I am NOT writing this to make people believe that I am a good person and it will probably make me sound completely narcissistic, but I feel that my passion often gets misunderstood for judgement. I care A LOT about living things. Like, weirdly a lot. When I was a kid and believed in prayer, I remember praying night after night after night for all the homeless dogs in the world to find safe and loving homes. I wanted so badly to open a shelter for dogs and take them ALL in. My heart is so filled with compassion for others that it hurts. I often lay awake at night thinking about what I can do to make this world a better place.
I have an intense passion for natural birth, breastfeeding & saying no to circumcision. I have no idea why these issues burn within me, but they do. I am not judging those who do differently, I can't control what I am passionate about. I don't speak out about this stuff to make people feel guilty about the choices they have made, I do it because someone did it for me and I'm paying it forward.
The reason I chose to do things differently from what I had always known is because someone had approached me and informed me. I am SO thankful for those people and for the scientific studies to convince me that my instincts weren't crazy.
After learning about the side effects of the drugs used during labor, I made the choice that I would do everything I could to prepare for a natural labor. My health made me a great candidate for an out of hospital birth, if I didn't have great health a midwife would not have taken me on. I am so thankful we have hospitals for those women with complicated pregnancies or births. The problem I have with some medical providers is that they don't tell the mothers about the risks of certain drugs and procedures and often do unnecessary procedures. We don't know the long term effects of these drugs, some studies have correlated pain medication used during labor with a higher chance of drug and alcohol addictions in the babies born this way when they grow up, again this is a correlation not a causation. I have a lot of friends who requested their medical records after a c-section, then had them reviewed by other medical professionals who informed them their c-section was unnecessary. This is a major surgery that should never be done when not necessary. I am glad we have doctors to perform these in cases where they are needed. If I was in a hospital (5 years ago) when I had Ella I would have been c-sectioned. I pushed for 4 hours and this was in an environment I was respected and comfortable, I cannot imagine how slowly my cervix would have opened in the hospital environment where people would be coming in and out of the room not respecting my peaceful labor space. There is a reason mammals hide to labor alone! I was exhausted and asked my midwife to just pull her out but my midwife believed in me, she knew the baby and I were safe and healthy, and encouraged me to keep going. The c-section side effects could have led to a harder breastfeeding experience and I would not be the woman I am today. I didn't birth naturally to prove something or to show off, I did it because after researching, I knew it was the safest for both me and the baby. If there were any signs of distress during the labor I knew my midwife wouldn't hesitate to transfer me to the hospital.
Once I choose a care provider that only assisted in natural births(transferred to the hospital if problems arise) I had a huge list of questions for her. One of those questions was about circumcision. We asked her thoughts on it and all she said was it is medically unnecessary and that's all it took for me to research why in the world is this done if it's not necessary medically.
Once I had the facts I could no longer be silent. I was naive to think that others wanted to review the studies and learn the information I had just learned. Now, I lay awake at night unable to get the picture of baby boys strapped down getting their foreskin cut off, while screaming in pain or not screaming because they are in shock, often times without any pain medication for no medical reason whatsoever, out of my head. Why aren't we removing our daughter's breast buds at birth to avoid getting breast cancer? Why don't we cut off parts of girls genitals, we do get way more UTI's and other infections than men that have their foreskin. (female genital mutilation became illegal in 1996 in the US) Also, maybe we should remove our toenails at birth, wouldn't life be so much easier if we didn't have to clip and clean our toenails? If you think these questions sound ridiculous, what's so different about circumcision. It's a human right to be able to choose what body parts we keep. Why would this be considered abuse but not the cutting off of a perfectly healthy and useful foreskin? The foreskin does have a purpose, you can read about it here: Purpose of the foreskin I am confident that I can raise a son with enough common sense to pull back his foreskin every so often in the shower just like I am confident my daughter will clean herself. My son hasn't fully retracted yet so it's been incredibly easy to keep him clean, WAY easier than keeping a girl clean. You clean it like a finger, clean what is seen, if intact don't retract. Also, some parents worry about their child being teased in the locker room - well, that should no longer be an issue because 67% of the boys in the US are kept intact - most recent number that I can find, 80% of the boys in the world are kept intact. I never did understand why anyone would be teased because they didn't have penis reduction surgery? Then there is the statement, "well, my husband is so our son should be too." Are you going to have penis comparison contests? Are men so insecure about what they lost that they have to do this to their sons also?
There are so many issues in this world, why do I feel so strongly about genital integrity? Well, I think removing a body part from another human without his or her consent is a huge issue in this world so maybe I'm not so weird after all. I marched on the Capital lawn in Washington DC with so many men protesting infant circumcision. They were never given the choice, it was made for them. Circumcision should be a decision that an adult makes for himself and if he chooses to be circumcised, more power to him. So, people can laugh at me for feeling strongly about a babies right to his whole body, but I find nothing funny about this issue.
Then comes my passion for breastfeeding. I am so passionate about breastfeeding that I am pursuing a career in it. If I was wealthy I would still be pursuing a career in this field, but I would be doing it for free. I get so much joy from seeing a mom and baby successfully breastfeeding because it can be so difficult, and frustrating, and emotional, and isolating in this society. It doesn't come easy for a lot of women. I don't promote breastfeeding to make those who didn't breastfeed feel guilty, I do it because I want new mothers to feel like they have support and to know that there is help when it doesn't come easy. I want to teach breastfeeding classes to expectant parents because choices they make for the birth can greatly effect breastfeeding, especially milk production. Those first few hours after birth are so crucial to breastfeeding success, if they have some advice going into it, it could make things so much smoother. Only 3% of women cannot breastfeed, and this is because of medical issues - so why do so many mothers say they "cannot" breastfeed? Hormones are released during labor and when you introduce medications during labor it inhibits these hormones from being released and can cause problems with milk coming in or not enough milk. Post labor procedures can interrupt the bond between mom and baby, the naked unbathed baby should be placed on mom's naked chest immediately(unless there is a medical reason this cannot be done) and breastfeeding should be initiated within the first hour after birth. The mom and baby shouldn't be separated during those first weeks post birth. So many factors in our society make it hard for a women to successfully breastfeed. Women are told so many myths about why they won't be able to breastfeed.
The benefits of breastfeeding, or should I say the risks of formula feeding need to be known before making a decision that will effect your child for the rest of their lives. Formula fed babies have a higher chance of certain types of cancer, diabetes, asthma, allergies, lower IQ, increased chance of SIDS, and increased chance that the baby will struggle with obesity later in life. Again, this is not to make people feel guilty, these are proven facts.
Breastmilk helps develop a baby’s immune system.Breastfeeding protects the baby from a long list of illnesses, too many to go into on here.
Benefits of breastfeeding for the mother are also numerous. Immediate benefits include reducing uterine bleeding after childbirth by facilitating shrinking the uterus back to pre-pregnancy size and helping shed weight gained during pregnancy. Breastfeeding releases oxytocin and prolactin hormones that relax the mother and make her feel more nurturing toward her baby reducing the chance of postpartum depression. Longer term benefits include reducing the risk of diabetes, ovarian cancer, and some forms of breast cancer.
Shouldn't every mother have the support and encouragement to give her baby this endlessly beneficial superfood and reap the benefits from it herself? If breastfeeding is hard for you and you want to give up, seek help from a lactation consultant, help is out there. If your milk supply is low, there are natural remedies to increase your supply and tricks to get your milk flowing, seek help. If it hurts, seek help, breastfeeding should never hurt. If your baby won't latch, there is help out there. Hopefully, the next generation will have more support as more and more mothers breastfeed. Advice for breastfeeding used to be passed on from mother to mother until it was lost in the 50's when formula companies took over and labor went from midwifes to mostly male doctors - never trained in natural birth or breastfeeding. Michael Odent MD, author of "Birth and Breastfeeding", is a fantastic source if you want to learn about how birth and breastfeeding were treated during this time.
I was just reading in Jack Newman's, "The Ultimate Breastfeeding Book of Answers", that formula shouldn't be the second choice if breastfeeding is not going well. Breastmilk from the breast is always best because the shape of the breast develops the baby’s palate correctly to help prevent malocclusions, such as space deficiency, open bites and cross-bites. Breastfed babies have decreased thumb sucking, bottle use, and pacifier use, decreasing the likelihood of expensive and painful orthodontic treatments later in life. If you cannot get your baby to latch(seek help from a lactation consultant first), pumping milk and feeding from a dropper, cup or bottle is next best. If you cannot produce milk(seek help), the next step is a breastmilk bank. There are breastmilk banks all over the country, the milk is tested for safety and can be shipped to you if you don't live close to one. There are also wet nurses, not so common in our society but there are mothers who would love to do this for you at least part time. I was always open to nursing others babies if needed and would have done so in a heartbeat if asked. There is also mother to mother milk sharing. I knew mothers in DC who did this. One had a large supply and one had a low supply, so the mother with the large supply was so kind to just give her milk to the one with the low supply for no compensation. Also, you CAN breastfeed an adopted baby ; ) !! How cool is that? I just happened to meet one of these moms this month. She induced lactation and successfully breastfed her adopted baby. What an incredible way to bond!
I'm stealing this from Pinterst: Breastfeeding is 90% determination, 10% milk production
I have an intense passion for natural birth, breastfeeding & saying no to circumcision. I have no idea why these issues burn within me, but they do. I am not judging those who do differently, I can't control what I am passionate about. I don't speak out about this stuff to make people feel guilty about the choices they have made, I do it because someone did it for me and I'm paying it forward.
The reason I chose to do things differently from what I had always known is because someone had approached me and informed me. I am SO thankful for those people and for the scientific studies to convince me that my instincts weren't crazy.
After learning about the side effects of the drugs used during labor, I made the choice that I would do everything I could to prepare for a natural labor. My health made me a great candidate for an out of hospital birth, if I didn't have great health a midwife would not have taken me on. I am so thankful we have hospitals for those women with complicated pregnancies or births. The problem I have with some medical providers is that they don't tell the mothers about the risks of certain drugs and procedures and often do unnecessary procedures. We don't know the long term effects of these drugs, some studies have correlated pain medication used during labor with a higher chance of drug and alcohol addictions in the babies born this way when they grow up, again this is a correlation not a causation. I have a lot of friends who requested their medical records after a c-section, then had them reviewed by other medical professionals who informed them their c-section was unnecessary. This is a major surgery that should never be done when not necessary. I am glad we have doctors to perform these in cases where they are needed. If I was in a hospital (5 years ago) when I had Ella I would have been c-sectioned. I pushed for 4 hours and this was in an environment I was respected and comfortable, I cannot imagine how slowly my cervix would have opened in the hospital environment where people would be coming in and out of the room not respecting my peaceful labor space. There is a reason mammals hide to labor alone! I was exhausted and asked my midwife to just pull her out but my midwife believed in me, she knew the baby and I were safe and healthy, and encouraged me to keep going. The c-section side effects could have led to a harder breastfeeding experience and I would not be the woman I am today. I didn't birth naturally to prove something or to show off, I did it because after researching, I knew it was the safest for both me and the baby. If there were any signs of distress during the labor I knew my midwife wouldn't hesitate to transfer me to the hospital.
Once I choose a care provider that only assisted in natural births(transferred to the hospital if problems arise) I had a huge list of questions for her. One of those questions was about circumcision. We asked her thoughts on it and all she said was it is medically unnecessary and that's all it took for me to research why in the world is this done if it's not necessary medically.
Once I had the facts I could no longer be silent. I was naive to think that others wanted to review the studies and learn the information I had just learned. Now, I lay awake at night unable to get the picture of baby boys strapped down getting their foreskin cut off, while screaming in pain or not screaming because they are in shock, often times without any pain medication for no medical reason whatsoever, out of my head. Why aren't we removing our daughter's breast buds at birth to avoid getting breast cancer? Why don't we cut off parts of girls genitals, we do get way more UTI's and other infections than men that have their foreskin. (female genital mutilation became illegal in 1996 in the US) Also, maybe we should remove our toenails at birth, wouldn't life be so much easier if we didn't have to clip and clean our toenails? If you think these questions sound ridiculous, what's so different about circumcision. It's a human right to be able to choose what body parts we keep. Why would this be considered abuse but not the cutting off of a perfectly healthy and useful foreskin? The foreskin does have a purpose, you can read about it here: Purpose of the foreskin I am confident that I can raise a son with enough common sense to pull back his foreskin every so often in the shower just like I am confident my daughter will clean herself. My son hasn't fully retracted yet so it's been incredibly easy to keep him clean, WAY easier than keeping a girl clean. You clean it like a finger, clean what is seen, if intact don't retract. Also, some parents worry about their child being teased in the locker room - well, that should no longer be an issue because 67% of the boys in the US are kept intact - most recent number that I can find, 80% of the boys in the world are kept intact. I never did understand why anyone would be teased because they didn't have penis reduction surgery? Then there is the statement, "well, my husband is so our son should be too." Are you going to have penis comparison contests? Are men so insecure about what they lost that they have to do this to their sons also?
There are so many issues in this world, why do I feel so strongly about genital integrity? Well, I think removing a body part from another human without his or her consent is a huge issue in this world so maybe I'm not so weird after all. I marched on the Capital lawn in Washington DC with so many men protesting infant circumcision. They were never given the choice, it was made for them. Circumcision should be a decision that an adult makes for himself and if he chooses to be circumcised, more power to him. So, people can laugh at me for feeling strongly about a babies right to his whole body, but I find nothing funny about this issue.
Then comes my passion for breastfeeding. I am so passionate about breastfeeding that I am pursuing a career in it. If I was wealthy I would still be pursuing a career in this field, but I would be doing it for free. I get so much joy from seeing a mom and baby successfully breastfeeding because it can be so difficult, and frustrating, and emotional, and isolating in this society. It doesn't come easy for a lot of women. I don't promote breastfeeding to make those who didn't breastfeed feel guilty, I do it because I want new mothers to feel like they have support and to know that there is help when it doesn't come easy. I want to teach breastfeeding classes to expectant parents because choices they make for the birth can greatly effect breastfeeding, especially milk production. Those first few hours after birth are so crucial to breastfeeding success, if they have some advice going into it, it could make things so much smoother. Only 3% of women cannot breastfeed, and this is because of medical issues - so why do so many mothers say they "cannot" breastfeed? Hormones are released during labor and when you introduce medications during labor it inhibits these hormones from being released and can cause problems with milk coming in or not enough milk. Post labor procedures can interrupt the bond between mom and baby, the naked unbathed baby should be placed on mom's naked chest immediately(unless there is a medical reason this cannot be done) and breastfeeding should be initiated within the first hour after birth. The mom and baby shouldn't be separated during those first weeks post birth. So many factors in our society make it hard for a women to successfully breastfeed. Women are told so many myths about why they won't be able to breastfeed.
The benefits of breastfeeding, or should I say the risks of formula feeding need to be known before making a decision that will effect your child for the rest of their lives. Formula fed babies have a higher chance of certain types of cancer, diabetes, asthma, allergies, lower IQ, increased chance of SIDS, and increased chance that the baby will struggle with obesity later in life. Again, this is not to make people feel guilty, these are proven facts.
Breastmilk helps develop a baby’s immune system.Breastfeeding protects the baby from a long list of illnesses, too many to go into on here.
Benefits of breastfeeding for the mother are also numerous. Immediate benefits include reducing uterine bleeding after childbirth by facilitating shrinking the uterus back to pre-pregnancy size and helping shed weight gained during pregnancy. Breastfeeding releases oxytocin and prolactin hormones that relax the mother and make her feel more nurturing toward her baby reducing the chance of postpartum depression. Longer term benefits include reducing the risk of diabetes, ovarian cancer, and some forms of breast cancer.
I was just reading in Jack Newman's, "The Ultimate Breastfeeding Book of Answers", that formula shouldn't be the second choice if breastfeeding is not going well. Breastmilk from the breast is always best because the shape of the breast develops the baby’s palate correctly to help prevent malocclusions, such as space deficiency, open bites and cross-bites. Breastfed babies have decreased thumb sucking, bottle use, and pacifier use, decreasing the likelihood of expensive and painful orthodontic treatments later in life. If you cannot get your baby to latch(seek help from a lactation consultant first), pumping milk and feeding from a dropper, cup or bottle is next best. If you cannot produce milk(seek help), the next step is a breastmilk bank. There are breastmilk banks all over the country, the milk is tested for safety and can be shipped to you if you don't live close to one. There are also wet nurses, not so common in our society but there are mothers who would love to do this for you at least part time. I was always open to nursing others babies if needed and would have done so in a heartbeat if asked. There is also mother to mother milk sharing. I knew mothers in DC who did this. One had a large supply and one had a low supply, so the mother with the large supply was so kind to just give her milk to the one with the low supply for no compensation. Also, you CAN breastfeed an adopted baby ; ) !! How cool is that? I just happened to meet one of these moms this month. She induced lactation and successfully breastfed her adopted baby. What an incredible way to bond!
I'm stealing this from Pinterst: Breastfeeding is 90% determination, 10% milk production
I wrote a short piece in the local childbirth newsletter, I'm planning to write a little something each month for the newsletter. The link is below:
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