The 4th Trimester - Mothering the Mother

Often times the 9 months of growing a baby are spent in the "hurry up and wait" mode in the ongoing anticipation of the birth. Then the little one arrives and its a whole new scenario with many changes occur physiological, psychological and spiritual for the mother, baby and family. In this culture not enough attention is given to Mom's recuperation and transition.

During the time between birth and 6-8 weeks post-birth Mom's body is still working hard and experiencing a lot of physical shifts. The most important among them include healing of the uterus and uterine wall, vaginal restoration and healing of the pelvic floor muscles including the perineum, restoring strength and tone to the abdominal wall muscles, if nursing - establishing a good milk supply and successful breastfeeding, and coping with endocrine system and hormonal shifts.

In "The Importance of Postpartum Care" by Rev. Pilar (Ma’at) Grant, a midwife and women's health educator with over 20 years of practice, says:

"In the US, there is no set standard of care for women postpartum. Most are routinely sent home from the hospital with only instructions on a paper and told to make an appointment in 5 to 6 weeks. Homebirth mothers usually see their midwife for 2 to 3 days postpartum and then again in about a week. After that, mothers are not seen again until 6 weeks. I was shocked to learn that some midwives give no postpartum visits and women are advised to visit an OBGYN in 6 weeks. Many women return to work still experiencing postpartum issues."

"Postpartum care is not ignored throughout the entire nation. In the south where I grew up, there are women who still know and try to teach the important rituals during the monthly menstrual period and afterbirth. They understand the significance of staying warm, eating foods that stick to your ribs, not getting wet and catching a chill due to pores being open during the menses and afterbirth. These remedies are usually referred to as old wives tales or superstition. However, the elders argue that because they followed these rituals, they did not suffer from the same reproductive problems that women today do."

This is an area where the United States lacks a significant cultural practice around caring for women that many other countries know, honor and embrace.

Read Grant's whole article here:

http://mothering.com/pregnancy-birth/mothering-mother-importance-after-birth-care

Backwards is Safest

The leading cause of death for toddlers in the United States isn't poisoning, medical ailments or accidents around the home. By far the biggest killer of children is car crashes.

On Thursday, the National Transportation Safety Board holds a forum on car seat safety in Washington. Some of the recommendations could mean wholesale changes to how Americans transport their kids.

The reason to keep kids facing the back as they get older - even up to the age of 4 - is simple physics. In a head-on collision, a rear-facing car seat spreads the energy of the crash across the toddler's entire back, not just across a narrow portion of a tiny body.

Studies have shown that toddlers in a rear-facing car seat are five times safer than those who face forward. In the U.S., five children a day die, on average, in car crashes. That's frustrating to pediatricians.

Most 4-year-olds in Sweden are transported this way. European car seats are larger, and the cars are engineered so they can accommodate them. "Cultural change is very slow," says Alisa Baer, a pediatrician who helps run TheCarSeatLady.com. "The United States is a society that doesn't like to be told what to do."



Source:

NPR @


CarSeatLady:

Friday October 15 - A Day of Remembrance for Pregnancy and Infant Loss

Everyday in the U.S.2000 women lose a pregnancy. That’s 700,000 a year, about one in every three pregnancies. And yet it is a devastating event that is rarely spoken about. Erasing that silence is one of the goals of this day of remembrance - to open up conversations about miscarriage, stillbirths, SIDs and infant loss.

This Friday, October 15 at 7 p.m.parents, grandparents, siblings relatives and friends will be lighting candles at 7 p.m.and burning them for one hour in memory of babies who have died. Many families grieve out of sight and in silence and this special day is an opportunity to break the silence and come together within families and communities to openly mourn these losses and support these families.

If you know someone who has experienced the loss of a pregnancy,and infant or a child of any age - please reach out to them today. It doesn't need to be a grand gesture or long conversation, a phone call, a note or a cookie with a cup of tea will mean the world to them.

Here in Columbus a Memorial Ceremony will take place on Friday, starting at 6 p.m.at Highbanks Metro Park at the Mansion Shelter House. More information can be found by contacting http://sharon@sacredbeginning.com

SHARE is a nationwide group that helps families touched by this tragedy. They have online chat groups, discussion groups and help famillies find local resources and information about infant loss. http://www.nationalshare.org

I AM THE FACE is a campaign sponsored by Faces of Loss, Faces of Hope. It is an online community of women who have experienced miscarriage, stillbirth, and infant loss. They share their stories, connect with others who have been through similar experiences, feel “normal,” and know they are not alone. And, most touchingly, they share their photos - giving faces to this tragedy and reminding other women that they are not alone. http://www.iamtheface.org/

Here are some of the resources available in Columbus and Central Ohio to support those dealing with pregnancy/infant loss.

• Nationwide Children's Hospital, meeting at the Center for Family and Child Advocacy 2nd Thursday of the month, 6:30 p.m. 655 East Livingston Ave 43205 info @ 722-5250 Children welcome http://www.nationwidechildrens.org/ccfa
• Ohio Infant Loss Support Group, Kobacker House, (next to Riverside Hospital) 1st Tuesday of the month, 7 p.m. 3595 Olentangy River Road 43214 info @ 566-4509 www.ohiohealth.combodytop.cfm?id=4467
• Mount Carmel St. Ann's Pregnancy Loss Support Group 4th Tuesday of the month, 7 p.m. Women's Health Center 477 Cooper Rd. Westerville 43081 info @ 234-5999 http://www.mountcarmelhealth.com/education-support/support-groups/2.html 2nd Saturday of the month, 10:30 a.m. Evergreen Center 1144 Dublin Rd. Dublin 43215 info @ 234-0220 http://www.mountcarmelhealth.com/programs-services/pregnancy-infant-loss/
• Compassionate Friends, for those who have lost a child of any age 2nd & 4th Tuesday of month, 7:30 p.m. Ascension Church 1479 Morse Rd, Columbus 43229 info @ 882-8986 http://www.tcfcolumbusoh.org
• Hospice of Central Ohio Pregnancy & Infant Loss Group 4th Wednesday of the month, 7 p.m. 2269 Cherry Valley Road, Newark 43055 info @ 740-344-0311 http://www.hospiceofcentralohio.org
• Dublin Counseling Center, At a Loss Support Group, free - for parents who have lost a child of any age 1st & 3rd Tuesday of the month, 6 - 7:30 p.m. 299 Cramer Creek Court, Dublin 43017 info @ 899-5722 http://www,dublincounselingcenter.org

Circumsion Rate Falling Fast in U.S.

New research about a steep drop in circumcisions made headlines this past week. According to one federal researcher, circumcision rates in U.S. hospitals slid from 56 percent in 2006 to fewer than a third of boys born last year.

Doctors caution that those numbers aren't definitive — for instance, they don't include circumcisions not covered by insurance policies or circumcisions performed in religious settings.

But Dr. Douglas Diekema, a pediatrics bioethicist at the University of Washington, tells NPR's Audie Cornish there's no doubt about the overall trend.

"I think all of us agree there probably is a decrease in the number of circumcisions over time, and that's probably a result of a number of factors," Diekema says.

"About 10 years ago, the American Academy of Pediatrics came out with a policy statement that was fairly neutral on whether circumcisions should be recommended for newborns or not," says Diekema. "And that probably changed the way physicians were talking to their families."

In many states, Medicaid stopped covering the procedure as a result of that policy statement. And many insurance companies followed suit, meaning that more and more families might have decided to forgo circumcision just because of the expense.

"It's also worth pointing out that our population is becoming increasingly Hispanic," says Diekema, "And that's a population that has not traditionally circumcised their babies."

'Intactivists'

Another possible explanation for the decrease might be the anti-circumcision advocates known as "intactivists." They've lobbied forcefully against circumcision for years now, and some people compare them to anti-vaccination advocates. But Diekema criticizes their tactics.

"Their arguments are largely emotional," says Diekema. "Just the fact that they insist on referring to this as 'genital mutilation' tells you that they're refusing to recognize whether there may be any medical benefit to the procedure."

And the benefits are large, he says.

"There is a fairly substantial, important reduction in the risk of contracting many sexually transmitted infections," says Diekema. "In newborns, there is a decreased likelihood of getting a urinary tract infection, which for a newborn baby can be a very significant illness."

And, he says, "at least three well-done, randomized control trials in Africa show a substantial decrease in the transmission of HIV [due to circumcision]."

Ultimately, in spite of arguments on both sides of the issue, Diekema says that male circumcision is a decision that families should make on their own. He says a doctor's role is to make sure the family is aware of the risks and benefits of the procedure.

But, he says, "the risks of circumcision are considerably lower in the newborn population than they are if that child is older."

source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129362160&ft=1&f=1001

CHOICE - Birth Options in Columbus

CHOICE is an organization of parents and professionals supporting the rights of parents to choose more humane options in their birth experiences.

CHOICE offers a unique program to the community, not found in most midwifery practices. As a non-profit organization, CHOICE provides the following services:

• CHOICE Services:
  • Free one-hour consultation with midwives, regardless of whether or not you choose to use our services.
  • Free Lending Library (including books and videos and DVDs)
  • Childbirth Preparation Classes
  • Birth and Postpartum Doula Services
  • Parent Support Group with weekly meetings and an active e-list
  • Referrals to practitioners who can meet your needs
  • Public Speakers for community education
  • Supplies and Products:
    • Slings
    • Supplements
    • Herbal Products
    • Parent Resource Center (free maternity clothes, baby clothes and baby equipment)

• CHOICE Midwives:
  • Our midwives have over 30 years of experience and are committed to providing individualized midwifery model of care.
    • CHOICE believes that skilled and responsible midwives should be readily available to all families in our community.
    • CHIOCE believes midwives are the guardians of normal birth.
    • CHOICE believes that midwives provide compassionate, skilled, and woman-centered care.
    • CHOICE believes in a woman’s right to choose her birth attendants and place of birth and to involve those she identifies as her family in the bonding of the birth experience.
  • CHOICE requires all their midwives to be Certified Professional Midwives (CPM).
    • CPM certification validates entry-level knowledge, skills, and experience vital to responsible midwifery practice.
    • CPM certification preserves the unique, woman-centered forms of practice that are common to midwives attending out-of-hospital births.
    • The North American Registry of Midwives (NARM) guidelines for certification approval have been developed to meet national certifying standards formulated by the National Organization for Competency Assurance (NOCA).
    • CPM certification assures our midwives:
      • will provide the skills and experience vital to responsible midwifery practice.
      • meet professional standards of accountability that support midwives to remain active lifelong learners, confirming the ideals of competent practice.
      • meet NARM’s continuing education requirements that provide consistent opportunities for current knowledge and growing professional awareness.
      • maintain confidentiality, current practice guidelines and CPR certification.
      • practice informed consent which provides flexibility for individualized care.
      • have the benefit of continued understanding and problem solving through weekly CHOICE Peer Review.
      • participate in NARM’s accountability process to address concerns regarding competent midwifery practice.

• CHOICE Policies
  • Unlike most midwifery practices,
    • CHOICE requires two CPMs to work with each client who desires a home birth.
    • CHOICE requires that at least one of these two CPMs must be an “experienced midwife”. CHOICE defines “experienced midwife” as a midwife who:
      • has attended at least 75 births AND
      • has been in practice at least 5 years.
      • This policy assures that:
        • at least one of the two midwives assigned to each birth will have skills and experience that exceed the national standards for competent entry-level midwifery practice.
        • even when more than one client is in labor at the same time, the client can be assured that she will have at least one of her assigned midwives present during her labor and birth.
        • two fully qualified midwives will be present at each birth to deal with complications that may develop with either the mother or the baby. Should complications develop with both the mother and the baby simultaneously, a fully qualified midwife will be available to handle each situation.

• CHOICE Home Birth Midwifery Services include:
  • Complete Prenatal, Labor/Birth and Postpartum Care
  • Support for:
    • Waterbirth
    • VBACs
    • Breastfeeding
    • Nutritional Counseling

• Area Served: Central Ohio (Franklin County and all adjacent counties)

CHOICE
5721 North High Street – Worthington, Ohio 43085 – 614-263-BABY (2229)

Mother's Touch Stimulates Child's Brain Development

UCI child neurologist and neuroscientist Dr. Tallie Z. Baram has found that caressing and other sensory input triggers activity in a baby’s developing brain that improves cognitive function and builds resilience to stress.




Baram has found that maternal care and other sensory input triggers activity in a baby's developing brain that improves cognitive function and builds resilience to stress. For an infant, a mother’s touch provides a feeling of security, comfort and love. But research at UC Irvine is showing that it does much more.

The finding contributes to growing knowledge about epigenetics, the study of how environmental factors can reprogram the expression of genes.

In a study published earlier this year in The Journal of Neuroscience, Baram and colleagues identified how sensory stimuli from maternal care can modify genes that control a key messenger of stress called corticotropin-releasing hormone.

In earlier work, Baram helped discover that excessive amounts of CRH in the brain’s primary learning and memory center led to the disintegration of dendritic spines, branchlike structures on neurons. Dendritic spines facilitate the sending and receiving of messages among brain cells and the collection and storage of memories.

“Communication among brain cells is the foundation of cognitive processes such as learning and memory,” says Baram, the Danette Shepard Chair in Neurological Sciences. “In several brain disorders where learning and similar thought processes are abnormal, dendritic spines have been found to be reduced in density or poorly developed.

“Because an infant’s brain is still building connections in these communication zones, large blasts or long-term amounts of stress can permanently limit full development, increasing the risk of anxiety, depression and dementia later in life.”

Her most recent study describes for the first time the cellular pathways of the epigenetic process by which maternal care reduces the expression of CRH in the hypothalamus. Detecting sensory input, DNA in brain cells in this stress-sensitive region activates a neuron-restrictive silencer factor, which limits CRH. Without the interference of excess stress-triggered CRH, neural dendrites in the hippocampus can fully develop, which leads to stress resilience.

“What’s noteworthy about this study is that it reveals that brain structure is influenced by the environment early in life, and especially by maternal care,” says Baram, whose research on early-life factors in neural development has fundamentally altered the understanding of disorders such as epilepsy.

“There has been a belief that the brain is hardwired ­ that once it’s established, it’s that way for life,” she says. “But we’re seeing that the brain is actually ‘softwired’ ­ that changes in stimuli alter the wiring ­ and that it’s not predestined to be a certain way. I find this fascinating.”

Provided by UC Irvine

photo: http://www.massagetableoutlet.com/images/blog_images/mother-child.jpg

Just Because...to be shared with any guy who ignores Mother's Day, birthdays, etc.

Mother’s Day, birthdays and anniversaries are about appreciation, gratitude and celebration. These days acknowledge accomplishments achieved and challenges met as we roll from year to year; they recognize and honor the large and small successes of daily life, obstacles overcome and joys shared.

Celebrations mark occasions and efforts that deserve honor and special attention, remind us of who and what are important and of our common goals and dreams. Special days weave us together and replenish our individual and joint wells of strength so we have emotional resources and deep relationships to draw upon when the rough times abound.

When these special days or events don’t receive their due, it becomes a slight of omission, which creates a scratch on the Heart and over time these scratches accumulate and become a wound. The wound gives purchase for other slights to land upon, that otherwise may well have just slid away. These slights accumulate and eek deeper into the heart and soul. A wound ignored can turn debilitating. If tended to begin with, it heals.

Last year, when I was managing a flower shop guys would come in and tell me they needed flowers because they’d screwed something up with the woman in their life. How much trouble I’d ask? Whether they said a little or a lot, I sent them out the door with something sincere and heartfelt rather than grand and verbose: one rose instead of the 2 dozen he came in thinking he needed.

As I wrapped their flower/s, I’d tell them that the best occasion for flowers is no occasion: the best occasion is just because. Then it’s spontaneous, it has come from the heart: it’s just because you wanted to do something to bring someone joy. That’s what we want, and need: sincere gestures of love and appreciation. They don’t have to be grand and opulent and over the top (those are saved for turning 50 or being together 25 years!) Go for a pot of tulips, lunch out in the middle of the week, a magazine, a hug in the grocery store - well, maybe Home Depot - that's a lot more likely!

All of us - mothers, dads, kids - need acknowledgment and gifts of appreciation, on the special days and the "just because" ones.