden episodes of screaming, terror, violence or rage that make them hard to parent. On the whole, these kids don't do very well in the future - their rates of remission are far lower than adult schizophrenic, and roughly 10-15% of them end up killing themselves within 10 years of being diagnosed. Not pretty.

If you came to a doctor thinking your child was schizophrenic, they wouldn't just wave you off. You have to go through a thorough, six-month investigation where you consult with all kinds of mental health professionals, have your child do all kinds of tests and take detailed records of all your child's behaviour. It's an involved process - if you want to incorporate this disorder into your story, you'll need to do a lot of research.

Newbie Prophet

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Starry Starry Fright
No idea about childbirth stuff, but I can talk about child schizophrenia at length.

Pediatric schizophrenia is rare, and it sure as hell ain't pretty. Schizophrenia normally doesn't rear its ugly head until a person is in their early to mid-twenties. Schizophrenia affects maybe 1 in 100 adults; in a child of 6 or 7, we're talking one in millions. Some psychologists and psychiatrists aren't even convinced that kids that young can have full-fledged schizophrenia, and are incredibly reluctant to diagnose it.

Childhood schizophrenia isn't a subtle thing that a mother would "suspect" her offspring has. Schizophrenia itself is not a glamorous illness, and its pediatric version is a far nastier beast than the adult version. Most of these kids have symptoms that are far worse than what you'd ever see in adults. If they develop "negative" symptoms they're going to be very similar to kids with autism (in fact, many kids diagnosed with schizophrenia may be just mis-diagnosed autistics); poor verbal skills, poor social skills, arm-flapping, repetitive movements, listlessness, apathy, social withdrawal... in some cases, these kids don't speak at all. They have problems with cognition, and very little motivation to do much of anything.

The "positive" schizophrenia symptoms might actually be even worse. They have delusions and hallucinations that may be incredibly frightening, aggression, violent behaviour, incoherent speech, and long episodes of catatonia where they just stare off into space, refusing to move, speak or acknowledge anything going on around them. Most cases of schizophrenia have both positive and negative symptoms, but kids with predominantly positive symptoms are a nightmare to take care of. They have to be put on anti-psychotics, which shrinks their brains and can make their cognitive problems worse. They can be such a danger to themselves and others that they must be carefully supervised at all times. They can be unpredictable, and many of them feel as if they have no choice but to listen to what the voices tell them to. Many of them have sudden episodes of screaming, terror, violence or rage that make them hard to parent. On the whole, these kids don't do very well in the future - their rates of remission are far lower than adult schizophrenic, and roughly 10-15% of them end up killing themselves within 10 years of being diagnosed. Not pretty.

If you came to a doctor thinking your child was schizophrenic, they wouldn't just wave you off. You have to go through a thorough, six-month investigation where you consult with all kinds of mental health professionals, have your child do all kinds of tests and take detailed records of all your child's behaviour. It's an involved process - if you want to incorporate this disorder into your story, you'll need to do a lot of research.


Thank you for all the information!

Newbie Prophet

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Thank you to everyone who helped pitched a little or a lot of information. I've decided that I won't include the mother's enquiry about schizophrenia since her child doesn't or barely meets the symptoms to fit the illness.

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