Skip that Newborn Vitamin K Shot

"The purpose of this shot is to assist the newborn with blood clotting capabilities in order to prevent the very rare and slow problem of bleeding into the brain in the weeks after birth (risk in about one in every 10,000 live births). The shot also is a supposed safeguard in case your car is involved in a car wreck on the way home from the hospital or birthing center with newborn in tow. Even a mild injury to a newborn could be life threatening if blood clotting capability is not adequate."

"Midwifery Digest, Vol 2 #3, September 1992 estimated that the chance of your child developing leukemia from the vitamin K shot is about one in 500! This means that the risk of developing leukemia from the vitamin K shot is much higher than the risk of bleeding on the brain which the vitamin K shot is supposed to prevent!"

"How about this for an alternative – eat lots of leafy greens in the weeks before your due date (I drank a cup or two of nettle tea every day in the final weeks which is loaded with vitamin K1) to make sure your blood is high in vitamin K and of course, this will transfer to your baby as well. Make sure you breastfeed your child as the probiotics in breastmilk will seed your baby’s digestive tract with the right type of good bacteria which will produce naturally occurring vitamin K immediately after birth."

Written on October 18, 2010 at 10:14 pm by Birth Sense Evidence Under Fire: 10 Common Obstetric Procedures Not Supported By Science

"Following is a sampling of the current evidence regarding ten procedures commonly used in modern obstetrics despite a lack of evidence to support their use. Please note: many of these procedures are beneficial in specific situations. It is their routine use without medical indication that I am addressing."

Baby loss healing journal

"Created as a healing journal for mothers who have lost their babies, Mending Invisible Wings is filled with healing words, drawings, poems and exercises. Each exercise includes an action, an affirmation and a self-nurturance activity designed to help the mother move through her grief. There are also plenty of blank pages where she can express her grief through words or pictures. If you have recently lost a baby, or if you know someone who has, Mending Invisible Wings could be an important step in the healing process."

Munchausen’s Obstetrics

To read the full 5 page article click on the title above

Lots of good information and citations contained in this one.

"The huge dinosaur of American obstetrics is creating generation after generation of unconsciously traumatized and often subtly brain-damaged people, people whose lives are often subsequently burdened with criminal behavior, learning difficulties, ADHD, addiction, depression and other mental illnesses and symptoms of brain damage. These iatrogenic outcomes are entirely preventable, in fact in most cases can be avoided at less cost than the procedures which cause them. The question of whose interests are served by making birth needlessly difficult I'll leave to your imagination.

The American way of birth (unfortunately spreading worldwide) has now been linked to large increases in rates of mental ailments including depression, anxiety disorders, substance abuse and dependencies by at least 2 large well controlled studies, which both studiously avoided the most obvious conclusion.
http://www.sciencenews.org/pages/sn_arc98/ 9_19_98/fob1.htm http://www.math.missouri.edu/~rich/ MGM/birthUSA2.txt

Post traumatic stress reactions have been noted in American infants returning to hospitals, again while neglecting the obvious possibility that they were remembering birth trauma.
http://www.math.missouri.edu/~rich/MGM/oldrefs/www.drkoop.com/newsdetail"/93/512690.html

The Pregnant Patient's Bill Of Rights

Click on the title above to read the full article.

"American parents are becoming increasingly aware that well-intentioned health professionals do not always have scientific data to support common American obstetrical practices, and that many of these practices are carried out primarily because they are part of medical and hospital tradition."

""In the last forty years many artificial practices have been introduced which have changed childbirth from a physiological event to a very complicated medical procedure in which all kinds of drugs are used and procedures carried out, sometimes unnecessarily, and many of them potentially damaging for the baby and even for the mother"."

"It is the obstetric patient and her baby, not the health professional, who must sustain any trauma or injury resulting from the use of a drug or obstetric procedure. The observation of the rights listed above will not only permit the obstetric patient to participate in the decisions involving her and her baby's health care, but will help to protect the health professional and the hospital against litigation arising from resentment or misunderstanding on the part of the mother"

Not a "Snip," But 15 Square Inches

"Dr. Taylor's research indicates that after being
circumcised in infancy, the average circumcised man
has lost 51% or more of his penile skin."

Cord Clamping

The links in the discussion board post have some excellent study backed information regarding the benefits of delayed cord clamping and the risks of early cord clamping to a newborn baby.

New Guidelines for Women With Prior Cesareans

"Many women who have had a cesarean section delivery -- and some who have had two C-sections -- can safely attempt to deliver vaginally, according to updated guidelines on vaginal birth after cesarean, or VBAC, issued by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists."

Managing Back Labor

The most frequently thought cause of this type of extended back pain is due to the baby's position, usually in the occiput posterior position, or OP for short."

"There needs to be a two pronged approach to dealing with the pain of back labor:

* Let the baby to change positions
* Assist the mom with comfort measures
* The good news is that most of the techniques used to rotate a baby into a more favorable position also feel good to the mom."

Myths & Facts About Circumcision

"The following cultural beliefs, or myths, are often used as reasons for circumcision. After each myth, some relevant facts are provided to present a more accurate picture of this procedure. Parents should understand the full implications of circumcision before making this irreversible decision for their child."

Avoiding the first c-section: 5 essential questions to ask your care provider ASAP!

Excerpt from the article:

"It is critical that we look at what can be done to decrease the primary c-section rate (the first cesarean for a woman), because once the first c-section is done, it becomes increasingly difficult for many women to find support for a subsequent vaginal birth."

Making Cytotec (misoprostol) fit their agenda

In this article, Marsden Wagner, a perinatologist, neonatalogist and perinatal epidemiologist from California who is an outspoken supporter of midwifery, showed us that ACOG (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) is the only organization out of a list of 10 that, despite its risks to pregnant women and their unborn babies, recommends using Cytotec (misoprostol) for labor inductions.

Here is an excerpt from the FDA’s 2002 statement (PDF):

A major adverse effect of the obstetrical use of Cytotec is hyperstimulation of the uterus which may progress to uterine tetany [uterus contracts and doesn't let go] with marked impairment of uteroplacental blood flow, uterine rupture (requiring surgical repair, hysterectomy, and/or salpingo-oophorectomy [removal of the ovaries and Fallopian tubes]), or amniotic fluid embolism [maternal and infant mortality is very high from this]. Pelvic pain, retained placenta, severe genital bleeding, shock, fetal bradycardia [profound slowing of the fetal heart], and fetal and maternal death have been reported.

There may be an increased risk of uterine tachysystole [contractions coming too fast], uterine rupture, meconium passage, meconium staining of amniotic fluid, and Cesarean delivery due to uterine hyperstimulation with the use of higher doses of Cytotec; including the manufactured 100 mcg tablet. The risk of uterine rupture increases with advancing gestational ages and with prior uterine surgery, including Cesarean delivery. Grand multiparity [usually defined as more than four births] also appears to be a risk factor for uterine rupture.

Dr. Wagner had this to say about the reasoning behind ACOG's outnumbered stand on the continued use of Cytotec for labor inductions;

"How can ACOG possibly be willing to stand alone in opposition to the best scientific opinion in the world? Because so many of ACOG's members already use Cytotec induction off-label for its incredible convenience, the organization needs to support its members by recommending this practice."

Henci Goer , award-winning medical writer, internationally known speaker and the author of The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth., hit the nail on the head when she described it as "a rationale that amounts to “but all the kids are doing it.”"

So then the next question becomes, "why are all the kids doing it?" Why is it that so many obstetricians are using Cytotec for something the drug was not created for and that has the potential to cause SO many serious problems for their pregnant patients, concerning who they swore to first and foremost "do no harm"? I will once again turn to Henci Goer,

"Why, then, are obstetricians so enamored of misoprostol? The answer is summed up by this obstetrician enthusiast:

The best part about it is that you can block-schedule your nurses so that you have enough on hand. . . [I]f we start our inductions at 7 a.m., we know that we’re going to have X number of patients in labor being admitted by 4 p.m. That’s helped our hospital tremendously, . . . [Cytotec is] a great agent. It works very, very efficiently. . . . And it’s ungodly inexpensive: 27 cents per tablet.

In other words, Cytotec’s real benefits are convenience for obstetricians and helping the hospital’s bottom line. For women and babies, though, it’s a roll of the dice. Most times things go fine, but sometimes the dice come up snake eyes."

So, I guess the real question comes down to this. Are you willing to let a doctor, who very well could be more concerned with his bottom line than the ultimate health and safety of you and your unborn baby, roll the Cytotec dice for you? Are you feeling lucky?

Not a happy birthday

Excerpt from the article;

"A woman who is raped while giving birth does not experience the assault in a way that fits neatly within the typical definitions we hold true in civilized society."

(WARNING - this article contains very uncomfortable, but very true information.)

I am not implying that this is the case with every birth, but I know from personal experience how incredibly damaging and painful (physically & emotionally) something like this is. The women who experience these types of things need us to acknowledge their pain and give them our support as they seek healing.

Here is a website of an online community specifically for women who have had traumatic birth experiences and need a safe place to share their pain with other women who have been there and understand what they are going through.