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Patty’s Blog: “Birth & Parenting News” posts
Impact of Mother’s Voice on Premature Infants
A study published February 2 online in the Journal of Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine demonstrated the ways in which a mother’s voice may improve the condition of premature babies. Researchers found that premature babies are less likely to stop breathing or have their heart rate slow dangerously when listening to recordings of their mother’s voice and heartbeat. Maternal voice and heartbeat sounds were recorded individually for 14 preterm infants and were then played four times per a 24-hour period through an audio system installed in the infants’ beds. The infants experienced fewer cardiorespiratory events when they heard the maternal sounds, compared to routine hospital sounds and noises. Although the study was small, its authors note that it provides preliminary evidence that premature infants show short-term improvements in physiological stability when listening to maternal sounds.
Okay, so moms are good for babies … who knew?
Our bi-weekly Birth & Parenting News blog highlights the latest news items, research results, consumer alerts, and legislative action alerts of interest to expectant and new parents and the professionals who work them. From Center for the Childbearing Year.
Updated Cesarean and Payment Charts Available
Two popular resources from Childbirth Connection have been updated with the most recent available data. The Cesarean Section Rate Chart and Table incorporate the most recent trend and incidence data from the National Center for Health Statistics. The International Payment Comparisons Charts demonstrate the United States’ outlier status in average payments for both vaginal birth and cesarean surgery. These resources can help stakeholders make the case for reining in overuse of cesarean section.
Our bi-weekly Birth & Parenting News blog highlights the latest news items, research results, consumer alerts, and legislative action alerts of interest to expectant and new parents and the professionals who work them. From Center for the Childbearing Year.
Breastfeeding and Vaccines
Ten researchers from the CDC’s National Centers for Immunization and Respiratory Disease (NCIRD) released the ridiculous paper, entitledInhibitory effect of breast milk on infectivity of live oral rotavirus vaccines, which claims the immune-boosting effects of breastmilk are a detriment to the efficacy of vaccines. The paper goes on to say that, rather than remove vaccines so that breastmilk can do its job, women should instead remove the breastmilk to allow vaccines to do their job. Read more.
Each Wednesday, our Birth & Parenting News blog highlights the latest news items, research results, consumer alerts, and legislative action alerts of interest to expectant and new parents and the professionals who work them.
The First Hour Following Birth: Don’t Wake the Mother!
This is an interesting article by Dr. Michel Odent from Midwifery Today. It talks about that essential first hour after birth and how important it is to protect this time for both the mother and the newborn. Read the full article here.
Each Wednesday, our Birth & Parenting News blog highlights the latest news items, research results, consumer alerts, and legislative action alerts of interest to expectant and new parents and the professionals who work them.
Crying it out–what are the dangers?
Many families still hear from relatives that they should let that baby cry or they will spoil them. I know for me it was never an option to listen to any baby cry for very long. Here is some information from Psychology Today you may want to share. Read about the dangers of crying it out.
Each Wednesday, our Birth & Parenting News blog highlights the latest news items, research results, consumer alerts, and legislative action alerts of interest to expectant and new parents and the professionals who work them.
Tell Organic Baby Food Brands to Stop Using GMOs!
Since 2006, Martek Biosciences, owned by multinational biotech giant DSM, has been selling its DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and ARA (arachidonic acid), synthesized versions of the essential fatty acids that are naturally found in breast milk, to companies manufacturing organic infant formula, baby food, other food products. Now the National Organic Program says the 2006 approval was illegal and they’re conducting a formal review of the Martek products for the first time. The Cornucopia Institute has been warning since 2008 that the DHA and ARA might be made using genetic engineering, an “excluded method” under national organic regulations.
The OCA has confirmed the Cornucopia Institute’s concerns with our own research and we’ve learned:
- The DHA and ARA used in organic infant formulas and baby cereals is manipulated using microencapsulation to transform it from an oil to a powder.
- Microencapsulation is specifically listed as an “excluded method” in the organic regulations, one of a “variety of methods used to genetically modify organisms or influence their growth and development by means that are not possible under natural conditions or processes and are not considered compatible with organic production.”
- DHA and ARA are produced from mutant strains of algae and fungi with unnaturally high DHA and ARA levels. “Mutagenesis” is not specifically mentioned in the organic regulations’ definition of “excluded methods,” but it certainly fits the category definition listed above.
- Mutagenesis involves exposing cells to radiation or mutagenic chemicals to create a variety of mutant cells from which desired characteristics can be selected. DSM, Martek’s new owner and the long-time producer of its ARA, boasts the invention of modern extensions of this process, including “site-directed mutagenesis technology.” DSM screens the vast numbers of microbial strains produced by random mutagenesis and selects for improved properties using a robotic High-Throughput Screening (HTS) facility which automates analytical tasks, including complex enzymatic analyses and high-tech flow-injection Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. Then, they use recombinant-DNA technology to combine multiple mutations in a single organism.
Products of microencapsulation and mutagenesis don’t belong in organic! Get these GMOs out of organic baby food!
Tell organic baby food brands to stop using GMOs!
Each Wednesday, our Birth & Parenting News blog highlights the latest news items, research results, consumer alerts, and legislative action alerts of interest to expectant and new parents and the professionals who work them.
One World Birth–cool resource
New web site features video clips on birth topics. Maybe you’ve already heard the buzz about the new One World Birth (oneworldbirth.net) web site? This innovative resource offers short video clips organized by topic. Clips feature such experts as Sarah Buckley, Michel Odent, Elizabeth Davis, and Ina May Gaskin. The videos can be used in classes and presentations, as well as shared via social media sites.
Each Wednesday, our Birth & Parenting News blog highlights the latest news items, research results, consumer alerts, and legislative action alerts of interest to expectant and new parents and the professionals who work them.
U.S. cesarean birth rate declines slightly
For the first time in more than a decade, the U.S. cesarean rate fell instead of rising, according to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although the drop was just 0.1 percent, birth advocates hope the change from 32.9 to 32.8 percent of all births may herald a continued downward trend to come. Read the preliminary report. Read analysis from Lamaze International’s Science and Sensibility.
Each Wednesday, our Birth & Parenting News blog highlights the latest news items, research results, consumer alerts, and legislative action alerts of interest to expectant and new parents and the professionals who work them.
Summary of the latest breastfeeding research
A recent blog post from MotherWear offered a nice roundup of recent breastfeeding research, including information on breastmilk as a cancer killer, women’s beliefs about sagging breasts, the adequacy of six months of exclusive breastfeeding, and the breastmilk-intelligence link. Read the post.
Each Wednesday, our Birth & Parenting News blog highlights the latest news items, research results, consumer alerts, and legislative action alerts of interest to expectant and new parents and the professionals who work them.
Carrying babies “late” runs in families.
A recent study confirmed what midwives have known for ages: carrying babies post-dates runs in families. Although the association was strongest if the mother herself was born past 40 weeks gestation, there was also an association if the father was born post-term. The research was published by BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Read the abstract.
Each Wednesday, our Birth & Parenting News blog highlights the latest news items, research results, consumer alerts, and legislative action alerts of interest to expectant and new parents and the professionals who work them.