"Newborn deaths in the United States ranked 41 out of 45 among industrialized countries, on par with Qatar and Croatia."

CNN posts U.S ranks low for newborn survival.

Why are American Women Dying in Childbirth? And Why is the Rate for Cesarean Births so High?

I am planning a program for some women in my community on child birthing practices and women's rights. Right now I am on a hunt for information to help me decide which direction to take this program in.  I was reading a blog that I check out from time to time and found a link to an interesting article done by the BBC back in 2009. This article tells the story of an American father who lost his wife in child birth from clots following a C-section. The man lists ovarian cysts and his wife's age (35) as the reasons why a C-section was scheduled. I didn't know those two factors meant that your birth had to be a C-section... This clip is obviously not the whole story, and my heart aches for this man and his little girl who are living without their wife and mother, but I really wonder if this woman's birthing experience had been unnecessary for a healthy delivery.

Nicole D.'s blog posts the following: "What is the All American Birth", you ask? It is a woman who may or may not take childbirth education classes, most likely sees an OB (92% of women), chooses a hospital birth (99%), ends up with either an induction or augmentation and an epidural (80-90%). She may be one of the 1 in 3 women who end up with a cesarean and most likely won't continue breastfeeding past 6 weeks, if she makes it that long.


Those statistics make me cringe! Approximately 33% of women deliver their babies through surgery! Why? We read of celebrities scheduling their births around soccer games and other such events to make life more convenient, but what message is that actually sending? And why would any woman choose to have a surgery with a much longer recovery time than a vaginal birth? Are the risks being properly explained? Are doctors encouraging the safest practices for women and their babies or are they encouraging less safe practices out of convenience and the fact that the more interventions provided to the mother the more money those hospitals can bring in?  

Check out the links. Comment below!

My Journey to Create Natural Deodorant

I have recently been on a kick to rid our house of unnecessary toxins.The goal is to use ingredients and products with either only one ingredient or ingredients that are easily recognized--avoiding chemical mixes. After listening to a wonderful podcast on ChrisFabryLive from Aug. 23, 2011 with his guest for the day being Andrea Fabry, his wife, I have set my goal of making our home more natural.   Andrea started purging her home of toxins following a mold outbreak (you can read their story on Chris's blog) and suggests starting with laundry, but because I am not yet out of detergent that we have already purchased, I decided to start in the bathroom.

I've switched over our soap in the shower from a green colored, deordorizing soap bar to Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap.  Before the switch, I had noticed that my husband would come home smelly, shower, and within minutes smell like he needed another shower. It turned out, his body was trying to compensate for the dryness of his skin after using the green soap. Since the switch, both he and I have noticed that his skin smells clean longer and feels clean longer into the day.  I have noticed that I do not need to coat my skin in lotion after a shower, and my legs feel soft and moisturized even after shaving. The one thing I did have to point out to my husband was that Dr. Bronner's soap does not initially lather on its own, which will cause an over use if you are trying to work up a lather with the bar--rub a thin coat on, then use your hands to work a lather and spread the soap that way.

Next, I moved to deodorant. Deodorant is something that goes on your skin all day long. It is right next to your mammary glands, and some studies have linked it to breast cancer, which both my husband and I have had in our families. I had been using a particular deodorant/antiperspirant for years, but the scent was recently discontinued (and being a creature of habit, I was having a hard time choosing a new scent that I liked).  After hearing the podcast on making laundry soaps, Andrea suggested that for people who like fragrances, essential oils can provide them naturally!  So off I went to the local, natural food co-op to find some essential oils that were pleasing to me and my husband. We returned home with several different scents.  I googled recipe after recipe for deodorants until I had read enough to feel confident in my endeavor. I have since made a deodorant for myself and one for my husband.

The base consists of  coconut oil which has been found to be very nourishing for your skin. Then add in baking soda as your deodorizing agent. Using baking soda alone can cause irritation. Many sites will recommend corn starch for powder based deodorants, but I am against corn products so have chosen to go with a liquid based deodorant. Mix well, then add in tea tree oil, which kills bacteria-the stuff that causes odor in the first place, and any other scents you like.  I used lavender, peppermint, and lemon in mine.  I used cinnamon and peppermint in my husband's. I cannot tell you measurements for this at the moment because I did not measure, I just made it the consistency that I thought it should be and added the essential oils until I was satisfied with the fragrance.  For myself, I've been very satisfied with the mixture. There was one day when it was very hot and I was sweating slightly more than usual, and I felt the deodorant was quite strong enough, so I added more baking soda to the mixture. Since then, I've had no concerns. It's a work in progress, but I'm feeling great about the choices I am making for my family.

How are you helping to make your family more natural and healthy?

VT to join states mandating coverage for home midwives, home births

While doing some research on home births, I stumbled upon this article stating that Vermont will be joining New York, New Hampshire, and New Mexico in laws mandating insurance companies to cover midwives who attend home births. Vermont has the highest rate of home births in the United States at around 3% according to the article siting information from 2010. It will be interesting to see if that rate increases in the next few years now that more women will be able to afford the care they may desire.

The one thing that I had issue with in this article was the claim that "home births are not as safe as hospital births and that the change could lead to higher costs if a mother must be transferred from home to a hospital because of problems during birth."  My understanding with home births is that if a midwife feels that the pregnancy is not low enough risk, she will encourage a hospital birth. But most births are low risk making home births a safe option, and many births with complications in hospitals could be linked to unnecessary interventions by hospital staff that may not have occurred under the care of a professional midwife caring for a mother in a home birth scenario.

I find this to be exciting progress for women in their right to choose the care they deserve. What's your opinion?

Can you really raise a child to be "gender-less?"

http://www.parentcentral.ca/parent/newsfeatures/article/995846--star-readers-rage-about-couple-raising-genderless-infant


http://www.parentcentral.ca/parent/babiespregnancy/babies/article/995112--parents-keep-child-s-gender-secret



Check out these articles on a Canadian family who are not sharing their baby's gender with the child or the public in an effort to "let the child be who he or she is."

I'm still trying to compose my thoughts on this "experiment?" that this family is trying out. I hope they follow up on it every now and then. More to come on this later.

Embryo Screening?

I was listening to the radio the other day on my way home from work when I heard this clip from Breakpoint (link takes you to the transcript).  My first thought when I heard the term eugenics was not Nazi's, but the movement that took place in Vermont led by Perkins at UVM. Author Jodi Picoult wrote a novel that "[delved] into a very ugly chapter of American history and one that is probably not well known: Vermont's eugenics project of the 1920s and 30."

This Peds doctor now wants to do something similar--screen embryos for "inferior genes."

What disturbed me most was the thought that someone other than the parents of a child would decide whether or not that life was worth keeping. I have a feeling that a child with Down's or another detectable disability would be, as this article put it, "weeded out" because of "inferior genes."  What if a women decided that she did not want her embryos screened? Would she be sued by the State if her child was born with medical defects? What if her embryos were screened and found to have anomalies and she chose to not destroy it? Would that child be denied services that it might need to survive in this crazy world? So many unanswered questions. Either way, it is not something I agree with. How about you?

100th Year Anniversary of International Women's Day

It's the 100th year anniversary of IWD today, and I'm not really sure how I feel about it. I probably would not consider myself a feminist, but I do agree with equal rights and opportunities for all people--women, men, child, black, white, or a shade in between, old, young, born and unborn. I think we are all people and deserve to live life with respect and dignity. However, I sometimes wonder why women can't choose to be homemakers and have respect for it! It seems to me that women fought for the right to vote, the right to work outside the home after marriage and children, the right to equal educational opportunities, etc... but then they were expected to be just like men. 

What if I want to stay home and raise my children after they are born? What if I want to allow my husband to work and provide for our family? Shouldn't I be allowed to do that without being ridiculed or thought less of? I don't believe there is any reason to think less of women who choose to live a life that makes them happy.