on the fence about cord blood? this may help...

i have done previous posts on cord blood.  we all have our opinions about it, right?  here is an article on today's cnn.com about how most kids cannot be treated for the very diseases that the banks advertise (leukemia, sickle cell anemia and more) with their own cord blood cells, because the cells have the same "problematic dna".  here, this pediatric bone and marrow transplant doctor, haydar frangoul, says it better:

"it would be ridiculous to use the child's own cells.  it would be like taking someone with cystic fibrosis who needs a lung transplant and giving them back their own diseased lung."

the article has good info on how there are now free public banks that we will likely all benefit from in the future.  plus, as suspected, the private banks will have an abundance of cord blood that may not be able to be used for the original newborn donor.

photo via here.

birth rape

"birth rape"....an interesting and controversial term, no doubt.  a recent article out of sydney, australia discusses:

"We have previously discussed studies linking difficult births with post-traumatic stress disorder and post-natal depression, the result of which has left some women reluctant to consider pregnancy and childbirth again.
But couple a horror birth with a doctor, midwife or healthcare professional who has little regard for the labouring woman and penetrates or examines her without consent, using instruments or his/her hand, and the controversial notion of “birth rape” is born.
Examples of birth rape include internal vaginal examinations without consent, breaking membranes without consent and inserting of forceps and other instruments into the vagina against the mother’s wishes.
Some women who claim to have experienced birth rape describe incidents where doctors or midwives made belittling and degrading comments when they could not birth fast enough, stitching lacerations without anaesthetic and inserting catheters without warning."

what's really interesting to me is how, in the comments section below the article, the aussie women are beside themselves at how "ridiculous" this all is.  while in the american women here can really relate.

photo via here.

"amazon mom" new discount club on amazon

ok, here's what i understand this brand-new moms club to be:

*not just for moms, but any caretaker
*30% off diapers and wipes that you have signed up for as a  scheduled delivery
*free 2-day shipping for the first 3 months.  it continues like this : for  every $25 you spend in the baby department, you earn a month more  of free 2-day shipping.
*emails from amazon about discounts and helpful product  recommendations.

i loooove this since i am already buying nature babycare diapers off of amazon, so it's aaaallll gooood!

fantastic pregnancy and parenting book all-in-one

mothering magazine published a wonderful, and very thorough, book called natural family living : the mothering magazine guide to parenting .  it has great info on everything from the fear factor of childbirth to questions to ask on your hospital tour to worries about milk supply while breastfeeding to breast infections to vaccinations to starting healthy solid food to positive discipline....

need i say more?

what are the emf's doing to us?

emf stands for electromagnetic frequency.  what i'm talking about here are the electric and magnetic waves that flood our lives now.  some could say they have been a threat since the invention of electricity, but those emf's are typically only mentioned in the case of high voltage power lines near homes causing health problems.   i'm not really talking about electricity in this post though...

i am talking about emf's coming from wireless phones, internet, cell phones, BABY MONITORS, etc.   for some reason, we all seem to just trust that wireless technology (that is nearly inescapable in this country) is not interfering with our health.  wifi is out of sight, out of mind, right?  certainly, cell phone companies will not be offering up any studies....nor will the wifi companies any time soon.  all i'm saying is.....ever heard of the tobacco industry?

ok, well that's not ALL i'm saying.  what i'm also saying is please be mindful about where your baby sleeps when it comes to emf waves. consider the placement of wireless baby monitors (do you really need one?), laptops, cell phones, and your wifi source (if you live in my house, there are 9 coming in from neighbors already).  consider turning all of your devices off when you go to bed if possible.

read up on emf's here and about children and emf's here.

photo via here.

study up on the metabolic screening test for your newborn...

this is one of those things that your nurse at the hospital or, in the case of a home birth, your pediatrician over the phone busts out in the first few days of your baby's life.  and, um, there is not much space for doing a quick research session on your newborn's metabolic screening in the first couple of days of new motherhood.  you have to do the test by the 6th day, so you may want to look into it ahead of time.

the newborn metabolic screening is a test where the baby's heel is pricked and the blood is sent to a lab for the testing of certain metabolic diseases.  ask your doctor which diseases your baby will be tested for, and if testing positive, what the next step is.  you have the option in some states to opt out of the test.  this is a HIGHLY controversial move.  but, often the solution to a positive test result is breastfeeding.  so if you intend to breastfeed anyway, then heelprick or no heelprick, the test would be moot in my opinion.  it would be imperative that you follow a low-phenylalinine diet if you opt out of the test.  read more about the pku screening here.

photo via here.

strep b during pregnancy : you can avoid antibiotics by boosting probiotics

something that you're tested for near the end of your pregnancy is strep b.  if you test positive, often your doctor will tell you that it's easily treated during labor with antibiotics.  well, when i asked my doctor if i could try to treat it naturally if necessary, he said yes.

let's have a quick chat about the importance of probiotics....

research shows that 80% of your immune system is in your intestines. mercola.com says the following about probiotics:

"the term probiotics comes from the greek "for life" (which gives you an inkling of what the word "antibiotics" really means).  when ingested, these living microorganisms replenish the microflora in your intestinal tract.  this results in the promotion of a number of health-enhancing functions, including enhanced digestive function."

basically, if you promote the good bacteria in your gut, then it will win out over the bad bacteria that enters it.   good bacteria feast on fiber, and the bad thrive on SUGAR and animal fat.  strep b is a bad bacteria.

antibiotics wipe out the bad bacteria AND the good bacteria.  so you are prone to possible further problems like reinfection and yeast infections (new mothers can get these in their breasts).

you can take probiotics in a capsule form.   read more on what to look for in a supplement on mercola.com or here.

eating a healthy diet with plenty of fiber will help increase your good bacteria in your intestines.  plus, try to incorporate fermented foods like yogurt (try plain kefir since it's lower in sugar...you can even make your own--try to use raw milk)---put it in a smoothie or oatmeal.  other fermented foods include sauerkraut and miso.

if you come up positive for strep b, then jump all over the probiotics supplements and food (although starting them daily TODAY is ideal for anyone).  then, have your doctor check you again---you will likely come up negative.

photo courtesy of www.homeopathyandmore.com

new parents...don't be scared that eau de poop will be your new home fragrance...

i'm sure i'm riffing off of my last post here, but i just want to offer a little bit of relief to those who are about to be parents : don't be scared of poop smell.  i was REALLY scared.  i have been into a few homes that smelled of bleck [dry-heave], sour, sewage-like poopy diapers.

it was really important to me that my home be sewer-smell free (call me crazy).  i am proud to say that poop smell has not been an issue 'round here.  and believe me, there are plenty of people who would have spoken up.

i have heard that breast milk poop is not as stinky as formula poop. plus, some breast fed babies only poop like once a week in the 3-10 month range (this was a happy, happy time for us).  once solids are introduced--for us at 11months--pooping is back on the schedule approximately 1-4 times a day.

also, if you are able to get the solid-food poop, which is not runny like breastmilk poop, to drop into your toilet, than this certainly helps in the house-smell department.

check out this post for some items that may help your diaper set-up.

photo courtesy of prettythoughtsofahotchick.com

if it's good enough for giselle, it's good enough for you...home birth!!

news has just been released that supermodel giselle's december 8, 2009 birth of her son with tom brady took place in their boston home's bathtub!  yeehaw!!  love it!

read more here.

other celebrities that have had home births include cindy crawford, alyson hannigan, erykah badu, maria bello, and ricki lake.  ricki captured her home birth in her phenomenal home birth documentary the business of being born.  you HAVE to watch this film if you are pregnant.

fda finally admits bpa is bad

ten years after leading scientists have questioned the safety of bpa (bisphenol a), the fda has finally said, this month, that it is to be of some concern for effects on the brain, behavior and prostate gland in fetuses, infants, and young children.  read more on jennifer taggart's smartmama site.

bottom line, stay away from canned foods (nearly all have bpa in the lining) and polycarbonate plastic (marked by #7 on bottom of container).  use more glass!!  replace as much plastic as possible in your life with glass or stainless steel.

check out:

eden organic food products who have non-bpa lined canned foods. find them at whole foods or online.

non-bpa products website the soft landing.

non-plastic products at the website life without plastic.

is it just me?

i find myself constantly needing stationery for all of the thoughtful gifts that people give my son.  i had been wanting to find a cute simple little card that i could quickly grab to write a thank you note and pop into the mail.   as not green as it is, i am trying to keep the hand written note alive.  i'm not always good at it, but i found these adorable cards by paper culture and hope to now be better!  these guys make everything from personalized children's stationery to baby shower invitations to photo holiday cards.  plus, they are eco-friendly, donate some proceeds to non-profits, and, finally, they will even mail them out for you!

hospital birth? have your birth plan in hand!

do you have a vision of your baby's birth?  there are a lot of things to consider and you may not want to leave all of them to chance (or up to your doctor or the hospital staff).  try to give a brief, but as thorough as necessary, written plan to your doctor in advance of the things that pertain to him.  you may want to discuss your decisions about some of the following things with your birth partner in advance, so he/she can advocate for you:

can midwife check your dilation at home?
natural induction options
when to head to the hospital during labor
walking epidural available?
fetal heart monitor turned down
antibiotics for strep b (can be avoided by taking probiotics)
enema or not
episiotomy
feelings toward c-section
feelings toward vacuum extraction/forceps
cord clamping (how long after birth?  cord blood banking?)
baby on chest immediately after birth
baby rubbed/wiped off after birth or not
baby weighed next to mother on rolling scale
special clothing/blanket/cap for baby
circumcision or not
infant eye treatment or not
vitamin k (oral or injection) or not
metabolic screening blood test or not
hearing test or not

certainly, you can ask your doctor's advice or have the nurses do what they think is best, but it is your baby's experience (and health), and you may want to research some of these things.  i will try to address most or all of them in this blog.

dr. mercola's no-nonsense guide to a naturally healthy pregnancy and baby

this is a really great up-to-date guide if you are pregnant.  please check it out here.

an article that may make you want to stand up and cheer!

this awesome article was on the front page of cnn.com this morning (kudos, cnn) about a woman who REALLY did not want a c-section.  it was her fourth child, and her local hospital insisted that she have one because one of her other children was born as a c-section.  this hospital would not do a vbac (vaginal birth after c-section) because "they have a slightly higher risk for complications", so she moved 6 hours away in the final weeks of her pregnancy in order to have a vaginal birth.  and she had one!   wahoo!

this article is great, because it has a really smart list of questions at the bottom that all mothers should be knowledgeable of if they would prefer to avoid a c-section.  for example:

2. "Doctor, what would happen if we waited an hour or two?"

The vast majority of the time, when your doctor or midwife tells you it's time for a C-section, it's not an emergency, Flamm says.

In many cases, women just need more time to labor, he adds. In fact, he says the No. 1 reason for a C-section is "failure to progress" during labor. "If that's what we're talking about, then it's not an emergency," he says.

to go along with your paci...

....trust me,  you're going to want to buy a clip-on pacifier bungee---when the round natural pacis hit the floor, they roll for miles sometimes!  babies love to chew on these bungees, so you may want to buy an organic one.  binkee bungee makes the only organic one i've ever been able to find.  works great...you may want to buy 2.

is thumb sucking normal?

it makes me sad when i hear stories of kids who are shamed or have oral thumb-pricking devices implanted, because they suck their thumbs.   it is believed by some that kids suck their thumbs to make up for what they aren't getting at the breast.   according to author and anthropology professor, kathy dettwyler phd, thumb sucking is not seen in babies in nepal, india, ecuador, papua new guinea, mexico, south africa and more.  here is a tidbit from her website:

"My own research suggests that the absolute minimum time human children have evolved to expect breastfeeding to continue is 2.5 years, with a range of 2.5 to 7 years. Thus, one would expect that for many of them, their sucking instincts will remain strong throughout this period, and thus one would expect a child nursed for 2 years to be very likely to still have the instinctive urge to suck til 6, 7, 8 years or even longer. I strongly encourage parents of thumb-suckers to let their children suck their thumbs (fingers, pacifiers) as long as they need to."

read more on this by clicking here.

i know i'm preaching to the choir here, but did you know....

.....that the world health organization says the following about breastfeeding?:

"A recent review of evidence has shown that, on a population basis, exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months is the optimal way of feeding infants.  Thereafter infants should receive complementary foods with continued breastfeeding up to 2 years of age or beyond."

To enable mothers to establish and sustain exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months, WHO and UNICEF recommend:

*Initiation of breastfeeding within the first hour of life
*Exclusive breastfeeding - that is the infant only receives breastmilk without any additional food or drink, not even water
*Breastfeeding on demand - that is as often as the child wants, day and night
*No use of bottles, teats or pacifiers"

ok, did you hear that people?  "up to 2 years of age or beyond!!"  it is not creepy or infantalizing to breastfeed babies over the age of 6 months---so please be sure to show the love (instead of the stink eye) to mothers who chose to do so.

tell all your friends : women can birth babies without drugs

these are the posts where i risk losing my own friends, but what can i say?  just because i am trying to spread the word on how positive the unmedicated birth experience is, doesn't mean i am a hater on all of those who chose to do otherwise.  plus, look, sometimes i just have to rant!

i often feel like we need a news flash (breaking news!!) about how women have been birthing babies since the beginning of time without drugs.  our bodies are created for this.   unfortunately, the media and society and the medical community consistently espouse fear about the pain of childbirth---and the relief of the almighty epidural.  imagine the possibilities if the opposite were happening.

of course, there are times when life or death is truly on the line, and interventions must be made--that is not what i am questioning.

you are not "super woman" if you choose natural birth.  you are woman.  unfortunately, you are seen as  "taking a risk" by most, because natural birth is no longer the norm.  the fact of the matter is that "the norm" (fun with quotes this morning, sorry) is birthing without drugs....see the last 2 million years.  the epidural has only been publicly administered for 50-ish years.

will someone please provide me with a long term study of the effects on humans of the following birth interventions?

--cesarean section (over 32% of births in the u.s., world health org suggests no higher than 15%,  u.s. rate in 1965 was 4.5%)
--epidural
--pitocin
--premature umbilical cord clamping

if you are pregnant, please read this article on c-sections

the awesome pregnancy site, childbirth connection, has a wonderful, super informative page about cesarean sections.   here are some tidbits:

"Reasons for the Rising Cesarean Section Rate

The following interconnected factors appear to be pushing the cesarean rate upward.

Low priority of enhancing women's own abilities to give birth
Care that supports physiologic labor, such as providing continuous support during labor through a doula or other companion and using hands-to-belly movements to turn a breech (buttocks- or feet-first) baby to a head-first position, reduces the likelihood of a cesarean section. The decision to switch to cesarean is often made when caregivers could use watchful waiting, positioning and movement, comfort measures, oral nourishment and other approaches to facilitating labor progress. The cesarean section rate could be greatly lowered through such care.

Side effects of common labor interventions
Current research suggests that some labor interventions make a c-section more likely. For example, labor induction among first-time mothers when the cervix is not soft and ready to open appears to increase the likelihood of cesarean birth. Continuous electronic fetal monitoring has been associated with greater likelihood of a cesarean. Having an epidural early in labor or without a high-dose boost of synthetic oxytocin ("Pitocin") seems to increase the likelihood of a c-section."

read the entire article here.

expect the unexpected...

....not to be confused with what to expect when you're expecting....


i recently came across a lovely story about a second time mom who desired a home birth VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarian).  i would like to share it in defense of women who end up in unwanted cesarians, yet make the experience as peaceful as possible.   click here for this well-photographed story.