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Everyone has heard, "Breast Is Best". American women today, fueled by misinformation, lack of support or freedom of choice, often choose not to breastfeed their babies. The few who do breastfeed don't do it very long or exclusively. "Exclusively" means without formula supplements, juice, or baby foods. The current recommendation (American Academy of Pediatrics) is for all babies to receive only breastmilk for the first 6 months of life, and to nurse for at least a year or longer. Yet in Illinois, only 11% of babies are receiving any breastmilk by 6 months of age. Many women feed their babies according to their doctor's advice. Most doctors will tell you "breast is best, but formula is ok too". A doctor should not be telling a woman that formula is "ok too". If they were educated on the topic of breastmilk vs. formula, they would know that formula should not be presented as an acceptable substitute for breastfeeding when it comes to infant health. Unfortunately, doctors are taught to prescribe, and formula feeding offers an easy way for a doctor dictate in specifics...he can tell you how many ounces, how often are needed to meet your baby's caloric requirements. Breastfeeding is not as easy for a physician to monitor, as you can't measure the ounces of milk a baby gets from the breast. This is not to say that there aren't accurate ways to ascertain that a baby is getting enough when they are breastfed - it just means that most doctors aren't taught that way. Physicians also recommend other unhealthy feeding practices, such as rice cereal or other solid foods before the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines of 4-6 months of age....my point is, what or how to feed your baby is usually not a decision that a physician needs to make for a healthy newborn. Studies have found that for every year a woman breastfeeds, her risk of breast cancer declines by 4%. Considering that the average woman (without inherited mutations...which is not the same as having someone in your family who has had breast cancer) has only a .3% chance of getting breast cancer, you can see that in most cases, exclusive, extended (at least to age 1) breastfeeding can absolutely reduce or eliminate your risk of breast cancer. If you have a daughter, it is especially important to nurse. Women who were breastfed as infants, even if only for a short time, showed an approximate 25% lower risk of developing premenopausal or postmenopausal breast cancer, compared to women who were bottle-fed as an infant.
Source: Freudenheim, J. "Exposure to breast milk in infancy and the risk of breast cancer." Epidemiology 1994 5:324-331Get an idea of your risk of breast cancer here, and then factor in that your risk is reduced every year you breastfeed. My risk is 0%. Maybe yours could be too. You can read more about breastfeeding and breast cancer here. It's not only breast cancer risk you lower by breastfeeding, also uterine, ovarian and endometrial cancer. It's a year of your life that could save your life, or that of your child! Finding a cure is important. There are many women who never have biological children or are past childbearing age who need to live! But to bank on a cure and choose not to breastfeed is risky behavior. Especially if you are a smoker or have used the birth control pill in the past. SIDS Sudden infant death syndrome is the single most important cause of newborn mortality, striking approximately two infants per 1000 live births in the U.S. Exclusive breastfeeding cuts the risk in half. Your healthy newborn has a .2% chance of dying from SIDS if they are not breastfed. Factor in prematurity, low birth weight or having had a previous child die from SIDS and the risk is higher. If your child is a twin, their risk is doubled. If you sleep with your baby on a sofa, the risk goes up. If your baby sleeps alone in a crib, the risk goes up. If you follow safe co-sleeping guidelines, several well-designed research studies demonstrate that SIDS is actually reduced in babies cosleeping along with an aware, protective (non-smoking, non-drug-impaired) mother in a safe bed. The Chicago Infant Mortality Study reveals that Breastfeeding Infants have 1/5th the Rate of SIDS as their formula-fed counterparts. There are two kinds of cosleeping, a conscious decision made by highly attentive parents, and that coming from factors such as fatigue from partying or drinking. When sofa sleeping and wedging dangers are removed, the family bed with a breastfeeding mother shines as safest. In countries/societies where breastfeeding and co-sleeping are the norm, SIDS rates are astronomically lower. Central and South America's rates have the lowest incidence of SIDS (.13%, or 1 in 7,598). Raising your child in a "natural" way, by holding your baby as much as possible (avoiding hours a day in swings, bouncers, walkers, etc), breastfeeding, and sleeping safely with your baby keeps you and your baby safer and healthier than modern practices of Baby Einstein videos and bottle propping. It's never too late to choose to breastfeed your baby...a committed woman can relactate! :) Tags: breastfeeding
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Trying to pamper yourself by experiencing childbirth with all available medical technology at hand, is dangerously, stupidly self-indulgent.
I’ve seen the woman in transition, unmedicated, her face glistening with sweat, her body glowing, working harder than she’s ever worked before, her eyes with a dreamy, far away look. I’ve seen women overcome the pain and the relentlessness of the contractions. I’ve seen them rise above, and do something they dind’t think they were capable of. I’ve seen births where I am so obviously in the presence of Deity. I’ve watched babies crown, and sometimes it’s like staring at the unmasked face of the Goddess. Having birth while medicated is like having meaningless sex your entire life, with someone you don’t care about and aren’t in love with, and thinking that that’s what sex is, without ever once dipping into the Mystery of it, into the incredible beauty of two souls entwined, without ever once making love. It’s the same kind of energy. Birth is making love in a different way—and who would want to make love while numb up to their waists? True, this may not be the best metaphor in the world, and true, birth is not always (or even often) a pleasurable experience, but it’s still one that I think you should feel.
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Every single day, I am happy that i had an unassisted birth with Fiery. Every single day I look at her with love, awe, and pride. She was a good teammate, did everything she was supposed to do. I think this was due to letting her know when she was still womb-side that I trusted her. That I knew no matter how she came out, or when she came out, that she wanted to be born and she wanted to be my daughter. It was the best experience of my life. It left me wanting to birth again and again. It made me want to take the fear or pain of other laboring mothers and bear some of it for them, because I loved every minute of it. I have this poem on the bulletin board on my kitchen, and I read it often before I became pregnant with her:
It is a terrifying thing to begin
To begin anything at all
The rewards are but rumors then
The glories but gossip.
To taste and to see, we must venture
Into the murky waters of inexperience.
And that is, indeed, a terrifying thing.
But 'tis more terrifying still...
To stand ashore and only wish
It could someday truly be true.
~ Tristam GylberdIt is so, so true for me now. Women, be strong! Birth is a privilege that you only get so many chances to be part of. Take care of this experience, guard it from harm and interference. Take what is yours and love it, don't fear it. 
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Kailleah and I don't get the opportunity to do typical age-appropriate mother-daughter stuff that we are both interested in, ever. Shopping? She hates it! Doing hair/makeup stuff? She'd rather die! I shopped for her first bra solo. We did celebrate her period together, but I don't think she cared much. Which is why I was excited to pierce her ears yesterday! About a month ago, she said she wanted them done. Of course, I would never do them with a gun, or have them done by someone else. She would never tolerate someone else doing it, and ear piercing guns are very bad to use. They drive a fairly blunt object through your tissue, which causes more inflammation and swelling and pain than is needed to wear earrings. Instead, I ordered real piercing needles. These are great because they are hollow, and the tip is a tapered razor blade. So they slide through flesh like butter, causing very little discomfort. I bought 14k gold hoops like these which won't fall out or be uncomfortable. She was prepared for it to hurt, and the first one did hurt during the part where I was putting the earring in because she moved. With these needles, you put the earring into the flat hollow end, so it slides in a fluid motion behind the needle. When she moved, it came out ofthe needle and I had to put the needle through again, which made it bleed and she didn't like that at all! We talked about it and she cried a little before we did the second one. She was very still and said that one didn't hurt at all. The placement was perfect and they are even and look lovely! I am happy and proud to have been the one to do it for her. She keeps looking in the mirror and talking about how much she likes having pierced ears. Some pictures of the event ( here )Tags: kailleah, milestones
feeling:  pleased
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As some of you know, I had a second degree tear with Fiery's birth. It didn't hurt at all, and I didn't have the whole 'ring of fire' experience, so I wouldn't have even known that I tore if I hadn't looked. After I discovered it, I was pretty freaked out, because I didn't know what I know now about healing. So I share this in hopes of empowering the lot of you to heal with confidence. Here I will be talking about only tears that can happen at a home birth. Injury that occurs in hospital birth is too severe for me to address. Sometimes birth tears are preventable, and sometimes you can only speculate on their preventability. There are some things which we *know* can effect tearing. Some of these things are: * Diet Poor diet can affect skin elasticity as well as tissue healing. You HAVE to eat well during pregnancy! Vitamin E (200-400 IU) supplementation and daily intake prenatally of Vitamin C (1000-2000) may help with skin elacticity, and you need to drink lots of water! * Labor and birth position Certain positions stress the perineum in ways it is not meant to be stressed, and can make you more prone to a tear or injury. Unless you regularly squat to pee, poop, cook, and socialize, birthing in a true full squat will likely result in a bad tear. Don't get me wrong, squatting in labor is super, but not usually for birth itself. Also, laying flat on your back can be bad as well. What positions are good will vary from woman to woman, but these two are common no-no's for tearing. Many women also tear badly on birth stools when used improperly. Being upright in a supported squat, standing, kneeling, hands and knees, and bending over standing are the best positions for avoiding tears and for birth in general! * Slowed expulsion If the baby's head is allowed to crown and slip out slowly (breathing the baby out and allowing the fetal ejection reflex to do the work) rather than hard pushing, tearing may not happen, or it may be substantially less. Of course, sometimes a mother will have an intinctual feeling that the baby needs to be born quickly, and will find it impossible to slow the baby's entrance - which is for the best in those cases. Always follow your instinct, it exists for a reason! * Catching your own baby Catching your own baby means that you are in contact with your perineum during the baby's birth, and will be more aware of your tissues and how they are stretching than if someone else catches. * Waterbirth/well lubricated birth Waterbirth may provide women with less propensity to tearing. I have a theory that this may be because the water can act as a barrier to intervention: most midwives do not enter the water with you, and most waterbirth moms catch their own babies. Also the water makes tissues more pliable and relaxes the mother, as well as lubricating the birth passage. Lubrication can also be found in the form of a water based (does not need to be sterlie) lubricant such as you would use for sexual intercourse, or olive oil. * Orgasms Speaking of lubricated birth... * No fingers in the vagina No vaginal checks, unless you are doing them yourself! No matter what you do, sometimes you will tear. Blondes and redheads are much more likely to tear than brunettes of any nationality. If you do tear, do not freak out! It can really color your first days with your baby with unnecessary feelings of fear or sadness. Women have been tearing and healing and going on to have sex and more babies for hundreds of years, and you can too! On to healing: First, hopefully you are familiar with what your perineum looks like before birth. If you have no comparison, you will be less able to know the true extent of the tear. The most important parts of the healing process happen in the first 3 days. Before I go into treatment options, let me say that the best course of action may be the simplest: Keep your legs together and stay down! Do not sit! If you must sit, sit on the side of your ass, and only briefly. If you sit to nurse, do it slightly reclined and prop yourself up with pillows. Now is a great time to master nursing while laying down! Do this for at least 5-7 days, and you will have helped your body heal tremendously. I also recommend not looking until several days have passed (if ever!). Swelling can make things look worse than they really are. So no pants, underwear, pads, lots of stairs, riding in cars, etc. Stay in and enjoy the baby! Ice should only be used in severe cases of swelling or hematoma. Ginger tea hot packs can be very soothing, and they help stimulate circulation and promote oxygenation of the area to help with healing. If you have bad swelling, start with cold compresses for the first 24 hours. A condom (with lubricant washed off) filled with water and frozen makes a perfectly shaped, long lasting compress. Wrap them in paper towels before freezing so they don't stick to things in your freezer. You can also make great ice packs by taking sanitary pads, cutting them in half, and dribbling them with a comfrey leaf infusion before freezing. If you want plain pads, you can use cloth menstrual pads or disposable ones, get them wet (don't soak them, this makes them hard as a brick!) and freeze them in a bowl so they have contour. These are good things to prepare before labor. After 24 hours, switch to warm compresses, as warmth facilitates healing, and cold only reduces swelling. Fresh comfrey leaves (check ebay!) make a great healing poultice. This can be made in advance and frozen in an ice cube tray then thawed one at a time as needed. If no fresh comfrey is available, steep (not boil!) dry comfrey for an hour or more. Comfrey root (again, ebay!) can be simmered for 40 minutes, then soak cloths in the infusion, and apply warmed (strain for root debris). It's awesome. Or, put comfrey leaves in a blender with some water and whirl for a few seconds and apply to perineum, it's like a gel. I liked adding garlic, sea salt and uva ursi to my poultices. Just throw it in a large pot of water with the leaves and steep it (overnight is best, but for at least 30 minutes). Amounts used are a whole cup of sea salt (don't be afraid, it won't burn at all), a whole bulb of of peeled garlic whizzed in a blender, and uva ursi (1/2 cup or as much as you want). To make the poultice, get some 4x4 inch gauze pads. Spoon the mixture onto the pads and make a burrito for your underpants! Leave on the area for 25 minutes, 3-4 times a day. Apply them warm for added benefits. You can put any of these strained infusions in a squirt bottle to rinse your perineum after using the bathroom. Keep any unused mixture in the fridge for up to three days. Other supplementation to help healing can be in the form of daily vitamin C with bioflavinoids (500mg), vitamin A (25,000 IU), vitamin E (1200 IU), and zinc (15-25 mg). Also you can take homeopathic Arnica (30C 2x a day) to help reduce bruising and swelling and relieve trauma. Seaweed! Using food quality seaweed from a health food store, Cut a piece of seaweed that is twice the length and width of the tear, fold in half, and moisten with water. Place it down the center of the tear and bring the edges of the tissue together, carefully aligning them. Then cover the entire length of the tear with a patch of moistened seaweed. Replace it after using the bathroom, each time. It may sting a little for a minute, but it's just the salt water in the seaweed and it will not be uncomfortable for long. After 10 days, vitamin E from the capsule can be applied directly into the area if there is still discomfort. Times that you may want to seek a second opinion or medical help: Excessive bleeding from the tear site Prolapsed uterus (when the uterus is out of the body, VERY uncommon and not life threatening) A tear that extends into the anus (extremely uncommon in a birth where no instruments are used) I know someone will ask, so I have to give my opinion on perineal massage. Studies are inconclusive about the effectiveness, and it is not comfortable when done 'correctly'. So I don't advise it, but it's your vag, do what makes you confident! So, so SO much more great information can be found in these two (affordable! easy to understand!) books: Saving the Whole Woman (which makes a great case for avoiding sutures), and the Tear Prevention & Treatment Handbook from Midwifery today, full of useful treatments, tips and opinions. When you had sex for the first time, your vagina changed, you 'popped your cherry'. Birth is similar. Your first birth or tear will 'pop your birth cherry'. Your vagina may look and feel different even after healing, but most women agree that sex after a natural birth with a tear vs. an episiotomy is better than it was before the birth! Sara Wickham put it well when she said, "Birth is a rite of passage that takes women's bodies on a journey. We become marked with the symbols of our passage into motherhood and retain the cellular memories of the experience. Whether we judge these marks as good, bad, or neutral, we hold them as women whose bodies tell the stories of our lives. To what extent does the fact that we often judge all tears to be bad affect the way that women percieve their bodies, their tears and scars?" Food for thought! If you have any suggestions, please add them in the comments! I will add to this post over time as I have time. Tags: birth, tearing
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norwegian_wood's journal
The Wayback Machine
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