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The “Autism and Flu Correlation” study and its inevitable use in marketing the flu shot.

Posted by on November 13, 2012 10 Comments

By now, you’ve probably seen the news articles, like this one, reporting on the Danish study published in Pediatrics that found “that maternal influenza infection was associated with a twofold increased risk of infantile autism” and that “prolonged episodes of fever caused a threefold increased risk of infantile autism.”  You’ve probably already been told that this is even more reason for pregnant women to get their flu shots.

While I am not a doctor, I do want to make sure that, if you are pregnant, you are armed with all of the facts to make an informed decision.  Somewhere along the way, informed consent kind of fell to the wayside.  We, as patients, are regularly not given all the information needed to give “informed consent.”

As you consider whether or not to get the advised flu shot if you are pregnant, please take some time to consider other points.

Avoiding the Flu in General

Let’s just say that getting the flu and other illnesses is the cause of autism, and ignore the fact that the flu has been around as long as we can remember and autism at the rate we are seeing is a new concern for humankind…

In the Huffington Post article,  Catherine Pearson wrote, “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a flu shot for everyone who is at least six months old, and includes pregnant women on its list of people for whom vaccination is particularly important.” And that’s totally true; the CDC does say that. But there’s also  plenty of evidence to suggest that getting enough vitamin D would be a good idea to avoid getting the flu, but neither the CDC or the media reports about this Danish study are making that suggestion, even though patients are supposed to be making informed consent when getting vaccinations, not just consent.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Compare how often have you been offered a blood test to check for vitamin D deficiency to how often you’ve been offered a flu shot?

I explain the relationship between the flu and vitamin D connection in a previous post if you don’t know why I bring this point up.

It’s also important to remember that getting the flu vaccine isn’t necessarily going to protect a woman from getting the flu. No for real.  There’s many variables including your own health, the particular strains of flu going around, and much more.  The vaccines own inserts mention that it might not actually work on you anyway.

READ ALSO: Why vitamin D levels should be considered during pregnancy in general & for fetal development.

The Flu Vaccine During Pregnancy

The CDC, most US doctors and the media proclaim the flu vaccine to be safe to use during pregnancy. The CDC says that the nasal spray version of the flu shot is not to be given to pregnant women. That means pregnant women are supposed to get either the intradermal vaccine or one of the intramuscular vaccines.  Let’s look more carefully at the vaccines that are available in the US during the 2012-2013 flu season according to the CDC.

Fluzone Intradermal- Consider what the manufacture’s own prescribing information says about this flu vaccine’s use during pregnancy:

“A developmental and reproductive toxicity study has been performed in female rabbits at a dose approximately 20 times the human dose (on a mg/kg basis) and has revealed no evidence of impaired female fertility or harm to the fetus due to Fluzone Intradermal. There are, however, no adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women. Because animal reproduction studies are not always predictive of human response, Fluzone Intradermal should be used during pregnancy only if clearly needed. Healthcare providers are encouraged to register women who receive Fluzone Intradermal during pregnancy in Sanofi Pasteur Inc.’s vaccination pregnancy registry by calling 1-800-822-2463.”  NOTE: According to the CDC, the intradermal flu vaccine is not ok for anyone under 18 or over 64 either. So, pregnant teenagers would automatically not qualify for this version of the flu shot.

Fluzone Intramuscular- Consider what the manufacturer’s official FDA information says about this flu vaccine’s use during pregnancy:

“Pregnancy Category C: Animal reproduction studies have not been conducted with Fluzone. It is also not known whether Fluzone can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman or can affect reproduction capacity. Fluzone should be given to a pregnant woman only if clearly needed.”

Fluvirin Intramuscular- Again, the manufacturer’s official FDA information states:

“Pregnancy Category C: Animal reproduction studies have not been conducted with Fluvirin®. It is also not known whether Fluvirin® can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman or can affect reproduction capacity. Fluvirin® should be given to a pregnant woman only if clearly needed.”

Fluarix Intramuscular- Consider that the prescribing information from the manufacturer states:

“A reproductive and developmental toxicity study has been performed in female rats at a dose approximately 56 times the human dose (on a mg/kg basis) and revealed no evidence of impaired female fertility or harm to the fetus due to Fluarix. There are, however, no adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women. Because animal reproduction studies are not always predictive of human response, Fluarix should be given to a pregnant woman only if clearly needed.”

Flulaval Intramuscular- Consider that the manufacturer’s official FDA information also states:

“A reproductive and developmental toxicity study has been performed in female rats at a dose approximately 56 times the human dose (on a mg/kg basis) and revealed no evidence of impaired female fertility or harm to the fetus due to Flulaval. There are, however, no adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women. Because animal reproduction studies are not always predictive of human response, Flulaval should be given to a pregnant woman only if clearly needed.” Note: This vaccine is only indicated for people over the age of 18 as well, so pregnant teens would not be able to get this flu shot.

Afluria Intramuscular- Consider the package insert from the manufacturer states:

“Safety and effectiveness of AFLURIA have not been established in pregnant women or nursing mothers and in the pediatric population below 6 months of age.”

These are your options for the flu shot if you are pregnant. Needless to say, these facts aren’t mentioned regularly in mainstream media, but I feel that these facts are pertinent to making informed consent prior to receiving the flu vaccine during pregnancy.

Correlation Does Not Mean Causation

This autism study was  a population-based cohort study consisting of 96, 736 children aged 8 to 14 years and born from 1997 to 2003 in Denmark. Cohort studies do aid in observing possible causal associations, but determining true causality usually requires further experimental trials. The children who developed autism in this study accounted for only 1% of the children in the study. There are many factors that would need to be looked at at this point.  For example, perhaps the flu didn’t cause the autism, perhaps the flu and autism have a shared nutritional deficiency that increases the risks of both.  Perhaps they have a shared exposure to certain toxins or certain foods.

There are many variables here and the study itself explains this. Contrary to media reports, the researchers did point out that because many adjustments were made during the study and because the study relied on the mother’s answers and not their medical record, a definitive link between the flu or fevers and autism really couldn’t even be made. I am not discounting the information in this study. It’s a great tool for observation.  I just want to make sure that if you are pregnant, you see the complete picture.

Doctors are already using this study to promote getting the flu shot during pregnancy For example, Dr. Colleen Boyle, director of the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities who was not involved with this study commented in regards to it, ”This is flu vaccine season so pregnant women should get the flu vaccine immediately.”

If you’re pregnant, you have a right to be made fully aware before giving “informed consent” during the most crucial developmental period of your child’s life.

 

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to be used as medical advice. This is not a substitute for professional medical advice or care. It is intended to be used as a tool for open discussion with your medical professional.

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The Artificial Sweeteners & Preterm Birth Debate

Posted by on April 25, 2012 Leave a Comment
artificial sweetener pregnancy

Photo from Lyn. Click to read her blog.

An analysis of 59,334 women from the Danish National Birth Cohort (1996–2002) was done and published in the American Clinical Journal of Nutrition. Researchers looked at soft drink intake in midpregnancy by using a food-frequency questionnaire in order to determine if women who drank soft drinks that were artificially sweetened had a greater risk of preterm delivery than women who drank regular soft drinks.

They found an association between intake of artificially sweetened soft drinks and an increased risk of preterm delivery:

“In comparison with women with no intake of artificially sweetened carbonated soft drinks, the adjusted odds ratio for women who consumed ge 1 serving of artificially sweetened carbonated soft drinks/d was 1.38 (95% CI: 1.15, 1.65). The corresponding odds ratio for women who consumed ge 4 servings of artificially sweetened carbonated soft drinks/d was 1.78 (95% CI: 1.19, 2.66). The association was observed for normal-weight and overweight women. A stronger increase in risk was observed for early preterm and moderately preterm delivery than with late-preterm delivery. No association was observed for sugar-sweetened carbonated soft drinks (P for trend: 0.29) or for sugar-sweetened noncarbonated soft drinks (P for trend: 0.93).”

Of course, in fairness, the Aspartame makers commented on how this is really not a very valid study. (See why they think that here.) One of their big concerns is that the study used an odds ratio rather than a relative risk analysis in their results. That’s a good point. The aspartame makers feel it was because the numbers were just so low that that was the only way to show any impact. That was the only concern brought up that I felt was a valid enough reason to not mention what I found to you pregnant ladies in the Everything Birth Community. Then, I thought about it.

How big of a study do they want?  This was a huge sample of pregnant women.

I think they just worded it that way because they knew most people wouldn’t bother looking deeper and would conclude based on their argument that indeed, the actual numbers were too inconsequential to indicate any actual association.

59,334 soft drinking women were a part of this study.

Let’s look at where the women came from. These women were all of the ones that drank soft drinks in the larger Danish Cohort Study.

  • 101, 042 pregnant women and offspring were observed.
  • It incorporated about half of all Danish GPs.
  • It involved about 18% of all Danish pregnant women!

For me, if I were pregnant, I would consider this a large enough portion of a population to base a study on.

18% of all pregnant women would reflect trends.

Over half of them drank soft drinks. So about 1/10th of all of their society’s pregnant women were involved in the soft drink study.

So, just what were the preterm birth trends in their neck of the woods at that time?

In Denmark between 1995 and 2004 (which was the closest statistics that were explicit enough to use) the overall proportion of preterm deliveries out of all live births increased from 5.2% to 6.3%.

So, between 5 and 6 percent of live births are delivered before term over there.

The comments made by the Aspartame company about the choice in using odds ratios rather than relative risk was probably because of the extremely low number of preterm births is absurd in my opinion.  This is a huge sample. 1/10th of all pregnant women. I mean I get what they’re saying, but especially considering that there is another increase of risk of preterm birth demonstrated as these women increased their daily intake of artificially sweetened drinks, I think it’s something for us to think seriously about.

Is diet soda so awesome that it’s worth the risk the odds?

 

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Induction of Labor Associated with 67% Increased Risk of C-Section

Posted by on March 9, 2012 1 Comment

My epidural from the horrible birth of my son in 2001

Natural birth has been at the foundations of  Everything Birth from its conception. It began in 2001 as a small resource center offering natural birth classes and workshops.   Everything Birth’s owner, Crystal White, wrote, “My first child was born in 1997, and at the time I was still contemplating grad school and what direction my career should take. The more research I did on birth, intervention, and the unbelievably high cesarean rate in the US, I knew that somehow I wanted my career to be involved with birth.”  The year Everything Birth, Inc. was born was also the year my own son was born in a hospital. His birth experience was very traumatic given I was induced and the threat of cesarean section loomed over me the entire time with “gentle reminders” from the OB that my window of time for delivering naturally was running out.

As the years passed, the midwifery movement has grown and we have seen the occasional study stressing the increased safety of  a midwife assisted childbirth over a hospitalized childbirth. Over the years, I have often wished that these studies had been available just a few years sooner. I felt that same way as I read the most recent study on the risks of unneeded inductions of labor.

This month, a very important childbirth study was published in  the journal Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica. Led by Rosalie Grivell, BSc, BMBS, FRANZCOG, of the University of Adelaide’s Robinson Institute, this childbirth study has the potential to dramatically change the way society views childbirth. A summary of the study, which included 28,626 pregnant women was highlighted in the research magazine Science Daily. It seems science is catching on to what midwives and birth doulas have been insisting. Science daily reported that the “induction of labor at term in the absence of maternal or fetal indications increases the risk of cesarean section and other postpartum complications for the woman, as well as neonatal complications.”

  • Induction of labor for non-recognized indications was associated with a 67% increased relative risk of cesarean section.
  • Induction of labor for non-recognized indications was associated with a 64% increased relative risk of infants needing NICU care.
  • Induction of labor for non-recognized indications was associated with a 44% increased relative risk of infants needing intensive care treatment.

In addition to those findings, the study found that for the best maternal health outcomes and the lowest risk of mothers needing an epidural or spinal analgesia occurred with birth at or after 41 weeks’ gestation. We discussed the reasons for this in a previous post called The Due Date Debacle.  More than just the implications this study will eventually have on hospital births, I feel that this childbirth study stands to provide an enormous amount of information to help women with healthy pregnancies subside any culturally induced fears about choosing a midwife to handle the birth of their child.

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“Suck it Up, Stretch Marks are Genetic,” he said.

Posted by on August 11, 2011 8 Comments

I had the misfortune of being afraid of childbirth. I desperately wanted a birthing center, midwife assisted birth, but I was scared. I didn’t know the facts. I didn’t know that in normal pregnancies, midwife assisted births are actually safe and enjoy fewer complications than hospital births.

And so I have the scars to prove it.

Yes, I do have the emotional scars of a labor that was too “medical.” I have my regrets. Yada yada. But this particular blog isn’t about that. This is about stretch marks.

“Suck it up,” the doctor said so confidently in response to my questioning about lotions or herbs I should use, “Stretch marks are genetic. You’ll either going to get them or you won’t. Don’t waste your time. Nothing you can put on your belly is going to make a difference.”  And so I didn’t waste my time. And of course, I got lots of stretch marks.

Grrrrrr……

By the time I was pregnant the next time with my daughter, I was heavily involved with the “natural living” scene. So, I understood that while genetics may predispose us to something, how we take care of ourselves is far more important than our genetic predisposition.

With my most recent pregnancy, I knew so much better than I did before. And I kept my skin moist with the greatest butters and oils nature had to offer. I know this all may seem terribly vain. There are beautiful websites devoted to stretch marks as though they are metals of honor. I’m not saying they aren’t. I’m not saying that they don’t have beauty. I’m not saying a mother’s belly is ugly or even that I look down at my own and scowl. All I’m saying, is I didn’t want them in the first place… and I certainly didn’t want more of them.

I wholeheartedly believe (because I didn’t get a single stretch mark from my daughter, nor did my old ones become worse) that you don’t have to get stretch marks just because you are pregnant even if it’s in your genes.

So, what should you do to avoid them?  Cocoa butter is the normal route, and that’s fine, but don’t count on it to work just because it’s natural. It doesn’t seem to work as nearly as good as other moisturizers with healing herbs, like this one by Wish Garden.

Also, you should moisturize your growing belly several times a day. Like keep this in your purse and put it on when you think of it.  (When you’re in the car parked outside of the grocery store.  When you’re at your prenatal appointments. In the drive-thru line at the bank. You know, every time you think of it.)

Most importantly though, if your belly itches, you’re not doing it often enough. And if you start to get them because you haven’t been applying it often enough, the Wish Garden Nipple Repair Salve will actually help the skin on your belly heal as well. So, have them both handy long before you think you need them.

 

 

 

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Pregnant with Herpes?

Posted by on December 6, 2010 2 Comments

Shhhhhhhhh!

We don’t talk about this stuff do we?

The thing is though, 1 in 3 of you have herpes, and 1 in 4 of you know it. It’s not like you’re some freak if you’ve found yourself pregnant with herpes. I guess this blog is aimed at a quarter of you pregnant moms out there who happen to know that you’ve got herpes.  

If you’ve found yourself pregnant with herpes, the doctor’s solution is to give you an anti-viral medication that is labeled as “probably safe while pregnant.”

Hmmmmm…. How do you feel about taking a medicine that is “probably safe” while pregnant in order to avoid the very slim chance that something will happen to your baby during labor?

I know that moms worry though. You can’t just do NOTHING if you’ve found yourself pregnant with herpes.

So here’s what you CAN do if you are pregnant with herpes.

  • You can take the supplement Lysine everyday during the last trimester of your pregnancy. You can get it from Everything Birth’s Amazon Store. It makes it almost impossible for an outbreak to occur. Our bodies need lysine, and when we don’t have as much as we need because we aren’t eating right, we can take it in a supplement. By the way, it is completely safe to take while pregnant.
  • You can ingest a spoonful of Virgin Coconut Oil every day which you can also conveniently purchase from Everything Birth’s Amazon Store. You can put it on popcorn, sautee vegetables in it, toss noodles with it, or cook your eggs in it instead of butter or oil. VCO contains caprylic acid and lauric acid, both of which are just about the most powerful anti-virals you can get your hand on, and they are natural and completely safe to ingest while pregnant.

While, I am not a doctor (Though I do make it a point to thoroughly do my research before I blog about anything) and this is not meant to replace medical advisement (though in my opinion it offers you viable solutions to your problem) and you should discuss your options with your doctor (and yada, yada,) and these opinions are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Everything Birth, (though they also might, it’s a mystery)  I encourage you to explore your options and make a safe decision if you’ve found yourself pregnant with herpes.

-Dawn Papple

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Cravings.

Posted by on July 18, 2010 Leave a Comment

Meat, sweets, fruit, salty.  When you have a craving during pregnancy, your body is trying to tell you something.  More calories, or more of a certain vitamin.   It is really a good idea to listen to these cravings.  Do not deprive yourself or your baby what you need.  Unless you have a strong craving for something that isn’t food.  Like dirt.  Dirt is really a craving that some women have.  Chalk too.  If you have these cravings, or any cravings, you should talk to your midwife.

With my first pregnancy I had a strong craving for  watermelon.  I always had to have it on hand.  I could eat one of those little round seedless ones in one sitting.  At first I thought it was the water that I needed.  But  in fact when I did a little research, watermelon is high in iron.  Guess what, I was anemic.

I find it fascinating what some women will crave while forming their baby.  Recently I was at a bar-b-que and a friend of mine who is 8 weeks along was having intense desires for red meat.  The only thing is, she is vegetarian.  My friend said her cravings were unbearable.  She was really struggling with being able to hold in her craving.  I told her to just give in.  Here is why.

Meat is high in essential baby growing vitamins.  You can take supplements to increase the amounts of a particular vitamin, but just remember, that food sources are always best for absorption.  If you are looking for a great source of any nutrient, go right to its source.

Here are some of the most common nutrients you need and the foods that contain them: – from kidshealth.org

Nutrient Needed for Best sources
Protein cell growth and blood production lean meat, fish, poultry, egg whites, beans, peanut butter, tofu
Carbohydrates daily energy production breads, cereals, rice, potatoes, pasta, fruits, vegetables
Calcium strong bones and teeth, muscle contraction, nerve function milk, cheese, yogurt, sardines or salmon with bones, spinach
Iron red blood cell production (to prevent anemia) lean red meat, spinach, iron-fortified whole-grain breads and cereals
Vitamin A healthy skin, good eyesight, growing bones carrots, dark leafy greens, sweet potatoes
Vitamin C healthy gums, teeth, and bones; assistance with iron absorption citrus fruit, broccoli, tomatoes, fortified fruit juices
Vitamin B6 red blood cell formation; effective use of protein, fat, and carbohydrates pork, ham, whole-grain cereals, bananas
Vitamin B12 formation of red blood cells, maintaining nervous system health meat, fish, poultry, milk
(Note: vegetarians who don’t eat dairy products need supplemental B12)
Vitamin D healthy bones and teeth; aids absorption of calcium fortified milk, dairy products, cereals, and breads
Folic acid blood and protein production, effective enzyme function green leafy vegetables, dark yellow fruits and vegetables, beans, peas, nuts
Fat body energy stores meat, whole-milk dairy products, nuts, peanut butter, margarine, vegetable oils
(Note: limit fat intake to 30% or less of your total daily calorie intake)
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Magic Little Pill?

Posted by on July 2, 2010 5 Comments

After just giving birth, one of the main things on women’s minds is how to lose their pregnancy weight. Some use pregnancy as an opportunity to eat whatever we want, which of course will mean, re-establishing healthier eating patterns. However, for many women, all of the hormonal changes end up affecting our thyroids. After pregnancy, most women are left with a slightly sluggish thyroid that just needs the proper nutrients to get healthy again.

If you’ve just given birth you may notice a craving for table salt.  What our bodies are craving though is iodine. Unfortunately the iodine that is in table salt is not naturally occurring. Our bodies are not machines, they are very delicate. Naturally occurring iodine is “fused” also with bromine. Our body needs bromine to successfully use iodine, which is the primary nutrient requested by a sluggish thyroid.

Iodine and bromine is naturally occurring in sea kelp. Sea kelp is a vegetable from the ocean. There are lots of ways to harvest and process it and not all are created equal. You could go buy fresh sea kelp from a place like Whole Foods and then eat it every day in your soups and stews. I don’t much like the texture though.

You could also go and buy some sea kelp from your local vitamin store, but those are over processed and much of the nutritional value gets lost. I’ve take the off brands with very little success. While I was working at my natural living store, I came across another brand of sea kelp that people in my co-op raved about.  The brand that I tried was called A. Vogel Thyroid Support Tabs. I know it sounds like an overbearing name. You would think it has some kind of medicine in it. It seems like it is full of hormones and such.  A quick look at the label though will demonstrate that it really is just sea kelp processed into a pill form.

All this does is give your thyroid the nutrients it needs to get healthy again. It’s not a medicine or a drug. It works right away if your problem is a slightly (or severely) sluggish thyroid from a nutritional deficiency. The afternoon exhaustion leaves the first day. By the evening, you can’t believe that 8:30 doesn’t feel like it should be your bedtime anymore. You are less winded.  You suddenly have a skip to your step.

This is not a diet pill. It’s not unhealthy. It’s the opposite of unhealthy. This is making sure you get the vegetables you need.

For me and the women I suggested this to at my old store, it was obvious that it was working. We began losing weight the first week. I steadily lost 2-3 pounds every single week until I succeeded in losing over fifty. I didn’t alter my diet in any way.  The great thing is, if you start with one tab, three times a day and you don’t need that much, you will pee out the excess.  If you notice that your pee is the color of iodine, you just cut back one tablet.

At first, I started because I wanted to lose weight, weight that had been on me for five years from the carrying of my son. There were so many other benefits to having a healthy thyroid that I hadn’t even thought about.  Now I feel like a whole new person. More like I was as a teenager.  This is most likely because birth control also degrades your thyroid functioning.

A few times, women I’ve suggested it to have said it didn’t work for them. It seemed strange considering just how many people it did help. I looked them in the eye and said, “You know, they only work if you take them, not if they sit on your counter.” Each one of them broke an admitting smile. This really could be that magic little pill you’re looking for. It was for me.

Dawn Papple dawnnoelle1045@hotmail.com


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Birth Perception.

Posted by on June 30, 2010 1 Comment

When I tell my birth story to some people they just can’t believe that I carried twins for 37 weeks thinking there was only one baby in there.  They ask “weren’t you really big?”  No.  ”Couldn’t you feel a lot of movement?” Kind of.  But I had nothing to relate it to.

I just think I had a very healthy outlook on my pregnancy.  What I did not know, only helped me.  I trusted that my body would tell me if something were wrong.  My midwives would pick up the signals of  anything going bad.  Choosing not to have ultrasound or any excessive interventions was a choice I made.  All of the prenatal testing in the world would not change the fact that I was pregnant.  Negative results would only add stress to my pregnancy.  As long as there was a heartbeat and I was feeling healthy that was all that mattered to me.  My pregnancy would continue and if there was a road block then we would deal with it when it came up.

Looking back, had I read any of the books about twin pregnancy, I probably would have been on bed rest at 32 weeks like most of them suggest.  Instead, I was swimming and walking everyday up until my 37th week.  My perception was that I was carrying a singleton, and that is what my pregnancy presented itself as.  My mind did not fear anything twin related because it had no idea that was even a possibility.  Was I scared to give birth for the first time?  Certainly.  But I addressed my fears and ackowledged them all.

The two weeks from when we discovered the twins to when I had the cesarean, were stressful.  I will not deny that.  I was just waiting for labor.  Full term for twins is 35 weeks.  Why was my body not going into labor?  I will never know the answer to that question.  All I can think is that my visualizations and birth affirmations worked.  They kept my fearful mind at bay and my body went along with perception that all was good and healthy.  I just happened to get two for one that time.

Affirmations can be so empowering.

My body knows how to birth my baby.

My baby knows how to be born.

I relax and fully turn my birthing over to nature.

I am safe even though I may be scared.

I put all fear aside and welcome my baby with happiness and joy.

Bless,

Jess

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Michelle Obama's Let's Move

Posted by on April 29, 2010 Leave a Comment

Living a healthy lifestyle is not only important for yourself, but it is imperative for our kids.  Studies now indicate that there is metobolic imprinting that takes place in utero through the first two years of life.  This programming effects how your child will process and metabolize food for the rest of his or her life.

I am not one to jump on board with everything the CDC and the FDA push on us, but I think First Lady Micelle Obama has picked an admirable crusade.  I believe in the Let’s Move campain.  By the time children are obese it is very difficult to reverse the damage.  Smoking and gaining excessive weight during pregnancy, not breastfeeding long enough, and lack of proper sleep during infancy are all risk factors in childhood obesety.  These are all targets the Let’s Move campaign aims to tackle.  We all need to take better care of ourselves. 

Factors associated with increased risk for overweight or obesity in infancy and early childhood include excessive maternal weight gain or smoking during gestation, shorter-than-recommended duration of breast-feeding, and suboptimal amounts of sleep during infancy. Such exposures during early development program a person’s long-term regulation of energy balance and may have epigenetic effects. These exposures probably influence the development of hypothalamic circuits that regulate body weight, as well as endocrine pancreatic function, changes in the proportion of lean versus fat body mass, and other cycles of metabolic programming.3 -Let’s Move — Childhood Obesity Prevention from Pregnancy and Infancy OnwardJanet M. Wojcicki, Ph.D., M.P.H., and Melvin B. Heyman, M.D., M.P.H.

My Pyramid Plan for moms.  This is a specialized calculator that will customize a food pyramid for you during you pregnancy.

You should talk to your midwife about things you can do to avoid gaining excess weight during pregnancy.

Stop smoking.  Duh.  It is gross anyway.

Breastfeed your babies for at least a year if not longer.

Make sure your baby is getting enough sleep.

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Birth Story Diaries.

Posted by on February 14, 2010 Leave a Comment

When I was pregnant I wanted as much information as I could get about the next year of my life.  I learned very quickly that not all information was helpful.  And most of it was based on fears.  I just wanted real information from real women.

I love birth stories.  We all have so much to learn from them.  My daughters were not able to attend the home waterbirth of their little brother, but they have seen the photographs and they love to hear how they and their brother were brought into this world.  I keep to the story as best as I can remember.  It is so important that our daughters have an understanding of the natural physiology of childbirth.  If we don’t pass our stories on there will be a disconnect.  This isolation can breed fear.  The fear of the unknown for a first time mother can be overwhelming.  If that same first time mother knows that her mother, aunt, sister, or friend gave birth naturally then she won’t be so alone.

We are all here because someone gave birth to us.  Every birth has a story.  There are many sources for birth stories my favorite birth story book is Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Gaskin. Also, there are many stories available to read on the internet.

One site I love is birthdiaries.com .  This site is exactly what it sounds like.  Lots of moving birth stories.  What I love the most about this website is the graphic rating scale.  You can choose the modesty of each birth story.   This makes it easy to only read what you are comfortable taking in.

We want to hear your birth stories.  I will compile your stories and create a new categorie on the Everything Birth blog.  So write them down and e-mail them to me.  jessica@everythingbirth.com

I can’t wait to hear from you!

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