Miscellaneous
7/20/06 WARNING: ACE inhibitors (blood pressure drugs) cause a 270% increase in birth defects when taken by expectant mothers.
None of the psychotropic commonly prescribed to children have ever been approved for use in children. Antidepressant drugs boost diabetes risk by 200% - 300%.
7/18/06 : Extra co-host DAYNA DEVON is expecting her second child and first son with her husband, plastic surgeon Brent Moelleken. The new baby boy will join big sister Emmi Reese, 10 months, in mid-January.
EPA and Pesticide Industry Pressuring Scientists to Allow Continued Use of Toxic Pesticides according to the Organic Consumers Association.
Government scientists are blowing the whistle on the Environmental Protection Agency's attempt to allow the continued use of 20 highly controversial organophosphate pesticides without conducting adequate safety testing. Previous research indicates that these pesticides pose serious health hazards, especially to babies in the womb, infants and children. EPA scientists report that they are being pressured to skip key risk assessment tests. This controversy comes on the heels of the EPA's new rule which would allow the intentional dosing of pregnant women and children with pesticides.
ALLERGIES: researching the cause of allergies shows that non-genetic maternal influences such as C-section and high maternal age may increase the allergie of food allergies. It seems that babies born to allergic moms who deliver via C-section have a 7 fold increased risk of food allergie to egg, fish, or nuts. High maternal age above 30 also increases food allergie 3 fold.
CALIFORNIA BANS THIMEROSOL FROM VACCINES GIVEN TO PREGNANT WOMEN & YOUNG CHILDREN A California state law took effect this July, 2006, that effectively bans vaccines containing the preservative thimerosal from use in pregnant women and children under age three. It restricts the use of vaccines containing more than trace amount of ethyl mercury with these populations, because of concern that the mercury could damage the developing brains of fetuses and young children. However, the law does allow state officials to waive thimerosal restrictions in the event of a public health emergency, including a severe flu vaccine shortage. To comply with the law, California has ordered 50,000 thimerosol-free flu vaccine doses for children ages one to three and 15,000 such doses for pregnant women. Governor Schwarzenegger originally signed the legislation (AB 2943) back in September 2004.
ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS should be avoided, especially during pregnancy. SPLENDA is not made "naturally with sugar" as they portray. It is a highly processed chemical sweetener made with chlorine that the FDA approved despite health concerns. The biggest risk to pregnant women is galactosemia, characterized by anorexia, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea (all potential dangers while pregnant) as well as an intolerance for dairy (not so bad). EQUAL or ASPARTAME made out of synthetic amino acids and methanol, poisonous neuroxins that turns into formeldahyde and formic acid (used as a paint stripper). Aspartame has been shown to cause uterine polyps, enlarged pituitary and thyroid glands, atrophied testes, brain and mammary tumors in animals and methanol destroys the optic nerve (may cause blindness) and fetal tissue cannot tolerate methanol. And SACCHARINE was banned in Europe back in the 60's for causing cancer...... If you absolutely can't kick the sugar habit, please try STEVIA, it is perfectly safe during pregnancy. A little more expensive and found in the "vitamin aisle" at your health food store (thanks to some old buddies; the artificial sugar industry who didn't want the competition & the FDA).
9/05/06 : An autism study at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in NY showed that children born from fathers older than 40 have a higher risk of autism.
9/03/06 : C-sections more than triple maternal death risk, compared with vaginal delivery, says a study in the Journal Obstetrics & Gynecology. .
7/23/06 : Great News. With soaring liability costs, Hosptials are REDUCING CHILDBIRTH RISKS by curbing the use of drugs and other procedures to induce labor.The use of oxytocin leads to 50% of birth trauma and complications. It is used to induce labor, but can hyperstimulate the uterus causing tears and slow blood & oxygen supply to the baby. Doctors are at some hospitals now required to obtain permission before inducing delivery before 39 weeks, as babies born even a few days early has higher rates of Caesarian deliveries, neonatal intensive care, respiratory distress, other problems and and long-term health issues. Near term babies (c-section @ 35-37 weeks), have more jaundice, low blood sugar, respiratory & temperature problems. According to Carla Provost, assistant VP at Baystate Med. Cent. Mass, Pitocin is used like candy in the OB world which is a legal and medical risk.
Multiple Births,
Except Twins, Decline in US According to the Disease Control and Prevention the number of triplets
decline for the first time in a decade in the United States in 1999.
Reports show that the number of multiple births soared 470% between
1980 and 1988 then dropped 4% in 1999. Twin births rose 3% in 1999
to about 29 per 1,000 live births. The research found that the rate
of death for children and teenagers fell 4% between 1999 and 2000.
The birth rate in 2000 rose 2%, the third annual increase after several
years of decline.
The Germiest
of all. Some
40 percent of people consider public bathrooms the germiest of all
places, reported by consumer products company Kimberly-Clark. You
know the drill: Wash your hands and use a paper towel to open doors,
says microbiologist Philip Tierno, Ph.D., author of The Secret
Life of Germs. If the toilet has a lid, close it before flushing
- it can propel bacteria 20 feet into the air. No lid? Flush and run!
Pregnant Memory
Loss. If things have slipped your mind lately, blame it on pregnancy. In
a study of pregnant women in India, researchers found a significant
decrease in brain chemicals that help transmit messages between brain
cells. The expectant moms also displayed a loss of functional memory,
especially during the second trimester, according to the Journal of
Reproductive Medicine. This
may be due to your baby gobbling up all your brains Omega 3 fatty
acids, which may also lead to depression. Moms with higher levels
of Omega 3 fatty acids suffer less depression and memory loss. Although
pregnancy will remain pregnancy and a certain level of memory loss
is to be expected - and it will come back. To ensure your Omega levels
eat plenty of lead free fish (see Nutrition section) olive oil, almonds
etc.... and take and Omega Fatty acid supplement.
More memory
loss. In
a test at the Simon Fraser U in British Colombia pregant women under
went cognitive test showing that those carrying boys did better than
those carrying girls. Go figure...
Diabetes prevention. According to Diabetologia, women who take
cod liver oil during pregnancy may reduce her child's risk of developing
juvenile Type 1 diabetes by as much as 66%. This could be due
to the Vitamin D and Omega 3 fatty acid content, which has an anti-inflammatory
effect.
How to avoid an episiotomy. A study from Obstetrics & Gynecology has shown that
pereneal massage and stretching by mothers left them 60% more likely
to deliver with an intact perineum than those who had no interventions.
Starting daily at your 34 week, place your clean, lubricated thumbs
one-and-a-half inches into your vagina and press steadily down for
two minutes, to the right for two minutes, then to the left for two
minutes. If your belly gets too big to reach under, ask your
partner to do it for you.
Too many episiotomies. Episiotomies are often performed unnecessarily to ease delivery.
Women who are not surgically cut have less infection and pain after
delivery. The notion that the trauma of birth would lead to
neurological disorders in the infant, is unfounded. Obstetrics
and Gynecology, April, 2000
Too many C-Sections. Doctors often perform c-section deliveries too quickly, according
to studies, against professional guidelines. Obstetrics and
Gynecology 2000, Reuters Health
Anxious moms
= low birth weight. Stressed moms who expect problems, get problems
with a less developed baby says research from Queen Charlotte's and
Chelsea Hospital in London.
(See,
the proof is in the pudding -- Don't worry, be happy! Positive thinking
works in more ways than one -- it's more effective than most people
imagine)
Night lights
= nearsightedness. A study has shown that children who under the
age of two slept with a light on have a much higher risk of needing
glasses due to nearsightedness. The brighter the light, the higher
the risk. Eye development slows at age two. Only 10% of infants who
sleep in the dark become nearsighted, but 34% will with a night light
and 55% with a room light. Pediatric MD and scientist Richard Stone
thinks our eyes need darkness to develop properly.
- University of Pennsylvania