The gentlebirth.org website is provided courtesy of
Ronnie Falcao, LM MS,
a homebirth midwife in Mountain View, CA
The gentlebirth.org website is provided courtesy of
Ronnie Falcao, LM MS,
a homebirth midwife in Mountain View, CA
|
The AMA wants to make birth centers illegal, along with homebirths,
even though
Read more about the ACOG 2008 Press Release from The Big Push for Midwives and Childbirth Connections You can also educate yourself week-by-week in your pregnancy with theLamaze Weekly Pregnancy Newsletter for Parents |
This
American Life episode 317: Unconditional Love - This episode provides
a nice summary of the early research showing that babies need parental
affection for healthy development. They start with Harry Harlow's
early experiments with monkeys and then discuss attachment therapy for
a Romanian orphan, followed by the story of a family's struggles with their
son's autism.
If you have any interest in attachment, bonding, birth trauma or just increased sensitivity to newborns and infants, you'll love the APPPAH conference. I almost felt more supported here than at a midwifery conference! These folks REALLY appreciate what midwives and doulas do to help babies. If you've been feeling any kind of burnout, going to an APPPAH conference is a sure-fire cure.
Check their
web pages for more information.
A
Mother's Feelings for Her Infant Are Strengthened by Excellent Breastfeeding
Counseling and Continuity of Care
Anette Ekström, PhD, RNM and Eva Nissen, PhD, RNMTD
PEDIATRICS Vol. 118 No. 2 August 2006, pp. e309-e314 (doi:10.1542/peds.2005-2064)
CONCLUSION. . . . guaranteed continuity of care strengthened the maternal
relationship with the infant and the feelings for the infant.
Making
Childbirth a Normal Process by Dr. Lennart Righard, researcher in Delivery
Self Attachment Video. This article discusses birth from the
baby's perspective and focuses on how a return to normal birth can ease
the baby's experience.
INFANT-PARENT MENTAL
HEALTH PROGRAM - A CEU and Certificate Program at Children's Hospital
- Harvard Medical School
Indigo essences
from Helios are designed to particularly help children.
It includes some wonderful articles:
Bonding with Your Newborn by William Sears, MD - This is the best, most accessible summary of attachment and bonding that I've seen.
The Chemistry of Attachment by Linda F. Palmer, DC (reprint)
A New Look at the Safety of Breastfeeding During Pregnancy by Hilary Dervin Flower, MA
Midwives are in a unique position to reduce birth trauma and facilitate improved mental health for both the mothers and babies whose births we attend.
I loved reading The
Magical Child by Joseph Chilton Pearce. It really helped me to understand
how damaging it is to a newborn to be separated from the mother anytime
shortly after birth. [Reaching
Beyond Magical Child - six, one-Hour videos, is now available from
Touch
The Future.]
APPPAH - Association for Pre-
& Perinatal Psychology & Health - They've also got their own
list
of links to related sites, an
extensive list of relevant books and videos and a Resource
Directory Of Practitioners and Programs.
Ten Moons Rising -
Holistic Family Education & Resource Center. They have an excellent
links
list.
OPPERA - The Oxford Prenatal and
Perinatal Education Research and Awareness Trust provides education
and skills for parents and professionals who want to help in the development
of their children from preconception to the end of the first year of life.
It also provides therapy for those who have suffered the effects of prenatal
and /or birth trauma. [This is a British organization.]
Bonding
With Baby Before Birth (from WebMD) - Making a connection with your
unborn child can strengthen the bond you share, make you feel closer, and
enrich you and your baby's lives. Talk to the baby. Say goodnight
before you go to bed, good morning when you wake up, and talk to it throughout
the day. . . .
BEPE - Birth and Early Parenting Educators
- We are a group of experienced professionals with a common belief that
healthy, happy families are the indispensable cornerstone of a healthy,
happy society. We support early parenting, conscious bonding, and holistic
childbirth through public educational events, private classes and therapeutic
services.
Chiropractic Care for Babies and
Children - Chiropractors are specialists at helping to correct physical
birth trauma.
Long-term
effects of pain in infants. You can also view Related
Articles
Porter FL, Grunau RE, Anand KJ
J Dev Behav Pediatr 1999 Aug;20(4):253-61
Pain and stress have been shown to induce significant physiological and behavioral reactions in newborn infants, . . . There is now evidence that these early events not only induce acute changes, but that permanent structural and functional changes may also result.
Review of Bonding: Recent Observations That
Alter Perinatal Care by Kennell and Klaus
Indexed Articles
From the Primal Psychotherapy Page
Great set of links about birth-related
psychology and emotions
Santa Barbara Graduate Institute
- Advanced degrees in Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology & Somatic Psychology
People are starting to pay more attention to the effects of prenatal and birth experiences on the psyche. Here are some of my favorite sites about birth trauma:
http:
It's an oldie but a goodie - Magical
Child by Joseph Chilton Pearce is an essential eye-opening book for
a conscious, conscientious parent. The discussion of a child's unfolding
as movement of the known into the unknown is the key to avoiding birth
trauma for the baby.
Key articles from a collection
on Primal Health by Michel Odent:
1. Primal Health Research: A New Era in Health
Research
2. Understanding Health: From Fetal Vulnerability
to Adult Adaptability
3. Vaccinations: Prevention of Disease Can
Be a Cause of Ill Health
4. Is Breast Best? Beyond the Immediate Impassioned
Responses
5. The Primal Period of Spiritual Heroes
6. The Long Term Consequences of How We Are
Born
7. Gaps in Primal Health Research
8. How Effective is the Accordion Method?
Evaluating our Preconceptional Programme
10. The Rise of Preconceptual
Counseling Vs The Decline of Medicalized Care in Pregnancy
11. Comments on the Concomitant
Epidemics of Cesareans and Childhood Asthma
12. After the MMR Fuss: Autism
From A Primal Health Research Perspective
13. Is Promoting Breastfeeding
as Useless as the Promotion of Love?
14. Mercury Exposure During
the Primal Period
Michel Odent has a new book out, The
Scientification of Love. 'The title of this book might have been:
"How the capacity to love develops?"' [Also
reviewed and available at Amazon.com.]
It's a rather astounding premise - that cultures specifically interrupt
the sensitive bonding period at birth to make it less likely the child
will love their mother or nature.
There's an excerpt printed in the most recent Midwifery
Today.
Here's the summary: "In most known societies, until now, it has
been an advantage to moderate and control the different aspects of the
capacity to love, including love of nature, and to develop the human potential
for aggressiveness. The greater the need to develop aggression and
the ability to destroy life, the more intrusive the rituals and cultural
beliefs in the period around birth have become.
The first hour following
birth - 4th September 2002 - In this article, first published in Midwifery
Today, Vol 61, 2002, Michel Odent catalogues 12 perspectives on the first
hour following birth.
Birth
Trauma Bibliography from An
annotated bibliography on Development, Behavior, and Psychic Experience
in the Prenatal Period and the Consequences for Life History compiled by
M. Maiwald - The bibliography contains > 1200 assorted literature references
covering prenatal matters including biological, medical and psychological
topics which eventually influence later life. An Amazing Site! [Ed.
This title is translated from the German, and I strongly suspect that "Psychic"
is meant to be Psychological.]
Keeping the Connection:
Preventing Depression, Addiction, and Violence - A book/website in
progress by Meryn G. Callander and John W. Travis, MD, MPH
In 1982 - 89 Elena Tonetti was one of the leaders of the "conscious
birth" movement in Russia. She worked closely with Igor Charkovsky,
organizing birth camps at the Black Sea where babies were delivered with
wild dolphins. Elena is now in the Marin area, offering workshops for birth
trauma release. Birth
into Being is available from the dealingwithgravity.com
web site.
The core idea is not to create little Mozarts or Einsteins - although
results show higher intelligence in stimulated infants-. The video Make
Way for Baby! foster the kind of loving environment that makes children
feel more secure exploring, learning, and expressing themselves.
Pain
Perception Comes Early - Newborns -- even premature infants -- appear
to be as sensitive to pain as adults are, and early painful experiences
may have long-term effects - [Medscape registration is free.] Or
you can go directly to the full-text article: Procedural
Pain in Newborn Infants: The Influence of Intensity and Development
by Fran Lang Porter, PhD*, Cynthia M. Wolf, PhD*, and J. Philip Miller,
AB
Early
Trauma Treatment and Trainings - If you're a parent of an infant who's
had a difficult birth, we can work with your baby to release whatever painful
experiences he/she had. (This is from Terry Larimore's site - she teaches
workshops at the APPPAH conference.) Her web pages references a terrific
paper - The
Vulnerable Prenate - by William Emerson, Ph.D.
Evergreen Consultants
- website on attachment disorders and therapy.
Epidemiology
of Pain in Neonates from Medscape
(registration is free) - "Newborn infants . . . are regularly subjected
to painful procedures such as heel lancing and other invasive procedures.
. . . Many neonates apparently endure unacceptable levels of pain during
hospitalisation."
Babies Remember Pain
by David B. Chamberlain Ph. D
Babies are Conscious
- David Chamberlain, PhD from the Cesarean
Voices web site.
Newborn
Life: Key Controversies in the Last Decade by David Chamberlain, Ph.D.
BIRTH REVISITED
by Stephen Khamsi, Ph.D. - About the value of therapy for birth trauma.
Reactive Attachment Disorder
- It's Time To Understand . . . - Attachment Disorder is a condition
in which individuals have difficulty forming gloving, lasting, intimate
relationships. The words "attachment" and "bonding" are generally
used interchangeably. Attachment Disorders vary in severity, but
the term is usually reserved for individuals who show a nearly complete
lack of ability to be genuinely affectionate with others. They typically
fail to develop a conscience and do not learn how to trust.
Newborn Screening
Test in California - discusses the pain and trauma of the heelstick,
and ways to reduce the risks.
Registered
Craniosacral Therapy Practitioner
CSTA-NA (the Craniosacral
Therapy Association of North America) is a non-profit professional
organization supporting fluid-tide or biodynamic style craniosacral therapy.
They have lots of good resources, including a
FAQ page.
These are all the bio-dynamic model of CST. They are a two year study
program:
www.castellinotraining.com
-- My teacher, Ray Castellino. teaches in Europe as well as in the US
www.michaelsheateaching.com
-- teaches in Europe
Colorado School of Energy Studies
- www.energyschool.com
www.Upledger.com is class by
class. He has classes all over the world. You have to take three levels
prior to taking the pediatrics course. The Peds course is not as comprehensive
and intensive as the above.
The College of Cranio-Sacral Therapy
New Study
Finds Babies Cry in the Womb – "Even the Bottom Lip Quivers"
See a video
of the fetal cry provided by The Age newspaper.
Fetal
homologue of infant crying.
Four behavioural states are recognised in the human fetus and are comparable
to those of the neonate: 1F (quiet sleep), 2F (active state), 3F (quiet
awake), and 4F (active awake). State 5, or crying, is not considered to
have a fetal correlate. In a study assessing the effects of exposure to
tobacco and cocaine during pregnancy on fetal response and habituation
to vibroacoustic stimulation, what appears to be the fetal homologue of
crying was observed. These behaviours were seen on ultrasound, and have
been captured on video recordings and include: an initial exhalation movement
associated with mouth opening and tongue depression, followed by a series
of three augmented breaths, the last breath ending in an inspiratory pause
followed by an expiration and settling. This is the first report/video
documenting these behaviours and suggests the possibility of a state 5F.
Renee Smith's music is
a wonderful combination of more traditional lullaby styles with more nurturing
lyrics. My personal favorite is her Angels
& Mermaids CD, with her Lullabies
For My Little Angels a very close second. Her Seeds
& Songs To Make 'em Grow is a wonderful collection for "older children",
i.e. toddlers and pre-schoolers, not to mention their parents! I
don't know what it is about this music, but it always makes me so happy!
Cheaper than therapy and lots more fun.
Ellen Roos
- Passion Flower
Music - Songs that see and stir, love and forgive, lift, bless and
free! Her first album is Lavender
and Morning Sun.
Words convey messages. Loveabye
Lullabyes messages are intended to tell the child he/she is special,
unique, wanted, beautiful, rare, and enormously loved.
Babies
Use Their Own Names To Help Learn Language - 4/11/05
A baby's understanding of language may begin with its own name, which
a baby uses to break sentences into smaller parts so it can learn other
words, according to new research by Texas A&M University psychologist
Heather Bortfeld, who studies language development in infants and children.
. . . "Babies appear to use highly familiar words - their names for example
- to anchor their early learning of other word forms, and if their name
is the first word they recognize, then we're tapping into the process at
the earliest stage possible," she explains.
Center for Prenatal and Perinatal
Music
Importance
of Prenatal Sound and Music - from the APPPAH
site.
Their past journals have some related articles:
"The Importance of Prenatal Sound and Music" by Giselle E. Whitwell,
R.M.T. [As of Spring, 2001, she was teaching a course at the College of
Extended Learning, CSU Northridge about "Prenatal Music for the Expectant
Couple "]
Center for Prenatal Music
- Giselle E. Whitwell, Music Therapist and Birth Doula, created the Center
for Prenatal and Perinatal Music in order to empower and support women
in their intrinsic ability to give birth naturally. This web site has much
information on music as a tool for pregnancy bonding and labor support.
A Good Start?
A Sound Beginning! and Classical
Music and Children
A Sound Beginning
- Recordings of human speech and music from both inside and outside the
womb. [This site was inaccessible Feb. 2001, but I'm leaving this in here
in the hopes that anyone who comes across the site will please
let me know where it lives now. It's a wonderful site!
Thanks.]
Dr. Beth's Songs
Children Want Their Parents To Hear - Zero to Three
Dr. Beth's Songs Parents
Want Their Children to Hear - Three and Up
Any non-morbid non-violent baby lullaby suggestions?
Oh, goodness, there are some wonderful lullabies, both old and new.
I'm looking in my copy of "Rise Up Singing", and it lists 37 different
lullabies. Some of my favorites are:
Lullabye (Like a Ship)
Like a ship in the harbour,
like a mother & child
There are a lot of beautiful new CDs available - look in both the children's
section and in the "women's music" section. One of my favorites is
"Shaina Noll - Songs for the Inner Child". It has both "All Through the
Night" and "Like a Ship".
There's also a terrific tape (possibly available now as CD) called "A
Child's Gift of Lullabyes", which I've seen at children's toy stores and
book stores. One side has nine sung lullabyes, and the other side
is the instrumental versions. The tape comes with printed lyrics so you
can learn the songs easily. I love this tape!
Yes, by all means, sing to your babies. Sing to them before they're
born. Sing with them, even before they're born. Sing to them
and dance around. Singing was one of the most important components
of the program in France pioneered by Michel Odent, author of "Birth Reborn".
They held regular group sings for all the families.
DREAMING OF BABY - When it comes to predicting
the gender of an unborn baby, mothers just might know best. Researchers
at Johns Hopkins University interviewed 104 pregnant women who had chosen
not to learn their babies' gender through prenatal testing. The mothers-to-be
were asked to foretell whether they were carrying a girl or boy and to
describe whether their guess was based on folklore, the way they were carrying
the baby, a dream or just a feeling. Of the women who based their forecast
on a feeling or dream, 71% were correct, and all the women who cited a
dream were right. Researchers concluded that there is much about the maternal-fetal
connection to be explored. [Time
Magazine - JUNE 26, 2000 VOL. 155 NO. 26]
The Importance of the Pre-natal Period
Pre-Birth Communication
Treasury of Resources
Birth and Bonding International,
with information about Opening
a Birth and Bonding Center in Your Community
Fetal
Psychology by Janet L. Hopson (Source: Psychology Today, Sep/Oct98,
Vol. 31 Issue 5, p44, 6p, 4c.)
There's a new book, The Miraculous World of Your Unborn Baby
by Nikki Bradford that incorporates prenatal psychological development
and bonding as part of "A Week-by-Week Guide to Your Pregnancy".
This is now my current top recommendation about the changes of pregnancy.
Overall, it's outstanding.
Some particularly interesting points:
"If a pregnant animal is subjected to a hostile, competitive, anxiety-producing
environment, she will give birth to an infant with an enlarged hindbrain,
an enlarged body and musculature, and a reduced forebrain. The opposite
is equally true: If the mother is in a secure, harmonious, stress-free,
nurturing environment during gestation, she will produce an infant with
an enlarged forebrain, reduced hindbrain, and a smaller body." [The
Biology of Transcendence by Joseph Chilton Pearce.]
12-week-old
'walks' in womb - New scans reveal unborns' complex behavior at early
stage
Mind
Of Your Newborn Baby by David Chamberlain - Noted psychologist David
Chamberlain brings together important strands from 30 years of scientific
investigation to present the surprising competence of newborns, including
their sensory alertness, engaging qualities of personality, and remarkable
skills of communication. In the afterword he explores early memory, infant
pain perception, and the life-changing power of early parent-infant bonding.
Originally published as Babies Remember Birth.
The Outer Limits
of Memory by David B. Chamberlain, Ph.D.
"From physiologists we can learn that during the first hour after birth
the levels of noradrenaline (a hormone of the adrenaline family) in the
blood of the baby are very high (20-30 fold as compared with later life).
This implies that a special zone of the primitive brain (the 'locus coerulus')
which has strong connections with the olfactory bulbs is highly activated.
This explains how noradrenaline facilitates olfactory learning." [from
The
Scientification of Love by Michel Odent, MD, p. 56]
This subsection has been moved into its
own section.
See also: Kangaroo Care and
Skin-To-Skin Contact
Stress
For Newborns Could Weaken Immune System Later In Life
June 21, 2004 - Intense traumatic events, such as maternal separation,
occurring early in the life of an infant may weaken its immune system,
making it more susceptible to viral infections later in life that could
trigger multiple sclerosis, reveals research at Texas A&M University.
There were a number of related articles on this subject. Here's
one, but be sure to check the Related
articles.
Alterations
in chemokine expression following Theiler's virus infection and restraint
stress.
Restraint stress (RS) applied to mice during acute infection with Theiler's
virus causes corticosterone-induced immunosuppression. This effect was
further investigated by measuring chemokine changes in the spleen and central
nervous system (CNS) using an RNase Protection Assay. mRNAs for lymphotactin
(Ltn), interferon-induced protein-10 (IP-10), MIP-1 beta, monocyte chemoattractant
protein-1 (MCP-1) and TCA-3 were detected in the spleen at day 2 pi, but
not in the brain of CBA mice infected with Theiler's virus. Ltn, IP-10
and RANTES were elevated in both the spleen and the brain at day 7 pi,
and were significantly decreased by RS in the brain. RS also resulted in
decreased inflammation within the CNS.
Michel Odent on Mother & Baby separation:
Morphine-like hormones, commonly called endorphins, also play important
roles in the birth process. Up to the birth of the baby, both mother and
fetus release their own endorphins, so that during the hour following birth
they are still impregnated with opiates. It is well known that opiates
induce a state of dependency. When mother and baby haven't yet eliminated
their endorphins and are close to each other, the beginning of a deep bond
is created. In fact, when sexual partners are close to each other and impregnated
with opiates, another kind of bonding may result that follows exactly the
same model as the bonding between mother and baby.
THE CRITICAL SENSITIVE PERIOD
It is not only the mother who is releasing hormones during labor and
delivery. During the last contractions, the fetus is also releasing a high
level of hormones of the adrenaline family. One of the effects of this
is that the baby is alert at birth, with eyes wide open and pupils dilated.
Mothers are fascinated by the gaze of their newborn babies. It seems that
this eye-to-eye contact is an important feature of the beginning of the
mother-baby relationship, which probably helps the release of the love
hormone, oxytocin. Both mother and baby are in a complex hormonal balance
that will not last long and will never happen again. Physiologists today
can interpret what ethologists have known for half a century by studying
the behavior of animals: where the development of the capacity to love
is concerned, there is a critical, sensitive period just after the birth. From The APPPAH Newsletter
- Feb., 1999:
French legislators proposed a law to protect human and canine populations
against aggressive dogs. One part of the proposal forbids the trade
of dogs before the age of 7 weeks. This is based on the knowledge
that early separation from the mother tends to make certain breeds dangerously
aggressive. We hope that this law about Canis Familiaris will inspire
questions about the consequences of early separation from the mother in
the species Homo Sapiens. [Early
separation of the mother and infant and psychosocial development. I. Theoretical
considerations].
Equine
Maternal Behavior and its Aberrations has an interesting discussion
of the way in which maternal aggression towards intruders in the birth
process may inadvertently be re-directed at the newborn.
I'm a student teacher and as an assignment I have to write a paper/essay
on how the first two years of life affect developmental psychology in the
child. One of the variables to be discussed is attachment parenting.
I'm looking for scientific sites/papers rather than personal anecdotes.
There's an association devoted to this topic - APPPAH
- the Association for Pre- & Perinatal Psychology & Health
Their site also has an extensive
bibliography.
Klaus and Klaus have written a terrific new book called Your Amazing
Newborn, which contains those great photos of a brand-new baby crawling
up the abdomen to find the breasts and attach itself to start suckling.
Their previous book, Bonding: Building the Foundations of Secure Attachment
and Independence may be more relevant to your needs, but it doesn't
have all the great pictures.
New information confirms what many suspected: mothers carry cells from
their babies in their bloodstream many years after birth, and offspring
carry cells of their mother as long as 40 years after birth. According
to Dr. J. Lee Nelson, an autoimmune specialist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer
Research Center and the University of Washington in Seattle, the great
majority of women who have had pregnancies - even those ending in miscarriage
or abortion - probably carry detectable fetal cells. Cells from a
woman's baby tend to show up in the right kidney and ovary, while cells
from the mother's mother tend to show up in bone marrow; cells from both
show up in the lung, spleen, gut and liver. More info at www.scleroderma.org.
[News Gazette - Champaign, IL, May 9, 2003]
There is a good book called "Birth and Relationships" (How your Birth
Affects your Relationships, that can give you information about what babies
feel when induced, cord around neck etc. etc. It is a very interesting
read. By Sondra Ray. She says they only half participate in life, and in
a relationship they may hold back until their mate finally starts pushing
them or "inducing" them.
See also: Microbial Colonization
of Newborn Skin and Gut - Cesarean Effects
How Natural Childbirth Can Heal Birth Trauma
for Older Siblings
Henry’s
Dream - "Henry’s dream is to be born from his Mommy." Leilah
McCracken writes about planning an upcoming birth as a healing and blessing
event for her older children, especially Henry, born by Cesarean
- just one of the many excellent articles from her
Birth
Love Columns in the Online
Birth Center News.
Somebody asked about "betraying" an older sibling by having a better,
less traumatic birth with a subsequent pregnancy.
Before my HBAC, I was afraid of this too. I was afraid that I'd
have even more guilt and negative feelings about my c-secs and the sons'
postpartum days than I already did. What I didn't realize was what
a GIFT the HBAC would be to both my sons. My oldest had such an awful
and horrific time adjusting to his baby brother's entrance into this world
(awful c-sec, unnecessary NICU 4 day stay, etc.) that it took him 12 mos
just to find a new kind of "normal" for himself.
My daughter's birth was relatively quick (boys slept while I labored
all night long, left at 7 am, came home for lunch and a new sister!) and
it was very healing for everyone. NO complications, just a peaceful
rejoicing at home for the family.
The boys reacted like it was perfectly normal to walk into their living
room and see a new baby being weighed and measured! LOL After
we all got to know one another and sang "happy birthday" (w/ cupcakes!),
we all cuddled down together for a long nap in our bed. What a healing
gift.... I knew that my sons felt like it was some sort of re-birth for
them, as well.
Victorious Birth After Cesarean
Cesarean and Traumatic Birth Support ~A site for women who want
to reclaim their birth and truly heal spiritually and emotionally after
a cesarean.
Fetal Lacerations from Cesarean
These are studies done on rats, but they address very specific issues
about hormones and Cesarean section:
Birth
insult increases amphetamine-induced behavioral responses in the adult
rat.
The pattern of behavioral changes observed indicates that, as adults,
animals born by Caesarean . . . show heightened behavioral responses to
amphetamine, in comparison to vaginally born animals. These findings highlight
the sensitivity of dopamine pathways to variations in birth procedure and
add experimental support to epidemiological evidence implicating birth
complications in the pathophysiology of disorders involving central dopaminergic
neurons, such as schizophrenia.
Long-term
reciprocal changes in dopamine levels in prefrontal cortex versus nucleus
accumbens in rats born by Caesarean section compared to vaginal birth.
See also: Epidurals and Autism
Autism Speaks - Committed
to raising public awareness about autism and its effects on individuals,
families, and society, and to giving hope to all who deal with the hardships
of dealing with autism.
Generation Rescue - AN
INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENT OF PARENT-VOLUNTEERS HELPING MORE THAN 10,000 CHILDREN
BEGIN BIOMEDICAL TREATMENT. -Our children are experiencing epidemics of
ADD/ADHD, Asperger's, PDD-NOS, and Autism. We believe these neurological
disorders ("NDs") are environmental illnesses caused by an overload of
heavy metals, live viruses, and bacteria. Proper treatment of our children,
known as "biomedical intervention", is leading to recovery for thousands.
Don't
Believe the Hype -- There's Much More to Autism Than Genetics from
Dr. Mercola
A
prospective study of thimerosal-containing Rho(D)-immune globulin administration
as a risk factor for autistic disorders
Conclusion. The results provide insights into the potential role prenatal
mercury exposure may play in some children with ASDs.
Autism Spectrum Disorders is the theme of Archives
of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, Vol. 161 No. 4, April 2007
As a midwife, I am very interested in issues of autism and birth interventions
as possible causes. There have long been murmurings in the birth
community that pitocin induction or augmentation may be a significant factor
in autism. Lewis Mehl-Madrona, MD, has posited a direct causative
effect of combined pitocin and anesthetics on the nervous system. Other
autism authorities have also posited pitocin as a factor.
I am somewhat stunned that this suite of articles about autism doesn't
seem to address the issue of pitocin induction or augmentation as a factor.
In particular, we know that maternal age is associated with pitocin
induction, and we know that length of gestation and birth weight are also
associated with pitocin induction. Why, then, did these studies fail to
investigate the direct relationship between the use of pitocin and autism
rather than the less direct age, gestation and birth weight factors?
In my own practice, the only baby that I know to have been diagnosed
with autism was also the baby with the longest intrapartum exposure to
pitocin, involving an induction attempt that was close to 48 hours.
I am stunned that there was not an in-depth investigation into the possibility
of an association between autism and duration and dosage of pitocin.
Researchers need to look at this association so that parents in our community
can make a better informed choice about induction, which is often offered
as a "risk-free" solution to the dilemma of the uncertainty as to when
labor will start.
Healing
the New Childhood Epidemics: Autism, ADHD, Asthma, and Allergies: The Groundbreaking
Program for the 4-A Disorders by Kenneth Bock and Cameron Stauth
There is some fascinating research into the
relationship between autism and a dysfunction in mirror neurons.
I find myself thinking about the way newborns are programmed to engage
in "gazing" behavior about 5-20 minutes after birth, and that this has
classically been discussed as "initializing the visual part of the brain".
Many hospitals routinely interfere with this important gazing time even
without medical necessity. It would be tragic if this turned out
to be a factor in autism. Here's
a letter on the subject.
MELISA® tests for allergy to metals
such as mercury, nickel and titanium, and measures the severity of the
reaction
Inside
the autistic mind - New research, understanding lifting veil on mysterious
condition [CNN 5/7/06]
Knowledge
Path: Autism Spectrum Disorders offers a selection of current, high-quality
resources about autism spectrum disorders (ASD) identification and intervention
- from Maternal-Child Health Library
Autism's
Razor: Epidemic's Cause Found By James Ottar Grundvig, Special to The
Epoch Times, Sep 30, 2005
Cure Autism Now - A great
collection of thoughtful resources about autism.
Impossible Cure: The Promise
of Homeopathy by Amy L. Lansky, PhD provides an in-depth and exciting
account of the history, philosophy, science, and experience of homeopathic
medicine. At the core of Impossible Cure is the amazing story of
how the author's son was cured of autism with homeopathy. It also includes
dozens of other testimonials of homeopathic cures for a variety of physical,
mental, and emotional conditions. Impossible Cure will serve as an invaluable
guide to anyone interested in learning more about this intriguing form
of health care.
Multiple Causes
of Autism Spectrum Disorders by Mark Sircus Ac., OMD of the The
International Medical Veritas Association (IMVA)
I'm
being driven out says second expert to link autism and jabs by Daniel
Foggo [2/10/05]
The child psychologist Lisa
Blakemore-Brown believes that her outspokenness has made her enemies
in the pharmaceutical business and in the Government. A former government
adviser who has controversially linked infant vaccines to autism in children
claims she is the victim of a disciplinary action "witch-hunt".
Mercurial
Science Slowly Solidifying Slippery Evidence Linking Mercury to Autism
- A new study from the University of Texas Health Science Center in San
Antonio has identified a suspicious link between mercury and autism. Researchers
examined individual school districts in Texas and found that those with
the highest rates of autism diagnoses also had the highest amounts of mercury
pollution in the local environment.
Possible
link between autistic disorders and the intrapartum use of Pitocin to induce
or augment labor -- recommendation for the use of existing
data on babies born at home under the care of midwives as a control group
in Autism research
Tinbergen, N., & Tinbergen, A. (1983). Autistic children. London:
Allen and Unwin: "Mrs. Hattori evaluated the risks of becoming autistic
according to the place of birth. She found that children born in
a certain hospital were significantly more at risk of becoming autistic.
In that particular hospital, the routine was to induce labor a week before
the expected date of delivery and to use a complex mixture of sedatives,
anesthesia agents and analgesics during labor."
AUTISM,
ADD/ADHD, AND RELATED DISORDERS - IS A COMMON CHILDBIRTH PRACTICE TO BLAME?
By George Malcolm Morley, MB ChB
Autism
"clusters" - environmental cause likely - It's possible that the pitocin/bupivicaine
combination at birth sensitizes the child and environmental factors (pesticides,
preservatives in vaccines) is an allergic trigger.
SOURCES
ON AUTISM AND NEURODEVELOPMENTAL DISORDER from University of California,
Davis, Health System
The
Elusive Causes of Autism from the March-April, 2000 issue of Mothering
Magazine
Max's Story --- A Carcinosin
Cure by Amy L. Lansky, PhD - The story of a child's autism reversed
with homeopathics.
SUBOPTIMALITY SCORES
AND AUTISM - clues to causation in autism-subgroups by Teresa Binstock
Six-year-old
TV addicts prefer blank screen to a human face
Children are now so addicted to television that they would prefer to
look at a blank screen than a smiling human face, a new study has found.
Hmmmm, I wonder if they're confusing cause and effect. How do
they know that the television watching causes the preference for TV and
not the other way around.
My personal theory is that newborns are bonding to the machines in the
hospital when they're put under machines during the critical hour immediately
after birth, when their bodies are prepared to bond with whatever "face"
they encounter. If the first "face" they're allowed to stare into
is the face of technology, then they'll be bonded to machines more than
to people. It's simple biology.
Neurotropic
viruses and cerebral palsy: population based case-control study
Thrombophilia
link to cerebral palsy confirmed
Thrombophilia:
a risk factor for cerebral palsy?
RESULTS: We found that 41% of the children with CP and 33% of the controls
carry one or more of the studied mutations (P = 0.348). The prevalence
of the factor V mutation was 27.9% in CP and 16.4% in controls (P= 0.127).
The frequency of the other two genetic factors was even less significant.
The FVL mutation was found in 35% of the Arab CP patients (15/42) and in
22% of the controls from the same population (9/40) (P= 0.067). CONCLUSIONS:
Each of the genetic factors studied was shown to be related to CP. Despite
the high frequency of FVL among the studied patients, we were unable to
prove a significant correlation between FVL and CP, mainly because this
factor is frequent in the Arab control group. In this population a trend
toward significance can be seen (P= 0.067). Larger studies are needed to
validate the significance of these results.
Intrapartum Complications
Associated With Malformations of Cortical Development [11/08/2005]
This means that many babies who are diagnosed with cerebral palsy after
birth actually developed CP before labor started, AND the pre-labor damage
may make those babies more susceptible to problems with adequate oxygenation
during the additional stresses of labor.
United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) is the leading
source of information on cerebral palsy and is a pivotal advocate for the
rights of persons with any disability.
Cerebral palsy
inflammation link - Inflammation of the placental membranes may increase
the risk of cerebral palsy (CP), research suggests. The University of California
found that the condition, chorioamnionitis, was four times more common
in mothers who gave birth to a child with CP.
It's very sad that there are web sites out there that pretend to be
offering helpful information about CP but are really a front for lawyers
looking for work. Any site that says, "Ask the doctor, then ask the
lawyer" has a thinly veiled ulterior motive that is an insult to any parent
facing the challenges of a child with special needs.
In particular, some of these sites are quick to point out that the use
of the electronic fetal heart rate monitor during labor and delivery has
not decreased the rate of cerebral palsy, and then they imply that this
is because doctors are botching the birth itself, after a normal labor.
These sites fail to discuss that elective c-sections also do not reduce
the rate of CP, which shows that most cases are caused by prenatal factors,
long before the birth.
Risk Of
Cerebral Palsy Increased With Constant Mild Gestational Stress [7/13/07]
- Chronic mild stress in pregnant mothers may increase the risk that their
offspring will develop cerebral palsy -- a group of neurological disorders
marked by physical disability -- according to new research in mice. The
results may be the first to demonstrate such effects of stress on animals
in the womb.
Chronic
mild stress during gestation worsens neonatal brain lesions in mice.
"These findings suggest that stress during gestation, which may mimic
low-level stress in human pregnancy, could be a novel risk factor for cerebral
palsy."
Thrombophilia
linked to cerebral palsy
And finally, the suspicion that thrombophilia could be a cause of cerebral
palsy gained support from a case-control study, which found that the risk
of the condition was almost doubled in preterm infants homozygous for methylenetetrahydrofolate
reductase C677T.
"In 1998, it was proposed that both inherited and acquired thrombophilias
of the mother and/or the fetus may be responsible for thrombosis in the
maternal and/or fetal circulation, resulting in adverse pregnancy outcomes
such as cerebral palsy," explain Catherine Gibson (The University of Adelaide,
South Australia) and team.
Since then, several small studies have found a relationship between
the two conditions, but the researchers say the present study is the largest
to corroborate the hypothesis. However, the fact that these associations
were seen largely in preterm infants suggests possible interactions with
other factors, such as infections and responses to infection, they note.
Associations
between inherited thrombophilias, gestational age, and cerebral palsy.
CONCLUSION: MTHFR C677T approximately doubles the risk of CP in preterm
infants. A combination of homozygous MTHFR C677T and heterozygous PGM increases
the risk of quadriplegia 5-fold at all gestational ages.
Cerebral
palsy: what parents and doctors want to know
This article has many
links to international resources.
Causes of Cerebral Palsy:
Origins, Etiology, Aetiology, Causal Pathways
Cerebral
palsy: A look at etiology and new task force conclusions (2003) from
OBG Management Online
Only
a minor part of cerebral palsy cases begin in labour - Only 10% of
cases of CP are associated with events during labor and birth.
Maternal Infection and Cerebral Palsy
WHAT
CAUSES CEREBRAL PALSY? from Cerebral
Palsy - A Guide for Care
Causes
of cerebral palsy.
See also: Epidurals And
Long-Term Effects/Epidurals And Long-Term Effects
Adjusting
the Newborn can be a big help in resolving Birth Injuries to the baby.
www.makinmiracles.com has
many articles dealing with the prevention, care of and elimination of birth
trauma.
Obstetric
complications predict anorexia onset
Perinatal
factors and the risk of developing anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.
CONCLUSIONS: A significantly higher risk of eating disorders was found
for subjects with specific types of obstetric complications. An impairment
in neurodevelopment could be implicated in the pathogenesis of eating disorders.
Pain in the Healthy
Full-Term Neonate: Efficacy and Safety of Interventions
Discusses the painful effects of heel sticks and other common newborn
procedures.
The National Brachial
Plexus/Erb's Palsy Association, Inc., was created to offer support,
information, interaction among families caregivers relating to Brachial
Plexus/Erb'sPalsy, a potential side effect of a severe shoulder dystocia.
[10/02 - This association is on the verge of dissolving due to lack of
volunteer involvement. If you can offer assistance, contact Brenda
Copeland-Moore, National Brachial Plexus/Erb's Palsy Association, Inc.,
P.O. Box 23, Larsen, WI 54947, info@nbpepa.org,
Fax: 209-644-5813.
WASHINGTON (AP) - For years, doctors operated on premature babies without
anesthesia in the belief that even if the infants felt the pain, they would
not remember it. New research with rats suggests that the body does remember
the pain and is forever changed. A study using newborn rats at the National
Institutes of Health found that painful trauma that mimics medical procedures
commonly performed on premature infants caused the rats to become much
more sensitive to pain as they grew older. The reason is that pain causes
the developing nervous system of the very young to grow more nerve cells
that carry the sensation of pain to the brain, NIH researcher M. A. Ruda
said. "We found that there are more nerve endings that fire and transmit
the (pain) information," said Ruda, the first author of a study appearing
Friday in the journal Science. "These animals later were more sensitive
and had a greater response to pain." Ruda said the study only suggests
what may happen in premature infants. "We use anesthesia as well as we
can in these babies," Rowe said. A major research effort is under way to
find the best way to safely relieve medical procedure pain in the very
young, she said. [Details]
Cord Closure: Can Hasty Clamping Injure
the Newborn?
Hypoxic-ischemia-related
fetal/neonatal complications and risk of schizophrenia and other nonaffective
psychoses: a 19-year longitudinal study.
When a baby is born, its head is squeezed so hard its skull bones are
forced to overlap. How agonizing must that be! If it hurts that
much to have your pelvis pried open a little, how much must it hurt to
have your head crushed? A lot. So why shouldn't a caring compassionate
mother insist on opiates during labour so that the baby at least gets a
little
pain relief?
This is a really interesting question, but I think you're coming at
it from the wrong angle. In fact, nature does already provide pain
relief for the baby in the form of endorphins, which will also provide
pain relief for the mother with good labor support and a relaxed environment.
The mother's labor pains raise her levels of endorphins, which then raises
the baby's level of endorphins.
If the mother is receiving pain medication so that her own endorphins
are lowered, then the baby's endorphins will be lowered, too. Unfortunately
for the baby, if the mother is receiving an epidural, the baby is definitely
not getting the same level of pain relief as the mother. If the mother
is receiving narcotics, the baby might have comparable pain relief during
labor but then will be at increased risk for respiratory distress at birth
from being drugged. (And, of course, drugs in labor increase the
baby's risk of drug addiction as a teenager.)
I've always wondered why labor should be painful for women. Having
labor pains producing maternal endorphins that are passed on to the baby
is the best explanation I've ever heard. When the mother/baby system
works as designed the labor "pains" generate endorphins that provide pain
relief for both mother and baby while triggering the mother/baby bond at
an instinctive level.
I know there's a complex hormonal symphony that is played only once
in each person's life - at the moment of birth. These hormones trigger
bonding behaviors in the mother and baby, and it always seems like a shame
to interfere with these bonding hormones.
But it had never occurred to me that interfering by giving drugs to
the mother might actually cause pain for the baby.
What an intriguing question.
http:
http:
http:
http:
Craniosacral Therapy
Prenatal Emotions
Gingras JL, Mitchell EA, Grattan KE.
Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2005 Sep;90(5):F415-8. Epub 2005
Apr 27.
Prenatal Music and Audio Bonding - Womb Song - Lullabyes
"Perinatal Stress Reduction, Music and Medical Cost Savings" by Fred
J. Schwartz, M.D.
"Singing Lullabies to Unborn Children: Experiences in Village Vilamarxant,
Spain" by Rosario N. Rozada Montemurro
Some other favorites are:
One of my favorite new ones is:
Like a light in the darkness
I'll hold you awhile
We'll rock on the water,
I'll cradle you deep
And hold you while angels
sing you to sleep
Prenatal Communication
"Behaviorally speaking, there's little difference between a newborn
baby and a 32-week-old fetus."
I especially love the following paragraph at the end of p. 123:
"But perhaps the best news of all is that birth memories are
something all future parents can influence positively, for their own children.
We do not have to repeat the mistakes previous generations have made.
We can, by making the transition of newborns into our world as gentle,
loving, and respectful as possible, help ensure that their first -- and
lasting -- impressions are good ones."
It's only by contrast with the overall excellence that the following
points stand out as questionable:
p. 137 - Another piece of misinformation is the recommendation to "Breastfeed
right away if you can." This slogan originated in a time when babies
were often separated from their mothers for many hours after birth, and
there was an attempt to reduce this time to an hour or less after birth.
Unfortunately, this information has been misinterpreted so that mothers
are now trying to force feed their babies before they're ready to nurse.
Babies are not subtle - they have no manners. When they are hungry,
they will let you know. Typically, a baby's first priority is figuring
out the breathing routine. Then, the baby wants to gaze at faces
to help organize the visual part of the brain. Then, some time later,
typically 20-30 minutes after birth, the baby becomes interested in finding
the breast.
Advances in Fetal Awareness
Birth Memories
Your Amazing Newborn
Separation of Baby from Mother
Mi W, Belyavskyi M, Johnson RR, Sieve AN, Storts R, Meagher MW, Welsh
CJ.
J Neuroimmunol. 2004 Jun;151(1-2):103-15.
Oxytocin is more than just the hormone responsible for uterine
contractions. When it is injected into the brain of a mammal, even a male
or virgin rat, it induces maternal behavior, i.e., the need to take care
of pups. One of the greatest peaks of oxytocin a woman can have in her
life is just after childbirth, if the birth has occurred without any intervention.
It is also necessary for the "milk ejection reflex." In fact, oxytocin
is involved in any episode of sexual life, and both partners release oxytocin
during intercourse. It is even involved in any aspect of love and friendship:
when we share a meal with companions, we increase our levels of oxytocin.
Michel Odent forwards this item of interest:
[Article in Italian]
Domenici R, Papini MA
Pediatr Med Chir 1988 Sep-Oct;10(5):505-9
Birth Bonding as the Foundation for Attachment
Parenting
Birth Trauma From Induction
Birth Trauma From Cesarean
El-Khodor BF, Boksa P
Neuroscience 1998 Dec;87(4):893-904
El-Khodor BF, Boksa P
Exp Neurol 1997 May;145(1):118-29
Autism
David A. Geier a; Mark R. Geier b
The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine, Volume 20, Issue
5 2007 , pages 385 - 390
Two Success Stories in One Family
This book was recommended to me by a mom whose children were both severely
affected by Asperger's until they were able to remove the toxins from their
children's environments and do some de-toxing:
The results, described by scientists as deeply worrying, appear to
show that youngsters are distancing themselves from interaction with real
people because of their constant diet of television.
Researchers found that they reacted as enthusiastically to the image
of a television as alcoholics do to pictures of drink.
...
"This study shows in very simple terms that for children of a certain
age there is more interest in television than in people."
Other recent studies have linked a growth in autism with the number
of hours children spend watching the box.
Cerebral Palsy
Viral
infections linked to cerebral palsy: study
BMJ, doi:10.1136/bmj.38668.616806.3A (published 6 January 2006)
Yehezkely-Schildkraut V, Kutai M, Hugeirat Y, Levin C, Shalev SA, Mazor
G, Koren A.
Isr Med Assoc J. 2005 Dec;7(12):808-11.
"Birth asphyxia can be an early sign of cerebral palsy, the effect
of an antenatal anomaly rather than its cause. . . . Patients with cortical
malformations frequently present intrapartum complications, which could
lead to the misdiagnosis of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy."
Rangon CM, Fortes S, Lelièvre V, Leroux P, Plaisant F, Joubert
C, Lanfumey L, Cohen-Salmon C, Gressens P.
J Neurosci. 2007 Jul 11;27(28):7532-40.
Gibson CS, MacLennan AH, Hague WM, Haan EA, Priest K, Chan A, Dekker
GA; South Australian Cerebral Palsy Research Group.
Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2005 Oct;193(4):1437.
Peter Rosenbaum, professor of paediatrics.
BMJ 2003;326:970-974 ( 3 May )
Nelson KB, Grether JK
Curr Opin Pediatr 1999 Dec;11(6):487-91
Risk factors for cerebral palsy in term or near-term children
include intrauterine exposure to infection or inflammation and disorders
of coagulation. Interruption of the oxygen supply during birth contributes
approximately 6% of spastic cerebral palsy. Low Apgar score, need for resuscitation,
and seizures are nonspecific indicators of neonatal illness that do not
identify cause.
Other Physical Trauma to the Baby
Source: Archives of General Psychiatry 2006; 63: 82-8
Favaro A, Tenconi E, Santonastaso P.
Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2006 Jan;63(1):82-8.
Patricia R. Henry, DNS, RN, CPN; Kate Haubold, BSN Student; Teresa
M. Dobrzykowski, DNS, RN, CS, ANP
NBIN 4(2):106-113, 2004. © 2004 W.B. Saunders
Broken Clavicle/Collarbone
When I gave birth, I wanted to use the birth chair at the hospital.
Unfortunately, nobody told me that it could be put back into the lithotomy
position, which is exactly what my doc did. He then proceeded to
do a paracervical and then mid-forceps. His initial tugs broke the
suction from the chair, and he left the forceps in while the resuctioned
the chair to the floor, then he tugged and tugged until my little one was
born. The next day my ped. doc said, "looks like you had a tough
delivery". I never really though about it but I told him, yea, I
guess. He said that must be why the baby's collar bone was broken.
I talked to my OB later and he said, "Oh, is that what that pop was?
I thought it was your tail bone.
George M. Morley, MB., CH. B
July 1998 * OBG Management
Many neonatal morbidities such as the hyperviscosity syndrome,
infant respiratory distress syndrome, anemia, and hypovolemia correlate
with early clamping. To avoid injury in all deliveries, especially those
of neonates at risk, the cord should not be clamped until placental transfusion
is complete.
Zornberg GL, Buka SL, Tsuang MT
Am J Psychiatry 2000 Feb;157(2):196-202
Unmedicated Births More Comfortable for Baby
Maternal Endorphin Levels Associated with Baby's Endorphin Levels
Umbilical
cord beta-endorphin and early childhood motor development.
Rothenberg SJ, Chicz-DeMet A, Schnaas L, Karchmer S, Salinas V, Guzman
LA
Early Hum Dev 1996 Sep 20;46(1-2):83-95
Corticotrophin-releasing
hormone and beta-endorphin in labour.
McLean M, Thompson D, Zhang HP, Brinsmead M, Smith R
Eur J Endocrinol 1994 Aug;131(2):167-172
The plasma beta-endorphin level rose with progressive cervical dilatation and fell after epidural anaesthesia. . . . beta-endorphin secretion does rise in response to the stress of labour and is influenced by pain perception.
Plasma
levels of beta-endorphin and ACTH during labor and immediate puerperium.
Fajardo MC, Florido J, Villaverde C, Oltras CM, Gonzalez-Ramirez AR,
Gonzalez-Gomez F
Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol 1994 Jun 15;55(2):105-108
We measured concentrations of beta-endorphin (beta-EP) and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) in maternal peripheral plasma during dilation, the expulsive period and immediate puerperium, and in the umbilical vein. Plasma levels of both peptides increased markedly and were directly correlated during labor, and decreased 24 h after birth; they were no longer correlated during immediate puerperium. In the umbilical vein, beta-EP and ACTH were also directly correlated. Moreover, the concentration of each of the two peptides in maternal plasma during the expulsive period was correlated with the corresponding concentration in umbilical vein. We discuss the importance of placental corticotropin-releasing factor in the regulation of maternal and fetal stress.
Plasma
levels of beta-endorphins and ACTH in labor with continuous peridural analgesia
Borgia ML, Piccardo A, Aragona P, Domenici R, Reale G, Altissimi C,
Pinto G
Minerva Anestesiol 1996 May;62(5):183-186
In order to investigate whether continuous lumbar epidural analgesia
is associated with alterations of plasma levels of
beta-endorphins and ACTH, we have studied a group (A) of patients under
epidural analgesia and a matched group of
control (B) at different stages of labour. Plasma levels of beta-endorphins
and ACTH in group A did not significantly
change during the labour, while in group B beta-endorphins and ACTH
increased in the second stage of labour and
decreased thereafter one hour after delivery. The levels of beta-endorphins
and ACTH in umbilical cord mix blood were
elevated in both groups.
Phenobarbital Linked to Lower IQ
Midwives Support Unmedicated Birth Because It's
Better for the Baby
Medical
Hazards - Research Warnings from WombSafe
Epidurals Cause Physical Problems for Babies
Obstetric
care and proneness of offspring to suicide as adults: case-control study.
[Medline
abstract]
Jacobson B, Bygdeman M
BMJ 1998 Nov 14;317(7169):1346-9
Pain felt by an infant during a difficult birth may increase the risk of violent suicide later in life, especially among men, according to Swedish researchers.
Researchers compared the birth records of 242 people born in seven Stockholm hospitals between 1945 - 1980 who committed suicide by violent means between 1978 - 1995, to those of 403 of their biological siblings born during the same period and at the same group of hospitals.
``Offspring who subsequently committed suicide were subjected to about twice as many interventions at birth than their siblings,'' write researchers Professors Bertil Jacobson and Marc Bygdeman of the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, in the November 14th issue of the British Medical Journal.
The team estimates that, compared with those who had not experienced multiple trauma at birth, men who had experienced such trauma ran an almost 5 times greater risk for violent suicide, and women ran a slightly higher risk.
``We believe that obstetric procedures should be chosen to minimise pain and discomfort to the infant if an increased risk of suicide by violent means is to be avoided,'' the researchers conclude.
But the researchers speculate that the circumstances that give rise to the need for obstetric intervention may cause the increased suicide risk, rather than the intervention itself. ''Perhaps these individuals are at a high risk in some subtle way, for which the need for obstetric intervention is merely a marker,'' write Jacobson and Bygdeman.
The researchers call for more study of their findings, and different studies to see if accident proneness is also linked to birth trauma.
Dr. Yeates Conwell, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, New York, called the study ``intriguing.''
``The methodology is good and it makes us want to know more about perinatal trauma and subsequent suicide,'' he said in an interview with Reuters Health. However, psychiatric illness is the most powerful risk factor for suicide, Conwell noted.
``You can't go and fix the birth trauma but you can diagnosis the schizophrenia,
depression, substance abuse and other recognizable risk factors for which
suicide interventions are available,'' he said.
And an interesting
commentary from Michel Odent about rising suicide rates except in the
Netherlands, which has a birth climate that embraces the benefits of midwifery.
There were some interesting results - apparently the systemic opiate-based drugs (IV narcotics) reduced the baby's experience of pain as well as the mother's, which doesn't happen with epidurals. Unfortunately, they also are well known to cause depressed respiration at birth, necessitating more aggressive resuscitative efforts.
Natural childbirth generates endorphins in the mother which pass through to the baby, thereby reducing the baby's experience of pain without causing respiratory distress at birth. They happen also to be an integral part of the bonding that happens at birth.
The issues of birth imprinting appear to be crucial to the link between
neonatal drugs and violence and drugs and violence later in life.
There are some people who feel that babies born into an anxiety-filled,
impersonal atmosphere will be imprinted with that as the norm of social
interaction. It should be interesting to see what the research shows
as more attention is paid to the baby's experience of birth.
The
effects of maternal epidural anesthesia on neonatal behavior during the
first month.
Sepkoski CM, Lester BM, Ostheimer GW, Brazelton TB
Dev Med Child Neurol 1992 Dec;34(12):1072-80
The epidural group showed poorer performance on the orientation and motor clusters during the first month of life.
Perinatal
medication as a potential risk factor for adult drug abuse in a North American
cohort.
Nyberg K, Buka SL, Lipsitt LP
Epidemiology 2000 Nov;11(6):715-6
Babies exposed to drugs during labor are 5 times more likely to become
drug abusers later in life.
Medical
Hazards - Research Warnings from WombSafe
Opiate
addiction in adult offspring through possible imprinting after obstetric
treatment.
Jacobson B, Nyberg K, Gronbladh L, Eklund G, Bygdeman M, Rydberg U
BMJ 1990 Nov 10;301(6760):1067-70
They looked at the background of 200 opiate addicts born in Stockholm
from 1945 to 1966 and took non-addicted siblings as controls. They
found that if the mother had been given certain painkillers during labor,
her child was statistically at an increased risk of becoming drug-addicted
in adolescence.
Here is the reference: Odent, Michel, and the Primal Health Research Centre. Can drug addiction start at birth? Primal Health Research, 1993; vol. 1, no. 1: 3-7.
In this article, the author reviews several studies to explore two statements, first that in wealthy countries a majority of children are born with the use of drugs, and second, that in wealthy countries drug addiction is increasing. He reviews two works by B. Jacobson. In one paper, Jacobson studied the birth records of 200 opiate addicts born in Stockholm between 1945 and 1966. The control group consisted only of siblings of drug addicts, also born in Stockholm during the same period. "The main finding is that in the study group a higher proportion of mothers received opiates (morphine or pethidine) or barbiturates, or both, during labor and delivery...The risks increased when the drug had been administered several times." Jacobson wrote an earlier paper that focused on amphetamine addiction. "The main conclusion of this study is that nitrous oxide administration during delivery is an essential risk factor for eventual amphetamine addiction in offspring and that the risks of addiction are proportional to the duration of the nitrous oxide exposure." Jacobson earlier had found (by accident) a relationship between traumatic birth and self-destructive behaviors later in life.
Lee Salk found similar conclusions about adolescent suicides. In his study, "one of the most significant findings is that respiratory distress for more than one hour at birth is a specific risk factor for committing suicide when adolescent... The authors suggest a link between the dramatic increase of suicide rates among teenagers and the fact that more and more infants can survive thanks to modern methods of resuscitation."
Later, Dr. Odent explains more..."The reports about the probable long-term
effects of drugs used in the period around birth are not surprising. Brain
receptors reorganize themselves during precise stages of development, and
in particular in the perinatal period and at puberty. This is probably
the case for oxytocin receptors, opiate receptors, insulin receptors, etc.
In the scientific context of the 1990s it is increasingly easy to understand
that there are no innocent drugs."
Also, the Primal Research Institute in London is coming to some really
amazing conclusions on the use of drugs in labor. They have found that
women who use drugs in labor have a higher chance of having a teenager
who is a drug addict. SAY NO TO DRUGS!!!!
Birth drugs
'could prevent bonding' - from the BBC, 3/29/01
This is the study where sheep who were given epidurals rejected their lambs:
Peridural
anesthesia disturbs maternal behavior in primiparous and multiparous parturient
ewes.
Krehbiel D, Poindron P, Levy F, Prud'Homme MJ
Physiol Behav 1987;40(4):463-72
There are a couple of other animal studies which might be of interest, the first on ducks and the second on rats.
KONRAD LORENZ: Studies in animal and human behaviour. 2 vols: Cambridge University Press. 70-71. (relates to bonding)
Long-term
effects of pregnancy and parturition upon maternal responsiveness in the
rat. [Interrupted birth]
Bridges RS
Physiol Behav 1975 Mar;14(3):245-9
BRIDGES. R S: (interrupted birth). "Partiurition: its role in the long-term
retention of maternal behaviour in the rat". Physiol. Below. 1977 18:487-90
Epidurals Cause Problems for Mother-Infant Bonding
-
Research about the effect of epidurals on mother infant bonding
PRE- AND PERINATAL BRAIN DEVELOPMENT AND ENCULTURATION: A BIOGENETIC STRUCTURAL APPROACH by Charles D. Laughlin.
Sudden release of endorphins prior to birth may have a regulatory effect upon respiration after birth (Moss 1986), and may well be a factor in producing the experience had by the fetus/neonate during a "natural" birth.The suspicion in some quarters is that this enhanced excitation of the child's circulation, respiration and metabolism during birth helps the child to establish a normal somatic adaptation to its new circumstances, as well as to protect itself from potential hypoxia and hypercapnia during the actual birth (articles by Jones and by Silver and Edwards in Parvez and Parvez 1980).
Baby antibiotics
'link to asthma' - There is mounting evidence of a link between antibiotic
use in infancy
and asthma in children, studies suggest.
A Canadian study of 12,082 children suggests those treated with antibiotics under the age of one are twice as likely to develop asthma in childhood.
And researchers writing in US journal Chest found additional courses of antibiotics in the first year of life increased asthma risk still further.
Earlier studies suggested the drugs may affect the way the immune system
works.
This subsection has been moved to its own section - Microbial
Colonization of Newborn Skin and Gut
Unnecessary medical procedures performed upon newborns should be classified as medical child abuse. These include:
Crying
in separated and non-separated newborns: sound spectrographic analysis.
Michelsson K, Christensson K, Rothganger H, Winberg J
Acta Paediatr 1996 Apr;85(4):471-5
Babies separated from their mothers during the first 90 minutes following
birth cried 10 times more than babies placed in body contact with the mother.
The
unknown human infant.
Odent M
J Hum Lact 1990 Mar;6(1):6-8
In this article, Michel Odent observes that many newborns born in less
stressful situations do not lose weight initally at birth. What is
it about the standard hospital birth that is causing the stress for the
baby . . . the bright lights? the noise? separation from mom?
crying from other babies? It's not clear, but it does seem that our
assumptions about what's normal for babies is based on a very abnormal,
non-physiological environment totally different from what humans are best
suited for.
From: C-upi@clari.net (UPI / LIDIA WASOWICZ, UPI Science Writer)
Organization: Copyright 1997 by United Press International ** via
ClariNet **
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 1997 0:51:43 PST
My experience as a labor coach in hospitals has led me to consider routine newborn treatment in hospitals as abusive. It seems very funny to me that there is so little research about it, though. Most hospital staff seem like caring people, but I think they just are so understaffed that they don't have the time to provide the kind of care they could be happy about.
I guess we also have some cultural beliefs that babies don't feel pain
or don't remember pain, so people don't think so much about the fact that
the things that are done to babies might hurt them. It amazes me, though,
that people don't understand that the way a baby is treated at birth sets
the stage for all the rest of the baby's human interactions.
I don't envy you having to detail how they force crap into the newborn's
stomach (even expressly bf ONLY babies) just to stick a tube up the nose
and down into the stomach to suction it all out again (along with anything
the baby may have been able to nurse, i.e., colostrum) just to make sure
there's stomach acid being produced. Sick, sick, sick. And what about the
substitution of a bare body under a "hamburger lamp" instead of skin-to-skin
with mom? That's after they screw a wire right into the scalp during labor
because they're forcing the mother to limit the oxygen to the baby by laying
on her back taking drugs. . . Ooooh, I don't like to think of those things.
Babies are born with a very simple bootstrap program. From my perspective as a midwife/labor coach, it looks like this:
I just finished the Nursing Mothers Counsel orientation (which is what they call their 20-hour training course) and learned some very interesting facts. Babies that are breastfed have significantly better childhood health, including a risk of hospitalization for infection that is only 10% of the risk for bottle-fed babies. (I don't know if these statistics are normalized for the decreased likelihood of breastfeeding among high-risk babies.) And the most significant thing a mother can do to increase the likelihood of successful breastfeeding is to have a homebirth. The reasons cited were increased respect for the importance of first-hour interactions, and the repeated home visits at crucial times, such as engorgement.
The things I have seen at other hospitals would make your hair stand on end. I have seen babies literally assaulted by nursery nurses who pushed the dad aside to quickly throw a DeLee down the baby's throat at 15 minutes postpartum (without any indications) just so they could chart that the fluid was clear. Certain hospitals seem to have a 90% rate of need for full resuscitation, but what do you expect from a teaching hospital?
I had a very bad experience at a nice hospital in the redwoods a little farther north. The family declined the Dextrostix heelstick for a beautifully healthy baby born to a mom with negative GTT; their protocols called for it because the baby was large, but there were no real indications. The nursery nurse proceeded to have a temper tantrum, during which she handled the baby so roughly that the head snapped back, like a whiplash. This is the only active abuse I've seen, but I do consider the routine removal of baby from mother to be abusive, and I see it much too often. (Percentage wise, anyway; I haven't actually attended that many hospital births.)
Mostly, I see overworked staff needing to process the baby so they can be ready for the next birth. It's a shame that things aren't set up to allow them to wait as long as necessary for the baby to indicate that the initial bonding time is over.
I've been reading more about birth trauma on the Web. There's some stuff from the APPPAH, I think. It's something like the Association for Pre- and Peri-natal Psychology and Health. They teach that any distress during the early alert phase can have lifelong effects on the baby's emotional health and sensitivity to pain.
My original appreciation for homebirth was seeing how much easier it was for the mothers. But my real zeal didn't bloom until I began to appreciate how much less traumatic it was for the babies.
Homebirth has the luxury of dealing primarily with babies that are in
great shape and need absolutely no resuscitation. (This is partly because
the shaky situations have to transport, and partly because the overall
calm contributes to robust babies.) Some midwives use bulb suction routinely,
but it's rarely necessary. So, once the baby's been born, dried off and
left on mom's belly with good breathing established, anything else seems
like unnecessary interference that could have lifelong, negative repercussions.
After the baby's initial, lusty cry, I can't recall ever hearing a baby
born OOH crying during the immediate postpartum. However, at the hospital,
they seem to cry a lot.
Do you happen to have a reference to a paper written from an L&D or nursery nurse perspective that recommends taking cues from the family? Around here, the only way for parents to avoid rather unpleasant treatment of the newborn appears to be to take their own advocate in with them, and this is expensive, and most families don't realize they'll need this until it's too late. If they could hand the nurses a copy of such a paper, it might improve things.
Birth plans are generally disregarded by the hospital staff. Everyone brings them in, and nobody reads them.
So the babies are removed from their moms shortly after births, tubes
are stuck down their throats, they're stuck and jabbed, and scrubbed. Then,
when they're returned to their mother, they seem no longer interested in
breastfeeding. Big problems.
I think as birth planning becomes more mainstream nurses will accept that things can be done differently with the same degree of safety as before.
More research, for medical skeptics, supporting newborn care that is not necessary would be helpful in changing attitudes. I have been a nurse for 25 years and things that were taught as absolutes and were put in to everyday practice are now obsolete and even dangerous i.e. routine foley care, extended periods of bedrest... (I was a med-surg nurse for 15 years).
Yes, I agree infants are mishandled and it is frightening. What is most scary are the people that do this don't even think they are.
With birth planning the couple can dictate ahead of time what is acceptable and what is not. It will be helpful to have a person present that can be the couples liaison, to ensure the birth plan is adhered to-like when the mothers decision making skills may be impaired due to discomfort. The birth plans do state for the most part that the couple will consent to medical intervention in medical emergencies.
I think since as medical people we see an overwhelming number of obstetrical emergencies, it is easy to get panic stricken. Our population for the most part is adolescent, drug using etc. and at least a few times a day we are dealing with prematurity, respiratory distress and it may be hard for some of us to relax. But, a healthy newborn is sooo different and needs to be treated as such.
In normal situations there are a lot of nurses where I work that do
the same things I do. Our education now is geared to the LDRP concept and
since the family is not going to change hands, unless it is shift change,
the process can be quite leisurely. The assignment is supposed to be one
on one. Now if it is busy, I just give the parents more responsibility.
SIDS,
Wives Tales, Ignorance, Prejudices & Downright Slander. By: Jeanne
Ohm, D.C. - An article about the correlation between birth trauma, spinal
cord hemorrhage, and SIDS.
Perinatal Factors Linked to Anorexia Nervosa
Very
preterm birth, birth trauma, and the risk of anorexia nervosa among girls.
Cnattingius S, Hultman CM, Dahl M, Sparen P
Arch Gen Psychiatry 1999 Jul;56(7):634-8
My 18 month old daughter was watching "Little Bear" on Nick Jr this week. This is about the mildest cartoon one could imagine. Nothing exciting ever really happens, so I was very surprised to hear her crying horrified tears. She was on the couch with no toys, just watching TV. On the screen, Little Bear and two of his friends were pulling a hibernating groundhog out of its hole in the middle of winter. It seems they wanted to see when Spring was coming, so they were looking for his shadow. The scene that disturbed her was the forcible tugging of the groundhog out of the hole. I just hugged her and apologized for her birth. This was a prime example of how I will never know precisely how much the c/s affected her.
Am I nuts to make a connection between these two events? Am I just so
obsessed with birth that I assume everything is connected to it?
One of the birth trauma websites had a story about a toddler who remembered details of their birth, but I couldn't find it.
By the way, I think it's a mistake to use the concept of "birth trauma"
to make women feel bad about the circumstances of their baby's birth. However,
it can help provide perspective on your baby's individual needs and what
you can do to help them grow up to be the happiest, healthiest person possible.
I do not doubt that your daughter of 18 mo. can have a traumatic memory of the events of her birth, as evidenced by her reaction to the story on "Little Bear." How like our culture to try to rush a natural cycle (the coming of Spring). How very sad.
My five-year old daughter and I were watching the news this spring. There was a scene of a hospital OR with the surgical team in scrubs, and Debby said to me "I don't like that kind of doctor."
I was immediately alert to the strong possibility (or probability) that she remembers her c/s birth. In her young life, that is the ONLY time she has ever come into contact with "that kind" of doctor.
I also have a friend (whom I formerly viewed as a "radical" homebirther) who was born by c/s (before it was so common) and who says she remembers her own birth and being pulled out of the womb. She also remembers the aftereffects of this birth on her mother as she was growing up. These are the factors which prompted her to educate herself and prepare for a homebirth ten years ago, with her only child.
Said friend also tried to open my eyes before Debby's birth, but her information (strong warnings and book recommendation for Silent Knife) fell on my deaf ears.
I am now forever changed, thank God, regarding the subject of birth,
and favor homebirth whenever possible.
As I have recently written, my sister-in law just had a baby (at the
hospital) Interestingly, my 15 month old son became immediately clingy
and demanded that I hold him the entire time we were visiting SIL and new
baby in the hospital. As well, my other sister-in law has a 24 month old
born c/section who is normally gregarious and happy, upon entering the
hospital room to visit the new baby he became very frightened and burst
into tears. Both our babies have visited the hospital for other reasons
on numerous occasions and have never reacted in this manner. (I dare share
this only here for fear my family really will begin to think I'm crazy!
LOL)
My first boy was 10 lb. 4 oz. and they stuck his heel so many times for so many hours and observed him away from me for so long. This was after a lousy prep and lousy cesarean delivery. You bring up a good point: if it was that traumatic for me to see him go through this, think how it must have truly affected him too.
He is much more clingy and less trusting than his brother whose birth was calm and relaxed. This second boy is so trusting, easily giving and generous and loving and a big hugger.
My boy was perfectly healthy and so was I. Never diabetes in either
of us, as I knew but they could not accept. Had I been informed about birthing
my babies, I would not have allowed the protocol they put him through.
I got my hospital records yesterday. They wanted to charge me $50 to copy them, if anyone can believe that, but I managed to get them through our midwife. It was very upsetting to read them, to say the least. When I had my c-section, my daughter's heart rate was dropping down to 40, and taking a long time coming up. The midwife told me that she would have died if not for the section. I actually understand that point, that the section at that time MAY have been necessary BECAUSE OF THE INTERVENTIONS THAT THEY DID. The interference in my natural birthing process caused my daughter to go into distress, for example AROM. That is what bothers me the most. If the midwife and doctors hadn't been so grossly interventive because of their timetables, I would have been able to birth her, and she wouldn't have ended up in the NICU.
I didn't remember signing a consent form, but there it was with my shaky signature scrawled across the page. When you are at 9cms after 22 hours of labour and they are saying that your baby is going to die, you'd sign your soul over, wouldn't you? It was just so sad, I hadn't remembered even being told what would happen to me but I gave them permission when I was barely coherent.
My daughter's notes from the NICU were even more upsetting, because she was in the hospital for 7 days, yet on day 3 the doctor noted that she was clinically well. In fact, her fever at birth was gone at 5 minutes after birth, and they were keeping her for prophylactic antibiotics only. And still they threatened me with the Children's Aid if i discharged us AMA, saying she could die. THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH HER, and I knew that the first time I held her.
How can I ever trust a doctor or a midwife again?
The only time I have seen a newborn procedure declined, the nurse then proceeded to handle the baby so roughly as to constitute abuse. This was even with the father and several onlookers present. I wish we had still had the video camera running.
After the abusive treatment of the newborn, the dad picked the baby up to take her out of the nursery, and the nurse then reported the baby as having been stolen, which caused the expected fracas. The family were all subsequently treated as some kind of weird people who wouldn't go along with the hospital, with nurses making snide remarks.
Some of the things the nursery nurse said made it clear that she had rarely, if ever, been challenged on any point of newborn procedure.
I have heard other stories of punitive treatment of families who don't accept all offered treatment.
In particular, our local big medical center is reputed to call Child Protective Services for families that refuse recommended treatment, whether it's a full septic workup (including spinal tap), or routine hepatitis B vaccine.
I would recommend that anyone planning to decline standard newborn treatment
discuss this with their pediatrician beforehand and have a signed letter
in the chart to this effect. This way, the hospital can feel that they
can pass the responsibility on to the pediatrician, and you're less likely
to be visited by Child Protective Services.
This subsection has been moved to its own section - Fetal
Cells Found in Maternal Organs
Study: Mom's Blues Can Hinder Child
By ANJETTA McQUEEN
AP Education Writer, Sept. 7, 1999
WASHINGTON (AP) _ Mothers who suffer from depression need to seek help because their blues could affect their children's development, researchers for the government say.
``Women need to know if they feel depressed, it's not only about them,'' said Sarah Friedman, who coordinated the study for the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development. ``It's also going to affect their children.''
Children do worse on developmental tests if their mothers are depressed, but a mother's depression does less damage if the family is well off financially, said the study, released Friday.
Researchers studied 1,200 families to see if a mother's depression hindered her children's learning ability in the crucial first three years of life.
They questioned mothers beginning at their children's births and visited their homes to watch mother-child interaction. When the children were 3, their readiness for school _ things such as counting and knowing colors and shapes _ was tested.
Mothers who were chronically depressed were more likely to have children who scored lower on the tests, the eight-year study concluded. The results will be published in the September issue of the journal Developmental Psychology.
Depressed women who had higher incomes and other advantages such as higher education were more sensitive to their children's needs, and their depression had lesser effect on their children.
``Money seems to be a key issue,'' said one of the researchers, University of North Carolina child development specialist Martha Cox. ``It could be a case of women in positions of seeking better outside child care, or giving themselves more breaks, or buying more services.''
``These women have more options or more things to turn to, to keep their depression from affecting their relationship with the child,'' Cox said.
Reseachers recruited families from Arkansas, California, Kansas, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, Washington and Wisconsin.
A mother's depression is problematical because of the theory that depressed moms won't interact with their children. Researchers said maternal blues may have the worst effect on the youngest babies, who depend more on their mothers.
The study showed that if mothers were particularly sensitive to their babies, regardless of depression, the children developed better.
``Exploration and play are such an important way that children learn in the early years,'' Cox explained. ``Having a mother that can facilitate that exploration and play is important to the children's development.''
The children in the study now are in the third grade and will be followed at least through the sixth grade.
Fourteen percent of the families were headed by single mothers, but interactions with fathers and other adults were not measured.
The study also may have underestimated depression's impact because teen-age mothers, disabled children or substance abusers were not studied, and the poorest families dropped out of the project.
Physical and emotional birth traumas can interfere with a mother's ability
to provide as much love and care for her baby as she would like. These
can have life-long effects on the baby.
The Critical Importance of a Child's First Years:
a Baby Speaks
Cuddled Babies Protected From Stress
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