Thursday, April 9, 2009

Guessing Babies Weight by Ultrasound

I can't tell you how many times I've heard people say they were told that their baby was going to be so big because of an ultrasound result. Here are numerous links about predicting the size of a baby by ultrasound.

http://pregnancy.about.com/od/fetus/f/bigbaby.htm

http://www.ajog.org/article/S0002-9378(08)02449-6/abstract

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/109719831/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Lots of articles about Pitocin and Ultrasound Usage and Autism

I know many people out there believe that there is a link between vaccines and autism. I still have not really formed an opinion. I have chosen to vaccinate my children somewhat reluctantly. They scare me more because they get so many at one time that I wonder how I would know which one caused a reaction if they have one. I do wonder if a child with the genetics for autism can be triggered by a vaccine I don't think everyone needs to worry. I would like to see some real research done that is not sponsored by big pharma.

I have wondered for sometime about the fact that autism rates have increased dramatically at the same time that obstetrical interventions have increased. I wonder about the overusage of pitocin, ultrasound, epidurals and surgical deliveries.

Here are several articles questioning a possible link between all of the interventions and the diagnosis of autism.

http://www.massagetoday.com/archives/2006/03/11.html

http://pregnantmommas.tribe.net/thread/76c5ff1e-5445-44a6-b854-587a706bf7d9

http://www.theblueroomforum.org/f41/oxtocyn-possible-cure-being-tested-autistic-adults-296/

http://www.midwiferytoday.com/articles/ultrasoundrodgers.asp

http://www.autismtoday.com/articles/ATTN_Researchers.htm

http://lib.bioinfo.pl/pmid:15288368

Natural Ways to Turn a Breech Baby

Here is an article I found about ways to turn a baby who is in a breech presentation. There is also a great website called www.spinningbabies.com that talks about Optimal Fetal Positioning. It is a wonderful resource. This article talks about the use of Chiropractic and Accupuncture to aid in turning a breech baby. Accupuncture shows a 70% success rate in turning a breech presentation.

http://www.naturalnews.com/025972.html

Monday, April 6, 2009

The Breastfeeding Center of Pittsburgh

These folks are absolutely incredible. I have been to see them a few times. I have had issues with chronic thrush while breastfeeding both of my children. I saw Dr. Brent a couple of times when she was still with Mercy Hospital and I have been to the center a few times. They are an under utilized resource in this area. This is a link to a video done by WQED about them. Check it out.

http://www.wqed.org/ondemand/onq.php?id=455

What Women Aren't Told About Childbirth

This is actually a fairly old article. It was released in October of 2007 but it just recently came to my attention. It references a survey that was conducted by Childbirth Connection in partnership with Lamaze International and Boston University School of Public Health. It is rather long but well worth the read. The suggested reading at the end are all wonderful books and I would recommend all of them as well.

http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/65608/what_women_aren%27t_told_about_childbirth/

Rocket Fuel in Baby Formula

Traces of a chemical used in rocket fuel have been found in some samples of formula. The chemical is called perchlorate and was found in amounts that could exceed what would be considered safe for an adult if it were mixed with water that is also contaminated.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090403/ap_on_he_me/baby_formula_perchlorate

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

April is Cesarean Awareness Month

April is Cesarean Awareness Month. Following that in May is International Doula Month. The World Health Organization had an initiative called Healthy People 2010 initiative. The goal when the initiative was started was by 2010 to have a c-section rate of 15%. The 1998 baseline was at 18%. The National Center for Health Statistics released stats for 2007 on March 18th and c-sections in 2007 hit an all time high of 31.8 %. This is absolutely appalling to me and it should be to everyone. That means that approximately 32 women out of every 100 are having major abdominal surgery in order to have a baby. That was actually an increase of 2% from 2006. We are not talking about mole removal surgery. You can't remove a baby with a laparoscope either. People act as if having a c-section is no different than having your gallbladder out. People in the birthing community do not think it unrealistic that we will eventually see a 50% c-section rate. Boy am I glad I am done having babies.

The other goal that the Healthy People initiative had was a VBAC rate (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) of at least 37%. Anyone want to guess what the VBAC rate was in 2007?

8% is what the VBAC rate was in 2007. That's a far cry from 37%.

The real kicker is that there are 28 countries with lower maternal mortality rates (women dying around the time of birth) the we do and our numbers have been increasing over the last 25 years. (Statistics from Born in the USA by Marsden Wagner).

There are ways that you can decrease your risk of ending up with a c-section. The most important things you can do are to educate yourself and to carefully screen you provider. If your doctor is hesitant to tell you what there rates of inductions, episiotomy rates, c-section rates are then you need to wonder why.

The other most important thing that I think you can do is to have complete and total trust in your body's ability to birth your baby. Women have been giving birth for thousands of years without all of the interventions that women nowadays think they must have to give birth. Trust your body and don't listen to all of the negative chatter that people want to feel your heads with.

For more information on how to avoid a cesarean section and other information regarding cesarean sections and VBAC visit www.ican-online.org Unfortunately there is not a chapter in the Pittsburgh area although I have thought about it. If anyone would be interested in assisting me in starting one I would love to talk to you.

Thanks.

Amy