Wisdom and Births

Warning: This is most definitely an opinion piece! Surprisingly, FOUR out of FIVE babies in the U.S. are born on drugs . WHAT!?!?! 80% of our tiny fragile human babies are born on drugs!?!? Yep! Even though we live in a country that spends countless trillions of dollars on the "drug-war"... if the government says it's illegal, we'll judge you for using it and lock you up in prison, but if a pharmaceutical company manufactured that dangerous drug, well, then we'll stand in line to take it and even give it to our babies. ...hypocrites much??? So where are these babies getting their first high? From their doctors and mothers, of course! Opiods, such as Fentanyl and Meperidine (Demerol), are pretty hard-core drugs which are frequently used in the management of labor pain. In fact, the  Listening to Mothers Survey III  (2013) reported that over 67% of mothers received an epidural and another 16% received another opiod medication (often as an injection), such as Demerol...

I recently responded to a post on a Facebook parenting page, the mother wanted to know what she could do to help her 3 month old daughter heal from her birth. I encouraged her to look into the field of Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology (PPN) and even mentioned a few names of leading practitioners in the field. After recommending this, I began my own search to actually see what materials were available to parents who want to help their baby heal from a stressful or traumatic birth. This is when I truly realized that there is almost nothing currently available to guide parents in supporting their baby through a healing process. Most of what I found encouraged parents to seek clinical counseling from someone who specializes in PPN and I would encourage you to do this as well, for babies with severe trauma or residual issues from their prenatal, birth or postpartum experience. But here's the thing, PPN is hardly recognized and professionals that specialize in it are still few and far b...

Few people know about the important field of Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology (PPN), which studies the fascinating mind of the developing human embryo and newborn baby. More on PPN Surprisingly, this area of study receives very little attention from mainstream media, medical research and practice, and even in discussions for improving birth - which heavily focus on the rights and experiences of the mother.  What does PPN have to tell us about our babies, their experiences, and our potential as human beings? The following quotes are from a few of the leaders in PPN research and illuminate some important findings emerging from this incredible field.  "The truth is, much of what we have traditionally believed about babies is false. We have misunderstood and underestimated their abilities. They are not simple beings but complex and ageless - small creatures with unexpectedly large thoughts."  ~David Chamberlain, PhD - Babies Remember Birth (1988) * "PPN findings rev...

Have you ever considered birth from the perspective of the baby? It is likely that you haven't and it's probably because there is a pervasive belief in our culture that since we don't remember this time of our lives, we must not have the mental capacity to make judgements, feel emotions and even feel pain... yes seriously, pain. It was only in the early 1980s that the medical community was forced (by parents) to acknowledge babies can feel pain and to provide medication for surgeries, such as circumcision (1). But let's think think about this. Babies can feel, see, taste, hear, touch, suck, kick, grasp, and react to external and internal stimuli while in the womb... neurons are firing, cells are working... isn't it a wildly flawed assumption to think that experiences during this time of our life don't matter? Could it be possible that early experiences, such as those during pregnancy, birth, and infancy are stored within our incredible and rapidly developing bra...

This year's World Breastfeeding Week is highlighting the importance of breastfeeding peer counselors in optimizing the breastfeeding success of new and experienced mothers. With little more than half of all mothers exclusively breastfeeding past one week (1) , peer support is critical for increasing our population's health. Breastfeeding is important for the health of both mothers and babies. Breastfeeding helps a baby stay healthy and research shows that increased length and exclusivity of breastfeeding can decrease a baby's risk of contracting a number of illnesses such as otitis media (ear infections) and gastroenteritis, or dying from SIDS. The benefits of breastfeeding extend into childhood and beyond by decreasing the risk of childhood obesity, diabetes (type 1 & 2), and leukemia. For the mother, breastfeeding helps to protect against breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and type 2 diabetes. (2) "Compared with breastfed infants, formula-fed infants face higher ris...

What your pregnancy and birth care provider believes about birth WILL directly influence your birth experience. Whether it is not feeling supported because your doctor doesn't believe women can give birth without intervention; having your trust in yourself, your body and your baby undermined because the doctor is constantly searching for a sign of something wrong with the pregnancy or labor; or, the unhelpful pressure to just accept the epidural, or schedule the induction, you've waited too long for that baby (and they have a vacation coming up). An Obstetrician is trained as a surgeon. Trained to handle complications and emergencies during pregnancy and birth. ...but the majority of births will occur without complication. So what good does it do to have the majority of women attended and cared for by a surgeon? Especially a surgeon who doesn't believe birth works, without their interventions, most of the time!? It does us absolutely NO GOOD. In fact, it is the opposit...

It seems to make sense that "bed rest" during pregnancy, especially one that is threatening preterm labor or other complications, would be helpful. I mean, wouldn't staying in bed, rather than doing her normal activities, be a good thing for a mother and her baby? The answer is NO. Bed rest actually increases risks for the mother and baby and causes a great emotional and financial toll on many families. Understand that this is only referring to complete activity restriction and strict bed rest, not to say that pregnant women should not rest. You should listen to your body and rest when you need to, always. The Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology published 3 articles in its recent June 2013 issue about bed rest and the unethical use of this practice. Let's take a look at the research and put this issue to rest ! THE ROOTS OF BED REST   (1) Historically, bed rest was intended for orthopedic ailments, but quickly spread to all areas of medicine, without question of it...