The Baby Blawg

Cold Remedies and Breastfeeding

2010-11-27T23:11:00.000-07:00

Quite often, nursing mothers will wonder if it is safe to take cold medicine while breastfeeding. Generally speaking, there is little risk to your baby from taking over-the-counter remedies for a brief period of time. However, some drugs are safer than others; and a few can have a negative impact on milk production. The InfantRisk Center of Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at Amarillo has a helpful analysis of common cough and cold remedies.

On a personal note, although I try to avoid all drugs while pregnant or nursing, if I am really miserable with a cold I will take Ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil). Not only does it relieve the pain of a headache, sore throat, etc., but its anti-inflammatory property will reduce swelling in mucous membranes such as your nose and sinuses, making it easier to breathe. And, according to InfantRisk, Ibuprofen is "the preferred analgesic in breastfeeding mothers as only small amounts get into milk".

Breastfeeding Facts for Fathers

2010-06-19T22:49:00.001-06:00

Check out Molly Remer's book review of Breastfeeding Facts for Fathers at the Citizens for Midwifery blog.

Labor is Good for Babies

2010-06-19T11:41:00.000-06:00

A nice concise summary of Why Labor is Good for Babies.

Cesarian Sections

2010-06-04T23:01:00.000-06:00

The Academic OB/Gyn has an interesting, if somewhat technical, discussion of single vs. double layer suturing to close up the uterus after a c-section. For what it's worth, my birth plan includes a request for double-layer suturing should surgery be necessary.

And speaking of surgical births, the Philadelphia Inquirer this week published Dangerous delivery shows peril of multiple C-sections:

The case points out a fundamental truth about surgical delivery: a first cesarean for most women leads to a cesarean with every pregnancy. And while a first section is quick, easy to perform, and rarely complicated, each repeat surgery carries greater risk.

A risk which, sadly, most women are not made aware of.

Homebirth Dads

2010-06-03T23:01:00.000-06:00

Natural Papa Derek Markham has a series on his blog, 10 Questions for Homebirth Dads. One of the dads interviewed, Jorge Cuevas, is the producer of the video Homebirth Dads. Haven't seen it, but it looks neat.

The Good and the Bad about Baby Slings

2010-06-01T11:51:00.003-06:00

Secrets of Baby Behavior posts The Good and The Bad about baby slings.

The Case of the Virgin Gut

2010-05-17T11:43:00.000-06:00

This is so important for parents to know... Even the Occasional Bottle of Formula Has Its Risks.

Sling Recall

2010-03-24T10:42:00.001-06:00

Babywearing advocates and organizations are rejoicing today at the news of Infantino's recall of its bag-style slings. Expert babywearers have been saying for years that these types of slings are unsafe. Check Babywearing International for more safety info.

Science & Sensibility

2009-05-02T23:01:00.002-06:00

A neat new blog from Lamaze International, Science & Sensibility, a "research blog about healthy pregnancy, birth & beyond". Looks wonderful already.

Thanks to Molly of Citizens for Midwifery for pointing it out.

The "Swine Flu" and Pregnant/Breastfeeding Women

2009-05-02T10:36:00.000-06:00

The CDC yesterday issued some guidance for healthcare providers in treating pregnant and breastfeeding women who have or may have the swine influenza A (H1N1) virus. The CDC notes that the flu can be more severe in pregnant women, with a higher risk of complications for the baby, especially if the mom develops pneumonia.

On the subject of breastfeeding, the CDC's advice - which is applicable for pretty much any illness, not just the flu - is as follows:

Infants who are not breastfeeding are particularly vulnerable to infection and hospitalization for severe respiratory illness. Women who deliver should be encouraged to initiate breastfeeding early and feed frequently. Ideally, babies should receive most of their nutrition from breast milk. Eliminate unnecessary formula supplementation, so the infant can receive as much maternal antibodies as possible.

If a woman is ill, she should continue breastfeeding and increase feeding frequency. If maternal illness prevents safe feeding at the breast, but she can still pump, encourage her to do so. The risk for swine influenza transmission through breast milk is unknown. However, reports of viremia with seasonal influenza infection are rare.

It is important to note that by the time a woman shows symptoms of an illness, her baby has already been exposed, so she should never stop breastfeeding or be separated from the baby when sick. There are only a couple notable exceptions to this rule - tuberculosis and HIV come to mind. But for almost all diseases, a sick mother should breastfeed more, not less.

More "news" we already knew: Don't lie on your back when you are in labor

2009-04-16T14:58:00.002-06:00

Remaining active and mobile during labor can shorten the first stage and results in less discomfort for moms:

Women who walk, sit, kneel or otherwise avoid lying in bed during early labor can shorten the first stage of labor by about an hour, according to a new Cochrane evidence review.

Women who labored out of bed during the early stages were also 17 percent less likely to seek pain relief through epidural analgesia, the review found.

This is not only for physiological reasons, such as widening the pelvis and optimizing fetal position, but "[o]ther research has found that feeling in control and able to make choices reduces pain and psychological distress in general." If fact, lying on your back during labor can be dangerous:

[l]ying flat on one's back during labor can put a great deal of pressure on the blood vessels in the abdomen. "There is widely accepted physiological evidence that the supine position may be harmful in late pregnancy and labor," [lead review author Annemarie] Lawrence said.

According to the reviewers, the supine position puts the entire weight of the pregnant uterus on the blood vessels that supply oxygen to both mother and child, which could potentially lead to problems with heart functioning in the mother and reduced oxygen to the baby. These outcomes could be serious in extreme cases. Lying on one's side has no link with such problems, however.

So why do so many women labor in bed?

[Teri] Stone-Godena[, director of midwifery at the Yale School of Nursing,] said that despite all the attention given to empowering women to have the type of birth experience they prefer, medical professionals still pressure women into lying in bed during labor, because it is more convenient this way for nurses and doctors - and makes fetal monitoring easier.

"I think this research is very vindicating of women being allowed to assume positions of comfort," she said. "Listening to their bodies is what they need to do. Most of time when we limit people's activity, it isn't for reasons that are soundly based on evidence."

She added, "This clearly shows that there are no advantages in staying in bed unless that's where you want to be."

Generally speaking, if a particular labor position causes you increased pain or discomfort, it's not a good one to be in - for you or the baby. Pain is your body's way of letting you know you need to change what you are doing.

Link to article.

Baby News - the Joy and the Sorrow

2009-04-06T23:01:00.002-06:00

Hello everyone!

When I started this blog, it's purpose was two-fold; first, to be my pregnancy journal for my third pregnancy (now a very busy three-year-old). I posted pretty much every week during the second & third trimesters, and a couple times while in labor. Second, the blog was to be a place to post interesting and helpful links about pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, and infant care. I do a lot of research & reading and I just needed to share it. Isn't that why anyone has a blog? To share their stuff with the world?

This summer I became pregnant with Baby #4. If you were paying attention, you would have noticed that in July I noted that I would be taking a break from blogging, and did not post again until October 15th, National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. In mid-August, at 11 weeks, I began bleeding heavily and a sonogram revealed an embryo that had stopped growing about three weeks prior and had no heartbeat. Needless to say, we were sad and also a bit surprised, since I had already produced three children without incident. The actual miscarriage process went as smoothly as could be expected and so we were blessed in that. Baby #4's due date was March 7, just a month ago.

In November we discovered that we were expecting Baby #5. We were neither "trying" nor not trying, but rather were monitoring closely (BTW, if you are a woman of childbearing age and haven't yet read Toni Weschler's Taking Charge of Your Fertility, do so now, and thank me later. I'd also like to give a shout out to fertilityfriend.com). We kept the pregnancy a secret for 11 weeks, through Christmas and the New Year, a feat made possible due only to the fact that this was my first non-HG pregnancy (still plenty of nausea & vomiting, though). So far so good! I've passed the 20-week mark, which means there is zero chance of miscarriage (only because after 20 weeks, a fetal death is considered a stillbirth); and in another couple weeks I will have passed the viability point. Not milestones I had ever felt the need to mark with my previous pregnancies. I do not feel that I am particularly anxious or fearful with this pregnancy, only more cautious with my hopes and feelings.

So what's the plan for The Baby Blawg? I will start up regular updates, probably every couple weeks and then weekly towards the end. And expect more regular posting on birth stuff and, hopefully, a lot of book reviews. Please join me!

Shopping for Breast Pumps

2009-03-22T19:07:00.002-06:00

Shopping for a breast pump? The US Food & Drug Administration has a whole website devoted to choosing a pump. This might be a good place to start, but the FDA does not make any recommendations as to specific brands. For even more information, check out Kellymom's list of
milk expression tips & pump information.

Are tocolytics safe & effective?

2009-03-08T23:01:00.000-06:00

A new study questions the safety of drugs used for pre-term labor, saying some are linked to complications and not always effective:

In an accompanying editorial, the researchers said their study is a reminder that the decision to use tocolysis shouldn't be taken lightly.

"After 30 years of research, we still do not know whether tocolysis benefits the fetus, so the choice of which drug to use remains a secondary question. The real dilemma is whether or not we should treat at all," they wrote. The long-held belief that "keeping the baby inside longer must be a good thing" needs to be reevaluated, they said.

Early Caesareans Pose Risks to Newborns

2009-01-12T06:00:00.002-07:00

Research is catching up to what we knew all along: babies born by elective c-section prior to 39 weeks are at a significantly higher risk of medical problems. Even just a week can mean a huge difference for a baby's health. Complications of being born too early include respiratory distress, infections, and hypoglycemia. This is in addition to the normal risk of being born by c-section, as the New York Times article points out,

Doctors noted that even when babies born by Caesarean are delivered at the same week of pregnancy as babies delivered vaginally, they are at higher risk of respiratory difficulties because the process of labor and delivery primes the fetal lungs for breathing air.

Although the increasing prematurity rate in the US is often blamed on women with little to no prenatal care and poor nutrition, a large chunk of the problem is inductions or c-sections scheduled too early - perhaps in combination with incorrect due dates. Read between the lines of this quotation:

But Dr. Alan Fleischman, medical director of the March of Dimes, said the findings should reinforce the message that "every week counts" in a pregnancy. The women who were more likely to deliver early were white women with private health insurance, and the medical centers were all top-notch hospitals, he noted.
"These are not preterm babies, and these are pregnancies that should have good outcomes," he said.

Keep in mind that the research deals with "elective" cesareans, meaning there was no medical indication for the surgery. The National Partnership for Women and Families' article on the same study reports:

John Thorp, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, said that there are differences between infants delivered at 37 weeks vaginally and those delivered via elective c-section. He said, "We would not worry about a 37-and-a-half week baby born vaginally with the onset of labor" because in that situation, "there is some signal from a baby to his mother that says 'I'm ready'"

More discussion and links are available at the Citizens for Midwifery blog. And check out a related press release from Lamaze International, Best Practices in Maternity Care Not Widely Used in the United States.

And as for my opinion, God (or Mother Nature, if you prefer) knew what He was doing. If a 37 or 38 week baby was ready to be born, he would have been born already. Anytime you force a baby to come early, whether through drugs or surgery, you have got to expect a baby that is not completely ready to face life "on the outside".

NaBloPoMo

2008-11-30T23:06:00.002-07:00

Melamine found in US formula

2008-11-28T20:43:00.003-07:00

FDA defends safety of U.S. infant formula:

FDA tests found "very low levels" of the industrial chemical melamine in Nestle's Good Start Supreme with Iron formula, said Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

It also found low levels of cyanuric acid in Mead Johnson's Enfamil Lipil with Iron, Sundlof said. Mead Johnson is a unit of Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Those findings "do not raise public health concerns," Sundlof told a conference call. "The domestic supply of infant formula is safe."

Representatives for Nestle and Bristol-Myers could not immediately be reached for comment.

The FDA earlier this week said it had found one brand of formula containing melamine, a chemical used widely in the production of plastics and fertilizer, but declined to name the company to Reuters.

The article goes on to say that the FDA is not yet finished testing samples.

Water Aerobics

2008-11-25T00:47:00.002-07:00

Water Aerobics during pregnancy reduces the need for analgesia (pain meds) in labor. Seriously.

It's not rocket science

2008-11-22T18:39:00.001-07:00

I've had this bookmarked for the longest time (3 1/2 years, to be exact), but since it's NaBloPoMo and I'm looking for things to blog about quickly, thought I'd share. It's an excellent post from katiekind about mothers, babies, and attachment:

You could take it as an insult, but God does not credit us with being rocket scientists when it comes to taking care of the next generation. Instead he pre-programs caregiving behavior on the part of mothers AND he pre-programs babies to elicit caregiving from their mothers. An obvious example is how a nursing mother's breasts gush milk in response to hungry-baby sounds. Just in case she can't figure it out from the way her baby is frantically mouthing anything that gets near...her breasts start to tingle and next thing she knows, the front of her shirt is milky. It is not the most subtle of hints. But considering how tiny and vulnerable babies are, it's a hint to heed. This milk-ejection reflex subsides after the first few months of nursing. By that time a nursing mother and her baby have sync'ed up well and the mother knows her baby's subtlest signs of need for nursing.

But it doesn't stop there.

Free book of childbirth stories

2008-11-20T22:59:00.001-07:00

Sheri Menelli is offering downloadable copies of her book Journey into Motherhood: Inspirational Stories of Natural Birth for free. Get your copy here.

News Items

2008-11-18T22:59:00.001-07:00

A couple items in the news caught my eye, regarding recent research studies:

Contaminants in human milk - not breastfeeding an infant typically poses more of a threat to the baby's health than does exposure to any of the chemicals which can be detected in breastmilk.

Depressed pregnant women have twice the risk of preterm delivery - A recent study found that pregnant women with symptoms of depression have an increased risk of preterm delivery, and that the risk grows with the severity of the depressive symptoms. Most of the women in the study were not taking medication for depression.

Caffeine intake during pregnancy - Any amount of caffeine intake by pregnant women increases the risk of low birth weight in their babies:

In light of this evidence, the UK Government's Food Standards Agency are altering their guidance on the recommended daily limit of caffeine consumption and reducing it from 300mg to 200mg.

When doing nothing is the best course of action

2008-11-13T22:28:00.000-07:00

Many C-Sections Can Be Avoided By Waiting Out Stalled Labor for an extra two hours, according to a new study:

"One third of all first-time cesareans are performed due to active-phase arrest during labor, which contributes to approximately 400,000 surgical births per year," said [study author Dr. Aaron] Caughey, who is affiliated with the UCSF National Center of Excellence in Women's Health. "In our study, we found that just by being patient, one third of those women could have avoided the more dangerous and costly surgical approach."

The cesarean delivery rate reached an all-time high in 2006 of 31.1 percent of all deliveries, according to the UCSF study. Arrest in the active phase of labor has been previously shown to raise the risk of cesarean delivery between four- and six-fold.

"Cesarean delivery is associated with significantly increased risk of maternal hemorrhage, requiring a blood transfusion, and postpartum infection," Caughey said. "After a cesarean, women also have a higher risk in future pregnancies of experiencing abnormal placental location, surgical complications, and uterine rupture."

The study also notes that ACOG already recommends waiting at least two hours before proceeding with a cesarean when adequate contractions in active labor produce no progress , but "it is routine practice in many clinical settings to proceed with a cesarean for 'lack of progress' before those ACOG criteria have been met", according to Caughey.

HT: Unnecessarian

But what if the test is wrong?

2008-11-10T23:01:00.001-07:00

Kathy at Woman to Woman Childbirth Education has posted several great articles recently, including What does natural birth sound like and C-sections and Mastectomies. But I really wanted to focus on "But what if the test is wrong?" which reminds women to get a second opinion,

One question to keep in mind with this sort of thing is always, “What’s the false positive rate?” Because if a recommendation is made to you to induce or perform a C-section or have some other intervention based on one thing alone, and that “thing” is wrong almost half the time, then how confident can you — and the doctor, for that matter — be in the diagnosis and subsequent intervention. If, however, there is a low false-positive rate, then you can be more confident that your diagnosis is indeed accurate.

and to be wise in evaluating the risks of their options:

It’s one thing for doctors to say that having some medical condition or refusing some intervention “doubles your risk” — which sounds very bad — but it’s another to find out that the “risk” is still only 1 in 50,000 (which is double the risk of 1/100,000). Sure, nobody wants to be that one, but that means that 99,999 mothers and babies are subjected to an intervention which also carries risk. It’s about perspective — a balance — a trade-off between two different courses of action. Nothing in life is guaranteed (except death and taxes); and there are risks and benefits for every course of action. It’s up to you to choose which risks are acceptable for the proposed benefit.

I could not have said it better myself.

Breast-Fed Babies Better Behaved

2008-11-06T23:01:00.000-07:00

Breastfeeding has an effect on behavior during childhood, according to a recent study reported by the Washington Post and HealthDay News:

Parents of youngsters who were breast-fed as infants were less likely to report that their child had a behavior problem or psychiatric illness during the first five years of life, a new study found.

And the likelihood of mental health issues decreased in proportion to the duration of breast-feeding, meaning that a child who had been breast-fed for a year was less likely to have behavior problems than a child who had been breast-fed for just two months.

Oxytocin, anyone?

The Unnecessarian

2008-11-04T23:01:00.002-07:00

Check out this relatively new blog dedicated to avoiding an unnecessary cesarean - the Unnecesarean.

National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day

2008-10-15T02:26:00.002-06:00

October 15th has been designated by Congress as National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day, in order to remember the approximately 1 million pregnancies each year in the US which end in miscarriage, stillbirth, or neonatal death.

Pregnancyloss.info has, hands down, the best collection of information on miscarriage.

Do you wonder if miscarriages are ever misdiagnosed? Visit The Misdiagnosed Miscarriage for information and support. Primarily for early loss.

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep is a network of professional photographers who provide services to families experiencing infant loss, at no cost.

The New York Times did a piece a while back on perinatal hospice, A Place to Turn When a Newborn Is Fated to Die.

"He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him". - Ps. 126:6

Taking a break

2008-07-21T14:28:00.002-06:00

Hello faithful readers,

I'm going to take a bit of a blogging break. Not surprising, since I haven't posted to this blog for over a month. But I'm still here. Expect me back in 4-6 weeks; I may pop in a bit sooner if I feel up to it.

Three Years Old

2008-06-11T22:59:00.000-06:00

Today is The Baby Blawg's third anniversary. The blog is 3 and my Andrew is almost 2 1/2.

Sleeping through the night

2008-05-19T23:01:00.001-06:00

Anthropologist Kathy Dettwyler has a neat commentary on her website on the subject of Sleeping Through the Night:

No doubt about it, the gap between what our culture teaches us to expect of the sleep patterns of a young child (read them a story, tuck them in, turn out the light, and not see them again for 8 hours) and the reality of how children actually sleep if healthy and normal, yawns widely.

But the first steps to dealing with the fact that your young child doesn't sleep through the night, or doesn't want to sleep without you is to realize that:
(1) Not sleeping through the night until they are 3 or 4 years of age is normal and healthy behavior for human infants.
(2) Your children are not being difficult or manipulative, they are being normal and healthy, and behaving in ways that are appropriate for our species.

Once you understand these simple truths, it becomes much easier to deal with parenting your child at night. Once you give up the idea that you must have 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep at night, and view these nighttime interactions with your child as precious and fleeting, you get used to them very quickly.

Too much water raises seizure risk in babies

2008-05-18T23:01:00.002-06:00

With summer and the hot weather coming on, it's a good time to remind parents that babies who are not eating solids should not drink water, and too much can cause seizures.

Timing Contractions

2008-05-18T10:12:00.001-06:00

This looks handy: Contraction Master. For those of you who like to live-blog labor.

The Culprit

2008-05-10T17:35:00.005-06:00

or, "how we spent our afternoon".

Can you identify this object? (not the Penny, the white thing) If you look closely, the slight yellow at the top is actually ear wax, which it acquired while spending several hours in my two-year-old's ear. This small piece of plastic caused no physical damage, just a blow of $50 to our bank account. With only the small end visible, it was impossible to identify the object, and thus to determine how far into the ear canal it actually went. Not that far, as it turns out. In fact, we might not have even known had my unusually verbal son not said, "Mommy, take off ear!".

In the News

2008-05-06T11:28:00.006-06:00

Some interesting items in the news this week about pregnancy, breastfeeding, and child care:

The rates of pregnant women with diabetes is soaring.

While the news that More Mothers Breast-Feed, in First Months at Least is exciting (especially the increase among African-American moms), the number of babies still breastfed at six months remain unchanged. And there are other questions about the collection of data:

The most recent C.D.C. survey did not report breast-feeding rates at 6 months because of a lack of data.

and further:

Dr. Barbara L. Philipp, associate professor of pediatrics at Boston University, said the C.D.C. survey had not asked mothers whether they breast-fed exclusively. “One sip was positive, so they set the bar very low,” Dr. Philipp said.

and hospitals have still not banned the bags:

Dr. Philipp said that while doctors and nurses were doing a better job of emphasizing the benefits of breast-feeding to patients, most continue to offer new mothers free diaper bags containing infant formula when mothers go home with their newborns.
“That’s a problem because at least five studies have shown that when a doctor or nurse hands the family that bag, even if they take the formula out, that mother will have less success with breast-feeding,” Dr. Philipp said.

Breast cancer risk cut by breast feeding (not if you live in Tanzania, though) although a Brittish poll found that 75% of moms are not aware of that benefit.

And while it isn't exactly "news", more studies confirm that Breastfeeding will improve children's IQ scores.

Just in case you needed something else to worry about, extra iron for infants who don't need it might delay development, arsenic in baby rice puts children at risk, children are more vulnerable to harmful effects of lead at age 6 than as toddlers, and nearly one-third of U.S. parents don't know what to expect of infants.

Dark Chocolate Reduces Preeclampsia Risk

2008-04-29T19:35:00.002-06:00

At last, the study we have all been waiting for: Chocolate May be Boon to Pregnant Women; Dark chocolate is good for pregnant women: study.

By biting into rich, dark chocolate, there is a 69 percent less chance of contracting preeclampsia, a major pregnancy complication with cardiovascular manifestations such as hypertension that affects up to eight percent of pregnancies, said Dr. Elizabeth Triche.
The associate director at the Yale Center for Perinatal, Pediatric & Environmental Epidemiology, at Yale University, co-authored the 1996-2000 study of 2,291 women published in the May issue of Epidemiology.
The study method measured the density of theobromine -- a chemical in chocolate -- in the arterial cord blood extracted from the umbilical cord at delivery.
The primary effects of theobromine include diuresis, myocardial stimulation and vasodilatation. Other chemicals in chocolate include magnesium, which lowers hypertension, and flavanoids, which are potent antioxidants, the study said.
"Quantifying self-reported chocolate and cocoa consumption is extremely difficult due to considerable variation in the cocoa content of chocolate products," Triche said.
"The darker (the chocolate) is, the better it is. The more highly processed, the more fat and sweet it is, the less it contains theobromine," she said, adding that theobromine concentrations in chocolate vary from 0.15 percent to 0.46 percent.
"In this prospective cohort of pregnant women, we observed that chocolate consumption, as measured by cord serum levels of the biomarker theobromine, was associated with lower risk of preeclampsia," the study concluded.

Baby Blog Turns Three

2008-04-23T22:49:00.003-06:00

Today is the first of two anniversaries celebrated at The Baby Blawg; today is the day I actually created the blog. Later comes the anniversary of the day I commenced posting.

I wish I could think of something brilliant or witty to say about it.

Supporting Your Partner in Labor

2008-04-17T13:03:00.002-06:00

The Talk Birth blog links to Transition to Parenthood's helpful handouts, including Ideas for Supporting Your Partner in Labor.

Trans Fats in Pregnancy

2008-04-05T23:26:00.001-06:00

Surprised this hasn't gotten more press:

A study on rats found that babies had a higher chance of being fat if their mother ate trans fats in pregnancy or while feeding their young.

The experts at Sao Paulo university in Brazil also found they were also more likely to suffer insulin resistance, which often leads to diabetes.

Luciana Pisani, who led the study, said: "This has important implications."

Spring Baseball

2008-04-05T14:42:00.004-06:00

Aren't they handsome? Just had to share.

USB Pregnancy Test

2008-04-01T11:22:00.004-06:00

I'm not going to pretend that this is anything other than an April Fool's joke.

But what a neat gadget!

Cord Blood Banking

2008-03-23T21:25:00.004-06:00

Hat tip to Giving Birth Naturally for posting ACOG Revises Opinion on Cord Blood Banking:

It is refreshing to see that ACOG can make some improvements in judgment, albeit small ones. While they still won't take a stance for or against it, their revised opinion on the scam that is private cord blood banking is a small nudge in the right direction.

I especially like the statement, "ACOG also advises physicians who recruit patients for for-profit cord blood banking to disclose their financial interests or other potential conflicts of interest to pregnant women and their families."

Read the text of the news release here.

My major concern with cord blood banking is the necessity of cutting the umbilical cord earlier than might be optimal in order to preserve the cord blood, thereby depriving the newborn of the blood. A representative from a cord blood-banking company may be speaking to our homebirth group this year; it will be interesting to see what they have say on these issues.

Oxytocin

2008-03-20T22:59:00.001-06:00

Hathor's been doing some neat comics lately on Oxytocin - the "Love Hormone". She just came back from the Trust Birth Conference which I really wish I could have gone to. She heard Michel Odent speak, and he really rocked her world, as he did mine when I heard him speak a couple years ago at a local conference. Hathor came across this article, over a year old and just a rat study, but still important:

The massive surge in the maternal hormone oxytocin that occurs during delivery might help protect newborns against brain damage, a new study in rats suggests.

Researchers say the findings should encourage scientists to investigate whether elective caesarean sections, which lack this oxytocin surge, disrupt normal brain development.

Also, I found Hug the Monkey, a whole blog devoted to the subject of Oxytocin; and an article entitled 5 Ways Pitocin is Different than Oxytocin which, in honor of list month, I will include here:

Pitocin is released differently. Oxytocin is released into your body in a pulsing action. It comes intermittently to allow your body a break. Pitocin is given in an IV in a continuous manner. This can cause contractions to be longer and stronger than your baby or placenta can handle, depriving your baby of oxygen.
Pitocin prevents your body from offering endorphins. When you are in labor naturally, your body responds to the contractions and oxytocin with the release of endorphins, a morphine like substance that helps prevent and counteract pain. When you receive Pitocin, your body does not know to release the endorphins, despite the fact that you are in pain.
Pitocin isn't as effective at dilating the cervix. When the baby releases oxytocin it works really well on the uterine muscle, causing the cervix to dilate. Pitocin works much more slowly and with less effect, meaning it takes more Pitocin to work.
Pitocin lacks a peak at birth. In natural labor, the body provides a spike in oxytocin at the birth, stimulating the fetal ejection reflex, allowing for a faster and easier birth. Pitocin is regulated by a pump and not able to offer this boost at the end.
Pitocin can interfere with bonding. When the body releases oxytocin, also known as the love hormone, it promotes bonding with the baby after birth. Pitocin interferes with the internal release of oxytocin, which can disturb the bonding process.

I knew, like, three of those already. And for some really hair-raising stories, try Knitted in the Womb's Rant on Pitocin (with comments).

Acupuncture may increase pregnancy chances

2008-03-08T15:00:00.002-07:00

Acupuncture involves placing very thin needles at specific points on the body to try to control pain and reduce stress. In fertility treatment, it is thought to increase blood flow to the uterus, relax the cervix and inhibit “fight or flight” stress hormones that can make it tougher for an embryo to implant, Manheimer said.
The analysis pools results from seven studies on 1,366 women in the United States, Germany, Australia and Denmark who are having in vitro fertilization, or IVF. It involves mixing sperm and eggs in a lab dish to create embryos that are placed in the womb.
Women were randomly assigned to receive IVF alone, IVF with acupuncture within a day of embryo transfer, or IVF plus sham acupuncture, in which needles were placed too shallowly or in spots not thought to matter.
Individually, only three of the studies found acupuncture beneficial, three found a trend toward benefit and one found no benefit. When results of these smaller studies were pooled, researchers found that the odds of conceiving went up about 65 percent for women given acupuncture.

Link: Acupuncture may hike odds of pregnancy

Six Practices for a Healthy Birth

2008-03-04T22:24:00.002-07:00

If you haven't seen a copy of Lamaze International's new quarterly publication, Pregnancy, Birth & Beyond, I highly suggest you try to get a copy. I was mightily impressed by the inaugural issue.

Lamaze has identified six care practices that promote, support and protect normal birth. These are:

Labor should begin on its own.
Laboring women should be free to move throughout labor.
Laboring women should have continuous support from others throughout labor.
There should be no routine interventions during labor and birth.
Women should not give birth on their backs.
Mothers and babies should not be separated after birth and should have unlimited opportunity for breastfeeding.

Detailed information about each of these Care Practices are available here.

Top 10 Most Important Foods to Buy Organic

2008-03-02T22:59:00.002-07:00

The Green Guide publishes the Top 10 Most Important Foods to Buy Organic, based on information from the Environmental Working Group. Here's a summary:

1. Baby Foods
2. Rice
3. Strawberries
4. Grains
5. Milk
6. Corn
7. Bananas
8. Green Beans
9. Apples, apple juice
10. Peaches

And the runners-up are: nectarines, grapes & raisins, and kiwi fruit.

Elsewhere I have read that buying organic meat and dairy, rather than fruits and vegetables, gets you the most "bang" for your grocery "buck".

NaBloPoMo - Redux

2008-03-01T10:06:00.001-07:00

See my NaBloPoMo- related announcement on The Mommy Blawg.

I spoke too soon (re: Perth)

2008-02-13T01:31:00.002-07:00

From Breastfeeding123, this post (quoting The Breastfeeding Answer Book):

Ultrasound examination of the lactating breast during breastfeeding by Peter Hartmann’s research team in Perth, Australia has provided new information about what occurs within the breast during let-down.

Maybe I just like the way the word sounds. Perth.
Perth.
Perth.

Breast milk contains stem cells

2008-02-13T00:53:00.002-07:00

What's the deal with Perth? First H.Pylori, then Heath Ledger, now this:

Breast milk contains stem cells.

Made for Birthing

2008-02-03T19:43:00.001-07:00

Take a look at these neat hospital gowns made for birthing. Not only do they allow coverage for modesty while still providing access for medical procedures and breastfeeding, they also help support baby's immune system:

The risk of germs is one of the biggest risks in hospital birth. Hospitals and medical caregivers supposedly provide a "sterile field" but you and your baby are still exposed to a multitude of germs that your body has not built immunity to. Roll your gown around on your bed, couch, and hold the dog and cat before you bring it to the hospital. You'll be bringing YOUR "sterile field" from home for your baby to be born into and to be touched by first and covered by. Not harsh, potentially risky hospital towels and sheets.

Top 10 Childbirth Myths

2008-02-03T13:51:00.000-07:00

The Journey Of An Apprentice Midwife posts a very excellent Top 10 Childbirth Myths, with references.

Breast Pump Comparisons

2008-01-25T01:25:00.001-07:00

Need to buy a breast pump? Compare brands and styles at Breast Pump Comparisons.

How Safe Are Epidurals?

2008-01-23T11:06:00.000-07:00

The Guardian posted a recent article, "How safe are epidurals?":

There are, however, downsides. An epidural literally paralyses you and the effects of it can be, according to the National Childbirth Trust, "an increase in assisted vaginal birth rate". There is some evidence that "sleepiness arising from the opiate may delay successful breast feeding". Some mothers also complain of having headaches and/or debilitating drowsiness for days afterwards. The natural-birth lobby will tell you that 23% of women will experience complications. The pro lobby will tell you that an epidural is one of the safest anaesthetics around.
I have to say I felt pretty cock-a-hoop straight after my epidural but, some hours later, my head felt as though someone large and heavy had been sitting on it. The next three times I gave birth, I had them all drug-free and at home. Did they hurt? Hell yes, but I felt so much better afterwards.

Ultrasound Estimates of Baby Weight Unreliable

2008-01-03T18:58:00.000-07:00

From BirthEcology.org:

Here's an important research study that shows what we all know to be true, that ultrasound in late pregnancy is not a reliable source of weight estimation.

http://www.nzma.org.nz/journal/119-1241/2146/
Conclusion: The accuracy of ultrasound estimations of fetal weight performed at Wellington Hospital within 7 days of delivery in term singleton pregnancies was at least similar and sometimes better than that reported in other studies. For one in four women, however, the fetal weight estimation was more than 10% different from the actual birth weight of their infant. Ultrasound measurements had a tendency to overestimate the weight of small infants while underestimating the weight of both large infants and the infants of diabetic mothers. As the reliability of ultrasound estimation of fetal weight to detect larger babies was poor, the use of such an objective measurement in the management of suspected macrosomia in term singleton pregnancies should be avoided.

Permalink.

Hospitals May Overfeed Newborns

2007-12-30T11:11:00.000-07:00

It seems that as breastfeeding continues to make its comback, we continually have to redefine "normal"; since for years "normal" was based on what was normal in babies fed artificial milk - everything from how fast babies grow, to how often they eat, how long they sleep, how often they poop, and even how much weight they loose after being born:

Physiologically appropriate infant weight loss is less for babies fed formula in the hospital than for those who are breastfed, suggesting that hospitals feed too much, researchers here said.

Formula feeding in the first few days of life may lead to later overweight and obesity by way of metabolic imprinting, Patricia J. Martens, Ph.D., and Linda Romphf, of the University of Manitoba, reported online in the Journal of Human Lactation.

Link

Gibbon learns parenting, breastfeeding from humans

2007-12-03T00:12:00.000-07:00

Look, learn works for Sue the gibbon:

Since the birth of Intan, a baby siamang gibbon, staff at the Christchurch wildlife centre are taking a unique approach to teaching new mother Sue how to care for her gibbon.

The use of video technology, cue cards, and even real life demonstrations of how to breastfeed are being used to teach Sue correct parenting.

Breast-feeding patrons visiting the reserve have also been enlisted to help give Sue the right idea.

She was fascinated by it, said Monique Van Der Linden, head of Willowbank's zoo section.

Monkeys were able to "learn from people", she said.

The Potty Training Answer Book

2007-11-18T23:01:00.000-07:00

I've posted a review of The Potty Training Answer Book by Karen Deerwester over on The Book Blawg.

Waterbirth on "Private Practice"

2007-11-13T22:59:00.000-07:00

I've just learned that Wednesday's episode of Private Practice (ABC @ 8 PM CST; watch the trailer here) will include a water birth in a La Bassine tub. The La Bassine is the tub that my youngest son was born in, and which I currently rent out. Let's hope it is a positive/accurate portrayal of birth! But as they say, there is no such thing as bad publicity.

You can see a photo of me in the tub here. And for more information about the La Bassine, visit Yourwaterbirth.com , the US distributor. For general information on waterbirth, Waterbirth International is a great resource.

Birth & Pregnancy Briefs

2007-11-12T15:46:00.000-07:00

US among worst in world for infant death:

The United States ranks near the bottom for infant survival rates among modernized nations. A Save the Children report last year placed the United States ahead of only Latvia, and tied with Hungary, Malta, Poland and Slovakia.

The same report noted the United States had more neonatologists and newborn intensive care beds per person than Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom — but still had a higher rate of infant mortality than any of those nations.

And Memphis fights its infant mortality rate, nearly twice that of the national average.

The risks linked to caesarean births from a study published in the British Medical Journal:

They found that a woman having a caesarean delivery had twice the risk of illness and mortality (including death, hysterectomy, blood transfusion and admission to intensive care) as a woman having a vaginal delivery.

There was a five times higher risk of having to have antibiotic treatment after birth for women who had a caesarean delivery (elective or decided by clinicians) than those who had a vaginal delivery.

Risk of having to stay in a neonatal intensive care unit for newborn babies who were born head-first was doubled after a caesarean delivery compared to a vaginal birth.

The authors also found that the risk of neonatal death was also significantly increased (more than 70% higher) up to hospital discharge for babies who were born head first from both an elective and a clinician chosen caesarean delivery, compared to a vaginal delivery.

However, caesarean delivery had a large protective effect in preventing foetal deaths in cases of breech born babies and reduced overall risks in those cases.

Elective Caesareans put mums and babes at risk of death:

According to a new British study women who opt for non-emergency Caesareans double their risk of dying or developing severe complications following the procedure.

The study by researchers at the University of Oxford has also found that in some cases Caesareans increased the risk of death to newborn babies by as much as 70 per cent.

Common Drug For Stopping Preterm Labor May Be Harmful For Babies

Dozens of studies have been done, but none have had a large sample size or a definitive outcome on the effects of indomethacin. The new analysis of a collection of studies, or a metaanalysis, by University of Rochester Medical Center researchers pulls together enough data to conclude that there is an association between use of indomethacin and babies experiencing periventricular leukomalacia (white matter injury by decreasing blood flow in the brain, which may lead to cerebral palsy).

The analysis also showed an association between indomethacin and necrotizing entercolitis (a condition in which intestinal tissue dies, which can sometimes be successfully treated with antibiotics but can require surgery and even cause death), especially for those babies who were exposed to the drug within days of birth.

And, no surprise, Diet Affects Fertility.

Breastfeeding Briefs

2007-11-08T12:43:00.000-07:00

New this week:

Breastfeeding reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease later in life:

Having been breastfed in infancy is associated with a lower average body mass index (BMI) and a higher average HDL (high-density lipoprotein or “good” cholesterol) level in adulthood, even after accounting for personal and maternal demographic and CVD risk factors that could influence the results,” said Nisha I. Parikh, M.D., M.P.H., author of the study and a cardiovascular fellow at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Mass.

A lower BMI and high HDL both protect against CVD.

(link)

Breastfeeding & IQ are genetically linked - This study shows that breastfeeding increases I.Q. for most children. For around 10% of children, however, breastfeeding has no effect on I.Q. due to a lack of a particular gene variant:

This study looked at how long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAS), which are present in human milk but not in cow's milk or most infant formulas, are metabolized. LC-PUFAS in breast milk, the authors said, is believed to enhance cognitive development because the fatty acids are required for efficient neurotransmission and are involved in neuronal growth and regeneration.

(link)

Cord Clamping

2007-11-05T23:59:00.001-07:00

Soon after a baby is born, the umbilical cord is clamped, and then cut. Research continues to show what many have long believed, that delayed cord clamping is beneficial to the infant. However, current obstetrical practice is to clamp the cord right away. As long as the cord is pulsing, the baby is continuing to receive blood and oxygen from the placenta. For babies who are born healthy and crying, it may not make much of an apparent difference. But for babies who do not breathe right away, clamping the cord means that they must breathe - or else be deprived of oxygen. Delayed clamping eases the baby's transition into the world. In fact, cutting the cord at birth is not necessary at all - the cord will clamp itself off when it stops functioning.

For research into cord clamping, try these sites:

Gentlebirth Archives - Perhaps the most comprehensive list of resources on cord clamping available, but you will also get about 50 different opinions.

Cordclamp.com - Lots of good, technical info, but advocates the idea that premature cord clamping is responsible for autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation, and the fact that more women than men get college degrees. Also contains the archives of the now-defunct, oft-linked-to cordclamping.com.

Cochrane Review information on Cord Clamping in Preterm Infants, Cord Clamping in Term Infants, and Topical Cord Care.

Lotus Birth from Answers.com

Lotus Birth from Wikipedia.

Umbilical Cord from Wikipedia.

And for the last word on the issue, a recent study published in the JAMA - Late vs Early Clamping of the Umbilical Cord in Full-term Neonates: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Controlled Trials (March 21, 2007):

Delaying clamping of the umbilical cord in full-term neonates for a minimum of 2 minutes following birth is beneficial to the newborn, extending into infancy. Although there was an increase in polycythemia among infants in whom cord clamping was delayed, this condition appeared to be benign.

Breastfeeding Briefs

2007-11-02T00:29:00.000-06:00

I'm hoping to make this a weekly feature. In the news:

Research confirms what breastfeeding and childbirth professionals have been saying for years, Breastfeeding Does Not Create Sagging Breasts:

However, there are some factors that increase the chance of sagging breasts. A higher BMI and larger bra size before pregnancy increased the chance that the breast would sag. Also, smoking history, the number of pregnancies, and age also affected the risk factors of getting sagging breasts.

Factors that did not affect whether or not the women had sagging breasts were the number of children that were breastfed and the amount of time spent breastfeeding each child. Also, the amount of weight gained during pregnancy apparently had no affect on long term breast shape.

Breast milk helps lungs but not if mom has asthma - "Breast-feeding seems to protect children from asthma later in life, but only when the mother does not have the respiratory disorder herself."

News of the weird - Breastfeeding smell linked to higher sex drive.

The USDA announced this week a new MyPyramid for Pregnant and Nursing Moms. The website feature allows you to put in some information about you and your baby or pregnancy, and get recommendations on what you should be eating. Unfortunately, the website does not allow you to input dates for babies older than one year of age, nor does it account for women who are tandem nursing, or who are pregnant while nursing. Furthermore, it does so in a rather rude way, by stating that the date you have entered is "invalid". A better approach would be to refer mothers of older babies to the regular MyPyramid feature. If this irritates you as much as it does me, feel free to let the USDA know.

Here is the UNICEF Policy on Infant feeding and HIV:

UNICEF and other UN agencies recommend exclusive breastfeeding for HIV-infected women for the first six months of life unless replacement feeding is acceptable, feasible, affordable, sustainable and safe before that time. Such conditions are rare in much of the developing world. However, if they do exist, it is recommended that HIV-infected women avoid breastfeeding. [emphasis added]

The risk of a baby contracting HIV through breastfeeding from an infected, untreated mother is between 5-20%. However, the death rate of formula-fed babies in the developing world is approximately 33%. While formula feeding merely doubles the risk of death, compared with breastfeeding, for babies born in the US, babies in developing countries are ten times more likely to die within the first year. Given these numbers, a baby is better off getting milk from an HIV-infected mother unless the five UNICEF criteria can be met.

UNICEF also recommends exclusive breastfeeding of a baby already known to be HIV+.

National Blog Posting Month

2007-11-01T00:32:00.001-06:00

Angela at Breastfeeding 123 has issued a challenge to Breastfeeding and Mothering bloggers to participate with her in National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo). The idea is that you commit to write one blog post per day, for the entire month of November. Why do this? Cause, uh, you started a blog to make yourself write more often?

Anyhow, I'm in! If you haven't noticed, I am currently posting maybe every week or two. It's not that there's a lack of important things going which need to be blogged about, either. On the contrary; sometimes I feel overwhelmed by bad news and the amount of cruddy stuff still going on in the world.

I'm qualifying my participation by saying that since I have three blogs, I only plan to post to one of the three each day. Wish me luck!

Laudering your cloth diapers

2007-10-06T00:15:00.000-06:00

Pinstripes and Polkadots has this great chart for evaluating laundry detergents. Based on their recommendation, we switched to Purex Free & Clear and have had no leaking or absorbency problems whatsoever.

Why Early Cord Clamping?

2007-10-06T00:07:00.000-06:00

Andru Ziwasimon of to the teeth posted this insightful discussion about a year ago, on early cord clamping, which I am just now getting around to mentioning.

Water Birth a "valuable alternative" to traditional delivery

2007-10-01T16:19:00.000-06:00

The maternal and neonatal infection rate and laboratory parameters showed no significant difference among the groups. There was no maternal infection related to water birth. There were five water born neonates and three neonates after normal vaginal delivery preceded by immersion with conjunctivitis. Significant differences were observed in obstetrical outcome parameters: less use of analgesia, shorter duration of first and second stage of labor, smaller episiotomy rate in water birth. In contrast no differences were seen in all observed fetal outcome parameters: APGAR score, arterial and venous pH, admission rate to neonatal intensive care unit. CONCLUSIONS: Water birth is a valuable alternative to traditional delivery. The maternal and fetal infection rate was comparable to traditional deliveries.

Source

Crib bumpers do more harm than good

2007-09-25T12:49:00.000-06:00

According to a recent study published in the Journal of Pediatrics,

The research team found the reports revealed that 11 infants suffocated when their face rested against the bumper pad, 13 died after being wedged between the bumper pad and another object and three were strangled by a bumper tie.

An examination was conducted of 22 commercially available crib bumpers for potentially dangerous features such as excessive softness, a space between the bottom of the bumper pad and mattress, the width of the pads and the length of the ties that attach the bumpers to the crib slats.

All of the bumper pads were found to be hazardous because they left a space between the bottom of the bumper pad and mattress, an area in which an infant's head could become lodged.

The researchers say the bumper pads are not providing any benefit and do more harm than good and should not be placed in cribs or bassinets.

Link

1 Million Cribs Recalled

2007-09-23T10:06:00.000-06:00

It's the largest crib recall in CPSC history, and now the one place parents are told they can safely leave their children without supervision is in question.

"Crib hardware failure is actually one of the most common causes of death in cribs," Nancy Cowles, a crib safety advocate, told CBS News correspondent Sandra Hughes.

In fact, according to Cowles' organization Kids In Danger, 30 children are killed and 1,200 are injured every year in crib accidents.

And while these cribs were made in China, in this case she says China isn't to blame:

"The problem is the design flaws that the U.S. manufacturers designed into the product," Cowles said.

Link to news article
Recall information

Keeping Your Placenta

2007-09-03T14:51:00.000-06:00

Jodi Selander gives advice on Bringing Your Placenta Home from the Hospital:

Women who give birth at home have the luxury of being in complete control over the care and handling of their baby’s placenta. A woman who births in a hospital has to adhere to the guidelines and policies in place at their facility of choice. In some cases, there is no written policy, and mothers are then subjected to the whim of the staff on duty at the time they deliver. If you want to take your placenta home after its birth, you must have a plan before you walk through the doors in labor. Your chance of success will increase greatly.

New York Hospitals "Ban the Bags"; World Breastfeeding Week

2007-08-01T01:10:00.000-06:00

Women's Health News reports that New York City public hospitals will "exclude free baby formula samples from gift bags to new mothers, will ban formula promotion materials from labor and delivery units and will encourage initiation of breastfeeding in the baby’s first hour as part of a campaign to increase exclusive breastfeeding and improve infant health."

Perhaps not coincidently, the theme for this year's World Breastfeeding Week (August 1-7, though local events may be held on other dates) is "Breastfeeding: The First Hour", emphasizing early initiation of breastfeeding. More information about WBW in the United States from WBW, La Leche League, and ProMoM.

Women given unwanted episiotomies

2007-07-29T00:07:00.000-06:00

A CNN Health article, "5 operations you don't want to get -- and what to do instead", covers episiotomies:

It can sound so simple and efficient when an OB-GYN lays out all the reasons why she performs episiotomy before delivery. After all, it's logical that cutting or extending the vaginal opening along the perineum (between the vagina and anus) would reduce the risk of pelvic-tissue tears and ease childbirth. But studies show that severing muscles in and around the lower vaginal wall (it's more than just skin) causes as many or more problems than it prevents. Pain, irritation, muscle tears, and incontinence are all common aftereffects of episiotomy.

Last year the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists released new guidelines that said that episiotomy should no longer be performed routinely -- and the numbers have dropped. Many doctors now reserve episiotomy for cases when the baby is in distress. But the rates (about 25 percent in the United States) are still much too high, experts say, and some worry that it's because women aren't aware that they can decline the surgery.

"We asked women who'd delivered vaginally with episiotomy in 2005 whether they had a choice," says Eugene Declercq, Ph.D., main author of the leading national survey of childbirth in America, "Listening to Mothers II," and professor of maternal and child health at the Boston University School of Public Health. "We found that only 18 percent said they had a choice, while 73 percent said they didn't." In other words, about three of four women in childbirth were not asked about the surgery they would soon face in an urgent situation. "Women often were told, 'I can get the baby out quicker,'" Declercq says, as opposed to doctors actually asking them, 'Would you like an episiotomy?'"

Wow.

Caesarean risk higher when labor induced

2007-06-20T10:35:00.000-06:00

A new Australian-based study shows that first-time moms are more likely to "need" a Cesarian when induced:

In a study of more than 37,700 women, Mary-Ann Davey, an epidemiologist at La Trobe University's Mother and Child Health Research, looked at all uncomplicated first births in Victoria between 2000 and 2005. The mothers were aged 20-to-34 when they were between 37 and 41 weeks' pregnant.
Of those, 9.4 per cent had their labour induced — 6.1 per cent of public patients and 14.1 per cent of private patients.

"These women had no medical indication recorded for induction of labour," Ms Davey said. "Common reasons given were 'social' or 'post dates' (but less than 41 weeks' gestation)."

She also found that more women who were induced had epidurals then those who weren't induced. Although her findings are still preliminary, Ms Davey said there was "a substantial and significant increase in the number of caesareans" following an induced labour.

Pregnancy vs. Childbirth

2007-06-13T23:42:00.000-06:00

Baby Keeper posts 8 Do's and Don't's for a Safe and Healthy Birth.

Eating Durring Labor

2007-05-13T23:16:00.000-06:00

A new study finds:

Women permitted to eat low-fat, low-residual foods during labor were no more likely than women who received only water to have labor, delivery, or neonatal complications in a randomized study conducted in the United Kingdom.

Moreover, women who ate rated their overall labor experience as significantly better than that of women who were only allowed to drink water, according to a study presented in poster form at the annual meeting of the Society for Gynecologic Investigation.

(link)

Liver function and Hyperemesis

2007-05-07T13:50:00.000-06:00

Amy's Humble Musings has a great post on the subject (make sure to read the comments).

The Nursing Room Locator

2007-04-11T21:49:00.000-06:00

Thanks to My Baby & More, check out The Nursing Room Locator. As the author states:

I firmly believe that every mother has the right to nurse her child wherever she sees fit, be it a bench in the mall or at the coffee shop down the street. That said, sometimes you just want a quiet place to feed your baby.

So she's compiling a list.

Birthing With Midwives

2007-03-31T19:50:00.000-06:00

Here's a new site that may be helpful to the consumer as well as to those in the birth biz:

Birthing With Midwives

Breastfeeding and HIV-Positive Moms

2007-03-29T21:12:00.000-06:00

Exclusive breastfeeding halves HIV infection risk for baby:

After three months, the HIV infection rate among the exclusively breastfed group was 4.04 percent.

Among the mixed group, babies who received formula milk in addition to breast milk were twice as likely to acquire HIV infection. And those who had solid food -- typically porridge -- ran 11 times the risk of infection compared with the breastfeeding-only group.

In addition, the death rate at three months among the exclusively breastfed babies was 6.1 percent; among children given replacement feeds, it was 15.1 percent.

New Email Address

2007-03-20T22:50:00.001-06:00

Please note that I've changed my email address to (in standard format) mommyblawger at gmail.com. Thanks!

Traveling with Breastmilk

2007-03-20T13:21:00.000-06:00

Mothering Magazine has a nice piece on Traveling With Breastmilk, including some creative tips on packing it and technical advice on how long it stays good:

When our country goes to orange alert at the airports, mothers who travel without their babies are not allowed to take their pumped breastmilk in the cabin of the plane with them. Women have traditionally been encouraged to keep pumped breastmilk on ice, so they often took it in their purse or carry-on bag. Now, however, toting breastmilk in your carry-on bag without a baby has become officially forbidden and deemed "suspicious." Of course, if you had the baby with you, you wouldn't need to pump and carry precious breastmilk. What is a mother to do? Get clever.

New research in the journal Breastfeeding Medicine has come to the rescue. The researchers took frozen breastmilk and thawed it, refroze it, refrigerated it and left it out at room temperature. Essentially, they beat it up. What did they find? Breastmilk is fairly robust and does not grow bacteria easily nor lose vitamins A and C or free fatty acids (FFA) to any degree that would harm a full term baby. Breastmilk fresh from the breast or thawed in a clean container can be left at room temperature for less than 8 hours. This means on a day trip, you can safely pack expressed breastmilk in your checked bag and take it home just as it is.

Delayed Cord Clamping

2007-03-17T19:35:00.000-06:00

Delayed Cord Clamping at Birth May Reduce Neonatal Anemia

No Benefit to Fetal Oxygen Monitoring

2007-03-11T22:37:00.000-06:00

This is an old article, but one that I think is important, and didn't get much press at the time:

New Childbirth Technology Tanks: A study finds no benefit from monitoring fetal oxygen during labor. The rate of Cesarean deliveries is not reduced.

Breastfeeding Benefits

2007-02-14T23:25:00.000-07:00

According to recent studies, being breastfeed may increase one's social mobility and protect mothers from heart attacks:

[Study leader Alison Steube of the Harvard Medical School] said: "Pregnancy is associated with a number of things that you normally wouldn't want to happen to your body, including storing more fat and having higher than normal levels of fatty acids circulating in the blood.

"By breastfeeding, mothers can convert those energy reserves into nutrition for their infants. Breastfeeding isn't just good for babies, it's good for mothers, too."

Breastfeeding Enhances Children's Vison

2007-02-07T23:38:00.000-07:00

According to a study in the January 2007 issue of American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, children between the ages of 4 and 6 who were breastfed as infants performed better on one test of visual acuity than did those who were formula-fed:

During the first six months after birth, the formula-fed children were randomly assigned formula either with DHA or without DHA added.

The researchers found that breast fed children were significantly more likely to have better stereo-acuity than formula-fed children. Among the formula-fed children, addition of DHA into the formula did not make any difference in stereo-acuity measurements.

Although DHA has been proposed to be the benefiting agent in breast milk, the fact that fortification of formula with DHA did not make any difference in stereo-acuity suggests that the added DHA may not work or there is something else in milk that enhances the vision.

(link)

Acupuncture for Childbirth

2007-01-20T23:20:00.000-07:00

Here's something you don't see every day:

Doctors Experiment With Acupuncture During Labor

Doulas in the news

2007-01-20T22:28:00.000-07:00

About once a week, some hometown newpaper interviews local doulas and does a (usually) nice story about them. This one out of Ft. Wayne, Indiana had this interesting tidbit:

While Indiana does not require doulas to be certified, the Starks say it is something they will look for in any doula they might hire for a subsequent birth. Fort Wayne area doulas charge $350-$500, depending on the extent of their role. In New York, the going rate is about $1,800, said Saalfrank, whose sister is also a doula and childbirth educator.

Wow, $1800 is the going rate for a midwife in many places.

The Next Breast Thing

2007-01-15T23:54:00.000-07:00

Wet-nursing seems to be making a comeback.

As the article mentions, the World Health Organization "recommends a baby should be breastfed by its mother in the first instance, or drink her expressed milk. If that is not possible, the next preference is for human milk from a donor and formula should be a last resort."

Andrew at One Year

2007-01-15T22:03:00.000-07:00

It has been quite a while since I've written an Andrew update. The little pea-pie punkin' guy turned one this week. And to celebrate the occasion, he is walking! Over the last couple weeks, he had been taking a few tentative steps. Just between pieces of furniture and such. But the day before his birthday, he was walking with a "walker" toy and it got hung up on a rug. So he just continued on without it, half-way across the living room. He still crawls most of the time, but he loves practicing his new skill.

Other amazing things that Andrew is doing ...

Yesterday I was emptying the dish washer and putting the silverware away. Andrew grabbed a spoon and, instead of sticking it in his mouth like he usually does, he stuck it in the silverware drawer. Later I was sitting in a chair next to the dryer (a trick I discovered while I was pregnant) folding laundry and stacking it on the open dryer door. Andrew cruised over to the nearby shelf where we keep clean kitchen towels, grabbed one, and placed it on the dryer door. He did this about three times.

Andrew is using about three signs - the signs for "more" (which he does by pointing his index finger to his palm, just like his brothers did) and "all done" (well, mostly just waving his hands around) and pat-pat when he wants milk. He doesn't say much, although he clearly says "Da Da". He can clap his hands and wave "bye bye". He will follow me around from room to room (as the mother of three, I don't stay put for long) and is quite social. When I put on my sling, he gets very excited. This is not new; he's done this for several months. But he's not clingy at all and rarely asks to be held when we are at home. He is a busy boy and has things to do. He doesn't like strangers, though.

He weighs just over 21lbs. which is a bit below the old adage of "triple their birth weight by one year" but on track compared with his brothers' growth curves.

I am actually writing his birth story this week. And I promise photos coming soon.

Triple Surprise

2007-01-15T19:19:00.000-07:00

Dusty and Lynette Johnson of Tuttle, North Dakota, were planning a homebirth, but they got a little more than they were expecting:

The Johnsons thought they would be bringing a third child into the family, and so did everyone else. When she had Christopher, he weighed more than nine pounds at birth; Abigail was 10 pounds when she was born. Lynette Johnson expected to have another large baby, and her midwife said her measurements were on target for that, she said.

When she gave birth, however, her midwife quickly prepared for a multiple birth after Marissa was born and she realized Lynette was not done giving birth.

The girl babies were fine, but the boy had some trouble breathing and spent a couple weeks in the hospital. Friends and neighbors threw a fundraiser to help defray medical and living expenses.

Mag Sulfate for Preterm Labor

2007-01-12T22:19:00.000-07:00

An editorial published in this month's OBG Management argues that obstetricians should stop using Magnesium Sulfate to treat preterm labor:

Data from trials never clearly demonstrated that magnesium has a clinically significant tocolytic effect compared with “control” treatments. In a Cochrane review of magnesium tocolysis, neither improvement in the risk of delivery before 48 hours nor reduction in risk of birth before 34 or 37 weeks was observed, compared with control treatments. More recent data also suggest that magnesium may increase the risk of adverse neonatal outcomes, including death, especially at the upper end of the magnesium dose range.

In the absence of demonstrated clinical efficacy and a concern over potentially negative neonatal effects, obstetricians should consider strictly limiting their use of magnesium for tocolysis.

Link: Is the end of an era here for magnesium sulfate tocolysis?

Epidurals aren't for wimps

2006-12-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

Epidurals aren't for wimps – labour can be different for every mother:

In everyday life, we respond in instinctive ways to pain. If you drop something on your foot, you automatically rub yourself because rubbing causes your body to make endorphins which are natural pain-killing substances. If you have a bad stomach ache, you would probably lie down and curl up in a ball with a heatpad because warmth and being in a particular position are very comforting. It would seem that pain tells us how to help ourselves recover from injury. In labour, there is no injury taking place, but the pain teaches the woman how to give birth. She is led by it to try a variety of positions to increase her comfort and by moving around and using different positions, she is also helping her baby's head to press down firmly all around the cervix so that it opens up evenly. Later in labour, her changes of position cause the baby to be shifted one way and then the other, helping him to find the easiest way down through the pelvis.

Epidurals May Negatively Affect Breast-Feeding

2006-12-12T11:28:00.000-07:00

Researchers found that 93 percent of the women in the study breast-fed their baby in the first week after birth. However, women who had an epidural were significantly more likely to have difficulty breast-feeding during the first few days after delivery and to breast-feed less often than other women.

At 24 weeks, 72 percent of women who did not have an epidural were breast-feeding, compared with 53 percent who received pethidine or epidurals containing bupivacaine and fentanyl (an opioid).

(link)

Pat O'Brien, a spokesman for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said it was possible that fentanyl had an effect on the baby.
But he added: "There are other factors which may explain this link, including that if a woman chooses not to have an epidural, she may also be more motivated to persevere with breastfeeding.
"Also, a lot of those women who had epidurals also went on to have Caesarean sections which - unless you have a lot of support - make it difficult to breastfeed because it's harder for women to pick their babies up."

(link)

Miscarriage Risks

2006-12-10T15:20:00.000-07:00

A new study points to factors that increase (and some that do not increase) the risk of early miscarriage. In addition to the risks to very underweight women, the study says:

Although the reasons behind miscarriage are still vague, the researchers did establish some other common risk factors. The study found that single women were at an increased risk of miscarriage, as were women who had had a previous abortion (60% higher risk) and those who had had IVF (40% higher risk). Those who took more than a year to conceive were twice as likely to miscarry as women who had conceived within the first three months.

The researchers also revealed factors in maintaining a healthy pregnancy. Two-thirds of the women they studied who took vitamin supplements during early pregnancy reduced their risk of miscarriage by around 50%. The effect was most pronounced among those taking folic acid or iron and multivitamins containing these. Eating fresh fruit, vegetables and chocolate daily was also found to halve the odds of a miscarriage.

The study also showed that

Women who suffered from nausea and sickness in the first 12 weeks of their pregnancy were almost 70% less likely to miscarry, especially those with severe sickness.

Which is small comfort to those who are severely hyperemetic.

Interestingly, and somewhat reassuringly:

Supposed risk factors such as alcohol consumption, smoking and caffeine intake were unconfirmed in the study.

HT: Perfect Work who has these comments.

Safety of Homebirth

2006-11-21T22:53:00.000-07:00

I'm going back through some old things...

Selkie and Expectant Waiting had some great pieces on the safety of homebirth.

ADA Advises No Fluoride For Babies

2006-11-17T20:30:00.000-07:00

The American Dental Association has done a 180 and now warns that infants under one year of age should not be given fluoridated water, such as that mixed with concentrated or powdered baby formula, according to the Organic Consumers Association.

ADA page on Infants, Formula and Fluoride.

A different take on tandem nursing

2006-11-11T20:45:00.000-07:00

A Canadian woman is breastfeeding conjoined twins:

Although Simms breastfed her two older kids, it’s a whole new beginning with her twins.

"What’s the most challenging part of breast feeding them?" Simms said. "Positioning!"

"It’s very complicated because when one is on the breast the other has to be tilted and has to be slanted downwards.

"You’re feeding one and the other will suck on its tongue and you have to give it a soother or something because it wants food.

"We’re trying to figure out how to feed both of them at the same time," Simms said, bursting out laughing.

Simply amazing.

Blogger Beta

2006-11-11T01:30:00.000-07:00

I've switched over to the beta version of Blogger. The good news: tags are enabled. Bad news: it will take some time before I get everything tagged and the blog reformatted. Sorry if it's a mess in the meantime.

Breastfeeding Carnival

2006-11-11T00:31:00.000-07:00

Five blogs - Mama Knows Breast, The Lactivist, Motherwear, Breastfeeding123, and Breastfeeding Mums are starting

a monthly blog carnival focused on the topic of breastfeeding. Each month we'll pick a particular topic, write up our own posts around that topic and help you find your way to each of the five postings. We'll be starting off by blogging about breastfeeding and the holidays, be it with family, traveling or maybe even great gifts for nursing moms.

Look for their first edition on Tuesday.

Circumcision appears to reduce STD risk

2006-11-06T23:17:00.000-07:00

Circumcision appears to reduce STD risk

Apgar Results Not As Objective As Thought

2006-11-02T09:29:00.000-07:00

Apgar results depend on who scores the test.

Nausea Symptoms Undertreated

2006-10-26T22:56:00.000-06:00

The New York Times reports "[a]lthough there are now safe and effective ways to prevent and to treat predictable cases [of nausea and vomiting], like those involving pregnant women and cancer patients, many people who could benefit fail to receive adequate treatment, if any treatment at all."(Nausea? There’s No Need to Suffer in Silence). Even worse,

In a clinical guidance bulletin for obstetrician-gynecologists, the [American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists] wrote that an investigator found that among women who called a help line for those with nausea and vomiting during pregnancy and who subsequently terminated pregnancy because of these afflictions, fewer than 50 percent were offered anti-emetic therapy.
“Of those offered treatment, 90 percent were offered regimens that were not likely to be effective,” the bulletin says.

The Baby Blawg

Cold Remedies and Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding Facts for Fathers

Labor is Good for Babies

Cesarian Sections

Homebirth Dads

The Good and the Bad about Baby Slings

The Case of the Virgin Gut

Sling Recall

Science & Sensibility

The "Swine Flu" and Pregnant/Breastfeeding Women

More "news" we already knew: Don't lie on your back when you are in labor

Baby News - the Joy and the Sorrow

Shopping for Breast Pumps

Are tocolytics safe & effective?

Early Caesareans Pose Risks to Newborns

NaBloPoMo

Melamine found in US formula

Water Aerobics

It's not rocket science

Free book of childbirth stories

News Items

When doing nothing is the best course of action

But what if the test is wrong?

Recommended Reading

Breast-Fed Babies Better Behaved

The Unnecessarian

National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day

Taking a break

Three Years Old

Sleeping through the night

Too much water raises seizure risk in babies

Timing Contractions

The Culprit

In the News

Dark Chocolate Reduces Preeclampsia Risk

Baby Blog Turns Three

Supporting Your Partner in Labor

Trans Fats in Pregnancy

Spring Baseball

USB Pregnancy Test

Cord Blood Banking

Oxytocin

Acupuncture may increase pregnancy chances

Six Practices for a Healthy Birth

Top 10 Most Important Foods to Buy Organic

NaBloPoMo - Redux

I spoke too soon (re: Perth)

Breast milk contains stem cells

Made for Birthing

Top 10 Childbirth Myths

Breast Pump Comparisons

How Safe Are Epidurals?

Ultrasound Estimates of Baby Weight Unreliable

Hospitals May Overfeed Newborns

Gibbon learns parenting, breastfeeding from humans

The Potty Training Answer Book

Waterbirth on "Private Practice"

Birth & Pregnancy Briefs

Breastfeeding Briefs

Cord Clamping

Breastfeeding Briefs

National Blog Posting Month

Laudering your cloth diapers

Why Early Cord Clamping?

Water Birth a "valuable alternative" to traditional delivery

Crib bumpers do more harm than good

1 Million Cribs Recalled

Keeping Your Placenta

New York Hospitals "Ban the Bags"; World Breastfeeding Week

Women given unwanted episiotomies

Caesarean risk higher when labor induced

Pregnancy vs. Childbirth

Eating Durring Labor

Liver function and Hyperemesis

The Nursing Room Locator

Birthing With Midwives

Breastfeeding and HIV-Positive Moms

New Email Address

Traveling with Breastmilk