N.J. Orders HIV Testing For Pregnant Women - washingtonpost.com

N.J. Orders HIV Testing For Pregnant Women - washingtonpost.com: "NEW YORK, Dec. 27 -- New Jersey this week launched one of the most ambitious efforts in the country to control mother-to-child transmission of HIV, making screening tests mandatory for all pregnant women in the state beginning next year.

A bill signed into law Wednesday by the Senate president, Richard J. Codey, in his capacity as acting governor, requires two tests for pregnant women, at the beginning of the pregnancy and again in the third trimester, unless the mother objects. If the mother objects, the objection will be noted and the newborn will then be tested for HIV, with the only exception being on religious grounds. Newborns will also be tested if the woman tests positive."

The Makers of Modern Schooling - John Taylor Gatto

The Makers of Modern Schooling - John Taylor Gatto

The makers of modern schooling weren't at all who we think.

55 Reasons for Having a Home Birth

The Birth Centre for homebirth, waterbirth and natural birth

1. Homebirths have been proven to be the safest way to give birth. 2. Homebirth is a cost effective way of having private professional care. 3. There is less chance of getting an infection in the home situation than in a hospital. 4. Homebirths have a 5% ceasaerean section rate as compared to a 50% ceasaerean section rate in hospitals. 5. Woman are more likely to give birth without tears and cuts at home. Some doctors cut women routinely in hospital. 6. Breast feeding is more successful in a home environment. 7. Breast milk normally comes in on day two compared to the average day three or four in hospital. 8. There is a decreased rate of vacuum extractions and forceps deliveries at home compared with the 20% rate in hospitals. 9. Fathers are not pressurised to attend the birth. In hospital they are expected to attend, and told what to do and where to stand. 10. Fathers can be totally involved and can help deliver the baby at a homebirth. 11. A homebirth is an art and a science. A hospital birth is a science. 12. Homebirth is a private, romantic affair. In hospital it is a public occasion. 13. At home women take responsibility and make choices for themselves. In hospital women have things done to them. 14. At home the woman can choose the most comfortable position for labour and birth. In hospital women are told how to give birth 99% of the time. 15. At home things can be arranged the way you want them with music, friends in attendance, candles and a beautiful atmosphere. In hospital everyone gives birth in labour ward 1 or 2 which look scary, cold and clinical. 16. At home you look at pleasant things like flowers, pictures and objects of beauty. In hospital you see the clock, the stirrups and medical equipment. 17. Routine intervention is unheard of at home, because each woman is an individual and needs different things at different times. In hospitals, routine procedures are done by doctors with a "standing order". 18. Private hospitals are expensive. 19. In government hospitals, space is insufficient and they are often overcrowded. 20. Homebirth midwives are trained and experienced. Training hospitals are training and experiencing. 21. At home births, qualified people attend to you constantly. In hospital one midwife may supervise 2 or 3 births simultaneously. 22. At home, a woman gives birth instinctively, listening to her body. In hospital, a woman gives birth listening to her doctor. 23. At homebirths, natural remedies are used but medication is available if needed. In hospital medication is given even if not needed. 24. Born at home, a baby is treated with the utmost respect and looked upon as a human being with feelings. It is not subjected to routine injections, suctioning and painful measures on the first day. There are no bright lights and rough handling. 25. Babies tend to lose less weight when born at home. 26. There is a decreased amount of postnatal depression after a homebirth. 27. A homebirth offers personalised care throughout the pregnancy, labour, birth and aftercare with people you have chosen and trust. You will not have the shock of a doctor, locum or midwife that you have never met before. 28. A homebirth is not only a setting but also a philosophy. A hospital birth is a setting. 29. There is less intervention at a homebirth such as routine shaving or clipping of hair, enema, internals, amniotomy, epesiotomy, intravenous therapy, epidural and continuous foetal monitoring. 30. Inductions are not done at home. Instead, natural remedies are used which have no side effects. 31. At a homebirth, women are encouraged to eat and drink frequently. In hospital, food is not allowed and an intravenous drip is given to maintain fluid levels. 32. If a hospital is required, outside emergencies receive more attention than do hospital emergencies. Midwives liase continuously with doctors throughout the labour. 33. Midwives who do homebirths are experienced and equipped to deal with emergencies. In hospital, the doctor still has to be called in if the midwife is inexperienced. 34. At a homebirth, there is no exhausting travel to hospital when in labour, and there is no exhausting changing from bed to bed as in hospital. 35. A woman who gives birth at home has more confidence and an increased psychological boost. 36. Water births are easily accessible in the home birth situation. 37. A homebirth involves the spiritual, emotional, social, physical, mental, romantic, medical, religious and natural aspects. In hospital the emphasis is on the physical and medical. 38. Babies experience less foetal distress in the homebirth situation because fewer drugs are used and women eat, drink and remain active. 39. At a homebirth, a professional midwife visits for 5 days after the the birth. Women are usually discharged after 3 days from hospital, and expected to be able to manage on their own. 40. Midwives specialise in natural birth, while doctors specialise in high risks and abnormal births. 41. Women at home often choose the supported squat as it opens the pelvis by 30% more than lying on your back. 42. At a homebirth, you are free to choose who you want to be present while in hospital you can only have one person. 43. At a homebirth, your children can be with you while at a hospital birth they cannot. 44. There is no chance that your baby will be swapped or stolen with a homebirth. In a hospital there is always that risk. 45. Homebirth babies don't have to cry to prove they're alive. Hospital babies are made to cry. 46. At a homebirth, various kinds of pain relief will be used before resorting to an epidural. In a private hospital birth, epidurals are encouraged if you are making unusual birth noises. 47. At a homebirth, sunshine and frequent feeding at the breast treats jaundice babies adequately. When phototherapy is needed, it can be administered at home. Jaundice occcurs frequently in hospital because of assisted deliveries and medication. The baby will be treated immediately under the phototherapy lights which can be traumatic for baby and mother. 48. The only time a homebirth is not safe, is when there is a high risk. This is what hospitals are for. 49. At a homebirth, the use of alternative therapies such as aromatherapy, homeopathy and acupuncture is acceptable. In hosptitals, the use of alternative therapies are often regarded with suspicion or scepticism. 50. At homebirths, there is a reduced amount of bleeding after birth because the cord is cut only after it stops pulsating and the placenta is born passively. In hospital, the cord is cut straight away and the placenta is artificially extracted, increasing the risk of haemorrhage. 51. Homebirth is a continuation within the family. A hospital birth separates families for up to three days. 52. Home affords the mother ample sleep and rest after birth. There are no visiting hours, nurses performing 4 hourly observations or other crying babies to keep her awake. 53. Husbands have plenty to do at a homebirth and in no way feel superfluous. Hospitals often make husbands feel like privileged bystanders. 54. A homebirth baby is born into a natural environment, the one in which he will be living. Hospital birth necessitates transport to the home environment. 55. At home, a woman may labour and give birth in the same place. In the hospital, she must be transferred to a different room to give birth.
				intro | homebirth | 55 reasons | the centre | directory | doula | waterbirth
The Birth Centre • 6 Abercorn, 15 Sycamore Road, Glenwood, Durban 4001 • Tel/Fax 031-2055876 • Email mwbirth1@mweb.co.za All information is subject to copyrights (Midwife Tracy Roake © 2001)

U.S.'s low rank for newborns' survival - Kids and parenting- msnbc.com

U.S.'s low rank for newborns' survival - Kids and parenting- msnbc.com: "Nation ranks near bottom among modern nations, better only than Latvia"

Are doctors the #1 cause of death in the U.S.?

DEATH BY The Practice of MEDICINE

Quaid Twins not Alone in Wrong Injections

ABC News: video

World Class Hospital Overdoses Dennis Quaid's Twin Infants

'No excuse for Dennis Quaid twin overdose' | NEWS.com.au Entertainment:

November 22, 2007

"DENNIS Quaid's newborn twins remain fighting for their lives today after being given a drug overdose in hospital - a gaffe officials now admit is easily preventable. Quaid's children Thomas Boone and Zoe Grace, who were born earlier this month, were accidentally given 10,000-unit doses of the anti-coagulant Heparin at LA's Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre - 1000 times the normal amount.

The hospital's medical chief Michael Langberg today admitted the error was 'preventable' and involved 'a failure to follow our standard policies and procedures'. 'There is no excuse for that to occur,' he said, adding the babies 'indicated no adverse effects from the higher concentration of Heparin or from the temporary abnormal clotting function. Doctors continue to monitor the patients.'

He has also apologised to Quaid and his wife Kimberley Buffington."

Childbirth Timeline

We've Come a Long Way, Babies - a history of childbirth Mothering - Find Articles

Reverencing Our Husbands

reverencing our husbands

Obstetric death of West Boca woman

Jurors weigh verdict in malpractice trial involving death of West Boca woman -- South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com:

Special's lawyers agree that her death was catastrophic. But it was entirely preventable, attorney Andrew Yaffa said.

"Susan Special's water had broken about a month early and doctors decided she should have a Caesarean because her baby was in the breech position. "

Kaiser doctor, accused of negligence, remains on the job

Kaiser doctor, accused of negligence, remains on the job - Los Angeles Times

Don't Sell Your Sisters Down the River - by Jan Tritten

Editorial: Don't Sell Your Sisters Down the River - by Jan Tritten

The Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA) has always been an inclusive organization, a place for all midwives. MANA's whole foundation has been one of acceptance and unity. I was shocked, therefore, when I heard that the board had proposed that only licensed, certified professional midwives (CPMs) or certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) could be voting members. This proposal reeks of a witch hunt and will cause even worse separation in our already divided movement.

Midwifery was bruised and nearly broken in New York state in the mid-1990s when direct entry and lay midwives were outlawed, then replaced, by only those midwives coming out of an "approved" direct entry program. Is MANA planning this scene for the whole country? Will MANA members simply stand by in complicity? If so, another midwifery uprising will occur, bringing forth a new surge of lay midwives who are willing to serve women in a way that we can't. The flow of the river is carrying us in a direction we will soon be unable to resist. Midwifery will be back where it was several years ago, with a strong, illegal lay midwifery movement acting as a powerful undercurrent. The midwives of MANA will represent the status quo. We will have colluded with the patriarchal medical establishment so that it is against the law to practice anything the whim of medicine decides midwives should or shouldn't do. We will be limited soon by protocols that will hamstring us into practicing watered-down midwifery and will rob women of their birthing rights.

One of the many reasons hospital birth is dangerous.

Staph fatalities may exceed AIDS deaths - Yahoo! News:

"Most cases were life-threatening bloodstream infections. However, about 10 percent involved so-called flesh-eating disease, according to the study led by researchers at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There were 988 reported deaths among infected people in the study, for a rate of 6.3 per 100,000. That would translate to 18,650 deaths annually, although the researchers don't know if MRSA was the cause in all cases.

If these deaths all were related to staph infections, the total would exceed other better-known causes of death including AIDS — which killed an estimated 17,011 Americans in 2005 — said Dr. Elizabeth Bancroft of the Los Angeles County Health Department, the editorial author."

Nude Examinations

RestoringHealthcare.pdf

Nude examinations

Currently in vogue in western medicine is the routine giving of breast exams, pelvic exams, and rectal exams. As is often done by male doctors on female patients, women who are other men’s wives. The doctor says, “Take off your clothes,” and the client does. Do you give that kind of authority to anyone else? Some cultures in the world only allow female doctors to treat female patients. That strikes me as a wise course of action.

I am shocked by the callousness of some doctors and nurses in hospitals concerning nudity. Once, while making a pastoral hospital visit on a parishioner scheduled for surgery, I was shocked to walk through the open door of her room to find her face down on her bed, completely nude, the curtain around her bed and the door to her room both wide open for any to see. She had been prepped for surgery and left by the nurses, fully exposed and vulnerable to anyone
walking by. I immediately turned on my heel and left without her being embarrassed at knowing that I was even there. Is this kind of callous disregard for modesty and dignity what the Lord has ordained? Would YOU leave a person under your care exposed and naked and vulnerable for all to see? It would never cross my mind to do such a thing! Would it yours? What kind of crudeness and evil allows one to behave in such an ungodly manner?

Restoring Healthcare as a Ministry

RestoringHealthcare.pdf

Hospital childbirth is one unnecessary “surgery.”

The following information is summarized from Healing in Zion, pages 66-67: Hospital childbirth is extremely dangerous. The United States has 9.7 deaths per thousand births; Japan has 4.4; Sweden has 5.7. The U.S. ranks twenty-second in the world in maternal and neonatal safety, ranking below every other developed nation. The safest place is Holland, and there a large percentage of babies are born at home. Worldwide, doctors handle only two out of ten attended
births. Midwives oversee the rest.

Dr. Robert Mendelsohn recites the following statistics concerning
the dangers of giving birth in a hospital: “Babies born in U.S. hospitals are six times more likely to suffer distress during labor and delivery, eight times more likely to get caught in the birth canal, four times more likely to need resuscitation, four times more likely to become infected, and thirty times more likely to be permanently injured. Their mothers are three times more likely to hemorrhage.” (Heretic, p. 91)
Dr. Murray Enkin, professor emeritus of obstetrics at Canada’s McMaster University in Ontario for ten years, researched studies published in sixty major scientific journals on childbearing. In addition,
eighteen thousand obstetricians were interviewed to obtain unpublished data. The research revealed that “Much of what our doctors and hospitals do for pregnancy and birth is wrong, expensive
and dangerous...[They] routinely employ methods of care that not only offer little benefit to mother or infant, but actually can be dangerous to them.”
He evaluated 285 procedures and policies of care, and only 100 of them were rated as successful and safe. Sixty were rated as dangerous,
and should be abandoned; eighty-eight had unknown effect; thirty-seven were possibly effective.
Home birth is definitely safer than going to a U.S. hospital. A hospital turns what God designed to be a natural process into a
surgical experience. Only 5% of births have complications which may require a doctor. Because of this 5%, any woman planning on home childbirth should have a standby plan to go to a hospital if an emergency develops.

Stories that make you cringe

Some doctors go wild while you are under their control. While writing this book, I downloaded the following article off the internet from Associated Press Writer Verena Dobnik (January 21, 2000).
“NEW YORK - A doctor delivered a baby by Caesarean section, then used his scalpel to carve his initials into the mother’s abdomen.... Liana Gredz is now suing the 61-year-old obstetrician for $5 million, saying, the 3-by-1 1/2-inch “A” and “Z” ‘makes me feel like a branded animal.’
“According to the Daily News, witnesses in the operating room said that after delivering Gedz’s daughter on Sept. 7, Zarkin announced: ‘I did such a beautiful job, I’ll initial it.’
“‘I felt like I was raped,’ she told the Daily News. And now, with the scar that has turned into a welt, ‘I’m so embarrassed
to get undressed in front of my husband because I have another man’s initials on my stomach.’
“The couple is also suing Beth Israel Medical Center, where the child was delivered.”

A Godly Woman

A Godly Woman

Ivanhoe's Medical Breakthroughs - Breastfeeding Protects Against Breast Cancer

Ivanhoe's Medical Breakthroughs - Breastfeeding Protects Against Breast Cancer: "The take-home message is simple. Dr. Ursin says, 'Evidence suggests that women who have children after age 25 can reduce their risk of breast cancer by choosing to breastfeed.'"

CYTOTEC - Video

WSMV.com - Video: "(4/27/07) - A drug that is given to patients at many Nashville hospitals to induce labor is specifically labeled not to be used on pregnant women."

Become a Leader - trustbirth.com

Become a Leader - trustbirth.com

As you may already know, I am working on a book entitled Coming Home to Birth. In addition to many of your stories, I will tell my own story of how I went from being a naive, uneducated compliant patient one moment, whose only preparation had been to read Having A Baby Can Be A Scream, by Joan Rivers ——— to being a bold, determined, and very vocal woman who threatened physical harm to my obstetrician if he came close to me with anything sharper than a piece of paper. That change did not happen over months or days or weeks but within a minute. Here is the epiphany: That did not come from me, but from within me. It was already there. We are born trusting. We have to be taught not to. Trust is part of the package. We are obviously designed to give birth. We must have been born to TRUST BIRTH. We have been taught to ignore what we already know. We have been taught that birth is scary and must be left to the experts. We have been taught a pack of lies. -Carla Hartley

Birth Experiences: The Best Day of My Life

Birth Experiences: The Best Day of My Life:

"...each time I hope and pray that the woman I assist will find the path to homebirth..."

"'I am part of the homebirth movement because......... because we are too short, too tall, too thin, too small of foot, too old, too young, too wide, and our pelvises are too narrow, too small, too untried, or unproven or the wrong shape, and our uteruses are too scarred, or pointing the wrong way, or we are too multiparous, too fertile, too infertile, too female, too small, too big, too fat, too emotional, too detached, too strong, too weak, too intelligent, too well designed to birth, not designed well enough, and our vaginas are too scarred, too unproven, not stretchy enough or too stretchy, and we're too inconvenient, too unpredictable, too demanding, too informed, too loud, too messy, and our bodies labour too long or not long enough, and our cervices don't dilate 1cm an hour on command and because when you hire a surgeon you get surgery and hospitals are for sick people� and so for these and many other reasons, we are part of the homebirth movement.' - Janet Fraser"

News: Birth Rights and Wrongs

News: Birth Rights and Wrongs (Seattle Weekly): "She does not take issue with the mortality numbers from medical studies but says that those numbers should be weighed against the risks of induction. For one thing, she says, there's a greater chance of the need for cesarean sections with inductions, and that carries risks of fetal distress and maternal mortality."

..."Now the bottom line is, it doesn't make a difference if we did the friggin' test or not. The studies say that the tests don't improve outcome." It is, in fact, noted in medical literature that fetal monitoring in prolonged pregnancies has not been proven effective...

O'Conner has frequently alienated other health care providers. "Her professional attitude toward the pediatricians was that it was her role not only to critique our care, but to protect 'her' patients from what she considered to be our unnecessary and intrusive interference," wrote a Northwest Hospital pediatrician in a 1997 letter to the state. A similar letter came from Providence Medical Center. O'Conner does not deny the charge. "I'm pretty aggressive about how I advocate for my clients," she says. "I'm paid to do that."

Despite the long list of allegations against O'Conner, many of her former clients remain adamant supporters. One is Kelly Meinig, a 38-year-old mechanical engineer who had a home birth last year with O'Conner acting as a doula. "Debra was phenomenal at my birth," Meinig recalls. Though another midwife was present, it was O'Conner whom Meinig felt brought a spiritual quality to the birth. "Debra would be locked onto my hands, looking into my eyes and just intensely staying with me," Meinig says. "As ferocious as my contractions were, she was ferocious right back. I've never had that experience with any other human in my entire life."

That connection held up for the five long days in which Meinig was in labor. During that time, O'Conner essentially moved in, sleeping on a mattress by the hot tub in which Meinig eventually gave birth. Before she left, O'Conner made "refrigerator soup" so that the Meinigs would have food to eat while they were taking care of their newborn.

As O'Conner awaits a court ruling, Meinig is watching. So strongly does she feel about O'Conner that she says, "I will not have another baby unless Debra is my doula—or hopefully my midwife."

nshapiro@seattleweekly.com

Birth Trauma Tribe @ Mothering.com

disappointing, or traumatic birth experiences (and moving on from them) tribe - MotheringDotCommune Forums

Infant Deaths After C-Sections Rise Even in Low-Risk Pregnancies - Forbes.com

Infant Deaths After C-Sections Rise Even in Low-Risk Pregnancies - Forbes.com: "However, the study found that the death rate among neonatal infants delivered by Caesarean section was more than twice that of infants delivered vaginally. This held true even after the researchers adjusted for socio-demographic and medical risk factors."
snip>

"While timely Caesareans in response to medical conditions have proven to be life-saving interventions for countless mothers and babies, we are currently witnessing a different phenomenon -- a growing number of primary Caesareans without a reported medical condition," MacDorman said. "Although the neonatal mortality rate for this group of low-risk women remains low regardless of the method of delivery, the resulting increase in the Caesarean rate may inadvertently be putting a larger population of babies at increased risk for neonatal mortality."

The study was published in the latest issue of the journal Birth: Issues in Perinatal Care.

Patient-Requested Cesarean Update

Patient-Requested Cesarean Update: "Both Dr. Zinberg and Dr. D'Alton stress that women who request cesarean delivery in the absence of any medical indication should be counseled on the risks associated with cesarean, including a higher risk of infection, adhesions (painful scar tissue under the skin), pulmonary embolisms (blood clots), complications from the use of anesthesia, and the potential need for future cesareans, which entail additional risk. They also pointed out that the decision to perform a CDMR should be carefully individualized and consistent with ethical principles. 'There is also a growing concern of the increased risk of babies born before 39 weeks of gestation; therefore, CDMR should not be performed prior to 39 weeks of gestation or without verification of lung maturity,' says Dr. Zinberg."

John Edwards & Childbirth - Wikipedia

John Edwards - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In 1985, Edwards tried a case involving medical malpractice during childbirth, representing a five-year-old child born with cerebral palsy whose doctor did not choose to perform an immediate Caesarian delivery when a fetal monitor showed she was in distress. Edwards won a $6.5 million verdict for his client, but five weeks later, the presiding judge sustained the verdict but overturned the award on grounds that it was "excessive" and that it appeared "to have been given under the influence of passion and prejudice," adding that in his opinion "the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict." He offered the plaintiffs half of the jury's award, but the child's family appealed the case and settled for $4.25 million.^[13] Winning this case established the North Carolina precedent of physician and hospital liability for failing to determine if the patient understood risks of a particular procedure.^[14]

After this trial, Edwards gained national attention as a plaintiff's lawyer. He filed at least 20 similar lawsuits in the years following and achieved verdicts and settlements of more than $60 million for his clients. His fee, as is customary in "contingency" cases, was one-third of the settlement plus expenses. These successful lawsuits were followed by similar ones across the country. When asked about an increase in Caesarean deliveries nationwide, perhaps to avoid similar medical malpractice lawsuits, Edwards said, "The question is, would you rather have cases where that happens instead of having cases where you don't intervene and a child either becomes disabled for life or dies in utero?"^[13]

Early skin-to-skin contact for mothers and their healthy newborn infants

Early skin-to-skin contact for mothers and their healthy newborn infants:

"Skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby at birth reduces crying, improves mother-baby interaction, keeps the baby warmer, and helps women breastfeed successfully. In many cultures, babies are generally cradled naked on their mother's bare chest at birth. Historically, this was necessary for the baby's survival. In recent times, in some societies as more babies are born in hospital, babies are separated or dressed before being given to their mothers. It has been suggested that in industrialized societies, hospital routines may significantly disrupt early mother-infant interactions and have harmful effects. The review was done to see if there was any impact of early skin-to-skin contact between the mother and her newborn baby on infant health, behavior and breastfeeding. The review included 30 studies involving 1925 mothers and their babies. It showed that babies interacted more with their mothers, stayed warmer, and cried less. Babies were more likely to be breastfed, and to breastfeed for longer, if they had early skin-to-skin contact. Babies were also, possibly, more likely to have a good early relationship with their mothers, but this was difficult to measure."

Henci Goer: Informed Choice in Childbirth

Henci Goer: Informed Choice in Childbirth

Caesarean High Risk for Babies of Low Risk Mothers

Spotlighting News - Caesarean Birth Babies in Risk
commenting below this article was disabled. However,
I also dug this article up here:
http://www.irishhealth.com/?level=4&id=10173
where comments may still be made.

Cesarean spike drives up Medicaid costs

Cesarean spike drives up Medicaid costs - Baby Basics

WASHINGTON, Aug. 15 (UPI) — About one-quarter of all children born in the United States — over 1 million — are delivered by Cesarean section, a new report says.

That marks a 38 percent increase from 1997, when about a fifth of all American babies were delivered by Cesarean, the study by Health and Human Services’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality found.

Cesarean Section Homepage

Cesarean Section - Childbirth.org

John Edwards vs. Babies and Moms

Michael Fumento: John Edwards vs. Babies and Moms

Yet Edwards won his cases not because scientific evidence favored him but because of his smooth-talking "trust-me" demeanor -- and heart-wrenching pleas in which he ghoulishly sometimes pretended to be the voice of the unfortunate child crying out for justice.

It's not considered impossible that asphyxiation during birth could cause cerebral palsy; just darned unlikely. United Cerebral Palsy lists about a dozen ways to help prevent the condition. Not one mentions the birthing procedure.

Further, in what's called "defensive medicine," lawsuit fears increased the number of "When in doubt, cut it out" C-sections. Cesareans in the U.S. had begun dropping in the late 1980s, going as low as 22 percent of deliveries. As Edwards and friends spread fear across the Ob/gyn land, rates began to climb again. The rate is now 30.2 percent, a record high for the nation.

The C-section epidemic - Los Angeles Times

The C-section epidemic - Los Angeles Times

More women are dying in childbirth thanks to the high numbers of doctors and mothers who opt out of normal delivery.

By Jennifer Block
September 24, 2007

Pre-term births are on the rise. Nearly one-third of women have major abdominal surgery to give birth. And compared with other industrialized countries, the United States ranks second-to-last in infant survival. For years, these numbers have suggested something is terribly amiss in delivery wards. Now there is even more compelling evidence that the U.S. maternity care system is failing: For the first time in decades, the number of women dying in childbirth has increased.

Disposable Diapers linked to Infertility

BBC News | HEALTH | Nappy 'link to infertility':

"High scrotal temperatures are known to reduce sperm counts in adults. The German scientists believe their discovery could explain the rise in male infertility and drop in sperm counts over the past 25 years. Cotton nappies The average sperm count of European men has dropped by 25% over the last 25 years and around 27,000 British couples seek infertility treatment every year."

Long-term effects

Writing in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, which is published by the British Medical Journal, the scientists said their findings were significant.

"It seems to be possible that a prolonged and continuous elevation of testicular temperature by a mean of one degree can affect the maturation of the infant testis."

They added: "Plastic nappy use may have a negative long-term effect on testicular maturation, spermatogenesis and, in addition, may facilitate the development of testicular cancer."

Tim Hedgely, chairman of the fertility charity Issue, commented: "This research is quite staggering and could be of immense importance to us.

"There is no question that a disposable nappy creates a warm, damp environment for a child to sit on while something like a cotton towel leaks out wetness."

I Called ICAN

and spoke with a lovely lady who gave me some good recommendations for a dear sister of mine who just underwent Caesarean surgery. She said that she is not at liberty to give out medical advice but that "If it were her," she would amp up her intake of quality vitamins, such as Vitamin C as it fights infection, and very good quality Vitamin E to take orally and also to rub on the scar. Also recommended was staying on a good pre-natal vitamin.

While nursing, she said at least 2500 calories a day should be consumed -healthy calories.
Drink a LOT of water. She said at least half of one's body weight in ounces. So a 200 lb. woman should have at least 100 ounces of water a day. I think the keeping hydrated part is probably extremely important during the healing process.

RED Rasberry leaf tea. She said every woman every day would benefit as it's especially healthy for reproduction related organs(?) She said hot, cold, sweet, with honey, however.

And chiropractic care. She was very much for this.

She that my sister's recovery was important, esp. if she planned to go through the medical establishment for her next birth as in order for them to "allow" her to attempt a VBAC in a hospital setting, she would have to have a stellar recovery from this one.

She was quite in favor of HBAC which sounded like one of the best ways I can think of to heal from a bad birth -have a beautiful one.

Last, I shared that my sister was experiencing some strong emotions, which is a very healthy sign. The ICAN representative said that our experiences shape us and make us into the person we're to become and also help us help others in ways we couldn't without those experiences.

Trust Birth Conference 2008

Trust Birth Conference 2008

From Calling To Courtroom

From Calling To Courtroom

Philosophically, I believe that it is the natural birth right of women to be midwives for one another. I do not believe that midwifery is, nor should it be considered a profession or a medical process. That idea seems to me to be as wrong as calling motherhood a profession when, in fact, it is a natural way of being. Alice Skenadore

Good News for People Who Love VBAC News

Mothering Magazine News Bulletins August 2006: "Good News for People Who Love VBAC News"

The undervalued art of vaginal breech birth:

a skill every birth attendant should learn Mothering - Find Articles

Ina May - Author, Activist, Innovator

Ina May - Author, Activist, Innovator

Homefirst Health Services - Home

Homefirst Health Services - Home

Mothering Magazine Birth Preparation Article: Dangers Of Cytotech

Mothering Magazine Birth Preparation Article: Dangers Of Cytotech

Homebirth Story: Candles Not Required by Jenna Hull

Homebirth Story: Candles Not Required by Jenna Hull

You Want To Give Birth Where?

You Want To Give Birth Where? - A Mothering Magazine Article

Heads Up! All About Breech Babies

BreechBabies.com

Birth Facts

Birth The Play :: Birth Resources :: Facts on Birth

Doula - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Doula - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Home Birth Coloring Book!

Coloring Book - North Carolina Homebirth

Pregnant in America

Pregnant in America

Best-kept Secrets (The Pill Aborts)

American Life League - your pro-life information source

	Respond to Judie