3 – In The News
Breastfeeding Week August 1-7
Sometimes there is no need to reinvent the wheel! I have to admit Dr Darcia Narvaez does an excellent job in demonstrating the so much greater value of breastfeeding compare to formula feeding. She published with two of her students a series of 9 blogs (see below) full of scientific references in an attempt to awake a vastly uninformed or misinformed population!
Because of her strong “tone” in post # 8 (you know, the tone we use after logic, science and sweet talk have failed), she got a lot of “heat” from… Women!
Really?
No one wants to take away your right to raise your child as you please, it is just a matter of making sure you have ALL the RIGHT information… Not reduced to the biased info fed back to you by the media and the medical community influenced by pharmaceutical and food companies only interested in making more money! It is your child health (maybe even your child’s life) at stake after all! So wouldn’t you be grateful that someone as qualified as Dr Narvaez steps up on a soap box once in a while and ruffles some of your comfortable beliefs?
If you are ready to learn more go read Dr D. Narvaez’ breastfeeding series.
If you are not a “reading” kind of person, here is a video her students made just for you!
Infant Nutrition: Breastfeeding vs. Formula, Darcia Narvaez
Here is where Dr Narvaez sets the record straight Breastmilk Wipes Out Formula: Responses to Critical Comments, and I particularly like the very last paragraph where she gives a few ideas on what YOU (anyone) can do to help change the general population awareness!!!
BREASTFEEDING is EVERYONE’S BUSINESS!
If you have stories or comments that enlighten how much we need to change as a society in regards to breastfeeding, please share with us!
Skin-to-Skin for All Newborn Babies?
Did you hear about this story of a mother in Australia who gave birth to twins? One of them wasn’t breathing and she held the little naked body on her bare chest to say “Goodbye” but then the baby started breathing again! She calls it a miracle and the doctors seem unable to explain how it could happened.
Skin-to-skin on mom and baby cuddle!
“Unusual but hardly original” according to Dr Nils Bergman: Skin-to-skin contact also called “kangaroo mother care” is when the naked newborn baby is placed on the mother’s bare chest with covering on top of both of them (by a shirt, a towel or a blanket). Even if “kangaroo care” is now well accepted and supported in the newborn intensive care unit (NICU) of most hospitals, the benefits for babies born at term are generally unknown or discounted!
The space right between his mother’s breasts is a baby’s natural habitat outside the womb. It is the natural continuation of the “safe” environment of the womb. Staying there for an extended period of time (60-120minutes), where he can hear his mother’s heartbeat, sense her smell and hear her voice allows the newborn’s brain to “wire” into a “safe” mode characterized by high levels of endorphins (the human body’s natural euphoric hormones) and later in life open, accepting social skills rather then insecurity, distrust and fear of others.
According to Dr Bergman (see Random Trial References below for details), babies who benefit from skin-to-skin contact at birth seem to be able to regulate their body temperature earlier (they are warmer at 90 minutes and at 24 hours after birth than a control group), they are more alert, and the quality of their feeding improves, they cry less and sleep better and longer, their blood glucose is higher in the immediate after birth until 2 hours after birth even if breastfeeding hasn’t been initiated!
What is not so well known is that even the term newborn “stress response system” (sympathetic nervous system) does not function like the adult. Stress on a unborn and newborn baby causes the baby to “shut down” and separation from mother is a very high stress for a newborn.
Watch Dr. Nils Bergman’s short video.
Dr. Nils Bergman discusses the development of social & emotional intelligence of infants.
As a doula (professional birth assistant), I have heard so many times a nurse (or a doctor) say: “You will have the rest of your life to spent together!” I’d say:”You can never get those first few moments back. What if they are critical for the rest of your infant’s life?”
So, would you demand from your care provider to keep your newborn baby on your chest, skin-to-skin for an hour or more after birth or would you let your newborn be whisked away from you for the “regular” treatment (rough rubbing, suction, eye cream, shot in the thigh, diaper, hat and tight wrapping) before it comes back to your arms for a few minutes?
For Random Trial References from Dr Nils Bergman click here or visit his website www.kangaroomothercare.com
The Truth about Co-sleeping: Breastfeeding is the Key!
As a supporter of keeping a newborn baby with mom 24/7, I always thought co-sleeping makes a lot of sense. Just, look around the world, many culture do it, without any second thought!
After a sad accident in Milwaukee, back in May 2010, one legislator got very upset and started a campaign against co-sleeping or bed-sharing), making it a point to scare the whole state if not the whole country. What they failed to do is distinguish between the actual co-sleeping (safely practiced by 13 % of Americans in 2003 now estimated at almost 20%), proven to reduce SIDS, and increase bonding AND plain negligence or dare I say stupidity.
Please, watch TO THE END this (less than 10 min) video on a great piece that FOX 6 Milwaukee ran shortly after the event.
Video: Is sharing a bed with your infant right or wrong?
Like in everything involving a newborn baby, co-sleeping needs to follow some rules (mostly common sense, if you ask me):
- BOTH parents need to be aware of the infant’s presence
- Co-sleeping needs to be consistent and constant, not “occasional” or “out of exhaustion”
- Neither parent should smoke nor drink, or on mind-altering medications,
- Sheets need to be tight, no heavy blankets, and the mattress needs to be firm
- Bedding cannot go over the baby’s face
- Baby’s head should not be on pillow(s)
- Space between mattress and headboard or mattress and wall should be “closed”.
AND THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE: BREASTFEED YOUR BABY or don’t even think of taking him with you in bed!
Also, when you hear of alarming stats, consider this:
In this country, when babies die from co-sleeping (it is called “death by adult bed”), the statistic includes:
- Drunk fathers passing out on the couch or in bed holding the baby
- A woman falling asleep in a couch and smothering her infant
- Frustrated parents that bring the baby into bed in the middle of the night for the first time without informing the other parent.
- Babies sliding between the mattress and the headboard
- Babies falling on the floor in a pile of clothes or a plastic bag and suffocating
- The family dog laying on the baby’s face in the family bed
- SIDS that happen while co-sleeping
AND NO ONE CARED TO MENTION THAT ALL the babies who died in an adult bed are bottle-fed!!!! Watch the FOX6 video!
Do you see why I was talking of stupidity? Many baby’s deaths are wrongly included into the category “death by adult bed” when they actually are completely unrelated. For crib sleeping, they break it down into multiple categories even though there are very few changing factors.
If a baby died in a crib that had broken slats, a body pillow instead of a mattress, a whole bunch of stuffed animals and the family dog in it, would you consider it the same as an infant dying in an empty, clean crib with tight sheets? I wouldn’t either… Yet when it comes to “death by adult bed/co-sleeping” statistics, there is no distinction, no sub-categories that would give proper information.
Consider that in almost all other countries, SIDS is referred to as “crib death” or “cot death.” It’s never seen in breastfeeding, co-sleeping families who follow the common sense rule mentioned above.
Now, when you read the American Association of Pediatrics recommendations, based on studies like Dr N.J. Scheers, in 2003, also consider that companies like Nestle gave them millions of US dollars. Don’t know about crib companies, but one might wonder…
For a very detailed report on the crib industry claim and a thorough review of the research until 2005 , go to Babybond blog and read their very helpful fact sheet on the subject.
So, with all that information, what would you do?
If you have shared you bed with your baby (or are co-sleeping now), please let new mom know what your experience was (is).
Thank you for sharing!
Continue reading The Truth about Co-sleeping: Breastfeeding is the Key!
National C-Section Rate Still Rising! Is It Due to Fear of VBAC?
I was reading an article on the Huffington Post earlier this week (7/24/2010) entitled “New Guidelines Aim to Reduce Repeated c-Sections” and wanted to add a few thoughts on the subject. The core message of the article is that A.C.O.G. (the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) has come out with new guidelines for repeat c-sections encouraging doctors to inform their patients of the advantages (and risks) of vaginal birth after a c-section or VBAC. The new recommendation is to at least attempt a vaginal birth… Finally! Thanks to the review board, the message got to someone in charge.
The national average rate of c-section is at an all-time high (over 30%). More than 1 pregnant woman in 3 gives birth via c-section in this country! Does it sound right to you? The most evolved (technically evolved) country in the world seems to have forgotten how babies are born. It is so bad that doctors and nurses are not even trained anymore in assisting natural birth. Most L&D nurses call a vaginal birth “natural”, discounting the eventual induction or Pitocin augmentation, epidural, and episiotomy among the most common practices in hospital “natural” (read “vaginal”) birth!
A Newborn Baby by C-Section!
So yes, it’s about time that expectant women will be given the full spectrum of possibilities for a second birth, including the most reassuring, least dangerous approach of natural birth after a c-section! Although, I am not sure how unbiased the information would be when coming from the caregiver whose butt is on the line with insurance premiums through the roof and potential lawsuits lurking around. In the article, there was one MD who would ask for the parents (parents-to-be) to sign a consent after receiving the information. It could make everyone relax and be more comfortable at the time of birth, which is essential for a successful VBAC!
What about increased uterine rupture with a second birth after a c-section?
Yes, the RISK is higher if you go into labor (as opposed to a scheduled c-section). It is about 3 times higher if the doctor refrains from using Prostaglandins* (gel or pill; it is commonly used in hospitals to “ripen” the cervix and “get things going”). But the fact is that the numbers are very, very small; so instead of 1.4 per 1,000, it is 4.5 per 1,000*. Still pretty small, don’t you think? Is it really worth all the fuzz and scare? Not according to last March A.H.R.Q. Evidence Report entitled :”Vaginal Birth After Cesarian: New Insights.” The authors conclude; “This report adds stronger evidence that VBAC is a reasonable and safe choice for the majority of women with prior cesarean. Moreover, there is emerging evidence of serious harms relating to multiple cesareans”.
The thing is that, in such a situation, the woman giving birth needs more reassurance, more empowering and more education/information on techniques allowing her to relax deeply like self-hypnosis or birthing in the water. Methods that altogether decrease the level of stress on the uterus, on the baby and on everyone in the room!
So tell me, wouldn’t you want to AT LEAST give it a try?
(* source: Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality A.H.R.Q.)
Continue reading National C-Section Rate Still Rising! Is It Due to Fear of VBAC?
