Ridiculous Product of the Day

Morning CHICKness bags. I am not lying.

In all my barfing, I never wished for a pretty little barf bag to call my own! This is bizarre!

I can't believe someone decided to market a barf bag to preggers! What's next, barf toothpaste??

Too funny!

Reducing Infant Mortality

This video talks about infant mortality rates and some of the largest contributing factors that deal with it, and what can be done about it. Sadly, race is a large factor. So is prematurity, which is often linked to inductions, and poor nutrition. Other contributing factors are epidural, pitocin induction/augmentation, and cesarean section.

Sadly, the top 6 conditions that commonly end in death come out of L&D. I think it's time to take a look at what is being done routinely and why-- the whole system needs an overhaul. But until then-- it is the responsibility of the parent to know what each procedure does, and what risks go with it, and to manage their pregnancy as best they see fit.

This is a long video, but I do really beleive in what they are saying, and this is something I think every pregnant couple should hear. Your choices as a consumer are so important, and your research on your choices and options can create a better outcome for your baby.

Please watch and support this cause!

http://vimeo.com/6182741

And here is the link to their home page for reference material, and other places to join up with about this cause.

Kangaroo Care

Check out this Kangaroo Care Article.

While I'm really not a fan of the 'anti-medical, doctors are morons' type of slant this article has to it-- I am really encouraged to see more news about Kangaroo care out there, and how amazing it is for infants' development!

It's also such a happy story!

Breastfeeding Tea

I just learned that there is a Dr. Mary Ann Meyer-Jones in Valparaiso, IN who hosts a FREE Breastfeeding 'Tea meeting' for moms who are her patients once a month.

How cool is that? Wish more offices offered this as well!

(PS-- if you are a provider, I volunteer to lead the meetings)

I am filing this away under 'cool things to start up in the future!'

Home Deliveries are NOT just for Pizza!!

Here is the link to an article on the home birth vs. hospital birth debate-- and all the animosity and anger that keep this debate flowing, and also keep consumer choices limited to all or nothing, black or white, hospital or home.

It doesn't have to be this way, and I wish people could spend more time getting to know the other side before passing judgement, and opening their minds a bit to the possibilities and benefits to a situation they might not see as ideal. And both sides are guilty of this.

This is just more evidence of why it is so important to be an educated consumer when it comes to your birth, your provider, and your choices. Options are more limited with some people and some places than others, and its important you find a birth team who has a similar opinion to you on what is important to you, and will be able to support your choices well through all the variations that can happen at a birth.

Ask questions! Get to know your provider! you will only have each baby ONCE, so there is only one chance to cultivate good memories from that day. Choose wisely...

Guilt-Free Breastfeeding

I thought this article was great, for addressing a few points about breastfeeding, and not just the simple ones.

Read up here!

I am a firm believer that breast is best. Mother's milk is the perfect food, and it is ever-changing to meet baby's needs. Knowing this, and how very important this is for baby's health and development, and for how a person may choose to parent their child-- knowing this helps me to understand all the more, the heartbreak and the anguish felt by mothers who are unsuccessful at breastfeeding their children.

I cry with them, in many cases, and try to explain how powerful their role of parent is, even without milk, and help them learn to use kangaroo care and babywearing to help recreate the bonding that happens while nursing. However, all this grief aside, WHO, exactly, would be better off if we pretended that bottle feeding is just as good? Should those of us who successfully nurse be asked to keep it on the down low? Some people think so, but they are wrong.

Fact is fact. And sometimes, when the art of breastfeeding doesn't work out, there is grief. But just as in life, we all get some things and watch as others get other things. We don't get to choose the hand we are dealt, and some hands are better than others. But I am no more in favor of suppressing breastfeeding education than I am in banning bottles. Both are ridiculous options that serve very short sighted purposes. How about we support a mother who is successful, we support a mother who works and pumps, and we support women with inadequate supply all at once? Can that be so hard?

Article on laboring womens' rights

Is a woman in labor a person? Legally?

This article really shook me. I cannot believe that something like this could even happen. It is so upsetting that a woman's rights over her own body could be superceded by anyone, let alone her physician.

This is just another reason to make sure you have chosen a like-minded provider who understands and respects your wishes. Granted, this will not ensure the labor and delivery of your choosing~ there are too many variables (the largest of which is mother nature) while woman and child work through this stressful but momentous event. It is not clear in the article whether the mother did endanger herself or her child by refusing a C-section, but what is clear is that there was a healthy outcome.

The idea of 'safety' is a relative one, especially when it comes to something as random and up for interpretation as medical testing and procedures. Truly, labor and delivery is more of an art than a science, and I wish that there were some philosophy in there as well. Sadly, the philosophy of medicine in Obstetrics has been replaced by legality, and attorneys. But regardless, whether is was 'safe' for this mother to deliver vaginally is not the issue here, the issue is that no two people have the same idea of what 'safe' means. To some, nothing is more safe than a C section, and to some, nothing is more safe than the natural process of labor. Most of us fall in the middle somewhere, and there is no 'right' answer. We all have to answer to the forces of our environment, be they our malpractice insurance, the hospital, our bodies, or our hopes and dreams for a beautiful baby and a beautiful birth.

Once again, I urge you all to try to understand where the other 'team' is coming from, and instead of becoming more polarized and combative, try to meet in the middle. Perhaps if the 'natural' and 'medical' camps spent energy on this instead of fighting against the other side, sad cases like this would not have to happen.

Consumerism in medicine has never been as important as it is now~ so choose your birth team and facility wisely, and let the almighty dollar cast it's vote on what kind of care will succeed in the end. Choose wisely for yourself, your friends, and your daughter, so we may hope to have a better system in place sometime soon.

YOINK-- on food and drink in labor

Here is another good article I found in my DONA International Magazine that is not only a good read, but another point regarding evidence-based medicine that I feel should be obvious, but somehow is not practiced as often as it should be.

Again, these were scanned in as images, so click and use your mouse to read.

A beautiful story I swiped...

This made me cry... I took it from my DONA International Magazine that I receive for being a member. I wanted to contact someone for permission to re-post this, but it's written by 'anonymous', so no such luck. I hope anyone who finds it here will understand how sincere my intention is to get this story out to the people who need to hear it...

I scanned this in as an image, so double click, and use your mouse to read. :)
Have a kleenex ready.

Baby Boot Camp (for parents) is coming in August!

This is everything you will need to know that no one will tell you about! Your one-stop shop for everything to do with your new baby, the hospital, and the postpartum period. Scroll down to a previous post for the topics I cover!

Click on the flyer to view it more closely, and sign up soon for BBC on Sat, Aug 22 from 11-4! Lunch is included. Also included is a binder full of supplemental materials, instructions, and photos for reference in your new life with baby!

Please call the Belly Factory to sign up-- space is limited! 1-815-534-5293