Fearless Birthing

2012-01-06T19:07:00.003-06:00

I'm trying to gather everything into one place. We'll see how it goes. So, this blog will continue at my website at the following address (for now): http://www.kimwildner.me/fearless-birthing.html

This Movie is SO IMPORTANT! Pass it on!

2009-08-20T09:46:00.001-05:00

Reducing Infant Mortality from Debby Takikawa on Vimeo.

Mass Media and Birth

2009-05-17T13:22:00.005-05:00

I guess I wasn't the only one thinking about how media influences our expectations of birth! Vicki Elson actually probably got the wheels turning before I even started working on my communications degree because she's written about the topic for ALACE. However, I'm very excited to order her new DVD, Laboring Under an Illusion: Mass Media Childbirth vs. the Real Thing, which can be seen here:

I am especially excited because I just wrote a paper on this very thing a couple of months ago. (I can't say I was excited about my sucky grade, but I thought I'd post it here simply because it is relevant.)

The Impact of Mass Communication on Women’s Perceptions of Birth
Kim Wildner, April 15, 2009

Mass communication both reflects and shapes the cultures in which it exists. It seems logical that women’s experiences of the important events in their lives would likewise be reflected and shaped by mass communication. Birth is one such experience.

Perhaps since the invention of the printed word, mass communication has been integral in determining the core beliefs that will impact a woman’s perceptions of her birthing experience. Indeed, by accident or by design, for better or for worse, mass communication has been very influential in changing the way birth is viewed, and not just by women.

The Bible was probably the first book to mention birth, even before the advent of the printing press. Though it would be unlikely that women themselves were reading the text, it would have served as instruction none-the-less, as it would have been the guide by which clergy ministered to their flocks.

The printing press made the Bible more widely available in the 1400s and 1500s. The availability might have qualified it as ‘mass communication’ at this point, but it would still take time for literacy rates among women to catch up. Still, it is important to explore what the Bible actually says about birth because it is an instance where mass communication profoundly influences women and their birth experiences.

It is commonly thought that painful birth is the curse for Eve’s sin of eating the apple in the Garden of Eden. Genesis 3:16 tells us, “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” (King James Version)

John 16:21 also tells us that birth is painful. In fact it is mentioned several times in the Bible that birth is painful. Yet, as Helen Wessel discovered when she researched the original biblical language in writing The Joy of Natural Childbirth: Fifth Edition of Natural Childbirth and the Christian Family, the word translated as ‘pain’ (estev) for all the passages regarding birthing is used elsewhere in the Bible…but translated as ‘toil’. Wessel asserts that before interpretations beginning between in about 200-400 A.D., there was no mention of Eve’s curse. (Wessel, 1994)

Before the Bible, women got their information regarding birth from the village ‘wise woman’ or midwife. Knowledge was passed from woman to woman, mother to daughter. However, in Witches, Midwives and Nurses, A History of Women Healers, a sinister plan is revealed. (Ehrenreich, English, 1973) The Church set out not only to reinforce the idea of women as evil and birth as a curse, but the beloved midwives were demonized as well.

The Malleus Maleficarum, or “The Hammer of the Witches” was written in 1486 by priests James Sprenger and Henry Kramer. These men decried midwives as the greatest threat to Christianity and declared them witches, in part for the heresy of helping women find comfort in birth, because according to the Bible, suffering in birth was God’s will.

The Malleus Maleficarum, as translated by Montague Summers in 1928, is still available through major booksellers, and according to Merskin in Witch-Hunts, and Persecution of the Other, (Merskin, 2007) has sold 60.5 million copies in 44 languages. Granted, despite these eventual numbers, this would not have been a work read by the laity then or at any other point right up to the present. However, with the leaders of the Church well versed in the evils of women through the work, it very much would have influenced the culture in which they lived.

Efforts to influence women through mass communication became more refined in the early 1900s. Dr. William Sadler, a prominent physician who wrote for women’s magazines of the time, published a book in 1916 titled The Mother and her Child. (Sadler, 1923) This book was intended for a mass audience, and he emphatically cautioned against use of midwives, portraying birth as a very dangerous medical event with a physician the very minimum requirement, preferably in attending women in the hospital. (Sadler, 1916)

The problem is that at the time, infant mortality was higher for doctors (and highest yet for hospital births) than for midwives. Dr. Levy, in the American journal of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children (Kosmak, 1918) stated:

Of the babies attended by midwives, 25.1 per 1000 died before the age of one month; of those attended by physicians, 38.2 per 1000 died before the age of one month; and of those delivered in hospitals, 57.3 per 1000 died before the age of one month. These figures certainly refute the charge of high mortality among the infants whose mothers are attended by midwives, and instead present the unexpected problem of explaining the fact that the maternal and infant mortality for the cases attended by midwives is lower than those attended by physicians and hospitals. ( pp. 44)

So, if midwives had better outcomes, why would Sadler and other doctors utilize the mass communication tools of the time to exert a considerable effort convincing women then were in grave danger at home with midwives? Doctors had decided they needed more ‘teaching’ material (i.e. women) and that the midwives were interfering with their access. Meeting notes from the American Association for Study and Prevention of Infant Mortality (1913) explain:

Another very pertinent objection to the midwife is that she has charge of 50 per cent of all the obstetrical material of the country, without contributing anything to our knowledge of the subject. As we shall point out, a large percentage of the cases are indispensable to the proper training of physicians and nurses in this important branch of medicine. (Study and Prevention of Infant Mortality, 1912. Paragraph 2 of ‘Elimination of the Midwife’)

The mass communications campaign to disparage the midwife and drive women into the hospital to birth so that doctors might use them for teaching purposes was so successful that most women to this day give birth in the hospital, thinking the reason they should choose the hospital is because it is safer and that the reason birth moved to hospital was for safety reasons.

In fact, even today, it is not safer to birth in the hospital than at home. In 2005, the British Medical Journal published a study by Johnson & Daviss, Outcomes of planned home births with certified professional midwives: large prospective study in North America that supported previous findings, which were that mortality (death) outcomes for women attended by midwives at home and doctors in the hospital were essentially the same, except that in the hospital women and babies were injured (morbidity) more often. (Johnson & Daviss, 2005)

This study came on the heels, and was possibly a response to, a study that was published in the U.S. and widely publicized through assorted mass media outlets. That 2002 study was titled Outcomes of Planned Home Birth in Washington State. (Pang, Heffelfinger, Huang, Benedetti & Weiss, 2002) However, just as in previous attempts to discredit safe birthing alternatives, devious tactics were used to sway public opinion.

Just as in the early 1990s, when infant deaths that occurred under a physician were attributed to a midwife if she’s been anywhere near the mother in labor, and in 1978, when the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) issued a press release declaring “Out-of-hospital births pose a 2-5 times greater risk to a baby’s life than hospital births,” using health department statistics that included stillbirths, late miscarriages, infant abandonments and infanticide (Stewart, 1981, pp 222.), the Pang study, as the 2002 study become known, was intentionally misleading by basing conclusions on flawed methodology.

For one thing, the title doesn’t just insinuate, but flatly states outcomes of planned homebirths. The authors actually admit right in the paper however, that since Washington state birth certificates (the source of their statistics) do not identify planned home births, that the authors defined ‘planned’ for themselves. They also clearly state that they include babies from 34 weeks gestation. However, midwives do not attend births less than 37 weeks gestation at home. Births at 34 weeks gestation would likely be precipitous (fast), premature babies with no birth attendant at all. As in the 1970s, any out-of-hospital birth is included, because the birth certificates do not include a way to differentiate between midwife-attended and taxi cab births. (CfM, 2002)

Interestingly, results of another homebirth study were also released in 2002 by the Canadian Medical Association. (Janssen, Lee, Ryan, Etches, Farquharson, Peacock, & Klein, (2002). They concluded, as other researchers have, “There was no increased maternal or neonatal risk associated with planned home birth under the care of a regulated midwife.” Somehow, this study didn't make it to major news outlets.

But the propaganda persists. Again, more recently ACOG and the American Medical Association (AMA) used access to major news outlets and the internet to ‘inform’ the public that homebirth and midwifery are unsafe, despite all of the evidence from around the world to the contrary. (Hunter, 2008; Wagner, 2006)

Again, we could ask ‘why?’ when 100% of the countries with better outcomes than the U.S. have midwives attending birth? (Wagner, 2006) Economics provides one answer.

Rikki Lake is making women stand up and take notice of their viable birthing options with her DVDThe Business of Being Born. (Scelfo, 2008.) In this documentary, Lake explores how women ended up in hospitals, tethered to IVs and electronic fetal monitors, submitting to a plethora of interventions that not only do not make birth safer for mothers and babies, but in some cases inflict pain and introduce complications. (BBC News, 2009; Enkin, Keirse, Neilson, Crowther, Duley, Hodnett, & Hofmeyr, 2000)She followed this with a just released book, Your Best Birth
followed by a just launched web community called My Best Birth.

But Lake went further. She initiated a media blitz that has been so effective that originally, she was named in the position statement issued by ACOG, and later by the AMA, that once again deemed homebirth and midwives unsafe, forcing Lake to respond in a Huffington Post blog. (Lake, Block & Epstein, 2008)

At a time when cesarean rates are rising due to skillful manipulation of women through the media (Park, 2008; Reichman, J., (2007), and mass communication is informing women that breastfeeding confers insignificant benefit to babies (Celizic, 2009) when science refutes that on a regular basis (Madden, 2008) it is essential that parents begin to recognize how successful the media is at shaping the beliefs that will impact their children’s lives forever.

The average woman doesn’t tend to read the books like Obstetric Myths versus Research Realities by Henci Goer, or Born in the USA: How a broken maternity system must be fixed to put women and children first, by Marsden Wagner. She reads What to Expect When You’re Expecting, because it’s handed out at their doctor’s office as a continuation of the mass communications machine. My personal observation is that they don’t read the books that will actually help them make good decisions because the last 100 years of constant and effective use of mass communication has convinced them there is nothing wrong with the system, despite the fact that infant mortality rates are some of the worst in the developed world, with 45 countries losing fewer babies (CIA, 2009), and maternal mortality rates worsening as well (Medical News Today, 2007).

Birth is portrayed negatively in books like Midwives, (Bohjalian, 1998) where there is just enough fact mingled with fiction to make an impossible story plausible for the reader, and in movies and television, too.

Unarguably, birth is horrible for a large number of women, so some would say the media is only reflecting reality. Yet we’ve just seen that our expectations are subtly imprinted with what others want us to believe. What if there are other voices that have gone unheard; voices of women who have birthed safely, and in ecstasy, sometimes even painlessly?

There are, and their always have been, around the world and throughout time. Judith Goldsmith give us many examples in Childbirth Wisdom: From the World's Oldest Societies. (Goldsmith, 1994) of women briefly stopping work to birth their babies easily, then returning to their tasks; of labors so short and painless that women birthed even while asleep.

Dr. Lamaze, Dr. Bradley and Dr. Grantly Dick-Read, in the 1940s and 50s would all come to believe that birth didn’t have to be painful, after seeing painless birth in other cultures where the women didn’t expect to feel pain. The incident involving Dick-Read that led him to come to this conclusion is that as a new doctor, he attended a poor women in labor and offered her chloroform. She refused, asking “It didn’t hurt. It wasn’t meant to, was it?” (Grantly-Read, 2005). These voices were present, but not heard, largely because there was no concerted mass communication effort.

Today, movies and the internet are making women question what they thought they knew. Born in the U.S. A., a documentary that critically examined routine intervention in birth, was actually shown on the PBS program Independent Lens. What Babies Want: An Exploration of the Consciousness of Infants brought in the ‘star power’ of Noah Wiley (of E.R. fame) to help us understand that what babies experience in their earliest developmental phases actually impacts their entire life. Pregnant in America: A Nation’s Miscarriage used a Michael Moore type approach to investigative reporting on the Nation’s maternity care, and Orgasmic Birth: The Best Kept Secret not only showed women that birth can be blissful without drugs, but got airtime on ABC’s 20/20. (ABC, 2009)

Women have been assailed with magazine articles, books, movies, and propaganda issued as 'press releases', all telling them that one of the safest options they have is unsafe. The indoctrination is so complete that the lie has become accepted as a self-evident truth, and to question it paramount to heresy.

So we come to the 21st century with firmly entrenched beliefs that birth must be painful and very dangerous. Is this the truth, or is it the result of carefully crafted mass communication; disseminated information meant to keep women fearful, manifesting the painful, frightening experience it in the process? For the one thing that most assuredly will create pain and complications is fear, by the mechanism of introducing adrenaline into the mammalian birth.

Circumstances are different now than they were 100 years ago. Women are smart, savvy consumers with far more available resources. Exposed to an idea with merit, they have the ability to research their options. They can vote, they have buying power and they have decision-making power over most of their reproductive options. It remains to be seen if they will choose to make decisions based on a very successful mass communications strategy, or will they become part of a new wave of critical thinkers who can rise above the noise and make decisions based on solid evidence. At least now, for every contrived ‘news’ story like, Are Home Births Dangerous? AMA Says Women Should Use a Hospital-Some Doctors Disagree, which aired on ABC News to bolster ACOGS position (Hunter, 2008), there is usually a credible source to refute it, like Lamaze, Intl. who posted, Is Home birth safe? Talking points related to: ACOG Statement on Home Birth on their website. The question is, will families bother looking if they don’t recognize the effect mass communication has on them in the first place?

ABC, (2009). Birth orgasms: Women speak out. 20/20. Retrieved April 9, 2009 from
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=6569030

American Association for Study and Prevention of Infant Mortality: Transactions of The Third
Annual Meeting, (1913). Digitalized notes found April 9, 2009 at
http://www.archive.org/stream/americanassociat011384mbp/
americanassociat011384mbp_djvu.txt
The quoted text is approximately half way through the document in the second paragraph
under the subheading ‘Elimination of the Midwife’.

BBC News, (2009). No risk from eating during labour[sic]: It is safe for most healthy women to eat during labour[sic], research has found. Retrieved March 25, 2009 from
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7961689.stm

Bohjalian, C., (1998). Midwives. Vintage Contemporaries.

Celizic, M.,(2009). Is breast-feeding really best? Some women are questioning whether the
health benefits are worth it. Today Show. Retrieved March 16, 2009 from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29718562/

CfM, (2002). “Planned” home birth study misrepresented in the press. Citizens for Midwifery
Fact Sheet. Retrieved March 30, 2009 from http://cfmidwifery.org/pdf/PangStudy.pdf

CIA, (2009). The World Fact Book. Retrieved April 12, 2009 from
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2091rank.html

Ehrenreich, B., English, D., (1973). Witches, midwives and nurses: A history of women healers. Feminist Press.

Enkin, M., Keirse, M., Neilson, J., Crowther, C., Duley, L., Hodnett, E., & Hofmeyr, J., (2000).
An Effective guide to pregnancy and childbirth, Oxford University Press. Retrieved March 28, 2009 from http://www.childbirthconnection.org/article.asp?ClickedLink=329&ck=10218&area=2

Goldsmith, J., (1994). Childbirth wisdom: From the world's oldest societies. Talman Co.

Grantly-Read, D., (2005). Childbirth without fear: The principles and practice of natural childbirth. (4th ed.) Pinter & Martin Ltd

Hunter, A., (2008). Are home births dangerous? AMA says women should use a hospital-
some doctors disagree. ABC News, retrieved March 28, 2009, from http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Story?id=5340949&page=1

Janssen, P., Lee, S., Ryan, E., Etches, D., Farquharson, D., Peacock, D., Klein, M., (2002). Outcomes of planned home births versus planned hospital births after regulation of midwifery in British Columbia. Canadian Medical Association Journal, retrieved April 12, 2009 from http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/166/3/315

Johnson, K., Daviss, B., (2005). Outcomes of planned home births with certified professional midwives: large prospective study in North America. British Medical Journal, 330:1416.

Kosmak, G., (1918). The American journal of obstetrics, and diseases of women and children. Pp. 44. Digital copy archived; retrieved April 6, 2009 from
http://books.google.com/books?id=4OxXAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA44&lpg=PA44&dq=present+the+unexpected+problem+of+explaining+the+fact+that+the+maternal+and+infant+mortality+for+the+cases+attended+by+midwives+is+lower+than+those+attended+by+physicians+and+hospitals&source=bl&ots=jVhiYU9QRI&sig=UP7wSm8gqiAz1mCtAlif5-_2Vjg&hl=en&ei=5ArhSarGPMjvnQe9uP2nCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3#PPP9,M1

Lake, R., Block, J., Epstein, A., (2008). Docs to women: Pay no attention to Ricki Lake's home birth. The Huffington Post. Retrieved March 30, 2009 from, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ricki-lake-jennifer-block-and-abby-epstein/docs-to-women-pay-no-atte_b_107845.html

Lamaze, Intl. (2009). Is Home birth safe? Talking points related to: ACOG Statement on Home Births, February 6, 2008. Retrieved March 30, 2009 from http://www.lamaze.org/ChildbirthEducators/ResourcesforEducators/TalkingPoints/IsHomeBirthSafe/tabid/654/Default.aspx

Madden, C., (2008). Breast milk contains stem cells. Science Network, Western Australia. Retreived March 27, 2009 from http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20081102-16879.html

Medical News Today, (2007) Maternal mortality rate in U.S. highest in decades, experts say. Retrieved April 9, 2009 from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/80743.php

Merskin, D. (2007) The Malleus Maleficarum, Witch-Hunts, and Persecution of the
other" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, TBA, San Francisco, CA Online . Retrieved April 4, 2009 from http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p170386_index.html

Pang J, Heffelfinger J, Huang G, Benedetti T, Weiss N., (2002). Outcomes of Planned Home Birth In Washington State: 1989-1996. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 100(2):253-259.

Park, A., (2008). Choosy mothers choose caesareans [sic]. Time Magazine. Retrieved March 30, 2009 from, http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1731904,00.html

Rooks, J., Mahan, C., (1999). Midwifery and Childbirth in America. Temple University Press.

Reichman, J., (2007). Why so many women have C-sections: About 30 percent of U.S. births are Cesareans, but are they necessary? Today Show. Retrieved March 28, 2009 from,http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17796664//

Sadler, W., Sadler, L., (1916). The mother and her child. A. C. McClurg & co. Chicago
Archived copy found April 4, 2009 at http://www.scribd.com/doc/2396329/The-Mother-and-Her-Child-by-Sadler-Lena-K

Scelfo, J., (2008.) Baby, you’re home. New York Times online, retrieved April 11, 2009 from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/13/garden/13birth.html

Stewart, D., (1981). The five standards for safe childbearing. NAPSAC Intl., MO

Wagner, M., (2006). Born in the USA: How a broken maternity system must be fixed to put women and children first. University of California Press, CA.

Wessel, H., (1994). The Joy of natural childbirth: Fifth edition of natural childbirth and the Christian family. Bookmates International Inc.

Service-Learning

2009-05-06T15:46:00.007-05:00

The year is slipping away from me!Between work, school and the transition of my daughter graduating,it's been a crazy ride so far!
I'd like to say all that is keeping me away from blogging, and in part it is, but quite honestly Facebook is to mostly to blame! It is so easy to pick up a news item, that at one time I would have put on here to kvetch about, and just hit the 'share' button on FB. It's great! Through other people I've been keeping up on so much more that's going on 'out there'. However, that means I'm reading more and writing less.
In any case, one of the things I have had the opportunity to take part in was a Service-Learning project.
Service-Learning is a program wherein students volunteer to help provide service to the community in such a way that it also augments their curriculum.

This year, I was invited to participate by pairing with nursing students.

The students decided to prepare materials for women seeking out information on water birth to that might be included on this page as a local resource.

The students were Amanda Rasmussen, Michelle Babiash, and Faye Lindert. They each researched a different aspect of water birth (i.e. risks/benefits, details of finding a provider, technical aspects, etc.) and then created a Power Point presentation, a brochure and a handout.

The following link should bring up the Power Point version of their work.

These young women did a great job and I am honored to have been able to work with them to serve our community in this way.

WATER BIRTH

Events at the Fond du Lac Center for Spirituality and Healing

2009-03-06T19:41:00.002-06:00

I have been too darn busy to post anything here for awhile, but it's all because exciting things are in the works!
I have been assisting in the planning of some great events at the Fond du Lac Center for Spirituality and Healing
We have a Mom's Movie Night, for mothers and others interested in seeing birth as it is meant to be.
We have a Natural Parenting Series, which focuses on natural wellness from pregnancy through the first three years. In these times when so many people are either out of work or lacking insurance, staying well inexpensively is of paramount importance!
Finally, we have a presentation on the Mind/Body connection, which explains how to minimize stress during these trying times.
The schedule can be found on my web site where there are also links to the posters with all of the pertinent information.
Soon, I'll get back to commentary on current birthing news! I've been collecting all sorts of tidbits over on Facebook. :-)

Welcome Baby Rowan!

2009-02-09T15:31:00.005-06:00

Rowan was born October '08, but as noted before, I'm still catching up with all of the '08 babies.

I don't have pictures of Rowan or the official birth story yet, but I did talk to his mom, Lisa, and she was very happy with her HypnoBirthing(R) experience. Her body went into labor spontaneously the day before a date scheduled for induction. It was a natural birth, on again/off again for some time, then 'really intense' at the end. I'll post more when I know more.

I have to give a big thanks to Kiko and Emily for bringing Hanako and sharing their birth story with the class that just concluded.

This is Hanako Lily at 3 months:

Emily was on the computer during labor, not sure if she should call Kiko at work or not. She did, and they arrived at the hospital at 7 cm. Hanako was born pretty quickly thereafter. They never even had time to get the cameras and stuff out of the car, so no pictures of the big day! I have such gratitude that they shared this experience with the expectant parents, because as they shared the story they positively glowed. Thank you again!

Zanna was born in MAY! She looks so much like mommy in this picture you wouldn't believe it!

Zanna's mom, Jamie, also states that she was pleased with her birth. They arrived at the hospital at 4 cm with surges that were, "...not painful, but caused to me to take a minute and catch my breath." Jamie states, "If we wouldn't have come to HypnoBirthing I don't think I would have been as calm about the whole process or as
informed about the choices that I could make."

Midwifery Today Widget

2009-01-31T18:11:00.001-06:00

Midwifery Today Productsgreat free widgetsWidgetbox

Baby Pictures!

2009-01-19T21:17:00.008-06:00

The above photo is of baby Natalie, November 2008 HypnoBirthing baby and her pretty mommy Dawn.

This is Jackson, October HypnoBirthing baby, who is a great example of the idea we use in class of 'If you are taking a trip to Florida, you plan a trip to Florida, not Mississippi. If however, you end up taking a detour into Mississippi, you deal with the detour.' (Or variations thereof)

Jack also has a cute-as-a-bug mommie, BTW, but I LOVE this picture of Jack and she just doesn't happen to be in this one.

Anyway, Jack's mom did a bang up job of growing a nice-sized boy who was probably almost 1/10th her size by the time he was born. (I said she was cute as a bug, and not much bigger besides.) This might not have been a problem; in fact, I had no doubt he would enter the world in the usual way. However, he also decided to come into the world mooning everybody. His dad is quite a funny guy, perhaps he got that from him? There just wasn't room for the little guy to move into a better position, so he was born by cesarean. He and mom did great.

Jackson is such a sweet, mellow little guy! And I don't think I'm biased just because I'm rather fond of his parents-who are friends of ours-too.

I have some pictures of some of the other babies born while I was peddling fast to keep up with life, but I have to get permission from parents before I put them up. I hope it will be soon! I think some moms will want to share stories too.

Without us, this study will be meaningless!

2009-01-13T21:31:00.003-06:00

There is a new study about to commence that will follow children's health from life in utero through age 21. Read more here: Largest-ever study of U.S. child health begins Hope is to see how environment interacts with genetics to impact health
Ostensibly, the reason for the study is to figure out what plagues our youth.

However, if they only study 'what every body else does', they will never figure out how to make our children healthier! They need a substantial group of selectively vaccinated, home-birthed, breastfed, organically fed, attachment parented, holistically doctored kids if they want to know how to avoid ear infections, diabetes, autism, etc.

Who do we need to contact to make sure this happens?

Orgasmic Birth on 20/20

2009-01-04T15:03:00.013-06:00

I would have titled this post "Happy New Year" considering I'm doing a bit of catch-up before I blog about the show and the chatter resulting from the show, but the new year is already 4 days old!

I've been such a slug about posting here of late. It's been weeks since I originally found out about the ABC show and shared the news. I will say that for most of December I was working my butt off and was nowhere near my computer (and if I was, research or cogent thought were beyond my capability at the time). After that I was on the road for a few days, then sick, then preoccupied with Wii. That's the update in a nutshell.

I did not teach any classes over the last couple of months. I think the Universe knew that would push me over the edge with work and school. The last HypnoBirthing(R) baby reported to me was a home-birth on November 20th. Welcome Natalie Marie!

Aiden James and Jackson arrived in October (two other babies were due on October, but I have not received birth announcements so I have no names as of yet), Hanako Lily in September (likewise, no birth announcements on the other two that were due that month), Brittany Faith in June (one other due that month), Zanna Lirien in May, and Lillian Grace in March. There is one baby due any time now also. When I touch base with the other families with new arrivals, I'll post. I'm vowing to do better and welcome these babies here in a more timely manner in 2009!

Oh, and I've been preoccupied with Face Book. I originally joined just to keep up with some wonderful friends in New York who have little boys who are growing up way too fast. Then Sheri Menelli discovered the birth-work networking capabilities. There is no stopping Sheri once she gets going! Once I 'friended' her (because she really is my friend) I met all sorts of well-connected people who are keeping me in the birthing loop, which is how I even found out about the ABC 20/20 program on Orgasmic Birth.

The entire program was about birthing and parenting options that don't often get a lot of exposure. I thought all were were fairly represented...and the responses to the pieces revealing.

I would think that women would be at the very least intrigued by the idea of ecstatic birth. Even if they aren't interested in what can make birth pleasurable instead of agonizing so they can have an orgasmic birth, I would think they'd at least be curious as to why it happens or why nature would provide such a 'hormonal blueprint of labor', what the benefits to mom and baby might be, and what is sacrificed when it is interrupted.

But some of the comments were downright hostile! Not only are some women saying orgasmic birth is impossible despite the fact that women in the film spotlighted in the 20/20 piece are enjoying themselves very much, but other comments I've seen say that elective paraplegia is better! I was astounded when I read that! The woman who wrote that had two horrific natural births and one with an epidural. And of course since her experience is the definitive word on what is possible in birth, that's the end of that discussion.

One person commented on how gross it was for the child to grow up thinking their birth was enjoyable for their mother. Yeah, so much better for a child's psyche to grow up being told your birth was the worst possible, tortuous thing your mother ever endured.

The same person who said feeling nothing is better than feeling pleasure also commented on the segment regarding home-birth, saying that women who give birth at home are selfish and ignorant because hospitals are so much safer. Another echoed that, saying that her baby was born not breathing and would have died if born at home.

There were others who were concerned that the segment implied that homebirth equals unassisted birth. I didn't come away with that perception, but the title was misleading. It read, "Mothers-to-be saying no to modern medicine" which is not the case at all. Giving birth at home does not mean that a woman wouldn't transport if a complication arose. Choosing to birth at home does not mean that a woman (or her family) doesn't believe in modern medicine, or even that she does not take prenatal care seriously. It simply means that she understands that hospitals are for the sick and injured, we go there when we get sick or hurt, and birth is neither an illness nor injury.

In any case, often when I tell people my daughter was born at home, I hear comments about how 'brave' I was, followed by some dire birth emergency someone narrowly averted only through the quick action of the doctor.

"The cord was wrapped around my baby's neck and he would have strangled if he was born at home." (Babies don't breathe though their windpipes yet, they don't strangle. If the cord is around the neck, as it was with my daughter, it's not such a big deal; we just unwrapped it.)

"My baby wasn't breathing! Without the doctor, my baby would be dead!" (Maybe. But maybe the mother took narcotics in labor which depress breathing efforts. Maybe the doctor immediately cut the cord instead of waiting for it to stop pulsing and the baby wasn't ready to breath, but now that his oxygen source has been cut off, he needs help.)

"My baby had a life-threatening infection! We needed to be in the hospital!" (OK, but consider this: a baby is immune to the germs in his own home, but is very vulnerable to the super germs in hospitals, especially if his gut is colonized with them instead of the good healthy bacteria from his mom, and the colostrum to fight the bad germs.)

"My baby was premature!" (If naturally premature, a legitimate reason to be in the hospital. If the baby or babies were removed early because of induction or surgery, intentionally--as is often the case with healthy twins--or unintentionally because the ultrasound was wrong, as it very often is, then the doctor/hospital created the disaster before they fixed it. This is of great concern to the March of Dimes, who is trying hard to prevent premature births. Reporting on this, the St. Louis Beacon points out in an article with a section titled: Early induction of labor and Cesarean sections

"Pregnancy is popularly spoken of as lasting nine months. Therefore, many women think term is at 36 weeks, when really normal term is between 39 and 40 weeks. They will schedule delivery at around 36 weeks at their or their physician's convenience, believing that the baby will be fine.

However, according to Dr. Dave Stamilio of Washington University, late preterm births are much riskier than full term births. These babies are 4-7 times more likely to have feeding difficulties, respiratory distress syndrome, temperature instability, or other medical conditions.

Physicians and hospitals should schedule deliveries only when the baby is determined to be full term by such standards as fetal lung maturity. At the symposium, one audience member suggested a public campaign emphasizing that the brain does most of its maturation in the final weeks of pregnancy. Publicists could point out that "the womb is the best bike helmet."" (Seltzer, J., 2008. St. Louis Beacon.)

People need to keep something in mind: an obstetrician, the most sued professional in the US, is not going to tell you he messed up but then he fixed it, even if that is indeed what happened. Most of what is considered 'routine' technology for birth in the US has been shown to be useless or harmful for healthy women and babies, so the chance that an emergency was created and not encountered are pretty good.

But there are a couple of reasons he won't tell you this. For one thing, he's trying to avoid being sued. In this litigious society, people sue doctors for things that aren't even their fault, so if something IS, why would they own up to that?

For another, if he can convince you that without him your baby would have died, you will adore him. Not only will you pick him as your caregiver next time, you will be convinced that anyone who doesn't do the same is crazy, and you'll say so on message boards whenever you hear about anyone who has made another choice. I'll give you an example. Just the other day I heard the 'reason' it was 'a good thing I was in the hospital' was because the birth was a 'dry birth', meaning the amniotic bag released some water. She knows this is a bad thing because her doctor told her so...even though there is no such thing as a 'dry birth', Amniotic fluid is continuously replenished as long as the mother is hydrated. You'd be surprised how often this particular one comes up, often with part of the story being that the doctor broke the water! In any case, the purpose of the amniotic fluid is NOT to 'lubricate' the birth canal. It is to protect the baby.

That is not to say that doctors don't save lives (because invariably, when anyone dares to say that doctors are human, someone else will insist that means to acknowledge it is obviously anti-doctor), but to say that people should do some research if they are going to comment on a subject.

Because here's the irony: homebirth couples typically do far more research about birth, both here and abroad, then the people who call them selfish and clueless. Ask a homebirth mom and she'll tell you about every risk and benefit of her decision, and back it up with statistics. She has a plan for every contingency, and she takes responsibility for her actions.

Ask a healthy mother off the street who is choosing to birth in a hospital where the US ranks in infant or maternal mortality. Ask her what the possible immediate and/or long-term affects of pitocin, or cytotec, or nubain, or stadol are. Ask her how accurate a late ultrasound is in evaluating 'due date' or fetal weight. Ask her what the effects of early separation are on her infant. She doesn't know or she wouldn't be there, unless she is taking a HypnoBirthing class (because we teach families how to effectively and respectfully communicate with caregivers who may be unfamiliar with natural birth, and support them in finding a better fit if that proves non-productive) or has a really special physician who practices evidence-based care.

Another women felt the need to remind those poor, selfish homebirth mothers (who I guarantee are more informed than she) that there is another person to consider here...the baby. Like they never thought of that. Homebirth mothers I know made their decision to birth at home BECAUSE it's not only safer for baby, (for I'm sure the commenter knows that 41 countries have better infant mortality rates than the US and they all include midwives and homebirth as options for safe maternity care) but far less traumatic for baby. She stated that if 'one baby' was saved by being born in the hospital, it should be standard of care. Using that logic, I wonder if her stance would change if she considered that hundreds of babies die needlessly every year BECAUSE they were born in the hospital, due to some of the routine interventions mentioned above. Born in the USA: How a Broken Maternity System Must be Fixed to Put Women and Children First, by Marden Wagner, one of the doctors featured in Orgasmic Birth breaks it down to real numbers that represent real babies and moms.

I believe that everyone has the right to choose where and with whom they will birth. I just believe that they owe it to their baby to actually make truly informed decisions.

Cudos to ABC!

2008-12-12T12:27:00.004-06:00

I went to the 20/20 website to see when they will air the upcoming piece on Orgasmic Birth and what did I find? A bunch of great birth coverage!

Trying to Take Back Childbirth is an excellent expose' of the costs, both literal and figurative, of medical-ized birth, and there's another on homebirth, featuring Ricki Lake.

Another one on homebirth explores the financial and political motives of ACOG on the opposition to homebirth, and another examines the pros and cons of surgical deliveries pretty fairly. I was disappointed in that one only because they kept using breech birth as a reason babies needed to be born surgically. Sometimes they are, but vaginal breech birth, while the complication rate is roughly double that of a head-down vaginal birth, is no where near the 5 times greater maternal mortality rate associated with surgery, providing the circumstances are favorable. This means the caregiver must be familiar with assisting with a breech (most doctors are not these days) and the breech scoring criteria should be met. The article made it sound like it was always deadly in days when surgery was not the norm.

I was a breech baby born vaginally, and I assure you I'm not dead, nor am I mentally incapacitated...at least on most days.

It's nice to see so many great stories in mainstream media, but we have a ways to go before we can expect to see women urged to birth at home, as in Scotland, England and elsewhere.

Random acts of kindness...

2008-12-10T22:26:00.006-06:00

So, I'm at work, and I hear a woman say, "I can't help it; I'm crying" and employees saying, "Did you see that? That makes coming in today worth it."

What happened?

A very pregnant woman who was just talking to another customer about how her husband was 'downsized' into a lower paying position at just the most stressful time. (I mentioned she was about to pop, right?) She is approached by an elderly male customer who overheard her. He says, "Good luck with the new baby" and gives her $100 bill. When she gets over the shock of it and goes after him to say she can't possibly accept, he's gone.

Random acts of kindness. It make up for random acts of stinginess.

5 things more important than the 5 usual rules to avoid colds and flu

2008-11-21T15:13:00.019-06:00

From October until about March mainstream media will feature articles about keeping kids healthy during cold and flu season. The same tried and true advice is always the same, so let’s review:

1. Wash your hands! Bugs are everywhere, and teaching children to wash their hands often minimizes exposure.

2. Get plenty of rest. This is just common sense. We are more susceptible to lots of things when our bodies don’t get this time to rejuvenate. This rule of thumb could include minimizing stress, which for children means not making them go to school and daycare when they are sick.

3. Eat right. Again, this is common sense. If we don’t provide the building blocks of health through the food we eat, we make ourselves easy targets.

4. Stay home if you are sick! This includes keeping your kids home when they are sick. This does NOT mean sending them to daycare when they are too sick to go to school. It means keeping them home! Not only are they more comfortable and able to recuperate at home, it is not fair to spread their contagion to the other kids!

This particular rule as some add-ons:

If your child has been given a fever reducer, cough suppressant or other cold medication that suppresses symptoms, it does NOT mean they are better! It means their symptoms have been suppressed. They are still sick. They are still contagious. Do not take them out in public!

I have heard parents and co-workers justify being at work and school sick by saying it’s just unavoidable that stuff is ‘going around’. No, it’s not. Typhoid Mary used the same justification! Well, ok, she didn’t think she was sick either because she wasn’t symptomatic. She was a ‘healthy carrier’. However, see previous paragraph for the modern equivalent of people thinking they aren’t contagious just because they aren’t symptomatic.

In any case, she kept spreading Typhoid because she insisted on going to work. She left a wake of illness and death. Epidemics and pandemics spread because people do not think about those they might expose. If you are sick, stay home!

5. Avoid unnecessary antibiotics! I talk to a lot of parents, and I can’t believe, with everything we know about the dangers of the overuse of antibiotics, that parents are still being given antibiotics for colds, flu and ear infections. This topic is deserving of an entire article, it is just that important. In fact, there are several great articles on just antibiotics and childhood illness, so I’m linking to a few:

Holistic Pediatric Association

Dr. Greene

No antibiotics for ear infections (MSNBC)

Doctors are still over-prescribing antibiotics, even as campaigns are encouraging parents to refuse. Do your research and know when to say no.

Finally, a book that every parent must read is Healing Childhood Ear Infections: Prevention, home care and alternative treatment, Dr. Michael Schmidt

5 ways to boost immunity long before exposure to illness

What if hand-washing was the last line of defense in a long line of things you could do to optimize your child’s immune system and minimize disease? What if you could make choices throughout the childbearing year, before your baby is even born and immediately after, that would impact your child’s susceptibility later in life?

There are actually 5 things mothers have much more control over than the germs that may end up on their child’s hands. Make no mistake; some of this information has not been readily available, so it’s likely a large number of parents will not have had access to it in their decision-making process. For those parents, hand-washing and the other four rules are the best line of defense. The immune system continually identifies new pathogens so that they can be recognized later and a preemptive strike launched.

Parents who start out with the information to follow have an opportunity to get a head start, but those tips, like hand-washing, to minimize exposure are still important. But if one child can be spared the pain of one less ear infection, or one less parent must endure the helpless feeling of holding a feverish child one less time, then this article will have served its purpose.

Your child’s immune system

Step #1-Optimize your diet in pregnancy. If possible, consult with a nutritionist who is familiar with the Brewer Pregnancy Diet or at the very least educate yourself on proper pregnancy nutrition. Since the vast majority of pregnancy complications are directly or indirectly related to nutrition, by doing so you may just avoid a lot of other problems too! Prenatal vitamins are no substitution for feeding your baby good food every single day of your pregnancy.

A child’s immune system starts developing in the womb. What the mother eats--or doesn’t (Moore, 1998; ScienceDaily, 2004) while pregnant, and what she is exposed to(Hinterthuer,2007) can have long lasting effects on the health of the child. Mothers today may be told to gain more, or less, weight in pregnancy, but the importance of how they do so is rarely discussed. The standard American diet is filled with non-nutritive calories that not only do nothing to contribute to the health of the fetus, but in some cases actually contaminate the developmental process.

Step #2-Plan to have a natural birth.
There was a time when the way babies got in there and the way they got out was just assumed. If a woman needed surgery, obviously something had gone awry and either the life of the mother or child had been in jeopardy. Understanding that there is often a grieving process when the birth process is circumvented, people would reassure the mother by saying, “It doesn’t matter how the baby arrived, as long as he’s healthy.” In cases where the benefit of surgery outweighed the risk, that’s a comforting statement, because the alternative would be that the baby wouldn’t have arrived at all.

When narcotics became common in birth, mothers who refused them were asked, “Are you sure you don’t want us to help you out with a little something. Why be a martyr?” The implication being that there is no reason to have a natural a birth. There are many, many, benefits to a natural birth to both mother and baby. There are many reasons non-medically indicated inductions and cesareans cause problems later in a child’s life. It is no longer appropriate to tell mothers it doesn’t matter how the baby is born, because it does. Obviously, the mother who required intervention has bravely made a difficult decision, and we need to support her and applaud her courage. Putting decisions of convenience and life-or-death decisions in the same category does a disservice to everyone.

Non-medically indicated inductions (meaning the mother is tired of being pregnant, the doctor is leaving for vacation, or simply to fit the birth into a schedule) and elective cesareans, meaning women just don’t want to labor or birth, are a rising concern in iatrogenic (doctor caused) prematurity. (Fuchs, Wapner, 2006). Premature babies get sick more often (Sears, 2008), and this propensity can last into childhood. So Part A of Step 2 is to ensure your baby doesn’t arrive early, either by choice or by chance.

Use your pregnancy time to get as healthy as you’ve ever been, not as a time to “eat whatever I want since I’m going to be fat anyway and I can’t do this at any other time in my life.” I know from personal experience it's tempting. I spent more than 10 years of my life ruining my body with a diet cola and cigarettes in an attempt to stay thin. When I got pregnant people actually encouraged me to eat. Yea! Yes, I allowed myself to eat real food...and the junk I never allowed myself before, too. Don't do it!

But I digress.

Avoid inductions and scheduled cesareans unless they are truly medically indicated. Take an out-of-hospital childbirth class to learn your options. Take a HypnoBirthing® if you are afraid of pain in labor.

Part B of Step 2 is to avoid surgery. One reason for that is just because it increases the odds of prematurity, which we’ve discussed, but there are other reasons as well, one of which is that a natural birth colonizes the gut of the neonate with beneficial bacteria (Biasucci, Benenati, Morelli, Bessi & Boehm), which kick starts the immune system. If the baby is deprived of exposure to the mother’s bacteria through natural birth, they may also be at increased risk of asthma later in life. (Reuters)

Babies delivered surgically do not go through the tight squeeze of the birth canal that 'hugs' the baby and clears his lungs out and gets him ready to breathe, so cesarean born babies are more likely to have ‘wet lung’ which can lead to infection. The study on asthma didn’t mention it, but I’d have to wonder if this has anything to do with the increased risk of asthma, too.

Part C of Step 2 is related to part B: surgeries only take place in the hospital. Doctors are the third leading cause of death in the U.S. and hospital acquired infection I high on the list of reasons. (Leduc, 2002) Being in the hospital means babies are exposed to hospital germs while they are vulnerable, as are mothers. Any time they are cut…as in episiotomy as well as abdominally they are open to infection. Just say no to scalpels!

Part D of Step 2 is that induction and surgery both increase, if not insure, that there will be narcotics or ‘cain’ derivatives used, which is just one of dozens of birth interventions common in U.S. birth, both vaginal and surgical, that impair the ability to breastfeed. (Kroeger, 2006) This leads into another step in optimizing immune system function in your child, breastfeeding, but chronologically on our list of options, it isn’t next. That would be:

Step #3: Let your baby have his cord blood! The reason that cord blood is important is that it contains ‘stem cells’. These cells are important because they are adaptable and may be helpful in a number of medical advancements.

However, this adaptability becomes even more important if we consider that the placenta and the blood in it belong to the baby. There is roughly 100 ml of blood in the placenta and cord that is required to suffuse the brain, lungs and heart with oxygenated blood when fetal circulation switches over as the baby begins to breathe on his own, which is one reason why it is important NOT to cut the cord right away. The other reason has to do with the immune system, hence the relevancy to the matter at hand.

That blood contains stem cells that also belong to the baby. Those stem cells are meant to move into the bone morrow where white blood cells are made. Thus, stem cells are designed to help the immune system develop properly. If we cut the cord early, either because of antiquated protocol or to harvest stem cells for a possible future illness, are we creating those very illnesses? At the very least, we know we are hindering the baby’s natural immune responses. The question is for how long?

Step #4: Breastfeed your baby. Again, this is one of those topics that has been written about extensively because it is so incredibly important. I’ll just hit the basics here: bottle fed babies are five-times more likely to get sick; mother’s milk has at least 100 ingredients that artificial baby formula does not have, including live antibodies that are specific to pathogen exposure of each mother and baby.

In short, breastfeeding, perhaps more than any other decision here, lays the foundation for a baby’s fully functioning, healthy immune system. Without it, not only is your baby more vulnerable to illness as a baby, but this vulnerability last throughout a lifetime. (Jackson, Nazar, 2006) When mothers are trying to determine if they can take time off of work long enough to establish a strong breastfeeding relationship, they may want to consider how often they will need to take off work to tend to a sick child over the course of 18 years.

Step #5: Reconsider vaccines. I’m not talking about rejecting immunization altogether, but how we give them, and if every kid should get them. When we look at risk factors for certain populations, I think it is up to each parent to weigh the risks and benefits and make their own decisions.

Warning! Rant! It’s slightly off topic, but for those who advocate compulsory vaccination citing ‘herd immunity’, let me point out that while my child has only had antibiotics twice in 17 years, she is still at the same risk of contracting MRSA as everyone else because the vast majority of parents overuse antibiotics, which is what causes resistant strains of disease causing organisms. My kid is just as exposed as any other when parents insist on sending their kids to school and daycare sick. If I’m supposed to shoulder the risk of death to my child to preserve the health of other kids, their parents should at least be responsible enough to shoulder their fair share of the responsibility for keeping my kid disease free, which doesn’t even involve a possibility of death…just a day off work! That said, my kid IS vaccinated, but I chose to minimally expose her and spaced it very carefully, which IS on topic. End Rant

Vaccines suppress the immune system. When a vaccine is administered, the immune system gets busy identifying and attacking the new bug that’s been introduced to the system. While the system is busy doing that, it is less able to fight other things the host might be naturally exposed to. There is some question as to whether there is long-term damage to the immune system (Mercola) and that perhaps we aren’t trading minor childhood illnesses for major adult illnesses. We don’t know if it is the timing of the vaccination, the ingredients, or the number of vaccines administered that might contribute to the suspected problems.

After careful consideration, my husband and I came to a compromise we were comfortable with. We did not shoot a multitude of toxins into our newborn. She was breastfed and attachment parented for about the first two years, so she was minimally (and selectively) exposed to illness and protected through passive immunity (she was protected to everything I was exposed to since I made antibodies and she got them through my milk).

When she began riding her bike (and falling off) we got her a tetanus vaccination; singly, without diphtheria and pertusses components . Then we waited another 7 or 8 years until we figured her immune system was fairly mature, and got the rest. Part of the reason we decided to do it then was her father started to travel to places where certain diseases were more prevalent and we thought we may travel with him on occasion. Thus, the benefit outweighed the risk at that point, in our opinion. Also, she was in high school with college not far behind, soon to be exposed to who-knows-what.

I know someone who has lost a child to a vaccine reaction. For those who say they could never live with themselves if their child got a disease that has a vaccine, I have to say it breaks my heart to see sweet and loving parents who did what most parents do without a second thought living with the grief that it wasn’t a random illness that took their child, but a shot they approved. Still, they do not presume to tell any other parent what choice is right. They advocate exactly what I have: know your options; weigh the risks and the benefits as they exist for you and your child in your particular situation. I won't say I know how they feel, because I haven't lost a child. But I do have empathy and of course I have thought about how I would feel in both scenarios.

Rules in action

The reason I wrote this article is that someone requested I teach a class on how to naturally keep kids healthy. This person asked me to do so because of our unique story.

That said, here is how our experiences differed from the ‘norm’. Our daughter got sick, a cough and a cold, for the first time just before her first birthday. According to About.com: Pediatrics, it is “…normal [emphasis mine] for young children to have six to eight upper respiratory tract infections and two or three gastrointestinal infections each year.” I would estimate that is pretty much what I see with friends and family. However, I emphasized 'normal’ because I don't believe it is. I think it is ‘typical’ for kids to be sick that often, due to all the ways their immune systems are unintentionally sabotaged from before birth, but not normal in a child who has a normally functioning immune system...meaning as nature designed it to work.

My daughter got her first, and only, earache when she was just over two years old. She did not receive antibiotics. Many children have had so many ear infections by then they already have tubes in their ears, a practice which has recently been called in to question. Well, actually it was called into question before 1991 because I read about it then.

In her 17 years, my dau had antibiotics twice. Once, it probably wasn’t necessary and we made the decision simply because we were sleep deprived and desperate. She had just entered the germ-pool called ‘school’ and, because this is how the immune system works (ask any first year teacher who spends the first year sick) she got a new crud weekly for about the first two months until her immune system recognized the crud as old crud. The second time we agreed to antibiotics, it was necessary and I have no doubt. It was for a cut on her finger that became infected.

She had been prescribed amoxicillin at nearly every doctor’s visit, even "well-child" visits and the visit for a broken arm, (No doctor, it's not an ear infection, it's a freakin' broken ARM!) but I didn’t fill most of them. I knew that fluid in the ear did not equal an ear infection, and even when she did have a cold, that an antibiotic was not a cure-all. I filled a couple, figuring if she didn’t get better in a few days (or got worse) I’d give them, (the doctor refused my request to do a culture in the office) but she always got better. I finally got tired of fighting with that idiot and hired a smart doctor. By the way, not only is she not hearing impaired (unless you count selective hearing), her average composite score for her ACT, which she took when she was 12, was 2o; the average for high school juniors/seniors is 20. Obviously she didn’t suffer academically from fluid in the ear, and her speech is impeccable, if somewhat cheeky.

Throughout her childhood, she got sick once or twice a year. Once I found the smart doctor, I decided enough with the ‘well-child’ scam (since we were not on a vaccine schedule there wasn’t much of a point anymore and I got tired of being harassed by the nurses about my parenting decisions) I only took her in if she was sick enough for a visit, and once every couple of years just so they’d remember her. Although, I have to say, when I called to get her vaccinated when she was 13, they asked me if I was sure she was a patient there because they couldn’t find her file. She had been moved to the storage shed because it had been about 4 years since she’d been in I think. She just hadn’t been sick with more than a 24 hour bug or a cold in all that time.

The year after being vaccinated, she was sick all the time. By ‘all the time’ I’d say 6-8 times that year, maybe a little more. I won’t assume that’s because of the vaccine any more than I’d assume the tinnitus my husband’s experienced ever since he had to get shot up with a mystery soup of vaccines for a trip to China caused his misery. I do wonder, but either way, we made the decision, we live with the consequences.

Besides, there was a lot going on in her life that year. Then we had a pretty decent year or more, and now this year, she’s sick pretty often again. Maybe she’s making up for lost time. However, I will say, I’d rather tend to a sick teen than a baby or toddler who can’t tell me what hurts.

So that’s why my friend asked me to speak about keeping kids well naturally. We’ve done it, by luck or by design or a little of both, but everything I’ve outlined above I’ve done myself. In my daughter’s entire 17-year existence, she’s been sick less than most kids are in their first three years…and it’s primarily been in the last 3 years for her.

Eighteen years ago I began researching. I continued to research throughout my child’s life, to determine whether or not our decisions were still appropriate. I hope she continues to do so as she begins to make her own decisions.

It could be luck, and I know our one experience is purely anecdotal, but I believe these things have kept our daughter healthier than she might have otherwise been. I believe this because we made our decisions based on not just the research, but the experiences of parents who shared their stories of raising kids this way before us. We’ve never been perfect; we fed her organic originally, but eventually she found Taco Bell and we caved. And just like every other parent we hope that the decisions we’ve made don’t come back to bite us in the butt. However, if something should happen, we feel confident that we did the best we could with the research and resources we had.

Nature has carefully constructed an optimally functioning immune response. We certainly can remain reasonably healthy much of the time by following the first 5 guidelines put forth at the beginning of this article. However, if we know how to maximize the development of a healthy immune system from conception on with the last 5 decisions, we are way ahead of the game…and so are our children.

Archer, K., 2007. Childbirth: By convenience: More births are fit into schedule. Tulsa World. http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=070825_1_A1_World08150&allcom=1,1,1

Biasucci G, Benenati B, Morelli L, Bessi E, Boehm G. Cesarean delivery may affect the early biodiversity of intestinal bacteria. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18716189

Fuchs, K., Wapner, R. (2006) Elective cesarean section and induction and their impact on late preterm births. Clinics in perinatology, vol 33 (issue 4) : pp 793-801. United States. http://www.find-health-articles.com/rec_pub_17148005-elective-cesarean-section-induction-impact-late-preterm-births.htm

Jackson M, Nazar A. (2006). Breastfeeding, immune response and long-term health J Am Osteopath Assoc. 2006 Apr;106(4):181-2. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16627775

Hinterthuer, A., (2007). Flu-Fighting Fetuses. ScienceNOW Daily News. Retrieved November 6, 2008 from
http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2007/601/2

Kroeger, M., (2004). Impact of Birthing Practices on Breastfeeding: Protecting the mother and baby continuum. http://books.google.com/books?id=GJmt1XX3H-kC&dq=kroeger,+breastfeeding&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=oWgtSr27lW&sig=IYLN9fF1nH9GoIVAJUDxl8dRnw4&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result

Leduc, M., (2002).Healing Daily, http://www.healingdaily.com/Doctors-Are-The-Third-Leading-Cause-of-Death-in-the-US.htm

Mercola, (n.d.) Vaccine and Immune Suppression http://www.mercola.com/article/vaccines/immune_suppression.htm

Moore, S., (1998). Nutrition, immunity and the fetal and infant origins of disease hypothesis in developing countries. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society (1998), 57, 241-241.Retrieved November 6, 2008 from http://journals.cambridge.org/download.php?file=%2FPNS%2FPNS57_02%2FS0029665198000391a.pdf&code=bce5aeb25c2213cba239898b8d35813a

Reuters, (2008). Cesarean delivery may increase kids' asthma risk http://in.reuters.com/article/health/idINPAT36945620080703

ScienceDaily (2004). New Study Suggests Link Between Maternal Diet And Childhood Leukemia Risk. Retrieved November 6, 2008 from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/08/040824014510.htm

Sears, (2008). Immune system boosters. Parenting. http://www.parenting.com/article/Pregnancy/Health/Ask-Dr.-Sears-Immune-System-Boosters

Sears. Breastfeeding http://www.askdrsears.com/html/2/t020300.asp

Ontogeny of the immune system
http://jeeves.mmg.uci.edu/immunology/CoreNotes/Chap17.pdf

Guilt-Tripping Mothers

2008-11-21T09:39:00.005-06:00

I often hear that I can’t tell mothers about ecstatic birth because they might feel guilty if they don’t have one. Just a few blog posts ago, I wrote about the same argument being used regarding research about telling mothers that what they eat in pregnancy is important to the health of their babies later. Not just ‘you are what you eat’ but ‘your baby is built by what you eat’. The author of the article I mentioned saw that as blaming the mothers and objected.

So when I hear good parents being told, “If you had only [insert abc routine technology] then we could have done [xyz intervention] and you wouldn’t be here now.” It annoys me a little. No, it annoys me a lot. Especially when I little bad science is thrown in. I’ve known doctors, nurses, midwives, doulas, childbirth educators and lactation consultants all to be guilty of this. One couple who is very close to me intended to have a homebirth, but ended up in transport. The midwife then proceeded to criticize every recommendation that doctor made that the parents followed with comments akin to, “If you had only done what I said, you wouldn’t be here, and you shouldn’t do what he says because...” WTF?!

What is important is that the parents feel they’ve made their own best decisions. It is not the place for others to insert doubt. If the parents later wonder or question their decision, it is then appropriate to support them in their quest for answers. Part of our growth process is that we do wonder if we might have done something differently. It is still up to the parents to travel their own path to resolution without anyone else’s determination of what might have been right or wrong. As Maya Angelou says, “We do the best we can with what we have, and when we know better, we do better.”

The parents who come to my classes are loving, intelligent people. They research their options and make their choices, and sometimes the choices they make are to opt out of routine intervention and utilize appropriate technology only when it becomes appropriate to their situation. Saying,” If you had only…” is totally about placing blame and making parents feel bad so they ‘follow the rules’ next time. There is no other point to saying it. It doesn’t help in decision making in the moment, it doesn’t change the outcome…it just places blame.

One of these instances might be ultrasound. Some parents have done their homework and are fine with a medically indicated use of this technology, but not routine use. They’ve weighed the risks and the benefits and have determined that if the benefits outweigh the possible risks, certainly they would have one done. To later, after the fact and with hindsight being 20/20, say “You know, if you would have had an ultrasound we would have known this was going to happen and could have done something” is really not helpful.

Ultrasound is a great tool for a lot of things, like determining fetal lie if there is a question as to how the baby is positioned. Palpation is adequate for most cases because, well, babies move for one thing. Assuming the possible risks of ultrasound to tell you something that may or may not be the same tomorrow means the risks outweigh the benefits. IF palpation suggests a fetal position that might be corrected, then the benefits may outweigh the risks. But palpation is accurate more than 85% of the time, so to say afterward, if this baby is one of the other 15% (or if this baby has moved INTO a breech position after correct assessment via palpation...and how would one know that?) is just not helpful.

In other cases, ultrasound is just notoriously inaccurate, like in determining a baby’s size (accurate only to TWO POUNDS in either direction) or gestation (accurate to within TWO WEEKS in either direction-yes a month time span). I hear women all the time saying “Well, my due date changed again” after an ultrasound, to which I ask, “How many times did your conception date change?” Due dates don’t change! Babies come out when they are ready, and not all of them will be at 40 weeks.

In fact that is another pet peeve…women being told that such-and-such happened because they were ‘overdue’ when in fact they have not even reached 42 weeks. NORMAL HUMAN GESTATION IS BETWEEN 38 WEEKS AND 42 WEEKS. Babies that come at 38 weeks are not early; they are right on time. Babies that come after 40 weeks but before 42 weeks are not late. They are right on time. 40 WEEKS IS JUST AN AVERAGE. Less than 5% of babies will come exactly on their “due date.”

In a study of 56,317 women, it was determined that there is no advantage to inducing labor before 42 weeks, and in fact, inductions at 41 weeks increased complication rates. (Alexander, McIntire, Leveno, 2000) Notice that the date on that study is 2000 when many women were being induced at 41 weeks; now women are being induced at 40, 39, 38 and even 37 weeks. This is such a problem in our nation’s failing grade on premature birth, that review of this practice is one of the solutions to reducing prematurity from the March of Dimes. (Medical News Today, 2008)

The worst case mother guilt-tripping I think I’ve heard is the doctor who, while walking beside his patient on the way to OR for a cesarean due to a placental abruption said to her, “See, I told you; you should have quit smoking.”

Sure, everyone knows you shouldn’t smoke while pregnant, and yes, he had told her that. But a) he didn’t tell her what the complications might be…just that it causes small babies, which many mothers do not understand means oxygen deprivation and placenta malformation and b) even if he had told her, she didn’t quit. What exactly was the point in telling her, essentially, ‘this is all your fault’ on the way to the OR when she’s scared and uncertain as to whether she or her baby would even survive?

Which brings me back to my original point: there is no point beyond making women feel guilty about something they cannot change. The only reason to say stupid things like this is to make them compliant little patients the next time around.

Alexander J, McIntire D, Leveno K, (2000). Forty weeks and beyond: pregnancy outcomes by week of gestation. Obstet Gynecol. 2000 Aug;96(2):291-4. Retrieved November 21, 2008 from http://www.greenjournal.org/cgi/content/full/96/2/291

Medical News Today, (2008). March Of Dimes Releases Premature Birth Report Card For US: Nation Gets A 'D'. Retrieved November 21, 2008 from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/129225.php

Sheri Menelli Needs Your Birth Story!

2008-11-13T09:41:00.000-06:00

http://smenelli.wordpress.com

Neurophysiology of the Childbearing Year: Maternal and Infant Responses

2008-11-03T09:47:00.007-06:00

Considering the importance of the changes taking place in the brain during the childbearing year in both mother and baby, it would make sense that we would thoroughly understand the implications of the disruption of those natural processes and further, that we would avoid such disruption if at all possible.

Obviously, if there is a medical need for a life-saving intervention, disruption is unavoidable. In such cases, there are ways to lessen the severity of problems arising from such a disturbance. However, here I wish to address nature’s plan for a smooth transition, and the routine (thus avoidable) ways in which such a plan is often thwarted.

With 93% of women reporting routine interruption of labor through electronic fetal monitoring that keeps them strapped to the bed, (Lothian, 2003) and 34% of women undergoing surgical birth (ibid.) despite the World Health Organization’s admonitions that cesarean rates should not exceed 12-15%, (Wagner, 2006) we really need to explore the ramifications of such routine use of technology.

In 1983, Dr. Thomas Verny founded the Association for Prenatal & Perinatal Psychology and Health (APPPAH) to examine the possible repercussions of such meddling. Verny, author of The Secret Life of the Unborn Child, suspected that babies were conscious beings even before birth. It had long been assumed that babies were born ‘empty vessels’ so to speak; they didn’t think or even feel pain. David Chamberlain, a Boston psychologist and co-founder of the APPPAH explains in Babies don’t Feel Pain: A Century of Denial in Medicine that this determination may have come about because the early experiments (sticking babies with pins) were done on babies whose mothers had been anesthetized during birth. Because the babies were also anesthetized, having received the same dose of medication as their mother, it stands to reason that the babies would not react to painful stimuli. However, the researchers instead concluded that babies don’t feel pain, reinforcing the pervading belief that what happens to them during birth is simply not important.

However, Chamberlain and Verny weren’t buying it. Nor were Dr. Michael Odent, Joseph Chilton Pearce, Dr. Fredrick Wirth or others.

In The Biology of Transcendence: A Blueprint of the Human Spirit, Joseph Chilton Pearce explains that human fetal brain growth follows the pattern of other mammalian species:

“If a pregnant animal is subjected to a hostile, competitive, anxiety-producing environment, she will give birth to an infant with an enlarged hindbrain, and enlarged body and musculature, and a reduced forebrain. The opposite is equally true: If the mother is in a secure, harmonious, stress-free, nurturing environment during gestation, she will produce an infant with an enlarged forebrain, reduced hindbrain, and smaller body.” (Pearce, 2002. Pp. 115)

If babies have perceptions, and their brains are being shaped before birth (Wirth, 2001) through the experiences of the mother, some thinking people began to wonder how the birth process might affect brain growth. Again using what was known about other mammalian parturition, some postulated that if interruption of the natural processes of birth and natural infant feeding had detrimental consequences in other species, perhaps it did in human babies. And if that was so, then perhaps human mammalian mothers also suffered in some way. Nearly a century after routine medical interventions were introduced into birth, researchers finally started to wonder if we were creating problems for mothers as well as babies and if so, how?
For instance, beginning with the onset of labor, we know that 41% of women participating in the 2006 Listening to Mothers Survey began their labors medically induced. (Declercq, Skala, Corry, & Applebaum, 2006.) Eighty percent of those inductions were chemically induced with Pitocin, an artificial form of oxytocin. (ibid.)

There are many possible ramifications of the introduction of pitocin. The artificial substance does attach to chemical receptors in the uterus, therefore it does cause uterine contractions. However, it does not cross the blood-brain barrier, so it does not act exactly like naturally produced oxytocin, nor does it pair with other neurotransmitters to change behavior like naturally occurring oxytocin does. It seems it may also ‘take up’ receptor sites for endorphins, thus not only creating pain, but blocking the body’s own response to lessen pain.

To see how this impacts the physical process of birth first, it might be helpful to explain that current obstetrical practice encourages ‘active management’ of the third stage of birth. ‘Third stage’ is the final part of birth wherein the placenta is birthed. ‘Active management’ includes administration of pitocin, early cord clamping, and cord traction to ‘guide’ the placenta out. The rationale behind active management is that it reduces bleeding, which is the primary concern of third stage. Of course it would be if the hypothalamus was no longer making oxytocin because the brain wasn’t getting the message to produce. Thus at least 41% of women are being ‘managed’ in such a way as to interrupt the bonding process-oxytocin has been called the ‘love hormone’, and when paired with prolactin facilitates motherly love (Fisher, n.d.)-denying the baby about 100 ml of blood that he or she needs to perfuse his or her vital organs, not because third stage is dangerous, but because first stage (labor) has been meddled with. If we keep in mind that if pitocin is administered not only during inductions, but augmentation of labor (to make labor go faster), that number of mother-baby pairs impacted would be far higher.

Karen Strange, Certified Professional Midwife and Neonatal Resuscitation instructor explained during a HypnoBirthing® Conclave presentation this author personally attended (October, 2008) that undisturbed, the immediate period following birth is when the baby’s brain gets the message to ‘fire and wire’. It is the surge of oxytocin, along with beta-endorphin release and prolactin that help the mother and baby to fall deeply and immediately in love. Prolactin optimizes brain growth and according to Dr. Sara Buckley is important in neuroendocrine development in the growing baby, (Buckley, 2005) which she feels maybe be why breastfed babies have higher IQs and is reason to breastfeed as long as the baby’s brain continues rapid development; usually 2 or 3 years. Alarmingly, she also shares Dr. Michel Odent’s observations that:

“…the functioning of the oxytocin system, which is still developing in the baby at the time of birth, reflects our ability to love ourselves and others. Odent has suggested that many of our society’s problems-our current epidemics of drug addiction and teenage suicide, for example-may be traced back to the widespread and unprecedented interference with the oxytocin system of mothers and babies at birth.” (Buckley, 2005. Pp. 17)

While the possible implications of the disruption of the natural process is staggering from the perspective of the child, mothers suffer as well. Buckley discusses this in Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering as manifesting in a number of different ways, such as increased incidences of postpartum depression. Mary Kroeger, in Impact of Breastfeeding: Protecting the Mother and Baby Continuum notes that most breastfeeding difficulties originate with routine birthing interventions. She devotes each chapter to common interventions and explains exactly how it disrupts the breastfeeding experience. Considering what we now know about the many ways in which breastfeeding encourages brain growth, separate and apart from the 100 or more ingredients found in mother’s milk that are not found in formula, (Williams & Stehlin, n.d.) anything that causes problems in breastfeeding should be avoided.

Neurological damage isn’t the only issue with alterations in natural birth and breastfeeding patterns. Nature has fine tuned the transition from womb to world so delicately that even our immune systems develop and function sub-optimally if the process is disturbed. (Penders, Thijs, Vink, Stelma, Snijders & Kummeling, et al., 2006). But even if our brains are the only thing effected by the casual disregard for natural birth and breastfeeding so prevalent today, isn’t that enough? If maternal and infant behavior is predicated on a hormonal cocktail entitlement that few receive, which the research suggests it is, (Russel, 2007) shouldn’t we be basing maternity care practices on said research? Shouldn’t there be some requirement to show that any non-medically indicated interventions are safe and effective? Because according to A Guide to Effective Care in Pregnancy and Birth, available in its entirety for free at ChilbirthConnection.com, much of what is done to women and babies routinely has not only been shown to be ineffective, but is dangerous as well. This conclusion is supported by the fact that infant and maternal outcomes have worsened, not improved as most might think, as routine use of technology has increased. (Wagner, 2006)

What we know is just the tip of the iceberg. Shouldn’t we be trying to understand if attachment disorders in children, postpartum depression in mothers, child neglect, abuse and abandonment, or learning disorders might stem from the needless interruption of the birthing process? Wouldn’t it be less expensive and easier to minimize the number of mothers and babies suffering by not messing with the hard-wiring taking place at the time of birth instead of trying to fix what’s broken later? Shouldn’t we at least be willing to consider that nature has a plan that usually works, and intervene only when it doesn’t?

Perhaps with the 30 years of research regarding the symbiotic relationship between mother and baby in the childbearing year we have thus far, we should implement protocols that protect that delicate balance and bring the ecstasy back to birth.
Fortunately, there is hope on the horizon. While evidence-based maternity care is still just an ideal we strive towards, there are people working diligently to inform parents of the weight of their pregnancy and birthing decisions. Debbie Takikawa produced What Babies Want, a documentary that features many of the experts mentioned here. Debra Pascali-Bonaro and Kris Liem just released Orgasmic Birth: The Best Kept Secret, a phenomenal DVD, while Elena Tonetti-Vladimirova lectures world-wide on the concepts laid out in her educational DVD Birth As We Know It. All of these works take the scientific evidence and distill it into language that speaks to the hearts of parents. These are hopeful reminders that we can get back what has been lost, and heal what has been harmed…if we only choose to listen.

Resources

APPPAH, (2009). Association of Prenatal & Perinatal Psychology and Health website, retrieved Oct 1, 2008 from http://www.birthpsychology.com/

Buckley, S. (2005). Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering. One Moon Press. Australia.

Chamberlain. D., (2005). Babies don’t feel pain: A century of denial in medicine. Retrieved October 6, 2008 from http://www.terrylarimore.com/BabiesAndPain.html

Declercq, E.R., Skala, C., Corry, M.P., Applebaum, S., (2006). Listening to
mothers II: Report of the first national U.S. survey of women’s childbearing experiences. Maternity Center Association, New York. Retrieved October 11, 200 from
http://www.childbirthconnection.org/article.asp?ck=10397

Fisher, D., (n.d.) Falling in love: The chemistry of the first breastfeed. Retrieved October 4,2008 from www.breast-feeding-information.com/the-chemistry-of-the-first-
breastfeed.php

Kroeger, M., (2004). Impact of Birthing practices on breastfeeding: Protecting the mother baby continuum. Jones and Bartlett, Massachusetts.

Lothian J., (2003). Listening to mothers—The first national U.S. survey of women's childbearing experiences. Journal of Perinatal Education, 12(1).

Pearce, J., (2002). The Biology of Transcendence: A Blueprint of the Human Spirit. Park Street Press. Rochester, Vermont.

Penders, J., Thijs, C., Vink, C., Stelma, F. F., Snijders, B., & Kummeling, I., et al. (2006). Factors influencing the composition of the intestinal microbiota in early infancy. Pediatrics, 118(2), 511–521.

Russell, J., (2007). The maternal Brain. British Society for Neuroendocrinology. Retrieved October 12, 2008 from http://www.neuroendo.org.uk/content/view/23/11/

Verny, T., (1981). The secret life of the unborn child. Summit Books, New York.
Wagner, M., (2006). Born in the USA: How a broken maternity system bust be fixed to put women and children first. University of California Press, Berkeley.

Williams, R., Stehlin, I., (n.d.) Breast Milk or Formula: Making the Right Choice for Your Baby. Retrieved October 10, 2008 from http://www.fda.gov/fdac/reprints/breastfed.html

Wirth, F., (2001). Prenatal Parenting. Regan Books/Harper Collins. New York.

Personal Moment

2008-10-28T08:01:00.002-05:00

There's been a lot in the news lately that relates to birthing, breastfeeding, moms and babies, but I haven't been home long enough (without other more pressing needs to attend to, like school) to blog on these.

However, right here I want to take a moment, before I have to leave yet again, to brag about my family.

My daughter sold her first photograph. She is a fabulous photographer already (at 17) and I know she will be selling many more, but this was her first and it was a big deal. Thanks, Ashly, for supporting her work!

Next, my husband was just notified that he passed his (hugely difficult) test to be designated a Six Sigma Black Belt. This is a big deal! When we married, he was a laborer on a factory floor. While supporting our family, solely after our only child was born, he worked his way through college. He's currently very near completion of his Master's. Anyone who has been through college knows how hard it is to take on a full course load, work a full-time job, and still make time to maintain the relationships that make for a strong family. He's done all that. This year we celebrated 23 years together.

So, I just wanted to make this non-birth related announcement because I'm very proud of my husband and child, and wanted everyone to know how great they are!!!

Angelina's Controversial Breasts

2008-10-11T09:20:00.004-05:00

Sometimes I just can't believe what people choose to complain about.

Angelina Jolie's breasts are fine for public viewing unless they are being useful? Jolie has a fabulous body that she works hard to maintain. I don't blame her for showing it off a bit, and I don't blame people for admiring it. But of all the sexy images of Jolie, I think the absolute most stunningly beautiful one I've seen yet is the one that is currently causing controversy, and that could be the cover of W magazine with Jolie breastfeeding one of her twins.

It is a gorgeous photo that her husband took. In it, there is less visible breast than I've seen here or here. It is obviously not a sexy photo, but one in which mom is flooded with oxytocin and prolactin; mothering hormones. Just look at the serenity in her face!

People, this is the intended use for breasts! Whether you believe God (Goddess/All that Is) put them there, or that we evolved just like all other mammals (mammary glands/breasts=mammal) the human female body makes the perfect food for new human babies; always warm, always sterile, never needs mixing, highly portable, safe (and attractive )container and best of all FREE.

And this is controversial?

Blaming Mothers?

2008-10-10T13:41:00.007-05:00

Today Slate Posted an article titled Womb Raider: Do Future Health Problems Begin During Gestation?

There are a few things that amaze me about this article. The first is that it took so long for such research to be done. The second is that such research should need to be done at all. The body that that the baby will have for his or her entire life is built from two single cells that come from the mother and father. Every single thing that a mother eats, drinks, smokes and thinks builds that body on a daily basis. How anyone could think otherwise seems ludicrous to me when there is so much research out there. I just attended a conference where we were shown how the baby reacts (via ultrasound) when mother and father fight, and it should come as no surprise that it stresses the babies out!

The Association for Prenatal & Perinatal Psychology & Health has been looking at the impact of maternal hormones and lifestyle choices on the fetus and newborn since 1983. In Birth As We Know It Elena Tonetti-Vladimirova explains this as being immersed, quite literally, in the mother's 'juices'. She speaks to the limbic imprinting that is taking place during birth and immediately after, as does What Babies Want and Orgasmic Birth. Sarah Buckley explains the physiology of ecstatic birth (and why it is important to both mothers and babies) in Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering. Likewise, Dr. Micheal Odent has been doing research for over 20 years. Dr. Fred Wirth took complicated information on 'fetal brain architecture' and made it understandable in Prenatal Parenting.

Besides all of that, it just makes sense for crying out loud!

So, this article was specifically about whether or not a mother's weight gain in pregnancy had anything to do with later obesity in the child. It did, says the study. However, some questions I would ask (that were not addressed in the abstract, which is all I had access to) might be: Did the women gain weight eating a healthy diet or a diet high in empty calories (like sugar)? Did the mothers breastfeed? What was the child's diet like in the 3 years that they were followed?(Wait! they are thinking of recommending that mothers gain less weight in pregnancy based on the prediction...after only three years of observation...that these kids will be fat adults?!)

Besides the study being poorly done, from what I could see, there is the reaction by the Slate author. He says that this information has a 'blame-the-victim' quality. I guess I see it more as a call to better educate and support mothers. How can we help mothers and babies enjoy their journey more if we don't tell them how current choices impact future outcomes? How can we create programs to support under-served populations if we don't acknowledge that there is a problem that has a solution? He says,

"That impulse is understandable. It's easier—for parents, doctors, educators—to say an obese toddler has a slow metabolism than to teach the family better eating and exercise habits."

I guess what I don't understand how telling a mother she needs to eat better and exercise more in pregnancy is any different than tell her she needs to make sure her kid eats well and exercises. Either way, isn't the mother blamed (by the logic of the Slate author)? She's a bad mother if she lets her get fat by eating junk and playing video games, or she's a bad mother if SHE eats junk food and plays video games. The difference, as I see it, is that IF there MIGHT be a correlation between how them other takes care of herself in pregnancy and the predispositions the baby may have, we can prevent those issues by educating her early. Oh, and in the process nearly eliminate pre-eclampsia and pre-term birth, since those are nutritionally based problems as well.

Of course what our babies are exposed to while they are being built has future implications. Of course how they are birthed and handled immediately after birth matters. How could it not? When are we going to start making the changes that will allow mothers and babies to optimize the gifts nature provided to make the transition to the outside world smoother, instead of denouncing the research as guilt inducing?

HypnoBirthing Conclave

2008-10-08T12:08:00.003-05:00

Here I document the ever eventful adventures of...well...me.

First of all, I'll state outright that I hate traveling alone. I’m also not overly enamored with pre-dawn morning. Or, if you want to look at the glass as have full, I love sleep. Either way, this adventure started at 2:45 am on Thursday night, er…Friday morning. (It was dark. There were stars. In my opinion, it was still technically the night before.)

Now, originally my husband and I were going to fly together. We determined that was going to be too expensive. Then, we were going to drive. But it was going to require too much time off from work for him, and it really wouldn’t be less expensive with that time and gas as high as it is. So, off I go to TX.

Yes, it is my business trip, my CEUs, my commitment to make a presentation. Really, he goes spelunking while I’m working and keeps me on track when he gets back to the hotel. He books the trip details; he makes sure I get from point A to point B, etc. I CAN do it all myself. I just prefer it when he is my personal assistant. :-)

Despite all that, I arrived without incident; no TSA hassles, my flights were all on time, and I made it to my seat before take off at my connection. (Please notice that all probable issues relate to commercial air flight. I’m starting to wonder if it wouldn’t just be easier to either get a pilot’s license or get rich enough to hire private planes.) I also didn’t sit trapped in metal tube on a runway with someone hacking up a lung, making it obvious that I was breathing contamination, so that was nice.

When I got to the airport, my worries about the next leg (my anxiety revolves around getting lost in big cities) were totally put to rest because Heather Hilton and her merry band of kidlets came to my rescue! How better to start the weekend than to meet 5 wonderful children (who were absolute angels!) and see Heather (likewise an absolute angel, as well as wonderful midwife and friend) again, knowing that I didn’t have to find the right shuttle, wonder if a cab was clocking extra miles, banking on my ignorance, worrying about getting lost, or that we’d actually get to the right hotel of a similar name. If you can’t tell, none of my fears are irrational. They are things that have happened to me, usually while alone. (I know, I know…I need to change some belief pattern and stop manifesting this stuff.)Or as a guy I know would say, "Tap on it!" (He knows who he is.)

Heather got me to the hotel and I finally relaxed a bit. Well, to be honest, I fell asleep. I did say this journey began in the middle of the night, right? I later went downstairs to join the festivities.

It was so nice to see so many familiar faces! It was nice to meet new practitioners too, to be sure, but this year especially, since a beloved practitioner’s passing, it was good to see people who have been around since I started attending these things in 2003.

The conclave team did a great job. Thank you so much for those of you who worked so hard to make this happen! The workshop selections were wonderful. I think I learned more at this conference than any past HypnoBirthing® conference.

Friday night we had a lovely reception, followed by a viewing of Orgasmic Birth by Debra Pascali-Bonaro (www.orgasmicbirth.com). It was phenomenal! I heard people saying it was too long, and indeed some people got up and left. Considering the content was so amazing, I’d have to guess they left not because they didn’t like it, but because their butts were tired of sitting, after a day of travel for most of us. I’ll have to watch it again when I’m not whipped and see. In any case, it is a must see! (Review to come.)

The conference kicked off with a presentation by Karen Strange, who is a dynamic speaker. Her presentation was Birth’s Perfect Design. There was so much in this presentation that it was almost too much to take in, but Karen’s personal style kept us engaged. I was especially interested in the Neonatal Transitional Physiology. She explained how and why the placenta, cord and blood therein belong to the baby, and why disruption of the birth sequence, including the birthing of the placenta and the initiating of breastfeeding which completes the sequence, are detrimental to baby. She also went into great detail in explaining how neural pathways are created through those first few moments after birth. She explained that it causes the brain to ‘fire and wire’ and that the first latch is more than just feeding, it is ‘brain wiring’. I now know what I want to research for my psychology class!

I didn’t attend anything in the next session, as I was presenting something myself, but Pat Sonnenstuhl , CNM did a presentation on Sexuality in Pregnancy and Birth that I would have attended if I could, so she shared her notes and handouts with me.

My presentation went well I think. At least I got decent feedback. I was excited about the topic anyway, so if that ignited others about the reaching more people, I’m happy. Half the workshop was a primer on communication with different ‘publics’ and what we need to know about them to expand our influence. Included was a tiny bit about how different audiences process information, which I’ve written about here on the blog before, so I won’t go into it again. Suffice it to say when you get a room full of 25 or 30 bright people and toss out an idea, the idea grows into something incredible. I expect we all left that room with some ways we might bring HypnoBirthing further into the mainstream, particularly how we might benefit from the influence of HR departments trying to cut costs in the area of health care.

I was pulled up short by one attendee who pointed out that none of we covered in the second half was applicable to her, since she was from the UK and their PR problem would be completely different. She was absolutely right. I didn’t even think about the fact that this was an international conference. We had people from Ireland, Canada, the UK, Singapore, India, and I don’t even know where else. I know at past conferences Mexico, France and Australia have been represented. In any case, shame on me for not thinking about that. I’ll have to learn more about how maternity care works in other countries to see if I can have a wider perspective at the next conclave.

I then attended a workshop on Rapid and Non-verbal Hypnotic Leads with Teresa Van Zeller and it was GREAT! I am so excited to put these techniques into practice!

The dinner Saturday was good, topped off with chocolate decadence. The entertainment was not something I was into, but everyone else seemed to be having a good time. I could have been tired, or it just wasn’t my thing. I don’t know. I only stayed because there was an East Indian group prayer for Mickey and Gene (the founder of HypnoBirthing and her husband) that I felt was important and wanted to attend.

Sunday was a busy day. I had planned to start out my morning with Laura Shanley’s presentation on unassisted birth. I’ve spoken with her online and really wanted to meet her, but I got caught up in something else and didn’t make it.

I did get to Diana Durocher’s class on Endorphin Production for an Orgasmic Birth. I actually had heard enough about orgasmic birth by this time, but I love Diana! She’s so smart and funny I just had to attend her session. There will be at least one line from her presentation that will be pilfered (and she has approved said pilfering) with attribution.

My next session was with Jackie Foskett on how to get HB into hospitals. I think some people had expectations for this presentation that were other than the presenter intended, if some of the questions and comments I heard were any indication. Jackie’s presentation and notes were quite detailed, and I would think quite successful in getting into a hospital to teach…if the hospitals were ready to invite HypnoBirthing in. I think some people wanted to know how to break a sort of invisible barrier that keeps administrators from seeing HypnoBirthing as valuable to their clientèle and the bottom line (which of course it is to both). Jackie was clear that if that barrier exists, it simply isn’t the right time to approach the institution.

I retreated to my room after that last session. As an introvert, I charge my batteries by being alone, or surrounded by a known environment. I didn’t have my husband, my knitting (because my sock needles are so obviously a terrorist threat) or a known environment, so I had to get time alone to breathe whenever I could. That time was limited from Friday night until Sunday afternoon. When I did get to my room Sunday evening, I sort of cocooned and tried to absorb all that had come at me over the weekend.

Unfortunately, as nice as the public areas of the hotel (Double Tree Hotel in Austin, TX) were, spending more time in my room only made me realize the filth I'd been sleeping in. The room was disgusting. I had noticed it wasn't very clean right away. At first I thought I was just being nit-picky at the peeling plaster and stickiness on the baseboards. So what if the bed didn’t have that nice bleach crispness; I pulled back the sheets, and the only nastiness was on the comforter, which is typical. Gross, but typical. (Sometimes I can’t stop myself from watching those investigative reports on Dateline even when I know the information is going to creep me out.) I didn’t flip the mattress, but also didn’t see obvious signs of bed bugs either, so I just made ‘you have a strong immune system’ my mantra and reminded myself that I wasn’t camping with the scorpions and I did have a hot shower. I didn’t want to complain and have housekeeping clean the toilet with my toothbrush or something. (I also rarely return food to the kitchen for fear someone will spit in it. Perhaps that’s too much information about my paranoia? I’ve worked in restaurants. Believe me, it’s not paranoia.)

When I had first arrived at this room, I noticed a snag in the carpet…or so I thought. On the last night (after my room had been ‘cleaned’) I realized, that wasn’t a snag in the carpet; it was a small pile of what could have been omelet (maybe…I didn’t dare get too close to inspect) that just happened to be the same color as that part of the carpet. Knowing that the room couldn’t possibly have been even vacuumed the entire time I’d been there, despite having been ‘serviced’ made me wonder when the last time it HAD might have been. I remembered the muddy footprint my foot made on the floor-towel after walking through some water I dripped on the tile in the bathroom the day before. At the time, I didn’t think about it, but I had shoes on the entire time I’d been out of the room. Any dirt on my bare feet had to have come from walking around in the room. I called my husband just to share the ‘ick’ factor, and of course he told me to change rooms, but considering I was leaving the next morning, I just checked the bedding more closely and packed. I didn’t sleep well that night though.

All in all, the conference made it all worthwhile. It really was that great. For any HypnoBirthing instructor who hasn’t made it to a conclave yet, you really must go. So much work goes into providing us all with the opportunity to share and grow and better serve our communities! It is a wonderful place to take your teacher training because you get to meet experienced practitioners and immediately learn about how to make the most of your new practice. You leave feeling so energized and ready to go out and share the wonders of HypnoBirthing with everyone you meet!

Dog Food Recall

2008-10-08T06:09:00.006-05:00

I have wonderful stuff to share from the HypnoBirthing(R) conference I just returned from, but this post is more urgent.

About three weeks ago, our dog started doing weird stuff, like she wouldn't walk with us. She'd stop after a block and plunk her butt down and refuse to continue. She's got a bit of an attitude, so while it was odd, it was within the realm of her personality to be uppity.

She began itching incessantly. She's had allergies before, so we did what our vet had said to do before and gave her Benydryl, but it didn't seem to help. Ultimately, it was another expensive vet bill to get a stronger anti-histamine and an antibiotic so the spots raw from itching didn't get infected. The vet said at that time she seemed to look great other than that.

Next, she had the runs, and she vomited a couple of times, not long after, but she also often does that. She's had intestinal issues since we brought her home from the pound, and anything from emotional upset to snarfing something up in the yard can set it off. Honestly, she would have been dead along time ago if we weren't constantly pulling garbage out of her mouth. So, again, we didn't worry too much.

But then she had a day and night of A LOT of vomiting, this time bile, and she didn't look so good. Not connecting all of the stuff that had happened in the last week or two (because remember, this dog has issues and none of any of that was abnormal, taken alone...and we've spent more money on vet visits for this dog than we did in 10 years with our pure bred German Shepard and we've learned to recognize and deal with the issues)we figured it was a doggie bug of some sort, so we stayed up with her most of the night and fed her ice cubes to keep her hydrated and hoped she would make it to morning for another vet visit.

I left for the conference the next day. My husband kept an eye on the dog. He cooked chicken and rice for her all weekend, and gave her plain yogurt periodically, but she didn't eat or drink much. This is diet usually snaps her out of it when she gets sick. And he said it did help a little , but still, she's not herself and there are times when she seems to be in pain. It is at this point we finally start to wonder if this isn't just the 'usual' pain in the butt stuff, but if she is really sick. The last few weeks start to connect and look like one symptom picture instead of a bunch of typical days in life with Dharma. As I'm telling this to my aunt, she suggests it might be Dharma's food. Now, we bought Nurto food because she had problems with wheat, and she's eaten this food since she was a baby because anything else makes her soooooo sick. But my aunt tells me there is a dog food recall and suggests I check it out. I do.

It is then I find this:

Dog Food Recall

and this:

Dogs and cats getting sick and dying on Nutro

With this in front of me and in hindsight, it is now easy to see what is wrong with my poor dog!

I hope we caught it in time. Some of these people spent thousands in vet bills and still lost their precious friends because it seems there's nothing to do but stop the continuing damage and try to reverse the damage that's already been done.

We are now cooking for our dog. I looked up proper proportions (40% lean meat, 30% veggie, 30% starch) and we are feeding her the homemade stuff. However, last night, she was up puking again, and then again this morning. She hadn't for a few days, but then again, she wasn't eating or drinking much.

If we caught this in time, we could be on a slow road to recovery. Otherwise we are just keeping her comfortable and less hungry while she walks the green mile. People with pets, if they are acting funny, think about contaminated dog food before anything else! If Dharma wasn't such a sickie on a regular basis, we might have thought to do so sooner, but now that we know what we do, maybe it can help someone else.

Dharma appreciates any healing thoughts you'd like to send her way.

2009 HypnoBirthing Schedule

2008-10-02T09:05:00.011-05:00

I'm embedding my Google Calendar here, which will include events and class schedules. You can also find a calendar and registration forms on my website.

PPD or PTSD?

2008-10-01T16:31:00.004-05:00

Now back to our regularly scheduled Birth Bitch:

I’ve been doing some research for a psychology class I’m taking. I chose to look at the impact of birthing practice on postpartum depression/post-traumatic stress disorder (PDD/PTSD). My reasoning is thus: if we know the perception of trauma in birth increases postpartum mental health issues, and we know how to make birth not just less traumatic, but actually an ecstatic experience, we can reduce the rate of maternal adjustment issues that impact not just mothers, but babies, families and society.

I made this decision because I had just watched Monty Python’s Miracle of Birth from the Meaning of Life.

It struck me (as it has every time I watch this) how odd it is that comedians in 1983 could plainly see that inserting routine, useless and potentially harmful technology into the birth process, while disengaging the mother because she’s ‘not qualified’ to participate, could contribute to ‘PND’ (Post Natal Depression-British for Postpartum Depression). I wanted to see if an idea commonsensical enough to be present in satirical humor 25 years ago had been seriously examined.

One would think that if there was research to suggest certain procedures were unnecessary or harmful, they would be discontinued. Unfortunately, one would be wrong. We already know that invasive, routine birth interventions disrupt bonding and breastfeeding. (The Impact of Birthing Practices on Breastfeeding; Delivery Self-Attachment; What Babies Want) Yet, practices persist. It would stand to reason if the processes of birth and bonding were disrupted, the mother and baby would be affected as we know other mammalian mother-babies are.

Prevalence and Predictors of Women’s Experience of Psychological Trauma During Childbirth (Soet, Brack & Dilorio, 2003; Birth 30:1) examined how often women experienced trauma during birth, what caused the trauma, and to look for ways to prevent such things.

Of the 103 women in the study, 34% felt traumatized by their birth experience. 1.9% of those met the criteria for PTSD diagnosis.

A PTSD reaction included “…nightmares, intrusive memories, depression, anxiety, difficulty bonding with the infant, fear of sexual intimacy and avoidance of future childbearing…” and possible “…long-term bonding problems.” Other studies were cited that put the rate of a PTSD reaction as high as 6%.

There were three pre-existing factors contributing to trauma were lack of social support, previous sexual assault and the expectation of pain.

Other predictive factors were pain (although 74.8% had epidurals), feelings of powerlessness (Monty Python nailed it) “expectations, medical intervention and interaction with medical personal”.

I was confused by the part that said, “A sick (n=15) or stillborn infant (n=1) was delivered in 17.4 percent of the cases. By the time of the follow-up interview, all [emphasis mine] babies who had initial complications were at home and were described as healthy by the mothers.” I get that a sick or stillborn infant would be a significant factor in a negative perception of the experience, but how is a stillborn infant then described as healthy?

The title of the next one, Psychological trauma symptoms of operative birth(Gamble & Creedy, 2005; British Journal of Midwifery, April) is pretty self-explanatory. At the time of publication, US cesarean rates would have been around 24%. They are now at 32%, even though as the article correctly states, the World Health Organization recommends no more than a 10-15% rate.

The study of 400 women found that those who had emergency cesareans or “operative vaginal delivery” (most likely referring to episiotomy, but perhaps forceps or vacuum extraction as well…unless I missed it, it was not specified) to be more likely to suffer PTSD, with cesareans being 6 times more likely.

The conclusion? “Results of this study provide evidence that the use of obstetric procedures during childbirth significantly contribute to the presence of acute trauma reactions in the postpartum.” It goes on to cite other studies that have come to the same conclusion as far back as 1979. In fact, studies done in 1979, 1980, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997 and 2000. And yet here we are in 2008 with rates of intervention just as high, and operative deliveries even higher…with NO improvement in outcomes. Hm.

Two others, Post-traumatic symptoms after childbirth: What should we offer?(Slder, Stadlmayr, Tschudin & Bitzer, 2006; Journal of Psychosomatic Obsterics & Gynecology 27:2) and Post-traumatic stress following childbirth: A review of the emerging literature and directions for research and practice(Bailham & Joseph, 2003; Psychology, Health & Medicine 8:2) came to similar conclusions, but this is depressing the hell out of me so I’m not going to comment on them. It’s not just that we’ve known all this for so long and haven’t acted on it, thus dooming millions of women, babies and families to suffer needlessly. That’s disgraceful, of course. But I find it appalling that the US doesn’t even seem to considering these studies worthwhile enough to look into the possibility that routine obstetrical interventions applied with such a cavalier attitude are harming our most vulnerable. All of these studies were from Europe. One more reason to seriously consider the life of an ex-pat.

Finally, Shelia Kitzinger commented on PSTD in birth in her commentary, “Birth as rape: There must be an end to ‘just in case’ obstetrics.” In it, she compares the descriptors rape victims and PTSD victims use. Sadly they are nearly identical. She also notes that it is unnecessary routine obstetrical intervention that is causative in the perceived trauma in birth, and notes that while we know which routine interventions are harmful or useless, in obstetrics it takes an average of 15 years before evidence changes practice. Though, the Monty Python bit was done 25 years ago. The research began 30 years ago. Why are women still being brutalized in birth?

Really?

2008-09-26T20:05:00.007-05:00

PETA's mission is a good one: stop animal cruelty, help people understand the environmental impact of their dietary choices, and help people be healthier. None of those things are bad. I agree with all of them. I don't' live a perfect life, but most of the choices I make are with these things in mind. Not all choices, but most.

However, how can you not get that by acting like lunatics you loose people who agree with you and repel those who don't?

Throwing paint on a person wearing a fur coat is willful destruction of private property. I don't own a fur coat. I don't agree with the torturous deaths that lead to fur coats. But if I did, and someone trashed my coat, I'd be pissed and I'd prosecute. Using that logic, why don't people holding stock in oil come to homes of PETA members and smash their solar panels? That's just stupid. Educating people is important. Annoying them is counter-productive.

Equating meat eating with Jeffery Dahmer is likewise unwise. Not nonfactual, but culturally inappropriate to say the least. In different times and different places eating people may be a sign of respect or a ritual of war, and really, what is the difference between eating the meat of dogs and cows? Hindus are as appalled with us as we are with the eating of German Shepards in China. However, in the here and now, the yuck factor supersedes the historical and anthropological parallels and the message is dismissed by the very people it was intended to shock and convert.

So, what led to this rant? The news that PETA has proposed that "...Ben & Jerry's use breast milk in its ice cream." Really? Obviously, PETA members know that this is fiscally impossible, just to look at the logical first. Mother's milk is liquid gold and very expensive. Even if it were possible, immediately there would be feminists protesting the use of women as dairy producers.

But come on! This stunt at its very core makes PETA look like IDIOTS, even knowing it's a publicity stunt. Many people are nauseated by the idea of giving their own babies the milk specially made for them, let alone making a consumable, mass market product from it! Granted, they are woefully misinformed and culturally indoctrinated to the point that they are making less than optimal choices for their babies. There is abundant scientific evidence that there is nothing as beneficial as human mother's milk for human babies. Knowing that doesn't change the cultural perception. It is what it is and you need to meet people where they are. Grossing them out isn't going to win any converts.

Likewise, there is abundant science to show that cow's milk causes a whole host of health problems, not just in babies, but in adults as well. Yes, babies need mother's milk. If I want breast milk ice cream, I'll make my own thanks.

I live in WI and I know (thanks to California Milk Producers) that I live in a state full of depressed cows. I see their babies in boxes, not knowing they are merely 'veal'...a by product of the milk humans consume. That is more likely to persuade me to give up my yogurt than the latest PETA stunt.

The facts PETA wants to disseminate are sound. Too bad no one will listen to a bunch of loonies.

It's dangerous to think 'it can't happen here'

2008-09-26T19:53:00.003-05:00

China has been in the news for tainted formula and tainted baby food. With tainted US products coming out of China not such a distant memory, why even risk the health of a newborn?

US formula has been recalled as dangerous many times as has baby food.

Mothers milk is free, pre-warmed, sterile, always available and as pure as the mother's diet. Even if the mother's diet and environment are less than optimal, her milk may contain trace amounts...not poisons in amounts that will sicken and kill her baby.

Who needs a medical degree?

2008-09-26T19:48:00.003-05:00

Once again, a 9 year old steps in to save the day and receive her mother's baby during a precipitous birth. This time the baby is premature and tiny, still everything turns out ok.

HypnoBirthing in the News again

2008-09-26T19:27:00.005-05:00

In August, HypnoBirthing(R) was in the news again in a video about Painless Birth.

And should have been mentioned in this story about Stress in Pregnancy because HypnoBirthing isn't just beneficial for quicker, more comfortable birth with fewer complications, but helps babies stay inside until they're done!

I wish every woman would welcome the idea of HypnoBirthing. Not every woman would have a painless labor and birth, but every woman would have the best birth possible for her, which many are not getting now considering "at least 1.5 million Americans fall prey to hospital error every year." (MSN Health and Fitness; content provided by Forbes.com)

The message? Stay out of the hospital unless you're sick! If you must go (because you are sick or injured, not healthy having a healthy baby), read YOU: The Smart Patient.

Yay for the New England Journal of Medicine!

2008-09-26T14:41:00.004-05:00

At least someone is using some commonsense when it comes to the HPV vaccine! No, I'm not jumping on the bandwagon to shoot my daughter up with this mess. Unless/until someone can assure me it is safe and effective, no way. And so far, it's not looking good for those willing to toss caution to the wind. Europe has been watching the US closely before jumping on-board, and what they see isn't pretty. The risks are high and the efficacy is unknown, so I was glad to see the NEJM encouraging caution and that the news actually picked it up.

The Big Cost of Little Babies

2008-09-26T13:49:00.004-05:00

ABC News had a video news clip Saving Premature Babies in August 2008 and I felt there were a couple of things worth commenting on.

Minimizing prematurity is definitely a cause worthy of a newscast. Women need to be educated in how everything from their diet to their stress level increased the chance of prematurity because these are things they can largely control. They may need assistance or tools to cope, but most of the things that cause prematurity are preventable.

The problem I had with this particular video was that they keep harping on the importance of prenatal care as prevention. If prenatal care as it is currently defined in the US today actually improved outcomes, that would be great. However, Prenatal Care Does Not Improve Outcomes.
The American College of Physicians even recommended fewer visits and fewer ultrasound 10 years ago.

Effective prenatal care is how the woman cares for herself and her baby. If we spend as much time and money educating women and helping them make good decisions as we do on wasteful and useless routine technology, we'd have better outcomes.

The other problem I had was with the statement "Doctors say if every premature birth could be delayed even one week, the infant mortality rate would go down dramatically." (Vargas)

The statement is true, but it isn't the mothers who don't get prenatal care that account for the largest number of premature births...it is the women who DO see a physician and are induced.

Dr. Kenneth Trofatter explains in his Health Line blog:

"Late preterm birth now constitutes about three-quarters of all preterm deliveries. This amounts to more than 300,000 deliveries per year! Many of these deliveries are by elective cesarean section and many others result from cesarean section as a consequence of failed labor induction..."

I just get annoyed when the public is misled by people supposedly providing factual news.

To be fair, the same reporter did a similar report on prematurity in poor communities that was much more accurate and balanced.

I'm losing my grip!

2008-09-26T08:53:00.004-05:00

It's been ages since my last confession...er...I mean blog.

A couple of months ago I added a 4th job to my schedule. At the time it seemed like a good idea. I only conduct HypnoBirthing(R) classes every other month and the occasional odd time for those couples that don't fit into the traditional scheduling. My hypnosis clients were not economically scheduled, so I figured I could condense appointments to one or two very full days a month. My Internship only takes up two days per week and I enjoy it so much it hardly seems like work. And the job I thought I applied for was Calligrapher, which I also enjoy. It was a part-time position personalizing Christmas bulbs. I thought, "How hard can it be?"

Unfortunately, the job included retail, which I absolutely abhor. I'm no good at it. It takes a special person who enjoys the unpredictable and dealing with a wide assortment of personalities. That is not me. I'm not a people person. I'm a hermit who enjoys researching, writing and being in controlled environments with a script, like public speaking on topic I know very well or teaching a topic I know very well. I need to channel my 'Inner Sheri' (my extrovert friend) just to get through a retail shift. It's exhausting. The job is 90% stuff I hate and 10% calligraphy or pricing, which I enjoy because it's solitary.

I am scheduled for half my weekends, all weekend, as well as more hours than I can handle during the week, especially now that school started and I have 8 hours of class each week plus assigned work. Within a week of working retail I remembered why I went back to school. Within two I knew I was in deep over my head and not doing so well at keeping afloat.

Every body says I should just quit, but calligraphy is a really obscure talent that they really need someone to do. Sheri says I'm taking a job away from someone that needs it by staying. Maybe. They are short staffed and haven't found other people who can do calligraphy yet. I like the people and don't want to leave them in a lurch. I gave my word that I'd help and I find that hard to break. The manager is trying really hard to work with my insane schedule, which helps, but it's not so much the regular schedule, but the weekends that are killing me. On the weeks that my husband travels and then I work all weekend, I barely get to see him. We haven't been together a quarter century by stealing an hour here and there if we can get it. We need to have time together that isn't all about bills and if one or the other of us has done laundry.

He says there is nothing worth sacrificing my sanity, and if I worked that hard for myself I'd be much better off. Probably.

So far I am figuring out ways to make it sort of work except that I am incredibly tired and I haven't had time to work on my book or other research/writing projects I have in my head. That is what's making me lose my grip. When I don't get the opportunity to get all this out of my head, it almost seems like...how can I explain it? Like pressure, I guess. Like at some point my brain is going to make me stay up all night just to drain it all into my computer, and then I'll collapse. I don't have time for yoga, knitting, Wild Divine or any of those things that keep me healthy and balanced either, including blogging and walking the dog. The poor dog! She was getting walked 2-5 miles a day and the luxury of being in the house with a constant companion. Now she's alone out in the garage all day and is lucky if she gets a walk around the block. My husband and dau have always had busy lives, but I was the hub that sort of kept it all running smoothly. It's not running quite as smoothly these days, even though they are helping out a lot.

Anyway, I might have reached my last straw. I may just have lost two HypnoBirthing clients because I'm having difficultly working even more in and they needed personalized schedule. That just won't do. HB is what I'm trained for, it's what I love and I hate to have even one woman who wants to enjoy the wonders of a HypnoBirthing miss out because I'm trying to accommodate a minimum wage job that means nothing to me simply because I can't walk away or say 'enough'.

So, now that I've bitched about a bunch of stuff that is totally within my control that I've done nothing about, Sheri would ask, "When are you going to do something about it?" I don't know.

What I do know is I have about a half dozen absurd tidbits I want to post here, but I've wasted time kvetching, so now I have to get ready for work. Hopefully I'll get a chance to get back on tonight.

How many parents hate their newborns?

2008-07-31T11:59:00.005-05:00

Men's Health has an article today (July 31, 2008) titled, "I Hate My Newborn Baby!": A new dad confesses: They're not always bundles of joy

It is true: babies are not always perfect. Sometimes the babies are wonderful, but our expectation of what babies actually are is often unrealistic. However, in the case of this article, which is heartbreaking and all too common, the suffering of the baby and the parents was probably avoidable.

How many parents think it's 'normal' for babies to scream in agony for 19 hours a day? How many sleep deprived parents schlep to the doctor's office on weekly basis switching formula in an effort to stop their baby's pain due to "a little intestinal distress" that "is fairly common and nothing to worry about".

Eventually, the doctor decides perhaps the baby has a milk allergy and switches to a soy formula, which makes the baby so much worse the parents decide they'll have to take him to the E.R., but just before they leave, he falls asleep and all is well from that point on.

A milk allergy. That's sort of an understatement. Human babies are not designed to consume cows milk, which is what formula is made of. In fact, the advice is to not give babies under one year cows milk. But because it is common for parents to give babies artificial baby milk to infants, newborn pain and suffering is now considered 'fairly common and nothing to worry about'.

Parents need to know that it doesn't have to be that way so they don't have to feel the guilt of hating their babies.

Surprise! Baby born at campground.

2008-07-31T11:09:00.008-05:00

The FDL Reporter carried the same story over two consecutive weekends (July 20, 2008 and July 27, 2008): A woman who didn't even know she was pregnant gave birth while camping.

The short version is she didn't know she was pregnant. While camping, she experiences some funky stomach cramps and her boyfriend goes to get her some OTC medication to make her feel better. She goes into the camp bathroom and births an 8 lb. baby girl. The screams of the mother and boyfriend bring a nurse running, and according the nurse, she saves the baby's life because the baby wasn't breathing and the nurse, "...doubts the baby would've survived until an ambulance arrived."

This is an 8 lb. baby later pronounced healthy.

Healthy babies have an instinct to breathe. A natural birth stimulates the baby to breathe. Babies delivered surgically sometimes don't breathe on their own. Babies born with narcotics in their system sometimes don't breathe on their own. Babies coming from a uterine environment that has been hyper-stimulated by pitocin may have experienced distress (like cord compression), meaning they may need help to begin breathing. Premature babies may not be able to breathe right away. Babies sick with RDS (Respiratory Distress Syndrome) may have breathing difficulties at birth. Babies who have been through a long hard labor due to malpositioning or something may be slow to start.

Healthy babies who are still attached to a pulsating cord may take their time in initiating breathing because they are still getting oxygen from the placenta and cord. Sometimes people who are not familiar with natural birth assume a baby isn't breathing because she isn't crying, which isn't always true. (And people assume that because a nurse knows how a healthy, undrugged newborn looks and acts, but this nurse was a geriactric nurse. She provides nursing for the elderly. And even if she was a neonatal nurse, I just had a client who had a HypnoBirthing(R) at an area hospital and the nurse commented afterwards at how inspiring and unusual it was, because in 4 years of maternal nursing, she'd not seen even ONE natural birth; not ONE baby born unaffected by some sort of drug.) Sometimes they are just acclimating slowly and looking around, but they have a strong heartbeat and they are indeed breathing. Even if they aren't, if a mother were to pick up the baby and hold and talk to the baby, they would cough and sputter and begin breathing.

Babies who essentially fall out after an essentially painless labor? It's unlikely she 'wouldn't have made it'. However, it is too bad the mother didn't know what to do. As I've said before, I think it's crazy that women don't have a clue how to follow their own instincts in the event of a quick and easy birth because they've just expected someone else to do everything for them.

Now, in this case, the woman says she didn't know she had a wiggling 8 lb. baby and, oh, probably as least 10 lb. of water and placenta inside her. I don't understand that, but others have claimed it, so I take her at her word. However, I find it very interesting that she gave birth quickly and easily to a healthy 8 lb. baby and she said if she had known she was pregnant she would have gotten 'proper care'. Interesting because there is the assumption, like the assumption that birth is dangerous and painful, that seeing an OB 14 times per pregnancy means better babies. According to the American College of Physicians, that's not true. Lots of visits and lots of tests does not translate to better outcomes for mothers or babies.

Ultimately though, the reason I wanted to blog about this birth is that the mother is quoted as saying that her friends are jealous that she didn't have to feel "that pain". This is a perfect example of how, if a mother doesn't know she is "supposed" to feel pain, she doesn't. She wasn't afraid because she didn't know she was in labor, so she considered her 'cramps' only worthy of an over the counter remedy. I couldn't think of a better illustration of how many ways we CREATE pain in labor from our expectations and fear of a perfectly natural physiological process.

Spring Green, 1332 Parkview Rd., Green Bay, WI 54304

2008-07-18T19:33:00.007-05:00

It takes a lot to get me really mad. I'm the kind of person who doesn't often send food back to the kitchen or bother to return to a store if I later find an overcharge I think was an honest mistake.

I seldom raise my voice in anger when I get lousy customer service. I'm really appreciative of good customer service and say so when I get it.

That said, I've reached my limit with Spring Green out of Green Bay, Wisconsin. We've tried every route of resolution to deal with their deceptive business practices, and have gotten nowhere, so now I feel it's only fair to warn others of what they may encounter should they decide to go with Spring Green.

In early 2007 it was our first spring in our new home. We'd never put any chemicals on any lawn we'd maintained, but since the previous owner here had done so, we signed up for a summer program through Spring Green. They were to make several visits throughout the season. By the time we had received two applications, we had discussed the necessity of this service with our new neighbors and decided we really didn't need it and we weren't sure we like the idea of chemicals on the lawn anyway. At that time, we were not unhappy with the service; we had just decided that we'd wait and see how our lawn behaved before deciding what we may or may not need/want.

Obviously our request to cancel was received and understood, as Spring Green did not send any one to service our lawn again that year.

Fast forward to 2008. We begin getting calls from Spring Green, but we keep missing them. Finally, I catch a call, and a technician asks if we would like to sign up for the same service we had signed up for the previous year. I tell him no, we canceled last year because we just want to wait and see what happens if we deal with it ourselves. Besides, companies were offering an organic alternative this year, and we thought we might do that if we did anything at all. I'm thinking that's the end of it. Had I known I was dealing with people who would try to rip me off, I would have documented the call. However, most of the people I've dealt with in WI have been incredibly friendly and honest. I did not record his name or the date of the call. My mistake.

Weeks later, there are little flags in our yard. We figure our condo-mate must have signed up for lawn care. But later, she comes over and asks US if we did, because a bill was left on her condo. It had our name and address on it, but it was left on her door. Both of our homes are clearly marked with our addresses. We get to talking with other neighbors, and we are told that a lot of people are having this problem. My husband wants to pay it and avoid hassle. I insist that we did not request the service, it's their loss. It seems to me that they are counting on a lack of communication between condo owners, and they figure most people are just going to figure they got the service, they'll pay the nominal fee. The charge was $46.09.

MY problem with this is that if they screw enough people, they make a huge profit by being dishonest. I'm vehemently against rewarding unethical behavior just for the sake of laziness.

So, my husband writes to Spring Green and explains the situation. They insist that the service automatically continues without notification of discontinuation. After getting nowhere with them, he decides he will pay half just so they don't send this stupid bill to a collection agency and ruin our credit. He figures then he'll report them to the BBB, post our experience on Angie's List, and contact Clark Howard and any other news outlet that might be able to protect the consumer. I will add, he did not tell me this was is solution to the problem. Anyway, on July 15th, 2008 he agrees to pay $23.05.

On July 18th, 2008 we get a notice from Spring Green that we have failed to pay a balance of $46.09 on our past due account. The date the letter was drafted was July 16: the day AFTER they had spoke with my husband.

I happen to be the one to open this particular piece of mail, and I'm livid! Had we gotten service all last summer, I'd buy that they didn't know we didn't want their service. But they STOPPED OUR SERVICE AS REQUESTED WHEN WE REQUESTED THEM TO STOP. That means, there was no miscommunication. We did not fail to play by the rules. And they came and serviced the yard anyway, and then were insistent we pay for a service we didn't ask for and didn't want!

So I call and talk to LORI. (This time I got a name and a date: July 18, 2008, around 4 pm.) I explained to her we did not owe them anything, and I was about done being patient. She told ME that my husband had agreed to pay. End of story. The more she insisted that since 'the mister' had agreed to pay, there was nothing more to discuss, the angrier I got, until I finally got to the same place my husband had gotten...we'll pay the damn thing...but I was A LOT more pissed off than he ever got, I guarantee.

When I asked her why, if she had come to this agreement with my husband on the 15th, we were billed for the full amount on the 16th, she said their policy is not to show that on an invoice until the agreed upon 50% has been paid. I told her, if past actions predict future actions, I would fully expect remittance of ANY amount in response to that bill would then be used by Spring Green to somehow 'prove' we agreed to it, and I wanted EVERYTHING in writing EXACTLY as agreed. She informed me that she didn't appreciate my tone. Like having a business lie and expect compensation for it is no reason to get irate.

They could have just said, 'Gee, we're sorry for the confusion. Of course we'll take that charge off.' Instead, they stand to lose hundreds if not thousands as we spread the word of how they treated us. $20 here and $50 there over thousands of potential customers means they make money even if they don't do the work...as long as no one complains and everyone just pays it to keep their credit in good standing.

Like I said, it's not the amount. Sure, it would be easier to just pay it. Most people probably do. But the fact that this is how they handled it says to me that they aren't concerned with customer service. They are concerned with making a buck no matter how they do it. Which also suggests to me that was the plan all along, which is why I'm so upset.

So, buyer beware is all I have to say.

OMG AMA!

2008-07-10T09:50:00.012-05:00

This is really not such a good day for doctors!

Opposition over the AMA and ACOGs attempt to make it illegal for women to hire anyone but them (doctors) or birth anywhere but thier hospitals (can you say 'restraint of trade' boys and girls?) is gaining speed as women realize what this could mean. The discussion ranges from women possibly being 'investigated' for accidentally birthing anywhere but an institution, to separation of mom and baby as parents face jail because their baby fell out on the way to a hospital, to having our children ripped away from us and placed in foster care if we choose to birth with midwives, even though we've researched our options and the science backs our decision?

Ultimately, those are unlikely scenarios. However, what WILL happen, should this AMA resolution pass, is that the highly trained midwives who could assist parents would face prison for helping parents birth safely, thus assuring unsafe birthing situations. As I see it, AMA is willing to risk your baby's life to 'prove' homebirth is unsafe...by making it unsafe. Sort of like 'proving' that all twins are early and small by removing them by cesarean at 36 weeks.

Outraged bloggers like those at Our Bodies Ourselves and The Rivers Report are speaking up and organizations like Citizens for Midwifery, International Cesarean Awareness Network, Lamaze are providing facts. If you read the message boards on the topic, doctors and midwives from around the world are stunned at this move by the AMA. England is trying to INCREASE the numbers of homebirth because it is safer and less expensive to birth at home with a trained midwive who is a guardian of normalcy.

So, there's that going on, and then today's news carries this headline: Doctors' Group Plans Apology For Racism
Ouch. Women are not the only people the AMA has repressed. Is now such a good time to be pointing that out?

Yesterday, the headline spoke to the patients doctors also try to bully with Hospital bullies take a toll on patient safety:Bad behavior by doctors and others undercuts morale, leads to errors

Really, with all these doctors behaving badly, is it any surprise that babies are getting smart and arriving so easily and quickly so they might avoid being abused! This VIDEO (sorry, I couldn't embed it) was on MSN this week. In it, one couple tells of their 'baby's choice' birth to an 8 lb. baby boy . Babies are falling out more and more often, but what made it news was that this ws the third birth in less than a week that 911 dispatchers 'delivered over the phone'.

Well, that was the way the news told it. Actually, while the dispatcher was credited with this safe delivery, the fact of the matter was that it would have happened exactly the same with or without her. She did nothing except give bad advice that her 'strict protocol and training' prepared her to give; that being to "...have her push hard to get the rest of the baby out". Hard pushing is causative in perineal tearing, shoulder dystocia, and a whole host of other issues one would want to avoid, but not only that, it's not necessary. According to one study by authors Brancato, Church & Stone published in the Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic and Neonatal Nursing, Vol. 37, Issue 1, 2008:

CONCLUSIONS: Significant positive effects were found indicating that passive descent should be used during birth to safely and effectively increase spontaneous vaginal births, decrease instrument-assisted deliveries, and shorten pushing time.

"Passive descent" means "no hard pushing".

But this isn't the only bad advice dispatchers give. One story I saw on the Today Show had the dispatcher telling a 12-year old boy to take the shoelaces out of his shoe to tie off the umbilical cord. Tetanus lives in dirt; dirt is on a 12-year old boys shoes for sure; the one certain place deadly infection can enter a newborn? The cut cord!

I do not doubt in the case of illness or injury 911 operator are heroes rushing in to save the day. But birth is neither an illness nor an injury. At best in these cases their assistance is pointless and these babies are surviving in spite of their bad advice.

But let us suppose for just a moment that this wasn't so. If 'phone birth' works so well, what does that say about highly trained surgical specialist (obstetricians) attending 90% or more of normal healthy births?

If enough healthy, nice sized babies choose to come this fast and easy, maybe eventually women will realize that birth is safe. Pizzas, not babies, are delivered, and only a mother births her baby.

More on ACOG

2008-06-28T09:39:00.003-05:00

Some people think that when ACOG makes a declaration that the decision must have been based on evidence, and that such evidence has been found scientifically sound and agreed upon by the members of the organization. This letter shows that this is not the case.

From: Stuart Fischbein [mailto:angelfischs @ yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, June 23, 2008 5:35 PM
To: ExBd@acog.org
Douglas H. Kirkpatrick, MD
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
PO Box 96920
Washington, DC 20090-2188

Dear Sir:
I am a practicing OB/ GYN in southern California and Fellow of ACOG and recently was informed by midwife colleagues of your recommendation and encouragement for the AMA to lobby Congress for a law banning out of hospital birth. Funny that I had to hear of this decision from outside sources and was never approached by my college to see how I or my local colleagues felt about it. I have grave concerns regarding my organization taking such a stand. I think we are all agreed that ACOG has a statement regarding patients' rights to informed consent and informed refusal. Yet, it seems with every decision our organization moves further away from that basic tenet. ACOG's little "guideline" paper on VBAC in 2004 where the word readily was changed to immediately has had the chilling effect of doing away with VBAC options at hundreds if not more hospitals. Not due to patient safety, or the ideal of giving true informed consent but really, let's be honest, to fear of litigation. I have seen how patients have become counseled by obstetricians at facilities where VBAC has been banned. They are clearly given a skewed view of the risks of VBAC but rarely told of the risks of multiple surgeries. If you think this is untrue you are, sadly, out of touch with real clinical medicine.

As to out of hospital birthing, please give me the courtesy of an explanation as to the data you used and the process by which an organization which is supposed to represent me came to this conclusion. Any statement saying that it is as simple as patient safety and that one-size fits all hospital birth under the "obstetric model" of practice should be applied to all patients is, putting it nicely, not really in line with what best serves all our patients. In many instances, hospitals are not safe, certainly not nurturing and have a far worse track record for disasters than home birth. Even when emergency help is nearby this is true. The focus of all of us in medicine should be on reigning in trial lawyers and tort reform and lobbying Congress for that. The best interest of the college members and the patients we serve would be for my organization to spend its time and energy on something that has true benefit. Removing choices from well-informed patients and caring doctors and midwives is wholly un-American.

So please send me detailed information on how ACOG decided outlawing home birth was a wise thing to do. You must have scientific data to take such a drastic stand. Please make it available to me so that I may share it with like-minded colleagues. I would also like to know the process by which this came to pass. Who first raised this issue and why? What committee reviewed all the data and did its due diligence in interviewing those of us with long-standing experience in backing midwives who perform out of hospital births. There must be a fine, non-confidential paper trail you can share with your members. Specific names of committee member who voted for this would be enlightening and I am requesting this information. I would like to know the background and expertise regarding out of hospital birth for each member who had a hand in the decision to go to the AMA.

We live in an odd era where once something is said or recommended by a legitimate organization such as ACOG it has deep ramifications never intended such as becoming fodder for trial lawyers trying to squeeze the lifeblood and dignity out of your members. Or forcing women to travel hundreds of miles in labor to find a supportive facility. Or even worse, to have them arrive in a VBAC banned hospital and refuse surgery. Can this be the best we can do for our patients? Remember, your VBAC statement was meant to be only a recommendation but quickly became the rule by which hospital administrators, risk managers and anesthesia departments of smaller hospital banned this option for thousands of women. An option, that in proper hands, was the safe and accepted standard of care for 30 years. In fact, you still have an ACOG VBAC brochure that recommends this option! For those of us working at smaller hospitals where VBAC was banned due to lack of emergency help (anesthesia, OR crews, etc.) there is a big question that has perplexed us that no administrator seems to be willing or able to answer. That question is: "If a hospital cannot handle an emergency c/section for VBACs, and most emergency are for fetal bradycardia, hemorrhage (ie. abruption) or shoulder dystocia not for ruptured uteri, then how can they do obstetrics at all?" For they seem to still be able to have a maternity ward without in house anesthesia. Will someday ACOG, in their great wisdom but seeming disconnect from reality, make a "recommendation" that little hospitals stop providing obstetric services? Will this better serve women and their communities throughout America?

I am frightened and angered by what you have done in my name. Now I ask you to defend your position in encouraging the AMA to lobby Congress for another restriction on the freedom of choice that belongs to women and their families. Those choices include midwifery and the right to have the most beautiful and life changing event occur wherever best fits their desire. Midwives are well trained and required to have obstetrical backup. They have very special relationships with their patients and want the very best outcomes for them. They do not need me or you to police them. We have a habit in our country over the past 40 years of thinking we can legislate out stupidity. All that has done is erode the individual freedoms that belong, by birthright, to each of us. I would hope you trust your Fellows to know their specialty, their colleagues, and what is best for the patient as an individual. These decisions do not belong to politicians or faceless committees. You should have more faith in your members to give balanced informed consent. Again, my recommendation to you is to put all your considerable energy into changing our legal malpractice system. Those of us actually practicing medicine and caring for patients know this to be the greatest threat to the mission and responsibility we have chosen to undertake.

I look forward to your response and possibly the beginning of a meaningful dialogue.

Sincerely,
Stuart J. Fischbein, MD FACOG
Medical Advisor, Birth Action Coalition

KZYX HypnoBirthing Interview

2008-06-26T22:10:00.002-05:00

I often give presentations about natural birth. Sometimes I'm doing interviews, sometimes I'm preaching to the choir (speaking at midwifery conferences), sometimes I'm speaking to quite a varied audience (like nursing students).

Afterward, I sometimes feel I 'nailed it'. These days, I consider those my 'Obama' presentations. So far, thank heavens, I haven't had any I considered 'Bush' moments. Tonight however, I feel like I was off my mark; sort of a McCain awkwardness. That makes me sad, because Chris Skyhawk was wonderful, and I was very cognizant that I was representing HypnoBirthing(R) to a large audience.

Normally I have my references on the tip of my tongue and can recall the most relevant of facts. I can sound somewhat intelligent for the most part.

Tonight I was reaching. I didn't feel like I answered the very thoughtful questions Chris asked in the most eloquent of ways. I have no idea why. I wish I could predict when I'd be able to hit the mark and when I wouldn't.

In any case, at the end of the interview, suddenly I heard dead air. There was nothing on the other end and I thought I lost Chris. I'm not sure if I did or not, but when I next heard him, he explained that they were getting updates on fires that are raging there.

So, for all you in CA, I wish I could send you some of the copious amounts of water we've had here. My thoughts are with you as you battle the blazes.

HypnoBirthing Radio Interveiw

2008-06-25T17:43:00.002-05:00

Just so you know, I will be speaking with Chris Skyhawk Thursday, June 26, 2008 at 9 pm Central.
The show does stream live I believe, so if you want to check it out, here is the promo from Chris:

Please join host Chris Skyhawk for Universal Perspectives Thursday night at 7PM (P.D.T.) on KZYX where he begins a new series entitled Birth and Living. His guest will be Kim Wildner. Kim is a practitioner of a birthing method called Hypnobirthing which allows the mother, along with the aid of the father and/or labor companion, to give birth using their natural instincts and the bodies natural responses and hormones. These birthing methods allow babies to be born in a natural, drug-free manner.

Chris Skyhawk

www.chrisskyhawk.com

Protect all safe birth options!

2008-06-23T07:57:00.004-05:00

I just got this petition in my email. I will be passing it along to everyone I know, and I ask you do to the same.

Hi,

I wanted to draw your attention to this important petition that I recently
signed:

"Keep Home Birth Legal"

I really think this is an important cause, and I'd like to encourage you to
add your signature, too. It's free and takes less than a minute of your
time.

Thanks!

Even if you wouldn't want a home birth, please sign this petition to keep this safe option available to those that would.

Obviously Ricki Lake is making a difference in public awareness; there has been a huge PR backlash from ACOG and the AMA regarding scientifically safe birth options that do not require their services. Ricki Lake has been targeted personally, although her name was ultimately removed from the resolution against homebirth due to protests from women's groups and other women angry at the attack on their personal freedoms.

There is a great article from the Huffington Post with a wonderful debate following. This is a very important issue! In the past, it was easy to play on women's fear about birth and convince them it was dangerous because a privileged few had access to the actual facts. In the information age, women can look up the data for themselves and can see that the U.S. has some of the worst infant and maternal mortality stats for the industrialized world. They can see actual birth video of painless birth, empowering birth and orgasmic birth on YouTube. (Just surf around this blog for many of them!) We now have a global community and women are starting to wonder just why their sisters in England or Holland should be able to have a safe homebirth when they have to fight for it here.

Not only have women decided enough is enough, but many doctors have decided to speak up. They've seen the surgical birth rates rise with no improvement in outcomes (or worsening outcomes) and stood up for evidence-based care, which includes midwifery care. They took a vow to harm none, and they are choosing to stand up for that over profits, unlike others.

We've reached a tipping point and ACOG and the AMA obviously know that. They are taking a defensive stance to secure their livelihood. And it isn't just OBs; hospital maternity care in the U.S. is one of the largest marketing tools hospitals have. Not only is it a huge portion of their income, but if they can get women in to their hospital for their birth, they will come back when other family members need care.

They are powerful entities. They will fight hard with seemingly unlimited resources. Let's just hope women are mad as hell and not willing to take it anymore.

Police Woman PROMOTED for breastfeeding!

2008-06-22T08:08:00.003-05:00

A policewoman who breastfed nine orphaned infants during China's earthquake has been promoted. She is being hailed as a hero, as well she should be! She undoubtedly saved the lives of those babies.

Many babies caught in natural disasters do not die from whatever calamity they find themselves in. They die afterwards due to dehydration, starvation, or disease either because they lost their mothers, like these poor little ones, or because no water (or clean water) was available to mix formula or there was no way to get pre-mixed formula right away.

I briefly blogged about this recently because of the floods the mid-west is now experiencing, but this is one aspect I never thought of. Kati Kim kept her own children alive when her family was stranded in a snow storm and her husband was lost looking for help, but I hadn't thought of how many other children could avoid suffering, even if their mothers were lost, if there were other women around who could provide instant, sterile, prewarmed nourishment.

Wow! Women are amazing!

Virtual Refrigerator

2008-06-18T13:38:00.002-05:00

My daughter did this and I thought it was pretty.

State of Emergency

2008-06-13T19:09:00.024-05:00

Yesterday around 4:30 pm the tornado sirens went off, so we headed to the basement. Over the next two hours or so, the sirens went off about a half dozen more times as funnel clouds were spotted. We finally had to come up to grab something to eat and use the facilities . We couldn't hear much of what was going on above ground, so we were stunned at what was going on while we were underground. The pictures above are just some of what we took. Crazy. People are getting around in boats.

And once again, I was struck by how tragic it is that women don't have a clue what they would do if they were stranded and had to birth on their own. Or that so many babies starve because parents can't get to the store to get formula or can't find clean water to mix it with if they have it, when if they were breastfed, sterile, ready-made food would be instantly available.

Of course, the women don't need to know anything special, because their bodies know. Babies come out and they don't care where they are or who may (or may not) help mom. However, women would be much less afraid if they know they could (and indeed do) birth their own babies just fine under all but the most unusual of circumstances.

Archived Entries with Birth Videos

2008-06-11T15:30:00.003-05:00

Some of the great videos I posted went up months ago, and while I haven't exactly been prolific in my writing, they still got buried.

So, here are a couple of links to the pages that have birth videos (for those women needing a little inspiration):

http://fearlessbirthing.blogspot.com/2008_01_20_archive.html
http://fearlessbirthing.blogspot.com/2008_01_13_archive.html

Also, a collective thank you to those of you posting regarding the request for painless birth stories! I haven't responded to each personally mainly because there have been so many (How fabulous is THAT?), although I did made sure the comments got posted.

So, thanks again, and keep them coming! Stories (or offers to tell stories) can be sent to kim at kimwildner dot com or links to stories that are public domain can be added via comment from the post entry as others have done. Nothing will be used without direct contact and permission from you.

The High Cost of Health Care

2008-06-11T14:35:00.004-05:00

The current issue of AARP: The Magazine has an excellent article titled Why Does Health Care Cost So Much by Shannon Brownlee, the author of Overtreated: Why Too Much Medicine Is Making Us Sicker and Poorer. I'd love to get my hands on a copy of this to review here. I couldn't tell from the available editorial or customer reviews if maternity care is covered in the book, and there isn't a 'look inside the book' option.

In any case, the problem, as Brownlee explains so well in the article is over-treatment, with 50% of the interventions that not supported by evidence. In obstetrics, that number is higher. Citizens for Midwifery and Childbirth Connection reveal that:

Fully 85% of U.S. women enter labor at "low-risk" for problems (Healthy People 2010), but virtually 100% of U.S. women have at least one intervention. (Listening to Mothers Survey. Childbirth Connection 2002). Every intervention has the potential of doing harm as well as good. If a woman has an intervention she doesn't need, then she runs the risks with no counterbalancing benefit.
http://childbirthconnection.org/article.asp?ClickedLink=334&ck=10068&area=27

Why women aren't furious about this I can't imagine! In fact, what blows me away is that when movies like The Business of Being Born or books like Obstetric Myths versus Research Realities and Born in the U.S.A expose the problems within the system that make it dangerous, expensive and emotionally damaging, women don't get upset that the system is broken. Instead they get mad that anyone dare suggest the system even has issues, damned be the evidence! I keep finding little puzzle pieces as to why this may be so, but honestly, I feel the more I learn the less I know some days.

Naturally Born Twin Video

2008-06-09T10:00:00.002-05:00

This is wicked cool!

Painless Birth

2008-06-09T07:25:00.003-05:00

It's been ages since I actually posted content here, I know. I haven't been a slacker, honest! I'm actually writing a book on painless birth, so I've been researching and writing. Mother's Intention is also about to go out of print, so I'm re-writing as well, hoping to fix what I didn't like about it the first time and perhaps find a publishing house that will pick it up. I'd like to concentrate on writing and research, not billing, marketing, or order fulfillment. I also have two presentations for the HypnoBirthing(R) convention that require preparation. Oh, and I have a 'real job' now too.
In addition, the summer is getting crazy just because that's what summer does.

In any case, I'm putting out a call for birth stories for the new book. I need people to send me stories of their painless natural births (including mostly painless or almost painless), either created (through HypnoBirthing or other means NOT including drugs) or encountered (those fast, painless births that take mothers by surprise in the shower, on the toilet or in gas station bathrooms). If I choose to use your story, I will send the paperwork for official permission to use it. I'm only expecting to use three to five stories at the end of each chapter, so depending on how many submissions I get, there is no guarantee every story will make the cut. You will retain the copyright to your own story, and it will be edited only for spelling and grammar. I'm looking to keep each story under 1,000 words. If typed, we're looking at two or three pages double spaced, size 12 font, 1 inch margins. If you want to include photos, that would be awesome.

Please pass this request around to all of the lists you may be on and to anyone who may want to participate. I'd like a nice assortment of birth locations and birth attendants. Thanks!

HypnoBirthing Video

2008-05-29T07:48:00.003-05:00

Below is a video of a British couple talking about their homebirth using HypnoBirthing(R). I don't know how common this is. I currently have my first official homebirth couple after nearly 8 years of teaching!

I say 'official' because my best friend did use HypnoBirthing for her home/water birth, but she didn't take class with me because she lived hours away. I attended her birth and did use the techniques with her, and I did give her a book and CD set. However, I wasn't sure how well it would work for her without the 12 hours of instruction.

In the end, she had an hour and a half labor for a 10 lb. 4 oz. boy, over an intact bottom, oh, and a broken tail bone. I guess it worked!

And here is a video of a woman who had a painless birth using HypnoBirthing for her hospital birth:

Remember, there are videos of fabulous births (many pain-free) throughout this website, so if you want to see positive birth stories, surf around the archives!

Keeping Women Scared and Helpless

2008-05-04T13:19:00.005-05:00

There was another story on MSN today about a baby (8 lb. 3 oz.) that pretty much fell out of a surprised mom (17 years old) while she was taking a shower.

Because the girl wrapped up the baby and walked/ran to the hospital 4 blocks away, Dr. Jose Perez, director of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit,

...praised the girl for taking quick action. "They could have bled to death; thank God that didn't happen," the doctor said. "She was very clever. She knew what to do. She wrapped the baby up and walked over here."

The baby fell out. She WALKED and RAN four blocks afterwards. Had she known anything about birth (and I think it's disgraceful that girls aren't taught anything except that someone else will take care of everything and they really don't need to understand their own bodies) she would have known that placentas are a fraction of the size of babies and don't have bones. If the baby fell out, she could have delivered the placenta just fine. I'm surprised it didn't fall out on her way to the hospital. She obviously wasn't in any danger of bleeding to death or she wouldn't be running around the neighborhood!

Of course, if women knew that, what would they need doctors for?

Safe Birth Initiative

2008-04-29T12:27:00.008-05:00

Finally, here is the low down on the post I've been meaning to write. However, it's the short version because once again I have to jet here in a few minutes.

Here's what happened: I had a final project for a PR class. What I wanted to do was something that would convince venues to sponsor movie nights for pregnant women, in which they see empowering, gentle birthing videos. Believe it or not, that's a hard sell; the reason being that in order to promote wonderful, orgasmic birth, it first has to be acknowledged that birth in the US has been anything but.

So, my presentation started out addressing the main problems women face.

The Bad News? (many of you already know this)

nOver 30% rate of surgical births

n42 countries have lower infant mortality rates

29 countries have lower maternal mortality rates

n56% first time moms feel confused and a little afraid

The good news?

We know how to fix it. We know what makes birth safer and more comfortable, and it isn't non-evidence based care. We also know that change in obstetrics has always come about by consumer demand. I listed several examples in my PPP.

My contention is that women just want accurate information on which to base decisions, and respect. They don't want empowered birth, or orgasmic birth, or even comfortable birth without drugs, because they don't believe it's possible. In order to even conceive of it, so they can believe in it, they have to see it. Hence the movies.

The PPP spoke to why how we birth is important, with sources, and and information from my survey on what women said they wanted to see.

I also covered why it is in the best interest of the venue to host such events. All in all, it really was a good presentation.

Afterwards, my prof. said something to the effect of, 'Who are your publics?'

I said pregnant women and the venues that can reach them.

He repeated the question. Apparently I was incorrect.

He asked where women can be found.

I insisted college campuses were the place to reach them. I still think it's a fine place to start.

He suggested another area.

He pointed out that HR departments of employers are where the changes are now being made. I questioned how that could be. He said that companies are trying to cut back on health care costs, and prevention is a hot topic. Ok, fair enough. (I was getting excited as I saw where he was going with this!)

And then he said, 'Have you ever talked to someone who said they'd like to hire a midwife, but their insurance wouldn't cover it?'

I got so excited I could hardly stand it! That happens all the time! His answer to that was, make it affordable and easy, and people will choose it. The way to do that is NOT by reaching the women. It's NOT by going after the insurance companies, or to hire midwifery lobbyists, or to try to get the U.S. Govt. to use common sense. The answer is HUMAN RESOURCES.

He gave me names, and ideas and so much I couldn't write fast enough. It all made sense!
And now I have to run. More later.

Passion flowers

2008-04-29T08:56:00.008-05:00

I have buds! The plant wants to be outside so bad, but it has just been too cold. Still, it's got a bud big enough that it might even bloom by this weekend.

It may seem like a silly thing to get excited about, but I love this vine. Here is a picture of a flower my dau took last year:

The flowers are about 3-4 inches across and have a subtle scent that (to me) is like lemon and ginger combined. They bloom and are gone in 24 hours. I have tried everything (drying and pressing and that stuff that's like sand that draws the moisture out) to preserve them and nothing works. It doesn't matter if you put them in water or leave them on the vine, they close up after a day. So, when I get to enjoy a bloom, I'm happy.

The Birth of a Morel

2008-04-27T20:16:00.007-05:00

We got skunked!

As per my last entry, we did get out to the woods today. As we were leaving, we found one sad little 'shroom, just being born. The cap hadn't even popped out all the way yet! He had no friends we could invite for dinner, so we left him.

However, when we arrived home, there was an email from my brother in MI. this is what they found:

Now, keeping in mind the prices I mentioned in the post below, that could be a $500 haul. They had to give much of it away. Sadly, not to us. I don't even know how you'd ship fresh morels. If they are successful in drying any, or if they get another haul like this, we may get some. I hope we can find our own. It is so fun to find them like this!

So, for dinner we had no wild mushroom fettuccine and steak. We had a spinach dish with water chestnuts, scallions and regular mushrooms, all wrapped in phyllo. For desert I tried Sticky Toffee Pudding. I think I'll try to find a recipe for individually made, smaller servings next time. It made huge batch. I guess we'll see how it freezes. I'd really love to know how to tell if I did it right, though. It was good, but the people on the Food Network raved. There were several recipes; how do I know which one is closest to the real deal? I guess if it tastes ok, it's ok.

Hunting the Wild Morel

2008-04-27T13:15:00.003-05:00

It may be too early, too cold or too dry, but some folks are finding the little buggers!
In Michigan it was a rite of Spring to go 'shroomin' as often as possible between about now and the end of May or so. However, there was never a spring when we didn't go, and we had a secret 'spot', so it was just a matter of whether or not they were poppin'. Here in WI, we've got not clue as to where they actually may be, so its a much bigger adventure.

We did find about 35 or so last year, by accident. Fortunately, a few can go a long way. We had Morel Fettuccine Alfredo, steak on the grill and red wine. Yum. In days past we would get so many we'd toss them in flour and fry them in butter and communally eat them by the plate. Everyone would grab a fork and snitch at will from the pile of hot fried fungus.

We have no idea what we'll find today, only that we won't be paying the $20/lb. they are going for at local farmer's markets, so I hear, or the $46/lb. they are fetching online. A pound isn't much. It sounds like it, but morels are about 90% water, so they're kinda heavy. It probably ends up costing about $2 per 'shroom. I'm sort of in the same place about them as I was about the Johnny Depp search; I'm willing to go look for them, but there's a limit to the madness. There's a certain excitement to the hunt that makes the experience that much more enjoyable.

So, we're about to jet. When I get back I'll try to write something on the birthing revolution I've been promising. I got to knitting a wrist warmer for my dau this weekend (I've been promising forever but have been too busy for that too) and dealing with some computer issues that are stressing me out, so I didn't get to blog. That particular one is going to take a bit of composition and research. (read: TIME that is at a premium currently)

Later...

The Survey

2008-04-24T10:26:00.005-05:00

Ok, here are the results of the survey, with commentary on why I asked what I did:

81.2% of respondents were experienced moms
4.7% were first time moms
1.2% were CPMs
1.2% were CNMs
11.8% were 'other', which consisted of doulas, people who have no children, and people who actually fit into the categories provided but for whatever reason chose 'other' anyway

Of the first time moms, 44.4 said they felt confident regarding the information they were receiving in pregnancy, while 55.6 said they were confused and a little afraid. However, I'm not sure how this breaks down, since there were more than twice as many responses here than for the women who identified themselves as first time moms in the first question.

Of the experienced moms, 72.6 said they felt confident they made their own best decisions, while 27.4 said they wondered if things might have been different. Again, the number of experienced mothers from the first question didn't match with the number of responses here, but it was because fewer answered this question than identified themselves as experienced.

Now, for the 'biased' questions. I had someone write to me and say that as a communications professional, she had a problem with these questions because we are all biased. I agreed with her 100%. We do all view the world through a lens of our own experience that makes our view biased. However, most people do not seem to use the term 'biased' as it is defined, especially when it comes to birth. I bring this up in my book before even moving into the birth information because I see it all the time. Therefore, the questions I asked may have seemed redundant, but I asked essentially the same question in a number of different ways for a reason.

94.1% of respondents said that they felt cable birthing programs were biased
81.2% said that factual information on all safe birthing options would be unbiased
97.6% said that information that provides only selected information, or that excludes or misrepresents factual information on all options is biased
67.1% said that if only one side of an issue has been represented, a source providing only the opposing side provides balance
91.8% said that information, even if not widely available, popular or pleasant, but factual and independently verifiable is unbiased

Now, the reason I asked these questions was that I'm trying to figure out why people watch the propaganda that is the cable birth programming, and reject documentaries like The Business of Being Born, Born in the U.S.A or Gentle Birth Choices. Comments I've heard from parents are that these movies, and books like Mother's Intention (which fosters critical thinking regarding birth options) or Obstetrical Myths versus Research Realities (which is all about the scientific data) or Born in the U.S.A (which is an inside look by a doctor of how U.S. maternity care currently fails women and babies) are that they felt these works were 'biased', 'negative', or 'unbalanced'. Yet in everyone of these cases you will find independently verifiable facts and the opinion that the optimum functioning maternity care system needs both midwives and the surgical specialty of obstetrics. Yet in 17 years in birthing, I've yet to hear a doctor, after an initial visit, tell a client, "You know, you are so low risk, you should see the midwife down the street for a consult" and parents will still say that they specifically only seriously consider information that comes directly from their doctor or hospital based childbirth class because it's 'balanced' and 'unbiased'. ACOG has issued position statements that are diametrically opposed to the actual facts of homebirth and midwifery, and this is as far as the vast majority of doctors are going to go to get their information. That is hardly 'unbiased'.

Of the selections above, not one of them says hospitals or doctors are bad. What they say is that what we are doing to women and babies in this country doesn't make sense, based on the evidence. What they say is we can't fix a problem unless we acknowledge a problem exists. So they expose the elephant in the kitchen. Then they propose a solution that gets the elephant out of the kitchen, but certainly doesn't kill the elephant.

72.9% of respondents said that if they encountered information that challenged their core beliefs, they would independently verify it.

52.9% said there is no way they'd watch cable birthing programs

I wish I had asked where and with whom these respondents had birthed. I highly suspect that these were homebirth moms, because these programs aren't still on because no one is watching. In every one of my classes parents sheepishly admit they watch. I tell them if they must, use it as a learning opportunity. Notice how often intervention is often unnecessary and leads to complications.

The order of preference for other birth DVDs was:

90.6% Gentle Birth Choices (home, hospital, birthing center, water-birth)

84.4% The Business of Being Born (home-birth, hospital-birth, comparison of U.S. outcomes with outcomes of other countries)

77.6% Born in the U.S.A. (birth in U.S. compared to other countries)

73.5% Birth As We Know It (water-birth, orgasmic birth)

63.5% Special Delivery (home, hospital, birthing center)

One of the things I wanted to see is if there would be a decent turn out for public viewing of all safe birthing options were made available. These figures would suggest yes, if this indeed was a fair representation of expectant parents, which I unfortunately think it didn't end up being. Home birth mothers, HypnoBirthing(R) mothers, moms who have hired doulas; they have already set themselves apart by questioning all they've been told and rejecting what insults their souls.

Another possible reason for the discrepancy between the data and mainstream outcomes is that some women know that they have safe options, but don't choose those options for some other reason. Often I have people in class who will say they would like to have a homebirth, or birth with midwives as an area hospital that I recommend often, but their insurance won't cover it.

Here is where we get to my next blog entry...how to help these women!

But that will have to wait until this weekend.

Speaking of Einstein...

2008-04-24T09:17:00.006-05:00

The recent Depp excursion was about so much more than a visit to a movie set. It was an opportunity for my daughter and I to spend time together actually relating. As any parent of a teen knows, those moments grow few and far between. That's one of the reasons I'm so glad I prioritized our time together when she was younger.

So we were chatting over lunch at our fav location in Oshkosh (Water City Grill) and talking about gawkers like us, and my dau comments that she and Johnny would be bff's. She hates chat-speak and she's a smart ass, something we nurture to the fullest, so I thought she was kidding. My response was to laugh and say 'Yeah, right. You and every other person stalking him right now.'

She (quite seriously) responded that she wasn't kidding, and further, she'd also be bff's with Einstein. At this point I just had to ask her if she was now in the habit of hanging out with old men, and in what universe might it be normal for a 16 year old girl to want to hang out with old, or dead, men. (Not that JD is old; he's not much older than me, and much younger than my husband, but when you are a teen, 30 is ancient, much less 45. And frankly, if she was in the habit of hanging out with 45 year old men, I'd be concerned.)

Anyway, we continued with this "If you could have a conversation with anyone, living or dead, who would it be and why" conversation for some time. And actually, I think it entirely possible she would enjoy the company of both. She's not a typical teen. We've nurtured her non-conformity since birth, and she just doesn't think like 'normal' kids her age. She's mature beyond her years and possesses rapier wit. (Where that comes from, I have no idea. Her dad is funny, but I have zero sense of humor. I appreciate her perspective and enjoy her wry humor, but I'm not quick enough to come up with that stuff.) She abhors vacuity and is extraordinarily creative, which tends to be seen as 'odd' in the teen years. That is not to say she can't relate to many age groups, she just has a comfort zone that is much wider than the narrow peer group most kids stay in.

While other kids are getting drunk and getting laid (or at least talking about it), she prefers to write. I wish she'd let more people read what she writes, because there is such depth to her characters and she writes in such a unique style, with dialog that just draws the reader into the story. She's never said, but I wonder if she ever thought about Depp as one of her on-going characters. She told me a little about this character, and I've read small snippets laying about, but she won't let me read the whole story. I can't remember his name, but I know he's a vampire. Not a campy vampire, or even 'traditional'. He's a soulful vampire with a conscience. He craves relationships that he can't have because of who he is. Its not about sucking blood or archetypal themes of everlasting life or sexuality, though as a vampire there must be some of that. Maybe she just hasnt' shared those parts with me. What it seems to be is a story from inside the skin of someone who questions why he is who he is. When I read what little I did, I guess I pictured someone much younger than Depp, but he does have a timeless quality. In any case, it explores psychological and sociological themes that are truly fascinating (and frankly, beyond her years...again, I have to wonder where that comes from). I know, I know, she's my daughter, I think she's brilliant. But honestly, if someone would just read it (or rather, if she would LET anyone read it) it would be obvious that this is not just a mother's opinion. I'm really not one of those mothers that believes that my child is perfect (though you wouldn't guess it from these posts...I just wouldn't humiliate her by posting the bad stuff). I don't believe we do our children any favors when we shield them from reality. If her work was crap, I wouldn't tell her that exactly that way, but I might gently suggest she rethink how she spends her time.

A Depp, Burton, Wildner production would be her dream come true. For all her talk, I don't know that she'd dream that big for herself, but I could totally see that for her.

Synchronicity

2008-04-23T19:10:00.009-05:00

I don't believe that things happen by accident. Even when painful things have happened in my life, I was confident that there was a reason and that I would understand it eventually. There is no such thing as coincidence.

Here is what I see as an example of my magical thinking (which I understand some use in a derogatory way, but I LIKE the way it sounds):

In my last post, I pondered our collective reaction to people we perceive as famous. I choose that wording carefully. Perception is reality. To Johnny Depp's mother, he is a son. To his sibs, maybe is was (or is) an annoying brother or protector (as my brother has been by turns), I'm sure. His children still probably think he's a god (at least until they become teenagers, at which point he'll instantly become incredibly stupid), and when his wife looks at him, she likely has a burst of oxytocin that makes her heart go pitter-pat; when she doesn't want to stick a fork in his head, at least if he's anything like my husband. And I've got one of the good ones!

So, it is our perception that creates OUR reality. Depp's reality is entirely something else. He's just living a life and doing a job like everyone else. We all have the same basic needs and fears.

In any case, I wondered on this blog last week what it is we want from famous people. A few days later, I was reading A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle. I've been following along with Oprah's webcasts as I read, but not on the same schedule. Therefore, while they are on like chapter 7 I think, I'm still on chapter 3, The Core of the Ego. But like I said, there are no accidents, so when I came to 'Ego and Fame' I was not surprised. Says Tolle:

"The bane of being famous in this world is that who you are becomes totally obscured by a collective mental image. Most people you meet want to enhance their identity--the mental image of who they are--though association with you. They themselves may not know that they are not interested in you at all, but only in strengthening their ultimately fictitious sense of self. They believe that through you they can become more. They are looking to complete themselves through you, or rather through the mental image they have of you as a famous person, a larger-than-life collective conceptual identity." (pp. 83)

Ask and it is answered! I love that!

Tolle also tells us that Einstein, "...never identified with the image the collective mind had created of him. He remained humble, egoless" and quotes him as speaking of, "a grotesque contradiction between what people consider to be my achievements and abilities and the reality of who I am and what I am capable of." (pp. 84) I had to wonder if that's the sort of attitude that keeps JD grounded (or at least seeming that way).

Again, this post isn't birth related, at least on the surface, and I have no idea if the experience might be at some point. I'm a bit myopic that way. Of course, this experience was not primarily mine either. So, we wait for the Universes to reveal what we are to learn from our encounter. I never thought much about any of this before, but maybe there's a reason I'm supposed to. Maybe my daughter will become photographer to the rich and famous. Maybe her friend Fern will become a high end designer. Maybe Sara's amazing voice will take her far. Chelsea and her friends have serious talent, and as long as they don't think of themselves as less than what they aspire to be, and always believe that they can attain what they desire most, they could be dealing with fame and fortune. They are funny and insightful too. I look at the work they produce now, at 16, and I am astounded. With support, who knows where they will go. Oh well. I'll know when I'm meant to know.

I do have a post though, (about birth!) regarding a 'chance' encounter that may lead to big things for birthing in the U.S. Who would have thought I'd get a brilliant idea about advancing midwifery as a safe option from a business professor in an adult learners undergrad program?

But once again. I'm tired. Life has been so busy it seems I never get a chance to finish one thought before another intrudes, demanding attention. I will get to it though. I also need to post about the survey yet, which is why that damn pop up window is still popping. I dont' want to delete the survey until I can let participants know what it was all about and what the responses were. I hope to have time tomorrow.

Measles Confirmed in Wisconsin

2008-04-08T12:49:00.007-05:00

Is the news in business to inform, or to promote an agenda?

According to WISN TV 12 last night, a case of measles in a toddler has been confirmed. We are then warned that '1 in 1000 measles infections results in death'. Several other sources have since repeated that measles was a ‘leading cause of death’ before vaccines.

Now, that figure is different from the numbers on the Merck MMR package insert which says 1 in 2000. Still alarmingly high to be sure, although not as bad as the doctor who, in trying to convince me to vaccinate my then infant (the vaccine is not proven to be safe or effective under the age of 12 months) told me that ‘every child he’d ever met with measles died’. I told him I found that unbelievable because I had measles, as had every kid I knew, and we were all very much alive. He backed off then, a bit flustered, but I fired him anyway just because I detest manipulation through the use of fear.

In any case, TMJ then quotes Dr. Michael Chusid as saying, "It's one of the most contagious of the viral diseases that we have, so just breathing the air of someone that had been in the room is enough"

I found that interesting because a few years ago my husband went to Germany and after he got home, it was discovered that he had been on a plane from Austria to the U.S. (like a 10 hour flight) with someone who had measles. I called our doctor to ask if my husband was in danger, since I had already researched the issue and discovered vaccine immunity only lasted 10 to 12 years and he had been immunized as a kid. She said no, because he would have had to have been in direct contact with water droplets. In other words, if he was not directly coughed on or sneezed on there was no danger. TMJ4 put adult minds at rest for a different reason, though, by informing us, “Good news for grown-ups: if you were vaccinated as a child, the vaccines are very often still effective, even 40 years later.”

Reading that, I wondered if there was some new research regarding the vaccine’s effectiveness since my husband’s experience 5 years ago or so. Nope. No new evidence. In fact, just a year ago the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine (Vol. 161 No. 3, March 2007) reported, “It has been suggested that protection offered by vaccination is life-long, however this is based on data from times when the wild-type virus was still circulating and thus boosting immunity. There is limited evidence on the persistence of immunity where the natural disease has been eliminated.”

WISN TV 12 also reassured parents that there is no concern if parents have immunized their child. But according to the Merck MMR package insert, “As for any vaccine, vaccination with M-M-R II may not result in protection in 100% of vaccinees.”

Also according to WISN TV 12, “About one case in 1,000 leads to death, but other complications include encephalitis and pneumonia.” Ok, that tells us there are risks to the disease, but what are the risks of the vaccine? Wouldn’t unbiased reporting also include those? From the Merck package insert, some risks include:

Atypical measles (in other words the vaccine can give you the measles)

Encephalitis

Pneumonia

Death

In other words, the same problems as with the disease, except that the list of other possible complications for the vaccine is about a page long.

These ‘news’ reports are supposed warn parents to vaccinate their children, because measles is deadly, but the girl is ‘expected to make a full recovery’. What I find even more interesting is that whether or not this little girl was immunized is never mentioned. If the girl got sick, supposedly, because her parents failed to vaccinate her, would be a strong illustration of why vaccination is important. If she got sick despite being immunized, simply not mentioning her vaccination status would allow her case to be used to push an agenda. That makes me wonder, cynic that I am, if the girl actually WAS vaccinated and got measles anyway. As stated above, the vaccine has not been proven 100% effective and can cause measles. Likewise, every case of polio in the US since 1979 has been caused by the vaccine.

Now, I’m not saying that people shouldn’t vaccinate, although anyone who is trying to make an informed decision might want to hear what the speaker for Vaccine Injured Children has to say April 9^th in Beaver Dam or check out 'the other side' of the story.

Or at the very least, not rely on biased and inaccurate news that is repeated nearly verbatim (without any actual investigation it would seem) on every channel. What that often shows is that some organization that wants to promote an issue has issued a 'press release' and no one bothered to verify anything in it.

And just to be clear, my husband still travels for work. He goes to places where he could conceivably contract a disease and bring it home. Therefore, he is vaccinated. We did vaccinate our daughter, but not until we were satisfied that her immune system had a chance to fully develop. I am not 'anti' vaccine. I am PRO informed consent. More importantly, I am vehemently opposed to the 'news' being used as a vehicle to promote an agenda.

Born In the U.S.A.

2008-04-07T11:06:00.003-05:00

I finally did order Born In the U.S.A., even though I hadn't seen it and wasn't sure if it was worth the investment required in order to purchase the right to show it. (BTW, the trailer for this this movie is still not available to embed via YouTube, but the link in the hyper-linked title above will take you to their website where they do have a clip.)
I was interested in this movie because it was featured on the Oxygen Network, and in Fit Pregnancy and Self magazines. It was shown on PBS, and a couple of my favorite doctors had this to say (from PatchWorks Films website):

"The best film on birth in America."
——Marsden Wagner, Former Director, Maternal and Child Health, W.H.O.
"Every man, woman, and child in this country should see this film."
—Christiane Northrup, MD,
Author, Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom

I do respect these opinions, though I guess I'm not quite as enthusiastic about the film after seeing it. It's good. I'm not sure its the best. I felt the same way about Giving Birth: Challenges and Choices, by Suzanne Arms. It was good. I liked it. It was beautifully done. It just isn't my 'go to' movie. Maybe I should have a baby/birthing movie marathon and see what my opinion is when I see them all together. It has been years since I watched the Arms movie.
I've been thinking I might have a mother's 'tea' once a month just to watch uplifting birth/parenting videos and talk about the concerns of expectant moms. They can be such a wealth of information and support for each other, and I have so many resources I could share. One friend in CA is doing something similar and has great attendance. If any local women would like to see something like this, let me know. Maybe we could do something once in a while like learn how to knit a baby hat or make natural baby wipes or something. It could be fun.

Book Review

2008-04-04T13:40:00.000-05:00

Permission to Mother: Going Beyond the Standard-of-Care to Nurture Our Children

Denise Punger, MD, FAAFP, IBCLC

Outskirts Press, 2007

There are two main reasons that Dr. Punger’s book is important. The first is that she started out with the same culturally imposed beliefs about birth and breastfeeding that most American mothers have. Often, mainstream mothers assume that ‘alternative’ mothers have always had ‘far out’ ideas. Yet the journey from culturally accepted parenting beliefs to heart-centered intuitive parenting doesn’t happen overnight or without good reason. Often it is the result of a great deal of research and soulful exploration. Permission to Mother is Dr. Punger’s journey. Part of this journey includes her medical training (and that of her physician husband), which is the second reason this work is so important.

People tend to assume that support of all safe birthing options, including homebirth, automatically requires that someone be ‘anti’-doctor or ‘anti’-hospital. Likewise, to advocate for breastfeeding is often taken as an ‘anti-woman’ stance. Somehow it doesn’t occur to certain folks that it is only their own erroneous assumptions about birth and breastfeeding that could lead to such conclusions. In any case, in this book, they are challenged. Dr. Punger IS a doctor. She is married to a doctor. Her father-in-law is a retired obstetrician. Obviously she isn’t anti-doctor. Yet she supports homebirth and doulas. She is a working woman; yet she’s a breastfeeding advocate. Her story is vitally important in putting to rest the ‘us’ against ‘them’ mindset once and for all.

Punger shares with us her education, training and early experiences. We hear first-hand just how little doctors learn about truly normal, natural birth and breastfeeding. She asks important questions about why obstetricians so often jump to surgical solutions when other, less invasive options abound for many variations (sometimes called complications). Her own breech home-birth ends up being part of that process of questioning.

Likewise, her discovery of Dr. Brewer’s advice which led to the elimination of toxemia from his own OB practice prompted her to ask, “Why does the medical community ignore his evidence?” Good question; midwives have been using this advice to help mothers to be healthy for decades. The information is there, and it is so simple. Why the resistance?

Perhaps the best part of this book is “Finding Breastfeeding Medicine”. Dr. Punger’s own breastfeeding experiences led her to supplement her education to become an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC). We learn elsewhere in the book that medical ‘training’ in breastfeeding may include an hour or two of instruction and continuing education sponsored by formula companies. What I want to know is why every single doctor (or nurse) that will discuss infant feeding with new mothers isn’t required to be a lactation consultant? Why isn’t every obstetrician, pediatrician and family practice physician required to be able to fully inform mothers of the benefits of breastfeeding and understand how to overcome challenges when they occur? How can they actually educate women if this isn’t part of their own education? How can they be of assistance if they don’t have the motivation to go above and beyond as Dr. Punger chose to do?

I love that the author shows that being a working woman doesn’t mean you can’t breastfeed. I love that she herself is so dedicated to her boys that she would have them brought to work to nurse them when she couldn’t be home. I actually chose my own daughter’s pediatrician for exactly that reason: the doctor’s husband brought her children to the hospital when she couldn’t go home to nurse them.

Because of this level of knowledge of breastfeeding, Punger is also able to address issues such as adoptive nursing and other special situations, as well as introduce the concept of breast-milk donation, which may be a new idea to some readers.

Finally, I’m excited about this book because also home-birthed, cloth diapered, breastfed, co-slept and unschooled my own daughter (who, by the way, is an intelligent, compassionate, independent young adult now, despite dire warnings of where our ‘weird’ parenting choices would lead). It’s nice to find a kindred soul.

My Favorite Physicians

2008-03-13T09:18:00.005-05:00

Some people who are immersed in the fear-based paradigm of our collective cultural beliefs about birth see gentle birthing advocates as 'anti' establishment. They are very threatened with what they see as 'alternative' views. But there are some allopathic practitioners, both physicians and nurses, who are out there advocating for all the things that make babies and mothers healthier, happier and safer. They often face a great deal of pressure from their peers when their views are outside of 'tribal' agreement: i.e. they support options like homebirth, advocate for breastfeeding, are vocal about their beliefs about ecstatic birth, are anti-circumcision .
These doctors and nurses deserve a pat on the back.
Dr. Marsden Wagner tops my list. He's been advocating for midwifery for years. He can be seen in Gentle Birth Choices and The Business of Being Born. He is the author of several wonderful, fact-filled books, the latest Born in the U.S.A.: How a broken maternity system must be fixed to put women and children first.
Dr. Michel Odent is also in TBoBB and has worked ceaselessly for gentle birth. He has likewise authored several books.
Dr. Weil, from the Program in Integrative Medicine in AZ.
Dr. Jack Newman, breastfeeding advocate with a great collection of articles on his website. His site is especially helpful for women who wish to re-lactate or who plan to nurse an adoptive child, but he has a TON of information any mother who wishes to have factual information on just about every breastfeeding situation you can think of.
Dr. Lorne Campbell teaches medical students in GA. He is a gentle and compassionate doctor who receives babies that mothers birth. He knows the wonders of HypnoBirthing(R) and speaks about it often.
Dr. Margaret Gustafson, OB/GYN practices in MI and is so supportive of informed choices.
Dr. Kari Leikert, my daughter's pediatrician throughout her childhood. We didn't always agree (for instance on vaccination), but she was always respectful in saying, "I don't agree with you on this, but I respect your decision." Because of that, I admire her greatly.
Dr. Sarah Buckley, who wrote Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering.
Dr. Lewis Mehl-Madrona, who has conducted research on safer birthing options.
Dr. Christiane Northrup who is all about women's empowerment and gentle birth.
Drs. Sears, Americas Family of Pediatricians. (I love that!)
Dr. Mercola, always questioning the status quo.
Drs. Coquelet & Punger, walking the talk.
Dr. Paul Fleiss, anti-circumcision educator
Finally, the doctor I was seeing in Greenville, MI in 1992 who refused to give me antibiotics just because I insisted I needed them. I don't remember his name, but he took the time to explain to me why I was wrong and why there was danger in over-using antibiotics...years before anyone else recognized the problem.
Some nurses who are fighting the good fight:
Barbara Harper, RN
Faith Gibson, CNM. The College of Midwives website that she maintains is one of the most massive collections of fact-based maternity care information available.
Doris Haire, CNM
There are so many! I'll add more as run across them, but if you know of someone who belongs on this hall of fame, medical professionals who are insisting on a higher standard of care for women and babies based on evidence, please send me names and links to their works, sites or blogs.
These are people on the inside who see where the system needs improvement. They obviously aren't anti-hospital or anti-medicine, as is often the (erroneous) assertion regarding those of us non-medical professionals who advocate for change in maternity care.

Book Review

2008-03-13T09:10:00.002-05:00

She Births: A Modern Woman’s Guidebook for An Ancient Rite of Passage, by Marcie Macari
Infinity Publishing, 2006
ISBN 0-7414-3390-7

Before reviewing this book, I have to say that I had dozens of little notes about all of the things I wanted to say about this book before I got to the last chapter and found a quote from MY book. I swear, I didn’t know I was quoted and everything I am about to say about it I was going to say before I discovered I was. I do not know the author or the publisher. I just had to make that clear in the spirit of full-disclosure.

That out of the way, I will start right off by saying that the title of this book describes the content perfectly! Each chapter addresses some spiritual aspect of the process of birth, followed by a meditation, and then journal exercises that allow the reader to explore feelings and insights further. While the Feminine Divine is acknowledged, all interpretations of Spirit are honored as ‘Creative Source’ in the meditations.

The messages are clear. Babies come out. Women are strong. There is a purpose to the way women are designed to give birth, and it is more than just a physical design that works. Thus ‘Birth’-with a capital ‘B’ throughout-is not just a verb; it is a force with transformative possibility.

This empowered Birth is also seen as a gift to our babies. As the author explains, it allows our babies to be born “…onto this planet with dignity and a gentle transition…” that is “…a priceless gift to our yet unborn.” (Ch. 1, pp. 15) This chapter ends with guided journaling asking us to carefully consider the baby’s experience.

Chapter 5, ‘At the Feet of the Wise’ contains birth stories, which the author sees, and I agree, as vitally important in the way women currently perceive the mystery that is Birth. At first I was unsure about how I felt about the first and last selections. The first, because I thought if I were pregnant and reading this story I’d be scared out of my wits! ‘Unbearable’ and ‘agonizing’ are just a few of the descriptive terms. The final story is of a mother’s natural birth, and loss, of preemie triplets that made my heart ache. However, as I thought about it, I realized that while hard to read, the shadow side of birth is important. While I think women hear enough of horror stories about how difficult birth can be, sadly for too many women, it is. When birth is challenging, however, instead of suffering we can choose to use that as an opportunity for growth, and the author provides exercises for doing so.

What I loved about this book is that while these births took me aback at first, there is also the acknowledgment that while birth CAN be painful it doesn’t always have to be. Whether it is by a different interpretation of the sensation, or by controlling variables that can make birth painful, painless birth is also depicted. As a matter of fact, the second story is a wonderful HypnoBirthing!

Macari stresses personal responsibility, clearing the way for baby by forgiving and letting go of anger, and honoring of the sacredness of this process. In our culture, birth has come to be just a physical process for so many people; a way of getting baby from point A to point B. She Births helps the reader to understand that there are so many gifts available to women through birth that are lost when they choose to reduce this powerful rite of passage to such simple terms.

Dad feels blessed

2008-02-21T15:30:00.003-06:00

Another fast and easy birth!

Dad delivers baby in bathroom

Resources were wasted in rushing emergency personnel to the scene when babies just come out. The mother and baby were fine. Dad didn't need to tell her to push. Mom's body was doing what it needed to do, what it was built to do. That poor dad had no reason to panic! All he needed to do was get those dry towels and receive his little girl.

I love that he feels blessed to be the first one to touch her!

The Business of Being Born

2008-02-17T10:34:00.009-06:00

The Business of Being Born was amazing!

Before I even begin to talk about the movie though, I have to thank Toshia Parker and Stacey Feiner for inviting me. I also want to say, if you are anywhere near SW/S Central Wisconsin, please attend any event these women are hosting! They are exceptional women bringing great things. They inspire me.

Stacey runs Harmony (a non-profit group promoting natural birth) with two equally phenomenal women; her sisters Renata and Nicole. They are three moms with three different birthing stories who bring a wealth of experience to their endeavors to help women create their own best births. I'm honored to know them. Toshia, like me, is a HypnoBirthing educator and hypnotist. Her business is Wellness from Within.

Anyway, the movie is a must see! If it is showing locally, please go see it whether you are pregnant or not! We are all either mothers, or children of mothers. As such, this topic does impact all of us, even if it doesn't seem to at first.

What did I like about it? Finally a voice for sane birth that more people will listen to! Good or not, people tend to listen to celebrities. One thing the film pointed out was that the celebrities that have been vocal about their elective cesareans are impacting choices right now. We need homebirth celebrities to be as vocal! Joely Fisher and Thandie Newton have been, as has Cindy Crawford and obviously Ricki Lake, but did you know that Demi Moore & Bruce Willis, Meryl Streep, Micheal Landon's wife, Noah Wylie's wife, Carrie Ann Moss, Laura Dern, Patricia Arquette, Stephen & Tabitha King, Lucy Lawless, Pamela Anderson & Tommy Lee (also HypnoBirthers!), John Leguiziamo's wife, Lisa Bonet & Lenny Kravitz, Kelly Preston & John Travolta, , Charlotte Church and Julianne Moore all had homebirths?

Therefor, I love that this movie will get people talking.

I have heard complaints that the movie is 'biased' because it didn't show that people have 'good' births in the hospital too. I guess my question there would be, "Does your OB tell you that the midwives down the street might be a better fit for your low risk situation?" Do hospitals have pictures of wonderful homebirths in their waiting rooms? Of course not. It's a business. Why would they send you to their competitors? The Business of Being Born is an expose' of a broken system, and as such it is as even-handed as it can be and still provide the facts. It shows, through Abby's birth, that technology is lifesaving when used appropriately. However, it also gives evidence showing that it is NOT used appropriately, nor is current practice based on science, and what's more, it shows what the consequences of this mix are. It advocates for a system of choice between viable options, nothing more.

Having said that, I also didn't find it perfect. I realize that subject is enormous in scope and it isn't possible to to address every issue. However, I was disappointed that that every birth was such agony. Because most women believe that is what birth must be, maybe they didn't want to challenge too many core beliefs at one time. Maybe because that was their experience of birth, they also hold that belief, and what they wanted to convey was that there is empowerment in beating the pain. In fact, Robbie Davis-Floyd says something to the effect that there can be no empowerment without the pain. Now, don't get me wrong; I love Robbie Davis-Floyd. I just disagree with her on this point. That is why I was disappointed to see all of the births playing into the fear that most women have already: That birth is so excruciating they feel like they are going to die. The reason women say they want their epidural at the door is because they are sure that's what they will face, and they really don't care about empowerment.

Make no mistake, some will experience that, but not all. Knowing what creates pain birth (and it's not always the birth process itself) means we can avoid the pain, or at least control intensity if we can control the variables that create pain. HypnoBirthing mothers do it all the time. Sometimes homebirth mothers encounter painless birthing accidentally just by controlling some of the variables. Again, not all. I had a homebirth, and I did experience pain. (Long before HypnoBirthing.) I did find empowerment, I did NOT suffer, and found it a spiritual turning point in my life. Since that time I've just seen too many ways in which our beliefs create that experience. So now I believe that women have to know what is possible in birth. You CAN have the empowerment without the pain.

Suggesting that painless birth is possible, perhaps part of our perfect design, does not negate the experience of women who perceive birth as painful. There are historical references to painless birth and there are stories of painless birth from around the world, yet pain can be, and has been, painful for most women. Far too many. We can change that though.

There are many satirical works comparing sex and birth. The comparison is valid considering both can be altered by similar factors. I'd like to take that comparison one step further.

Women's experience of sex:

Some women enjoy orgasmic sex
Some are multi-orgasmic
Some are non-orgasmic
Some experience female ejaculation
Some experience painful intercourse

Some have perfunctory sex

Women's experience of birth:
Some enjoy orgasmic birth
For some birth is painful
For some, long births are normal
For some, short births are
For some giving birth is just a means to an end

In both cases 'position' (in the case of birth both mother and baby's position), partner (in the case of birth, both the actual partner and anyone on the birth team) and practice (in birth today women may only have one or two children, so a fact-baased childbirth class like HypnoBirthing class would have to take the place of life-experience) play a huge role in how events unfold. A woman with vulvodynia is likely going to find sex painful. A virgin is likely to find sex painful. A women who is being raped is going to experience pain. A young girl who is physically immature is going to find sex painful. A physically mature woman who is tense is likely to find sex painful. A woman who is with an unexperienced partner may find birth painful. A woman who is not producing lubrication due to a hormonal imbalance may find sex painful. That doesn't mean sex is painful, yet no one would deny that these women experienced sex as painful. No one would argue that sex is painful by design or that women who enjoy sex are somehow just lucky or somehow exceptional. I don't know anyone who would argue that sex is painful for a lot of women because there is some inherent design flaw, and then set about 'proving' it without questioning why some women find it painful while others either enjoy it or least find it not completely objectionable.

Women who experience sex as painful, who want to enjoy sex more fully (and not everyone does...some women are perfectly happy with their sex lives even if they've never experienced an orgasm, maybe because they don't know what they are missing, poor things) can fix the underlying problem to improve their sex lives. In the case of a medical problem, it would be fixed if possible. If it was an emotional issue from a past experience, that would have to be addressed. For a woman who just didn't know what 'makes her tick', education and exploration would be key. For a women who is simply incompatible with her partner, a new partner could change the experience.

Suggesting that women can have a more enjoyable experience doesn't mean it is expected that every woman will have the SAME experience. It simply means that if you learn how your body works and control the variables, you can improve your experience IF YOU WANT TO. If you knew the secret to mind-blowing orgasms, and later your friends found out that you knew this and didn't share the secret, do you think they'd be upset? Yet when people like me try to share the secret of mind-blowing birth, we are sometimes told we are judgmental, or trying to inflict guilt or that we're being biased. I find that odd. If we told a woman she could have a better sex life, we wouldn't be accused of telling her she was doing it 'wrong' before. Why is it any different for birth?

In the case of birth, it is slightly different because we are talking about improving the experience for both mother and baby. Not only that, but many of the variables that contribute to a fearful, painful, dangerous situation in birth can be long lasting in their consequences to the baby.

So I have to wonder, if the difference between a comfortable natural birth and excruciating natural birth (or putting babies at risk) is simply a matter of learning what makes birth painful so one can avoid it, why don't more women want to know? Perhaps not every woman will have an orgasmic birth, or even painless, but quicker and more manageable is surely possible...without drugs. AND women would still get the 'love cocktail' that The Business of Being Born talks about. How great is that?! Why wouldn't women want to know this?!

Perhaps just seeing the ecstasy that comes from un-medicated birth will help us reach a tipping point where women will choose natural birth and experience painless by accident. Maybe that's enough for now. Maybe that's all this movie will do, because it does show the ecstasy of natural birth. It does show a little bit about how our culture came to view birth the way we do (as a dangerous medical event) as a result of a very well planned smear campaign. It also uses valid statistics to show that it has been to the detriment of women and babies that we do see birth this way.

It breaks up these sobering facts with humor in all the right places. It really was enjoyable to see the audience respond to the film. Both events had decent sized crowds, and both were very well orchestrated. There were expert panels for questions following the showing, and opportunities for more education and ways to become active in expanding women's options.

I'm so glad I was able to attend!

Blizzard Baby

2008-02-07T19:14:00.000-06:00

Another baby was almost born on the way to the hospital, this time during a huge snow storm that buried us here in Wisconsin.
It was on the news, channel 12 I think. I didn't take notes because I figured I'd just find the details on their site and post the link, but I can't seem to find it anywhere.
The intro made no sense to me. They said the baby surprised the parents by making an early arrival. Yet they said the mother was scheduled to be induced in a couple of days. The baby appeared to be full term.
In any event, the dad was out shoveling snow like the rest of us. (It seems a never ending job the last few days.) His wife comes out and tells him they have to go to the hospital, RIGHT NOW. Visibility is near zero. It's a raging storm that is dumping snow snow so fast, malls, churches, colleges, schools and stores are closed and people are stranded. Yet these parents are so freaked out, they get in the car and risk their lives to get to the hospital.
Click here to see what these people ventured into.
What if they'd been stuck in that mess? Would they have known what to do? I'm sure not if it made more sense to them to risk death than just stay home and give birth where they would be warm and safe.
What have we done to women that they fear this natural process so?

More Quick and Easy Births

2008-02-01T06:58:00.000-06:00

I went looking for a news story today, about a local backseat birth, and I found several! I didn't find the one I was looking for, though.

Last week, I was teaching a HypnoBirthing class, and a dad is concerned about a backseat birth, so we've talked about it a little every week now for 5 weeks, trying to reassure him that if the baby is coming that fast and easy, it's not a problem. This is a common concern for parents, especially HypnoBirthing parents, because if birth is comfortable for mom, and they aren't sure they are in labor, they figure they might not leave in time to get where they are going. We address that concern in class, (even the moms who do have completely painless births still have sensation , just not pain) but truly, although I've got maybe a dozen stories total here on the blog and we hear about one of these on the news about once a month, if you think about how many babies are born, it just isn't something that happens all that often. I've been teaching childbirth classes since 1991, and none of my parents have ever birthed in the car (since I began teaching HypnBirthing though, most do arrive at the hospital at 7-9 cm because they don't think they are really in labor until they are quite far into it).

So they come in last week and tell me that their heater broke in their car, and they were in getting it fixed. One of the mechanics, I believe, sees my client is pregnant and tells her about his exciting weekend.

He had just bought a new car (and I got the impression that for the dad, this was a very important element in the story; that he had to have his car detailed because it was brand new) and his wife was scheduled for a cesarean on Monday for pre-eclampsia (and here is a fun fact, women who actually have pre-elampsia are very sick... getting the baby out quickly is the only way to keep the mother from having seizures and possibly dying. An emergency cesarean is imperative, not 'oh, go ahead and have your baby shower this weekend and we'll schedule surgery for first thing next week').

In any case, after the baby shower, the mom 'felt funny'. She didn't feel like she was in labor, just 'funny'. And since she'd been told she was sick (and may well have been getting sick) she thought it was a good idea to go to the hospital. But by the time they got to the car, she said something felt really odd, and asked her husband to take a peek. She was wearing his boxers, and when Dad looked, he was just in time to catch the baby; the head was already out. I don't know how big the baby was or anything, but mom and baby are going fine. In the retelling of the story, it did seem that dad thought catching his own baby was very cool. Maybe it made up for the wet back seat in his new car.

Now, you'd think this would be news, but there was nothing on it when I looked. Perhaps the family is just private that way. Which makes you wonder how many people this might happen to who just don't want the attention.

However, while I was looking it up, there were TWO OTHERS that happened in the last two weeks. One was in Ohio. A little peanut baby at 4 lb. 3 oz. One was in Michigan. This one just "sort of fell out" at 7 lb. 7 oz.

I also found another I didn't have in the first list. This one happened 2 years ago, and the archive just has the first two sentences, but that gives us the basics. There is a picture of the baby boy, but no weight. He looks to be about 6 lbs.

I actually hope more and more of these happen so people will realize that these quick, easy birth are the way we are designed to birth! However, I fear that if women aren't really thinking things through, their fear will still prevent them from thinking critically.

Years ago, there was some movie star talking about her near car-birth on The View. One of the women said something like, "we hear you have quite a scary story to tell about the birth of your baby". She said yes, then proceeded to tell them that she had surges (contractions) all day, but she didn't think she was in labor. It didn't hurt, so she just went about her daily business.

Eventually, she realized that the sensations were just a few minutes apart, so they headed to the hospital. On the expressway, she felt like the baby was going to fall out, so she got on her knees and told her husband to drive like a maniac. Within minutes of arriving at the hospital, the baby did indeed 'fall out'. I had one client who had a similar story from a previous birth.

In both cases, the doctor's advice was that next time, they should come in two weeks early and be induced to avoid such a scenario again. Fortunately, my client saw the illogic in this, but the movie star in The View thought that sounded like a great idea!

Her labor was so painless, she didn't know she was IN labor. Her baby almost FELL out. So instead of having a homebirth with a midwife next time to avoid a repeat, she thought it would be better to introduce a multitude of risks? Induction is so common these days many are under the impression that there is little or no risk to elective induction. That's simply not true.

First of all, planning to induce two weeks early, as determined by ultrasound, risks preventable prematurity. Ultrasound can be off by two weeks on either side of a 'due date' which itself is actually a 'due month'. "Due" is anytime between from 38 weeks to 42 weeks. 38 weeks is not 'early' and 'late' isn't until 42 weeks 1 day. Less than 5% of women actually give birth on their 'due date'.

After 28 weeks, an ultrasound can be off by as much as 3 weeks and is not supposed to be used for dating after that time. Yet I hear women all the time saying, "Well, my due date changed again." Your 'due date' doesn't change! I always ask them how many times their conception date has changed. You are the same amount pregnant regardless of what the machine says!

So, if someone is induced 2 weeks early based on an ultrasound date, they actually might be FIVE weeks early. Prematurity has considerable risks for the baby, and iatrogenic (doctor caused) prematurity due to increased inductions is a concern for the doctors who have to try to save these babies.

"Elective induction of labor, either for medical convenience or at the patient's request, and the practice of cesarean birth on demand have become increasingly common.10,11 The National Center for Health Statistics reports that 19.9% of all labors are induced; the rates have doubled since the last report in 1989.12 Although many inductions are for medical indications, it has been suggested that two thirds are performed for nonmedical indications.10,13 For example, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has classified psychosocial issues as an acceptable indication for induction.14 Further, after careful consideration, a woman's right to choose a cesarean delivery is also supported by ACOG.15

Although a scheduled birth may be convenient for the parents and the obstetrician, it is often painfully inconvenient for the infant who is not ready for prime time. Anyone who practiced in the '70s and '80s knows all too well that there is an increased risk of iatrogenic prematurity with elective deliveries, particularly those without lung maturity studies 16; the risk of RDS is also increased in infants delivered by cesarean especially in the absence of labor.16,17 One study reported that 18.2% of the cesarean births in their population were elective; 38% were performed at maternal request.18" (Buus-Frank, 2005. pp 233)

But that's just the beginning. IF the mother isn't actually anywhere near her 'due date', induction will fail. There is actually something called a "Bishop's Score" to determine how likely it is that induction will work. If the cervix is not in a forward position, is not soft, is not already effacing and dilating, and the baby is not low in the pelvis, induction will fail, leading to an unnecessary cesarean. Well, by that time it will be necessary because pitocin and/or cytotec will have likely led to a life or death emergency. So a better word might be an avoidable surgery. Then there is the maternal mortality (death) rate for 'elective cesarean' that is 3 times higher than for a natural vaginal birth. (Wagner, pp. 68)

Part of what causes such risk with pitocin is that it causes contractions that are longer, stronger and closer together, meaning they are very painful. Remember, we were talking here about babies who were born so fast and easy because their mothers were so comfortable they didn't realize they were in labor.

So now, instead of the logical option of staying home with the next baby and letting the baby fall with a midwife to watch over them, we are looking at what might happen if they choose to be induced two weeks early, which is the suggestion of the doctor.

Once pain is introduced with the pitocin, a mother is likely to beg for an epidural or other 'labor drug', which is really a misnomer, like Demerol which also creates risk.

Let me take a slight detour to explain the illogic of 'labor drugs'.

My best friend broke her tail bone while pregnant and "4 days overdue" (meaning she was NOT overdue) and asked for something for the pain. She was told they couldn't give her anything because anything strong enough to help her would be harmful for the baby. BUT if she let them induce her, she could have something for the pain. She asked why she couldn't have those same drugs now, for the pain she was already in. Because they are 'labor drugs' she was told. I love her response.

She said, "So, let me understand this. I'm in pain now, but the drugs are bad for the baby?"

"Yes." said the nurse.

"But you can induce me, create pain, and give me drugs?"

"Yes."

"And these are the same drugs I can't have for the pain I have now, because they are dangerous."

"Yes."

"So, in 30 minutes these drugs become less dangerous?"

"No."

"Then why can't I have them now?"

"You aren't in labor."

My friend was stunned, and the nurse never did comprehend what the problem was. My friend went home and used hypnosis for the pain. She had an hour and a half labor and birth a 10 lb. 4 oz. baby boy in a tub at home 4 days later (8 days past her 'due date').

I haven't even addressed the risk of the epidural this woman might also choose, and actually I'm not going to because I have to run. However, for anyone interested, Dr. Mehl-Madrona has research paper title Medical Risks of Epidural Anesthesia During Childbirth that you can access by clicking on the title.

I think the point has been made that inducing 2 weeks early to avoid the 'problem' of the next baby falling out too easily and quickly is the height of idiocy.

Buus-Frank, M., (2005). The great imposter [sic]. Advances in Neonatal Care: The Official Journal of the National Association of Neonatal Nurses. 5(5):233-236.

Wagner, M., (2006). Born in the USA: How a broken maternity system must be fixed to put women and children first. University of California Press. Berkeley.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

2008-01-31T11:44:00.000-06:00

In watching the clip of The View, where Ricki Lake talks about The Business of Being Born (below), there is a comment by Barbara Walters that interested me. Lake is explaining how having a natural birth at home with midwives empowered her; Walters is confused by that.

This started me thinking about how many women do (or don’t) take childbirth classes and why that might be. Of course, partially that is because I’ve had this poll on the blog asking people if they took classes and why or why not. At the time of this writing, 52% did not take a class, and most respondents who didn’t take class said it was because they didn’t need one.

Of course, you know I’m going to ask ‘why’ next, right? Did they feel they didn’t need one because they figured they’d blindly trust whatever their OB told them? Did they not understand the purpose of a childbirth class? (Hint, it has nothing to do with ‘breathing’…you must know how to breathe already or you’d be dead and I hate to say it, but there is no magic breath that gets babies out.) Did they have a midwife as a caregiver, and had everything explained to them (and had actually helpful books recommended to them so they could educate themselves) so that a childbirth class was redundant? Did the non-hospital childbirth classes not market themselves well?

It was this last question that was on my mind when Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs came up in conversation. Now, this pyramid of needs has tickled the back of my brain several times in recent months, as it’s come up in regard to effective marketing and in sociology. This time, I realized why it kept bothering me.

First, here’s a visual of Maslow’s theory: (if you click on the image it will open up a full-sized image you can read)

The basic idea is that when we make a decision about something, these are the factors that will motivate us.

First, we are concerned with survival issues. If our basic needs are not being met, we don’t really care about the other stuff.

Next, we need to know we are safe and secure. We need some order in our life, some predictability and to be part of a larger whole. This is also about survival to a certain extent. Being part of the larger group is an evolutionary desire. We are tribal by nature. Solitary humans don’t do well, not just because we need others to be most effective at hunting, gathering, farming, etc., but we need social stimulation for the sake of our brains. If we don’t interact, we go a little bit nuts. Think of the movie Cast-a-way with Tom Hanks.

Beyond that even, we need to fit in with our family, peer and work groups. We have a need to feel appreciated and loved.

We can survive if the only the first two needs on the pyramid are met, but without the third, we probably would be slightly maladjusted.

Next, we have the need to feel special. We want to feel respected and to be able to feel pride in our accomplishments. Finally, we reach a state of enlightenment or our full realized potential. Some say not many of us get to that point, except maybe Oprah. J

Ok, so how does this relate to birth, childbirth classes and Barbara Walter’s bewilderment? Here’s my theory:

Most American women are still making decisions at the first two or three levels. They believe birth is a dangerous, excruciating medical event. They want to be able to predict exactly what will happen each step of the way, even if the security is an illusion. If they do what every body else does, not only can they have a plan, but its familiar because it’s what everyone they know has done. They are following a blueprint. Sadly, because they do what everyone else does, they get the experience everyone else got, which is likely the painful medical event. But that’s ok with them, because they all have the same war story to tell. They fit in. They also get admiration for ‘surviving’ such a harrowing event.

Those of us who make the decision to birth at home, or who take a class that advertises gentle and empowering birth, are doing so because we are not operating from a place of fear. Make no mistake I am NOT saying we are ‘better’ or ‘higher’. I’m saying because we are confident that we are safe, and our babies are safe, we are not operating from survival need. Because we know what the research says BIRTH is safe, we are not operating at security need. Hence OUR confusion when someone says, “You birthed at home? Oh, you are so brave! I could never do that!” We, of course, are thinking, “Sure you could.” We don’t consider ourselves brave at all. We are just doing what makes sense, personally and per the evidence.

We are working from the ‘esteem’ level, because if we can. We feel a need for a sense of accomplishment like anyone else. We feel a need to be respected by our spouse or our home-birthing friends and to feel unique. Now, we all have these needs, but what I’m saying is that we can make our birthing decisions from this level because we don’t have to worry about the first three needs. To try to empower a woman who is operating at a survival or security level will not work. She has other things to worry about. Not to mention, if she is in an unsafe environment, or doesn’t have access to nutritious food, or is in some way actually not healthy, she actually is at risk for complications, which means she’s operating at exactly the level at which she needs to be operating. This is why it is absurd when people say homebirth supporters are trying to ‘make people feel guilty’. Even the most strident homebirth advocates realize hospital birth is the only place to be for about 10-15% of women. Homebirth should be an option because it’s safe, not because it’s right for everyone.

Think about it like this: You feel education is important. You improve the schools, and you make attendance mandatory. But one kid just doesn’t seem to care. He is often truant, and when he is there he doesn’t make much of an effort. You try to tutor him. You try special classes. You try rewards and punishments, but nothing works. He just doesn’t seem to value education.

What if you found out the kid was homeless? What if he’s being beaten at home, or doesn’t get to eat every day? What if he was convinced he was worthless because he was told he was, every day? If you met the more basic needs, from the bottom up, he might be more interested, and able, to operate at a higher level on the needs hierarchy. Otherwise, he simply can’t. He has to meet his basic needs first.

So, when we talk to women about the empowerment of natural birthing, they are confused. Sometimes they’re angry, but they may not be sure why. I believe it is because there is cognitive dissonance because on some level they know that the fear they feel is disproportionate to the actual risk. Because there is someone who doesn’t feel that same fear, it makes them question why they have it. Not consciously, of course, but if they become aware that some women can birth with dignity, comfortably, maybe painlessly, even ecstatically, and still be safe, but they believe that they must sacrifice all that for safety, it suggests that their suffering was for nothing. That’s not a comforting idea. It would make me angry too.

This brings us to the question of how we can help them meet their needs so they can feel the ecstasy and empowerment we know is so transformative. Right now they don’t even care about that. You don’t know what you’re missing if you’ve never had it. You won’t even try for it if you don’t believe it’s really possible for you. Can you see how bubbling over with enthusiasm about your positively transformational birth experience comes across as lunacy to someone who is convinced they “would have died” if they’d done what you did? It doesn’t matter if it’s true or not, it’s what they believe.

It doesn’t matter if they had an epidural that caused a sudden drop in blood pressure, that caused fetal distress that required a cesarean that saved their life. The only part of that equation that is important is the last part. It doesn’t matter that the medical management of their birth lead to the problem in the first place. What matters is the medical management saved their life…and it did. It doesn’t matter that they almost died of hemorrhage due to an elective cesarean, what matters is that modern medicine saved their life. Undoubtedly it did. It doesn’t matter that their baby almost died from a cord prolapse that coincidently happened just after artificially rupturing the membranes. What matters is that modern medicine saved their baby from certain death. It did. And because they are operating at that place of survival, it makes sense that is what they would focus on, it’s what’s important. They aren’t even going to question it unless they are operating from the 4^th level. If they are, they are going to wonder how things got so askew. Many do. These are the women who have a couple of horrible experiences and then come to a HypnoBirthing class. Or, the women who hire CNM for VBACs after questionable cesareans. Or, the woman who has seen several of her friends suffer from birth-related PTSD who decides to explore the option of homebirth. No one is right or wrong; they are just making decisions based on their where they are on the pyramid of needs.

What that means to childbirth educators, midwives, doulas, etc., is that we need to consider this in our marketing and in our interactions with others. No wonder we haven't reached a 'tipping point' yet. Maybe The Business of Being Born with be that tipping point that will allow more women to feel safe enough to work from a different need level?

What Makes Us Tick

2008-01-25T14:04:00.000-06:00

From a sociological perspective, our cultural beliefs about birth and many early parenting issues are incredibly fascinating. We don’t often stop to consider that our culture shapes our decisions. We have this idea that we are choosing to do things a certain way of our own volition. Rarely is that the case.

Macionis, in Sociology: The Basics, says that the greater a person’s marginality, (meaning someone is not part of the dominant group) the greater the ability to see things other people don’t see, or using a sociological perspective. I guess I qualify as an outsider in many ways. He lists things like gender, age, sexual orientation, and disability as things that can marginalize a person. Other than the fact that I am a woman, I’m not marginalized by any of those things. I’m pretty typical. I’m married to a man, am able bodied and am of middle age. However, I belong to several ‘subcultures’; groups that are different from my dominant group, which for the purposes of this exploration would be an American Parent. Certainly I could be classified in many ways, but for simplicity, I’m picking this one.

Practically nothing I’ve done is in step with the dominant culture. Why? I have no clue. I question everything. My favorite quote is ‘Examine everything you’ve been told. Reject what insults your soul’ which is how I live. If something doesn’t make sense to me, I want to know why, and then I want to see if there is something that does make sense, and then I want to know if there is hard, verifiable evidence to support the alternative.

In most cases, I’m actually not very concerned about what someone else thinks of my choices. By the time I’ve made a choice, I’ve done enough research, from a global perspective, that I’m very sure I’m making the right choice for me and my family based on all of the evidence available to me. Some people won’t even consider information that doesn’t originate in the U.S. I think that’s a huge mistake. Other countries have much to teach us. It is arrogant to think otherwise, which is why so many people around the globe hate us. But I digress.

Back to my alternative choices, which include:

Homebirth

Breastfeeding

Selective Vaccination

Homeschooling

And if I’d had a boy, I would have rejected circumcision

These choices put me in specific subcultures. These subcultures may not be easily recognizable through commonalities such as dress or ways that other subcultures are identified, yet they fit the definition of subculture because by questioning the status quo, they set themselves apart to a certain extent.

This is very threatening to the dominant culture. I’ve been called judgmental and told that I’m trying to ‘make people feel guilty’ because I made different choices and want to expose people to the idea that they can too. I’ve never said my choices are right for everyone. I can’t impose guilt on anyone. It’s an internal emotion, and I don’t try to shame anyone for making any decision they feel is right for them. I do use a lot of statistics that call into question why certain decisions have become the norm, but that doesn’t mean I really care about anyone else’s personal decisions. Sociologically though, suppose I’m looking for the general in the specific.

What I do care about is needless suffering, and many of the decisions made in the childbearing year cause problems that lead to suffering. So it baffles me when simply trying to educate people draws such an angry response sometimes. No one has to agree with me. No one needs to defend their choices to me. My opinion should mean nothing to anyone. Lots of people disagree, sometimes vehemently, with the choices I’ve made. I’m ok with that. I have no need to defend those choices because I have no regrets in having made them. No one can shame me for not making the choices they’ve made, because I take responsibility for my choices, and mine alone. I just wish everyone could feel that confidence. I wish that through informed consumerism, parents could really understand what their options are, and that a lot of what they think are parenting options are not really options at all, as well as why certain parenting decisions are influenced a lot more by culture than anything else. We tend to think that just because many, or most, people do things a certain way, it’s the “right” way. So much so we may not consider there are alternatives.

These are things that are important because they influence patterns of health and illness, both emotional and physical, in our society. For example, we have an epidemic of childhood obesity and diabetes currently, which will eventually lead to an adult population with serious health issues. The roots may well begin at birth with breastfeeding (or rather lack thereof), but if we can’t be open to questioning infant feeding choices (a parenting option), we can’t address it fully.

On 1/14/08, USA Today ran an article in the ‘Life’ section that listed the complications of the obesity and diabetes and gave parents some concrete ways to help children stay healthy. They included: limiting television, limiting junk food, making nutritious food available, and encouraging exercise; all excellent ideas. Yes, they will all lower the incidence of obesity and diabetes. However, not once was breastfeeding mentioned. Not once was it mentioned that one of the main ingredients in formula, besides cow’s milk, is sugar. There were no resources explaining to parents that this culturally induced idea that formula and mother’s milk perform exactly the same function isn’t based on science, but politics and social mores.

From a structural-functional sociological perspective, there is a consequence to this social pattern that disrupts society as a whole. This approach also explains why this is such a heated topic: bottle feeding is a social structure that serves many functions besides feeding a baby (the manifest function). It allows women to be in the work force (a latent function). To suggest it isn’t good for babies creates a conflict, because were it not available, there would be a disruption in the way society currently operates. But another latent function is illness, which also disrupts society.

Any of the counter-cultural parenting options I chose pose the same threat. It makes people uncomfortable to think there might not be a logical reason for the things we do as a culture. This discomfort creates social conflict between the different groups, but this is important and necessary. The presence of these countercultures is a good thing, because without them, change would not be possible. If no one is willing to speak out against the needless suffering of women and babies, why would it stop? The culture at large isn’t even aware the suffering exists. The suffering is considered ‘normal’.

However, many of the problems that new mothers encounter are not common natural occurrences; they are created by the choices made in birth and shortly thereafter, many without the women even knowing they’ve made a choice.

This creates issues, and mothers talk about these issues, and because they all have the same issues, it is considered ‘normal’. Thus, no one bothers to consider that they aren’t, or that there are predictable ways of behaving that will reduce or eliminate the issues. This is how we have 70% of women anguishing over the ‘fact’ that they ‘can’t’ breastfeed. They have constructed the reality through their interactions-according to the symbolic-interaction approach. It never occurs to them that the reason they suffered was because of birthing decisions, bad advice or simply the cultural acceptance of an inferior substitute to human milk.

Another example might be the idea that birth is supposed to be excruciatingly painful. Empirical evidence tells us this is so. Right? We see it. We hear about it. The idea is accepted as something ‘every body knows’, or just pain common sense.

So, what we talk about and study is why birth is painful and how we can anesthetize the pain. It never occurs to us to wonder if the pain must be present, and if not, why not.

So, we come to conclusions that birth is painful, and perhaps dangerous, because we have big brains. We dismiss any evidence that lots of people give birth painlessly without drugs, either by chance or by design. We attribute any danger encountered, not with the multitude of variables that could have played a part, but with birth itself. We form all sorts of scientific ideas about pain, we write papers or even books about it; we measure it and draft policy to deal with it. But all along, we are asking the wrong questions because the premise with which we began was flawed.

Surely, there is a correlation between birth and pain. But is birth the CAUSE of the pain? If it is, all women would experience pain in birth. They don’t. At least 30% of HypnoBirthing mothers don’t, and there are many others who naturally don’t. Then it can’t be the process of birth that causes the pain. If birth doesn’t have to be painful and dangerous, then a ‘big head’ has nothing to do with anything. What causes pain during birth is actually very predictable and often avoidable, even with 11 lb. babies with truly big heads! Why on earth do people resist this idea, even when they can see statistics and videos of painless births (or even orgasmic births)? Because it disrupts the way their world works. People don’t like change, and this idea, while it seems deeply personal, has a ripple effect on many systems in our non-material culture.

Our patriotism is called into question if we are confronted with the idea that we don’t have the best maternity care system. We don’t even come close to the best.

Our ideas of freedom are called in question if we learn we have rights and responsibilities as a pregnant patient, yet are denied those rights when we try to exert them. This also makes us question our ideas of a benevolent health care system that we’d like to think puts our best interests first. We have many cherished ideas about what to expect of babies and motherhood. People who make different choices make us question our own, and the ideas that preceded them. Our very values and beliefs are challenged and that is very threatening.

Sometimes cognitive dissonance occurs when a core cultural value contradicts a belief. For instance, we (as a culture) have come to believe that epidurals are safe and justified. So, when a woman has an epidural that slows down her labor, necessitating pitocin which causes fetal distress and leads to a cesarean, there will likely be no acknowledgment that the epidural was the cause of the surgery. Birth will be blamed, because a cultural core belief is that birth is dangerous. Volia! Cognitive dissonance gone, to be replaced with denial and perpetuation of a harmful practice. In this instance, two birds are killed with one stone, because we have a cultural belief that breastfeeding is difficult too. Epidurals create breastfeeding problems, which reinforces the belief.

There has been a cultural lag regarding this issue. We got to where we are through invention, though our ethics have not kept pace. Through discovery and much research we know how to bring balance. Much of the information required for women to have easier, more comfortable safer birth and smoother postpartum transitions can be found in this blog. Now we need to allow diffusion, the spreading of ideas from places where birth is safer to create change on a larger scale. This diffusion also must happen within our boundaries. I hope that Ricki Lake’s movie, The Business of Being Born (trailer on this blog) may be the impetus for that diffusion. Once women understand that their best and loving mothering intentions are being sabotaged before their babies are even born, there will be a revolution! When women realize they can have the healthy baby prize without sacrificing their body integrity, their sex lives or their dignity, man, will they be pissed!

Thus far they’ve been socialized by their mothers, sisters, friends, and media to accept what’s been done to them; to be good little girls and buck up. As long as we can fix what we break, don’t worry about us breaking it. We know best, dear. All of your friends are doing it this way. Your mother did it this way and it turned out just fine…unless of course we x-rayed her (and told her it was safe) or gave her DES (and told her it was safe) or gave her thalidomide (and told her it was safe), or use Cytotec on her (and told her it was safe), or gave her a routine episitomy (and told her it was necessary).

We say that we value mothers and babies above all else. We hold that as a cultural value, in fact. If we really mean it, we must offer safe alternatives in childbirth. We must demand evidence-based care. We must have people appointed/elected to government offices at all levels who will be committed to actually putting our efforts toward what we say our values are. We must support and protect the mother-baby nursing relationship. We must admit that what we are doing now isn’t working. We can’t fix the problem until we acknowledge it. Some orgs that are already doing so can be found here:

http://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/data/maternity_care.htm

http://www.cfmidwifery.org/pdf/OverviewofMatCareApr2003.pdf

http://www.narm.org/aphares.htm

The Business of Being Born

2008-01-24T18:01:00.000-06:00

I'm so excited! Finally The Business of Being Born is making the news! Here is the trailer:

I'm so grateful that Ricki Lake did this! One of the things I've been saying for a long time is that until we get the 'innovators' out there talking about their wonderful births, women won't believe that it's possible. If you go to You Tube, you will see that big stars who've had natural and or home/births are getting out there, and TV shows like The View are talking about this.

Please support this effort! Go see it if there is a screening in your area. Rent it from your local movie rental places or Netflix.

It really is worth the effort!

The Baby Fell Out

2008-01-23T08:18:00.000-06:00

Ok, stories like the one below (titled the same as this one, but with an MSN video embedded) drive me nuts!
The guy who cut the 'umbiblilcal cord' (please note that it has nothing to do with anything biblical...it is UM-BIL-IC-AL cord) has determined that the second baby would have died in another 'two to three minutes' because somehow being breech deprived him of oxygen? It doesn't say there was a cord prolapse, placental abruption or anything. The baby was fine in the end. If there was oxygen deprivation on the way to the hospital, the baby would have had issues. Likely the second twin was surgically removed simply because he was a second twin and breech. There was no mention of turning him. Granted, they were little babies. Vaginal delivery of a tiny preemie (there are certain criteria in safe vaginal breech birth; not too little, not too big, not a first baby, etc.) is not risk free, but there is no mention of if the baby was a preemie or not, and the first baby 'just fell out'. Obviously she had an adequate pelvis! There is also no mention of what kind of breech the second baby was. Feet first? Butt first? Just because it was an hour between twins doesn't mean the other twin wasn't getting oxygen! There can be hours between twins! They each have their own O2 supply.
Would vaginal birth have been safer for baby than surgery? Who knows? But to suggest that there was "plenty to worry about" simply because her babies were falling out nearly painlessly and doing pretty darn well on the outside seems a bit alarmist to me.
This is the type of reporting that leaves women afraid of birth. Please notice also that the sister 'didn't know what to do'. This is because we do not teach women anything about the nature of birth! We leave it up to the 'experts'. The satirical Monty Python skit , 'The Miracle of Birth', (below... done in the 80s I believe, yet sadly just as relevant today) shows this quite well. The mother asks, 'what do I do' and the doctor tells her 'nothing dear, you're not qualified'.

This is why I've developed a syllabus for a series of college level courses (which could be adapted to high school) that would leave women confident, not afraid of the processes of their own bodies!

'The Baby Fell Out'

2008-01-23T08:07:00.000-06:00