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MRI Proof of Breastfeeding Benefiting Babies’ Brains

Posted by on June 15, 2013 1 Comment

aylanursingMRI results show the dramatic impact that breastfeeding has on the brain development of babies. A study out of Brown University was able to find actual evidence that by the age of 2, babies exclusively breastfed (for at least three months) babies had greater development in important areas of the brain compared to both children who were fed formula exclusively or who were fed a combination of formula and breast milk.

The areas of the brain that were shown on MRI images to have more pronounced growth were the areas that are associated with emotional function, cognition, and language.

Babies who were given a combination of breast milk and formula had more brain growth in those areas than babies who were fed only formula, just not as much as babies fed only breast milk.

Behavioral studies have come to the same conclusion, but this was the first study that used actual brain scans to come to the conclusions.

The findings are reported in NeuroImage and are available online.

The MRI technique that was used looked at the structure of the tissue that helps different parts of the brain communicate with each other. Myelin is the fatty part that insulates nerve fibers and helps send electric signals through the brain. The amount of myelin in a baby’s brain is increased with breast milk.  The difference was around 20 to 30 percent.

After that, the researchers took their info and used basic cognitive tests to see if there was real life differences that this equated to, but as expected, the cognitive tests found better visual reception, better language abilities, and better motor control in the breastfed babies.

On top of that, the researchers also looked at the length of time the breastfed babies were breastfed. As I’m sure most of you in this community would expect, the longer the babies were breastfed, the more significant the brain growth was.

For more detailed information, see the press release from Brown University.

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Deciphering Graphs: Giving Actual Informed Consent

Posted by on June 13, 2013 7 Comments

To be an informed parent, we have to do our own research.  I’ve gone through a process from trusting the information handed to me by professionals to learning to do my own research. It didn’t hurt that I learned in college where to find the information and how to decipher data sets and understand statistics. Not every parent has that luxury, and it makes giving informed consent difficult.

Doctors are supposed to acquire informed consent from parents before performing procedures on, giving medications to and administering vaccines to our children. In my opinion, we are never fully informed. We are informed only as minimally as possible, in most instances.

To be informed, we must be able to see the big picture.

As I began to educate myself, I quickly learned that data sets can easily be manipulated to show true data, but a false picture.

To demonstrate this, I am using a data set of mortality rates for the United States. The information was acquired from:

Vital Statistics of the United States, U.S. Bureau of the Census

Vital Statistics of the United States, U.S. Public Health Service

Vital Statistics of the United States, Mortality, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare

Vital Statistics of the United States, Mortality, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Historical Statistics of the United States, Bureau of the Census

 

When figuring death rates, deaths are noted per 100,000 people. This gives a more accurate idea of what is happening as a population grows. In this data set, data from 1977 and 1978 could not be acquired and is missing.

The following graph shows the entire historical data set for death rates from the infectious diseases, whooping cough (pertussis), Measles and Scarlet Fever. This is a very basic set up. It shows all three diseases and their death rates from the turn of last century until 1987.

Data Set Std Axis 1900 to 1986

 This data set shows two vaccine “preventable diseases diminishing as the century progressed. It also shows Scarlet Fever, which is caused by a Strep infection also diminishing as the century progressed. This is not the presentation we are shown typically by professionals or the media. The graph uses a standard, incremental vertical axis. Notice the space between the lines on the vertical axis grow at a set rate, by 2’s. The vertical axis represents deaths per 100,000 people in the US.

Logarithmic Scaled Graphs

We are often shown a different presentation of this data set:

Data Set Logarith Axis 1900 to 1986

This is a logarithmic scale. The purpose of using this type of scale in graphing is so that as numbers get smaller, on a grand scale, you can see the smaller data more accurately. It certainly works to analyze data, but when presented to the general public without being explained, this style of graph shows a picture that can be misinterpreted. This is the exact same data set, but the graph looks very different.

The reason for the difference in appearance is that the vertical axis is exponentially growing. The increments between lines of the vertical axis do not represent the same amounts.  Locate the number one on the vertical axis on the left hand side of the graph. Go up one line. The next line is 10. Many people do not even look at these numbers and presume a basic understanding of graphs. This presumption would cause people to believe that the space between lines would be 10. Since this uses a logarithmic scale though, it’s exponential, and the next line is at 100. So, when you start at the very bottom of the graph and move your way up between lines on the vertical axis, the difference between two lines will be ten times the amount of the difference between the lower lines of the chart.

You need to understand this to have an accurate understanding of the big picture if you are ever presented with a graph like this.

Choosing Data Sets

Another complication of providing data is in the choice of data sets. Often, we will be presented with data sets that don’t show the entire picture based off of presumptions. For example, one presumption is that vaccine preventable disease deaths were eradicated thanks entirely to vaccines. So, to show the decline in deaths from vaccine preventable diseases, we are shown a graph of only vaccine preventable diseases:

Data Set Logarith Axis 1900 to 1986 no Scarlet Fever

In this logarithmic scaled graph, all we needed to do to take out the possibility that other things affected the death rates of diseases that had vaccines created to prevent them. We do not have a scarlet fever vaccine. Scarlet fever, of course, as shown above, still declined. That could indicate that other factors were also at play. Deleting the scarlet fever data set, completely eliminates that factor from contemplation.

Learning to Consider Other Factors

There are so many factors that go into understanding information well enough to make actual informed consent. Take the historical data from the Flu of 1918 as an example.

You can vastly change the appearance of a graph depending on when you start a graph. When we add in deaths from “Influenza and Pneumonia” you can more adequately see that sometimes, there are significant variances of death rates.

Data Set Std Axis Adding FLu and Pneumonia Together

The large spike in influenza and pneumonia was from the Spanish Flu. They tell us that this could happen again at any time. It’s important that we use data wisely. The Spanish Flu didn’t just “spontaneously happen” in 1918. We must also consider what was happening in the world. It wasn’t anything insignificant. 1918 brought the armistice that ended the first world war. Our servicemen were coming home. They were bringing home with them a new strain of flu.  Of course, their resistance was down, given what they were returning from, and many were ill with the new strain.

During the Great World War, another major thing was happening that played a role in the death rates from the flu of 1918. Bayer had been in a legal battle over aspirin. In part a result was that aspirin, which was previously labeled for “aches and pains” was suddenly also being marketed as a fever reducer and aspirin was so novel and exciting that even the US Surgeon General recommended aspirin for treating the fever from a flu just before the spike in flu deaths in 1918.

Of course, now we know that fevers are actually good at stopping viral replication that could otherwise lead to pneumonia, and also that aspirin and the flu simply do not mix.

The point is, you can look at this graph and be told that this could happen again at any time, or you could look at this graph and also consider what was going on in history at that time.

Another thing to consider is that over the years, causes of death have gotten re-categorized and given subcategories. Now, we can look at death rates and see which deaths were caused by the flu and which were caused by pneumonia or even other bacterial infections. In the past, we could not. We have to consider these factors when making decisions for our children. We cannot allow a graph to be flashed before us, with a horror story and make informed decisions based on such limited information.

This was not meant to be an anti-vaccine post. I do not want to tell you what to do with your children. I do however want to help you realize how limited our informed consent often is. These are our children, we cannot afford to give less than informed consent. We must learn how to look at data from a number of angles and see the bigger picture.

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Holy Smokes! Cradle Cap.

Posted by on June 10, 2013 Leave a Comment

File:Baby With Cradle Cap.jpgCradle cap (infantile or neonatal seborrhoeic dermatitis) has been just a part of our lives since my daughter was around a week old. I never worried too much about it, because  her scalp didn’t itch. Her doctors weren’t concerned about her cradle cap, so neither was I.

When she turned four, and she still had a tiny patch of cradle cap, I began to wonder when it would ever go away. Still, I was counting my lucky stars that the rest of her skin was finally so clear. Even still though, she did have a very mild, small patch of cradle cap. After the first few months as a newborn, her cradle cap wasn’t as thick as the image in this picture, but it was still there.

Yesterday, my children were playing outside while I was gardening. My 7 year old son, decided to play Lion King with his 4 year old sister. They were using some ash and charcoal from our old campfire to mark themselves in some sort of tribal fashion. It didn’t take long though before their playing got a little overboard, and my 4 year old’s scalp was covered with a very thick dense layer of charcoal and ash. Her copper hair was turned to dark grey.

I dreaded having to rinse that out of her hair once I looked at her scalp, because it looked like a facial mask matted into her hair. After a shampoo and dozens of rinses, he scalp was finally free of ash and charcoal. But I was stunned to find it was also suddenly free of the patch of cradle cap. See, I had already tried olive oil and coconut oil for her cradle cap. I had tried washing more and washing much less, having been given different suggestions for how to treat cradle cap.  I had tried zinc oxide to remove the cradle cap, but that was just a mess. We tried a rinse with tea for her cradle cap. I was told lavender oil might get rid of her cradle cap, but that didn’t work either. We tried a soap with vitamin E and even oatmeal baths. The doctor suggested an antifungal in passing, but that also didn’t work. What finally ended up getting rid of her cradle cap was playing Lion King in the yard with a bunch of soot. I’m not sure if it is gone for good, but I will keep you posted.

In the meantime, I was able to locate some infant soaps that contain charcoal that you might be able to try if you are dealing with cradle cap. Ask your doctor, naturopath or medical professional if it might be able to help with your baby’s cradle cap. If you try it, let us know if it works for your little one!

 

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Homeschool and Socialization Concerns?

Posted by on June 4, 2013 6 Comments

I have very little choice but to homeschool my seven year old next year.  I am his primary caregiver, and though he isn’t biologically mine, I am fully invested in his future. I wrote of his disability in a past post that you can find here. It was a hard decision. I work from home, I am a freelance writer and a marketer. I was looking forward to being able to take on new clients and new writing projects in the next year, but as the calls home from school to come pick up my son became more frequent, it became obvious that public school was not the right fit for him.

There are multiple reasons why mothers choose to homeschool, and I’ve found that the reasons are almost never the reasons I used to think people homeschooled their children. I used to think people homeschooled their children solely for religious reasons or because they were over protective. In reality, families tend to homeschool because they do not have faith that their children will be able to maintain their individuality and autonomy and thrive to their full potential in the public school system.

I’ve been fortunate enough to work with some pretty amazing people in the school districts I’ve been involved with while caring for my step-son’s education. I’ve seen people giving it their all for my children. I’ve seen teachers willing (and grateful) to be communicating with me about all of my children. See, I don’t see public schools quite the way one would think I would given that I am now homeschooling my step son. So, please know: I’m not anti-public school in any way.

That said, my 11 year old biological son is very bright, and public schools did not keep his interest. More importantly, a shiny piece of his charming personality dulled in public schools as he was exposed to learning methods that slowed down his gifted processing, strangers that didn’t care about him, and bullying from children that didn’t understand how he could read so well.

The biggest concern any parent considering homeschool has mentioned to me is, “What about socialization?”

Let’s go back a second.  Socialization. I don’t have all the answers, but I really think my 11 year old would have blossomed more fully without that kind of “socialization.”

When considering this idea with my younger son, I asked myself, “What is it that makes us think that children will grow up socially inept if they are not constantly surrounded by 29 other children exactly their same age?” In what “real world scenario” would a person be in that kind of environment as an adult?

File:Student in Lancaster County Mennonite public school 1942.jpgIt didn’t used to be like this. It’s essentially a new thing, if you think about it.  From The Library of Congress:

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, most American students attended a one-room schoolhouse. A single teacher would typically have students in the first through eighth grades, and she taught them all. The number of students varied from six to 40 or more. The youngest children sat in the front, while the oldest students sat in the back. The teacher usually taught reading, writing, arithmetic, history, and geography. Students memorized and recited their lessons.

Certainly, our kids are learning much more advanced math and science lessons now than their 20th century same-age counterparts did. But that’s not the point, because that’s not the argument.  My step-son will be learning the same lessons whether he’s at home with me or in school in a classroom of children his same age.  The point, and the argument is about socialization.  I believe my oldest son would have had better developed social skills, if he had stayed at home with me and socialized with my cousin’s children, my friends’ children, or children and adults from all of the various activities we would have been able to participate in, if we weren’t finishing our homework a half hour before dinner after an already long day at school.

 

Do you homeschool? Do you have any problems with your children being socially capable?

 

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Don’t Wash That Baby! Why Many Believe Newborn Baths Should Be Postponed

Posted by on May 31, 2013 46 Comments

Newborn baths are essentially standard operating procedure in a hospital delivery. Yet, there’s many significant reasons to postpone that newborn bath. It might seem gross to many Americans. You may be thinking about the white coating, called vernix, and how that should be cleaned off.

Vernix does more than act as a protective barrier from liquids while in the uterus.  It acts as an antioxidant, skin cleanser, moisturizer, temperature regulator, and a natural, safe antimicrobial for the new baby post delivery. Click through the links to find research that points to the tremendous benefits of postponing the newborn infant’s first bath.

Essentially, a newborn is bathed in a hospital, which is the home of the strongest and most drug-resistant microorganisms. This bath washes the natural protective coating from the newborn’s skin. This protective barrier is rich with natural flora, emollients, proteins, and antimicrobials… but we wash it off. In washing it off, we leave the newborn’s skin open to colonization from the hospital’s microorganisms. We allow the skin to dry out, and we in turn, apply manufactured, less adequate moisturizers to compensate. We also, no matter how well we attempt to dry a wet baby off, leave the skin damp at a time when temperature regulation is vital. To compensate, we bundle and cap the baby. This compensation eliminates important skin-to-skin contact that is important in proper flora building and crucial olfactory (scent) bonding.

As if these medical reasons weren’t enough of a case for delaying that first bath, an article in the Lancet suggested that interrupting the initial bonding process with a wash down can cause significant damage to successful breastfeeding. When a baby is placed on a mother directly, after about a twenty minute acclimation period, the infants in their study began to make crawling movements towards the breast. This was followed promptly by the rooting reflex. Before long, most of these infants were breastfeeding. Remarkably (or not so remarkably, perhaps) more infants in the group that were allowed this bonding period demonstrated correct “suckling technique” than than in the group that was separated from their mothers. (24 out of 38 in the contact group, as opposed to only seven out of 34 in the separation group.)

Tell me, is vernix really SO gross looking, that we are willing to wash away something so amazing and interrupt such a crucial period of bonding ?

 

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Hyland’s Teething Tablets Concerns Addressed, Again.

Posted by on May 27, 2013 1 Comment

“Will Hyland’s Teething Tablets Cause Seizures?”

There was an accusation that Hyland’s Teething Tablets were recalled for causing seizures. People are asking questions, wondering if Hyland’s Teething Tablets are dangerous. I am not a professional homeopath. Please do not use anything in this post as medical advice. Just as a tool for thoughtful, critical reasoning.

Let me start by making it clear that the Hyland’s recall was not about seizures. That is a false statement that keeps coming up, but has no evidence or proof, even though it’s being presented as truth. Here is more information on the safety of Hyland’s Teething Tablets from the manufacturer. 

From their Facebook page, Hyland’s stated, “We understand the care and thought that goes into decisions about your child’s health care solutions. Hyland’s voluntarily recalled its Hyland’s Teething Tablets in 2010 in an abundance of caution. While we, in working with the FDA, found a manufacturing process that needed improvement, the company had no reason to believe the products were unsafe.”

Despite the inaccurate statement about Hyland’s past recall, people have voiced their concerns. I’ve gotten numerous emails and private messages asking me if they should be worried and suggesting possible scenarios where the homeopathic scenario may have induced a seizure one child. The simple answer is that there is no need to worry.

These homeopathic-using parents, however, have asked about “Homeopathic Aggravation” and “Homeopathic Proving.” I’d like to address both of these topics, as neither an aggravation nor a proving has been found to have actual negative lasting consequences on health. I will do my best to explain them, but they are often very confusing for people who are used to conventional, allopathic medicines.

“What about Homeopathic Aggravation?”

A homeopathic aggravation is where symptoms get worse before they get better. It’s not very common in OTC homeopathic remedies. Some people call this a “homeopathic healing crisis.” It’s the body ridding itself of the disease. The healing crisis is swift and is replaced with often permanent healing.* An aggravation should not be confused with a side effect. It is not the same. A side effect is harm that is caused, a healing aggravation is healing happening. Again, Homeopathic Aggravations are rare with OTC potency remedies.

People have wondered if maybe Hyland’s Teething Tablets could cause seizures as part of a healing crisis.

Given that belladonna 200C HPUS has been used to treat seizures in dogs, it could theoretically be possible that if a child were epileptic or experiencing seizures*, Belladonna 12X might also be able to induce healing.* In theory that healing process could result in a homeopathic aggravation.

When it comes right down to it though, 12X is not generally a potency that you would find any aggravation with. In fact, homeopathic practitioners will use a more frequent dose of the same remedy in a lower potency (such as 12X, 30X or 30C) to avoid a healing aggravation in sensitive people.

If Hyland’s Teething Tablets did somehow happen to induce a healing aggravation, we should thank our lucky stars for accidentally finding a remedy that healed the child of a disease.* Of course, that situation is extremely unlikely and would still not be dangerous.

*Of course, these statements have not been evaluated by the FDA for OTC use, and you should never attempt to heal a non-self-limiting disease yourself. This statement should not be mistaken for medical advice. Please only use Hyland’s Teething Tablets as directed on the label.

“Proving the Remedy?”

People have suggested that Hyland’s Teething Tablets may have actually caused a child to have seizures by “proving” the remedy if the mother used it improperly. A homeopathic proving is when a homeopathic remedy is deliberately used frequently and for a long duration by volunteer testers who have no symptoms of unhealth. In doing this, the volunteers record every single symptom they experience during the testing period. The homeopath then records this data and compiles it with other volunteers’ data to create an extensive list of possible uses for the remedy. After the proving period is over, there is no long term damage. A proving is done to find what possible symptoms the remedy could be used for.

I searched through the Homeopathic Materia Medica for all the symptoms of each of the homeopathic remedies that are included in the Hyland’s Teething Tablets. These are the “ingredients” in Hyland’s teething tablets:

Calcarea Phosphorica 6X HPUS, Chamomilla 6X HPUS, Coffea Cruda 6X HPUS, Belladonna 12X HPUS.

None of the remedies had seizures listed as one of the symptoms that it should be used to treat, so during the extensive proving periods for these remedies, seizures were never recorded as a symptom.  This means that none of these remedies would be expected to cause seizures if they were used for too long and for too often either.

The directions of course indicate that you shouldn’t use Hyland’s Teething Tablets for more than a week straight. This is because anything that is not self-limiting should not be treated with OTC medications, but rather with a homeopathic practitioner.

Assuming someone didn’t follow those directions and used Hyland’s Teething Tablets for a month or two straight, they could theoretically end up “proving” the remedies and showing the some of the symptoms listed by the Homeopathic Materia Medica… but again, actual seizures weren’t on that list.

Belladonna’s entry in the Materia Medica did show twitching facial muscles and facial neuralgia though. Twitching facial muscles and facial neuralgia showed up in deliberate provings when volunteers chronically used homeopathic Belladonna. I suppose those could seem like seizures and the similar symptoms could be why homeopathic vets have used this remedy to treat them.

At any rate, when used as directed, a child will not “prove” any of the remedies that are used in Hyland’s Teething Tablets. And simply because I hate stating anything as “impossible,” it should be noted that no actual damage would be done in that statistically low chance that it did happen.

Bottom Line

Here’s the bottom line. Hyland’s Teething Tablets are exceedingly safe. Hyland’s Teething tablets are not “new” just because they are new to some parents and some grocery stores. They have been a very long time, longer than Tylenol and unlike Tylenol, there have never been deaths on Hyland’s Teething Tablet’s shoulders.

A large study was carried out and published in 2000 by researchers at the Federal University of Uberlândia. The researchers critically reviewed reports of adverse effects from homeopathic medications published from 1970 to 1995. In that review, it concluded that adverse effects reported homeopathic medicines were greater than placebo in controlled clinical trials (9.4/6.1) but reported effects were minor, transient and comparable. It also stated that anecdotal reports of adverse mainly reported aggravation of current symptoms, not new ones. That of course, would presume healing was on its way. Most importantly, it should be noted that the report stated that most cases of adverse effects from homeopathic products that came up in conventional medical journals actually pointed to products that were mislabeled as “homeopathic” but were not true homeopathic products. Many people mistakenly think of “homeopathic” to mean anything not allopathic.

Hyland’s Teething Tablets are far safer than using herbal remedies or western medicinal remedies like Orajel. Hyland’s Teething Tablets are safe.

Homeopathic Belladonna is also insurmountably safer than using Tylenol or Motrin in doses meant for infants. Teething can bring decreased sleep and decreased nutritional intake. These things lead to lowered resistance. When you weigh the significant relief that Hyland’s Teething Tablets have safely offered infants since 1945, against the risks involved with an infant not getting enough nutrition or sleep from teething, and the risks of side effects from the mainstream teething medicines, I feel that Hyland’s Teething Tablets are the safest choice for parents and generally the most effective as well.

 

Read also:

WHY EVERY MOM SHOULD HAVE HOMEOPATHIC ARNICA IN HER PURSE

TEETHING TABLETS: WHAT IF MY BABY EATS A WHOLE BOTTLE?!

OTC HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES DON’T WORK WELL FOR YOU?

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Iodine: Important For Fetal Cognitive Development

Posted by on May 24, 2013 1 Comment

Yesterday, an “Early Online Publication” of the Lancet concluded that mild iodine deficiency during early pregnancy is associated with a negative effect on child cognitive development. The article stated, “Iodine deficiency in pregnant women in the UK should be treated as an important public health issue that needs attention.”

In a previous post, I explained how a lack of the proper form of iodine made it difficult for me to lose weight after my pregnancy. Weight is so often just a symptom of another problem, and not the problem itself. Without iodine in its natural form, my thyroid lacked nutrients. In that article I explained that mild maternal  iodine deficiency has been associated with attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorders in babies. Iodine deficiency can lead to depression, weight gain, cancer, high cholesterol and undo stress on organs. The thyroid is an integral part of almost every function of our body that is needed for proper health, and it needs iodine to function correctly.

This article in the Lancet got into a lot more detail and the findings are pretty significant.

Children of women with an iodine-to-creatinine ratio of less than 150 μg/g were more likely to have scores in the lowest quartile for verbal IQ , reading accuracy , and reading comprehension than were those children born of mothers with ratios of 150 μg/g or more. When the deficient group was subdivided further, the children’s scores were also worsened proportionately to the worsening deficiency.

How I got my daily dose of Iodine

I could never figure out how to incorporate the right kind of iodine into my diet, so I supplemented. I used a supplement called A. Vogel Bioforce Thyroid Support Tabs. The name sounds clinical, but it contains only sea kelp and an agent used to keep the sea kelp in tablet form.

I was given the recommendation from a co-op I was in. This brand of sea kelp is processed minimally as soon as it is harvested and it retains all its nutrients. Sea kelp contains iodine (as opposed to the fake iodide added to table salt that barely gets us by, and yet we crave) and bromine (as opposed to nothing added to table salt.) Our thyroids can’t use iodine sufficiently if it’s not in its natural pairing with bromine.

If you are considering getting pregnant or are pregnant, ask your health care practitioner about making sure you are getting adequate supplies of iodine.

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Why Isn’t Delayed Cord Clamping Standard Yet?

Posted by on May 22, 2013 Leave a Comment

Back in 2011, a press release was printed in the BMJ that concluded that delayed cord clamping can protect babies from iron deficiency. When I delivered my first son, I breastfed and I can recall the pediatrician telling me that I may need to give iron supplements because breastfed babies were sometimes iron deficient.  I was told that babies who are given formula have the iron supplemented automatically added to the mixture, so many breastfeeding moms need to supplement. He didn’t give me any specifics, just a warning to keep that in mind.

It really bothered me for some time… trying to rectify in my mind how a baby could be deficient while breastfeeding if the mother herself practiced optimal nutrition and was in good health.  It did finally occur to me on my own that I bet babies became deficient from not letting the cord stop delivering the baby blood before cutting it. I know most of you already know this and most of you also were able to figure it out on your own as well. Logic dictates that.

However, regarding hospital policies, it’s one thing for mothers to consider these things, and it’s another thing for it to be written in a press release in the BMJ. The went so far as to say:

The researchers estimated that, for every 20 babies having delayed clamping, one case of iron deficiency would be prevented, regardless of whether the baby also had anaemia. Furthermore, delayed cord clamping was not associated with any adverse health effects. The authors conclude that delayed cord clamping “should be considered as standard care for full term deliveries after uncomplicated pregnancies.”

So, why then, do mothers delivering in a hospital setting still have to request it? The press release quoted an editorial than an author and pediatrician involved with the original study wrote. The editorial asked, “ How much more evidence is needed to convince obstetricians and midwives that it is worthwhile to wait for three minutes to allow for placental transfusion, even in developed countries?”

Indeed.

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Seaweed Instead of Sutures?!

Posted by on May 18, 2013 Leave a Comment

I was amazed when I read the story on Midwifery Today’s website written by two birth professionals. Denise Gilpin-Blake, a licensed midwife and owner of Accouche Waterbirth Centers in Southern California, and Summer Elliott, a registered nurse and student midwife at the time the article was printed, explained { here } how they have integrated using seaweed instead of sutures for tears caused by vaginal delivery.

One of the women authors (presumably Denise, given that she was the licensed midwife at the time) also explains the situation that led her to originally try it. It fell back to a matter of necessity after the mother who had just delivered refused sutures for a second-degree tear. At that birth, which took place in 1986, she recalled a time when she had studied with a shaman on an Indian reservation. The shaman used seaweed to heal burns and deep lacerations. The new mother agreed to try that treatment and the next day the midwife was stunned at the healing that had taken place. Since that birth, she integrated it as an alternative to sutures regularly in her practice.

While a simple Google search of using seaweed for wound care will make light of this practice and call it just short of poppycock. I couldn’t help but notice a wound care dressing by Johnson and Johnson is a polysaccharide dressing derived from seaweed which at a price of around $20-$30 per 4 inch square. The indications for its use is to put it directly on the wound, and then to cover it to avoid it drying out. It apparently can also stop bleeding and creates an air tight water tight gel when it comes into contact with fluids from the wound.

I’m not suggesting you use seaweed yourself and this isn’t intended to be medical advice. I just thought it was fascinating. Any midwives in our community familiar with this treatment? Any moms ever been treated this way?

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The Nitty Gritty on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Posted by on May 14, 2013 4 Comments

fetal alcohol syndromeI am raising a child with fetal alcohol syndrome.  Most people I speak with, including professionals and teachers do not understand it.  Most of the people in my life had no idea what fetal alcohol syndrome actually was, until they learned from being close to my son.

I had never given it much thought. Before I started caring for my son, who is not biologically mine, I believed that fetal alcohol syndrome was essentially what happens when a child is born addicted to alcohol. I thought it entails a period of withdrawal, but after that rough NICU time period, I didn’t know there was lasting effects. I also had considered if large amounts of alcohol were ingested, perhaps the child would be born with birth defects. I had seen pictures of children with severely deformed faces in college, and they were labelled as children with fetal alcohol syndrome.

Granted, it can be like that. A child can be born with effects so severe that they are clearly deformed.  That’s not how it usually is though. That’s not how it is with my son either.

My son’s mother didn’t drink herself to oblivion regularly. My son wasn’t born drunk, like the child in this news story. The writer of that article quoted their NHS (National Health Service) as saying, “ If you drink heavily during pregnancy, your baby could develop a group of problems known as foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). Children with this syndrome have: restricted growth, facial abnormalities and learning and behavioural disorders.”

Man, if only it were like that. Seeing that article, compelled me to write this one.

The truth is, you don’t have to drink heavily during pregnancy for your child to suffer the effects of prenatal exposure to alcohol. Even a couple of glasses of wine on the “wrong day” during fetal development can have disastrous effects on that child for the rest of his life.

My son has some facial features that are quite handsome that actually indicated to the University of Michigan’s FAS Clinic’s staff that my son was suffering from the effects of alcohol he was given prenatally. His eyes are gorgeous, with beautifully exotic looking folds called epicanthal folds.  His nose is slightly upturned, giving him a little button nose. But that upturned nose, is also sign of his disability.

Here’s the thing though, as beautiful as my son is, his features signify damage that can not be seen. He is seven, and while he is very bright and not mentally retarded, in many areas of his development, he is a three year old.  He has tantrums that a two- three year old would have, only he has the strength of a seven year old. So, while you might be able to just pick a three year old up and whisk him into a safe place or out of a store, I can’t easily do that anymore.

My son lacks reasoning skills and impulse control. Even if he knows something is wrong, sometimes he is incapable of stopping himself. He lies a lot. He lies for a couple of reasons. First of all, with children that have FAS/FASD/FAE, when they get overstimulated or they are confused, they often and usually respond with a dysfunctional amygdala. Every little thing automatically turns into something that they deal with with a “fight or flight response.” So, sometimes, my son will lie about something absolutely inconsequential because, even though he knows with his intellect that neither I nor his teachers would ever hurt him, he panics. Other times, he will lie to say simply what he feels we want to hear. He will also lie because he remembers things wrong or he doesn’t remember anything at all, but doesn’t want anyone to realize he can’t remember.

Once he loses his calm, the fight or flight switch isn’t on a dimmer. It’s on or off. It doesn’t matter who he is engaging with or what he is engaging with them about. He either wants to run away and hide, or fight. This has ended in me having to pick him up from school often multiple times a week. We’ve decided to home-school, so that these episodes don’t deteriorate his self esteem.

I could write an entire book about all of the concepts with examples that are a part of living with FAS or living with a person who lives with FAS. The disability affects every area of a person’s life. It causes weakened organs, and cognition and communication issues.  It affects relationships, growth, and health.  Statistically, a majority of people who are in prison show strong signs of having been prenatally exposed to alcohol. Also statistically, an adult with FAS has a slim chance of ever being independent. Far more likely outcomes are incarceration, homelessness and early death.

People have commented that women in history have often drank moderately while pregnant. That is true. And our history is rich with examples of people lacking impulse control and flying off the handle. Children were beaten into submission, only to in turn beat their own children into submission. I guess, I ask this: Is a “wild west mentality,” still acceptable? Are fist fights, aggression, impatience, stubbornness, criminal behavior, weakened immunity, insomnia, financial irresponsibility, chronic unemployment, poor sexual boundaries, and delayed emotional maturity worth women enjoying a cocktail or a couple of white zinfandels?

If pregnant women would live one day in my life, they would never even contemplate having a glass or two of wine with dinner again.

 

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