British fertility clinic raffling human egg

What do you think of this?

"A British fertility clinic said Sunday it was raffling off a human egg this week to promote its "baby profiling" service, which it insists is legal under UK law".

British fertility clinic raffling human egg

Study finds genetic link between misery and death

Specifically, Cole analyzed transcription factor binding sequences in a gene called IL6, a molecule that is known to cause inflammation in the body and that contributes to cardiovascular disease, neurodegeneration and some types of cancer.

"The IL6 gene controls immune responses but can also serve as 'fertilizer' for cardiovascular disease and certain kinds of cancer," said Cole, who is also a member of UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and UCLA's Molecular Biology Institute. "Our studies were able to trace a biochemical pathway through which adverse life circumstances — fight-or-flight stress responses — can activate the IL6 gene.

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the IL6 gene.

IL-6 acts as both a pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokine - an immune system messenger molecule. IL-6 is relevant to many disease processes such as diabetes, atherosclerosis, systemic lupus erythematosus, prostate cancer and rheumatoid arthritis. Advanced metastatic cancer patients have higher levels of IL6 in their blood.
Cytokines are regulatory signaling proteins, taking messages from cell to cell and influencing the behaviour and activity of the cells. Their pro-inflammatory behaviour is implicated in many of the processes that plague pregnant women, causing havoc for them and their babies.

This study is very exciting. Such clear linking of stress response and cytokine activation as described by these researchers is essentially providing more evidence that pregnant women need environments which are calm, relaxed, nurturing and supportive. Midwives are the obvious people to support, nurture and ensure calm and relaxed surroundings as they work with women to normalise their experiences of change on the journey to becoming a mother.

1. Kristiansen OP, Mandrup-Poulsen T (December 2005). "Interleukin-6 and diabetes: the good, the bad, or the indifferent?". Diabetes 54 Suppl 2: S114–24. PMID 16306329.
2. Dubiński A, Zdrojewicz Z (April 2007). "[The role of interleukin-6 in development and progression of atherosclerosis]" (in Polish). Pol. Merkur. Lekarski 22 (130): 291–4. PMID 17684929.
3. Tackey E, Lipsky PE, Illei GG (2004). "Rationale for interleukin-6 blockade in systemic lupus erythematosus". Lupus 13 (5): 339–43. PMID 15230289.
4. Smith PC, Hobisch A, Lin DL, Culig Z, Keller ET (March 2001). "Interleukin-6 and prostate cancer progression". Cytokine Growth Factor Rev. 12 (1): 33–40. PMID 11312117.
5. Nishimoto N (May 2006). "Interleukin-6 in rheumatoid arthritis". Curr Opin Rheumatol 18 (3): 277–81. doi:10.1097/01.bor.0000218949.19860.d1. PMID 16582692.
6. "Cancer Patients Typically Have Increased Interleukin-6 Levels". American Society of Clinical Oncology 2006 Annual Meeting, Abstracts 8632 and 8633. Medscape.com. 2006-06-26. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/537309.

Study finds genetic link between misery and death

The pheromone myth: Sniffing out the truth - 24 February 2010 - New Scientist

Fascinating read

Richard L. Doty is director of the University of Pennsylvania's Smell and Taste Center. His awards include the US National Institutes of Health's James A. Shannon award (1996), and the Association for Chemoreception Sciences' Max Mozell award for outstanding achievement in the chemical senses (2005). This essay is based on his book, The Great Pheromone Myth (Johns Hopkins University Press)

Richard Doty states:

"All in all, it looks as if "pheromonology" has become a modern-day phrenology, providing simple but false explanations for most chemically mediated social behaviours and endocrine responses, satisfying only those who seek simple answers to complex phenomena. Perhaps once the idea that mammals have pheromones is dispelled, we can work towards an appreciation of the real role chemicals play in their lives".

The pheromone myth: Sniffing out the truth - 24 February 2010 - New Scientist

The Reinvention of the Self § SEEDMAGAZINE.COM

"Elizabeth Gould overturned one of the central tenets of neuroscience. Now she’s building on her discovery to show that poverty and stress may not just be symptoms of society, but bound to our anatomy".

Brilliant article about the role of the environment in making us who we are:

"Subsequent experiments have teased out a host of other ways stress can damage the developing brain. For example, if a pregnant rhesus monkey is forced to endure stressful conditions—like being startled by a blaring horn for 10 minutes a day—her children are born with reduced neurogenesis, even if they never actually experience stress once born. This pre-natal trauma, just like trauma endured in infancy, has life-long implications. The offspring of monkeys stressed during pregnancy have smaller hippocampi, suffer from elevated levels of glucocorticoids and display all the classical symptoms of anxiety. Being low in a dominance hierarchy also suppresses neurogenesis. So does living in a bare environment. As a general rule of thumb, a rough life—especially a rough start to life—strongly correlates with lower levels of fresh cells.
Gould’s research inevitably conjures up comparisons to societal problems. And while Gould, like all rigorous bench scientists, prefers to focus on the strictly scientific aspects of her data—she is wary of having it twisted for political purposes—she is also acutely aware of the potential implications of her research".

The environment shapes us, from the very beginning to the very end.

"...As Nottebohm has said, “Take nature away and all your insight is in a biological vacuum.” Nottebohm discovered neurogenesis in birds learning to sing in their natural habitat". If he'd studied birds in cages, they would have been too stressed to sing and therefore wouldn't have grown new neurons.

The Reinvention of the Self § SEEDMAGAZINE.COM

The implications for midwifery work with childbearing women is that midwives create the right environment within which women can explore becoming mothers in an optimal way.

Writing Speeches For The Government

Writing Speeches For The Government

MYLES PETERSON

February 21, 2010

Midway through last year I was head-hunted by the federal Department of Health and Ageing to write speeches for their ministers - a surprise as I had no experience or qualifications. As far as the department was aware, my limited skills were derived from reviewing video games for The Canberra Times.
Perplexed and amused, I dusted off the suit and attended my one and only interview. ''I'll be writing speeches for who?''
''Minister Roxon,'' answered my interviewer.
''And you're going to pay me how much?''
''Eighty thousand a year. Will that be enough?''
So began my journey down the public service rabbit-hole. I would soon learn that swine flu and a raid on staff by another department were to thank for my recruitment.

Sigh! An article well worth reading. So this is what we are dealing with folks!

Probing Question: Do emotions influence heart health?

Probing Question: Do emotions influence heart health?

"Can positive emotions like love, friendship and social connectedness improve health? It seems that way, suggests McDanel. Many studies have shown that patients who have caring support networks during health crises have better outcomes than those who do not, she said. A decade-long study on elderly Australians found that those with larger networks of friends were found to be 22 percent less likely to die during the study period than those with fewer friends.
"Friendships and supportive social networks can definitely help people through times of sickness or emotional hardship," McDanel said. "We have to treat people with a holistic approach, treating their physical maladies, improving their diet and exercise, but also working on their emotions and giving them the tools to manage them better."
Reducing stress, anger and loneliness, she said, is a recipe for good health"

Just goes to show, we need to be there for each other and be good to each other. Support and kindness are life saving.

Resilience therapy empowers family violence survivors

Resilience therapy empowers family violence survivors

"Thousands of men, women and children experience family violence each year, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Traditionally, therapy for violence survivors has predominantly focused on evaluating their trauma and pain. In contrast, a University of Missouri researcher broadens the therapeutic focus to empower survivors through highlighting their resilience, resourcefulness, and ability to overcome adversity".

Compared to current approaches that emphasize diagnosing symptoms and mental health issues, the strengths-based approach helps identify survivors' abilities, such as perseverance and overcoming, and how those skills can be used in their present-day lives.

"What are normally regarded as negative traits in survivors of family violence might actually be their survival strengths," Anderson said. "Traits that practitioners often try to change may be extremely important to maintain and can help survivors thrive in environments where there isn't violence."

Focusing on a strengths based approach to working with people is totally congruent with contemporary understanding about how the brain and nervous system works. Such an approach is capacity building and particularly useful for midwives working with childbearing women negotiating the changes that come with being pregnant, labour and learning how to be a mother with a new baby.

There are lessons to be heeded here:

"The strengths-based approach trains social workers, mental health practitioners, educators and students to uncover the positive in survivors' life stories—the skills gained by enduring and coping with immense adversity. This facilitates a more collaborative process, where the professional and the survivor each utilize their individual expertise to develop solutions.

"Victims of family violence find it difficult to see their own strengths and self-worth because it's often colored by shame and blame," Anderson said. "Similarly, practitioners find it difficult because they tend to focus only on victims' problems. Instead, they need to cast a light on survivors' abilities to cope and overcome the adversity brought on by family violence. This reveals hope that they won't always be victims of violence and they can achieve what they want in their lives, whatever their dreams are.

Most people find it difficult to see their own strengths and self worth, both necessary attributes for living a life of happiness and wellbeing. Midwives would do well to read this book and integrate the information into their practice so that the women they work with feel better about themselves when they leave their presence than when they came. That way women will also come to believe they can achieve what they want for themselves and their children.

Promoting healthy behaviour in expectant mums / Current news / The University of Newcastle, Australia

Tuesday 16 February 2010
From the University of Newcastle website:

"Researchers at the University of Newcastle say many pregnant Australian women have difficulty exercising enough and consuming the recommended levels of nutrients.
A report on women's reproductive health — released by the Minister for Health and Ageing, the Hon Nicola Roxon MP — is the latest from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (ALSWH). Now in its 16th year, the ALSWH has surveyed more than 40,000 women across three age groups.
"While women generally improve their diets when pregnant, many consume less than the recommended levels of folate and iron," report contributor, Jennifer Powers, said. “Many women quit smoking and stop drinking alcohol during pregnancy, but a small percentage of women continue to smoke and drink alcohol at levels considered unwise for pregnant women.
"Our research suggests there is an ongoing need for targeted public health messages that promote healthy behaviours during and after pregnancy."
The survey also showed that around 10 per cent of women who had given birth within a three-year period reported a diagnosis of post-natal depression.
"This diagnosis was less likely in mothers who had good social support networks," report contributor, Catherine Chojenta, said.
Ms Powers said the health and wellbeing of mothers could also be influenced by their attachment to the paid workforce.
"Women who took 12 or more weeks maternity leave reported higher energy levels than women who took less time off work.
"These findings support the Australian Government's initiative for a minimum amount of maternity leave for all women."
The ALSWH is funded by the Australian Government through the Department of Health and Ageing.
The report Reproductive Health: Findings from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health is available at the Women's Health Australia website and the Department of Health and Ageing website.
Jennifer Powers and Catherine Chojenta are members of the Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) Public Health Research Program".
HMRI is a partnership between the University of Newcastle, Hunter New England Health and the community.



Promoting healthy behaviour in expectant mums / Current news / The University of Newcastle, Australia"

Sweet! -- sugar plays key role in cell division

Scientists seeking to understand the complex interactions involving hundreds of proteins that enables a human cell to split into two, have found a layer of regulation, that up until now has been invisible, although they were aware in 2005 that sugar helped to control cell division.

http://www.physorg.com/news6643.html

A sugar-based signaling pathway has been found that works independently and seems to be the trigger for the phosphorylation signaling system, which has always been thought to be 'the' pathway that underpinned human cell division processes

Sweet! -- sugar plays key role in cell division

Ant feeding on sugar crystal Wikipedia

The discovery of the sweet switch is considered to be "paradigm-shifting in terms of signaling. Signaling is how a cell perceives its environment, and how it regulates its machinery in response to stimuli. The new sugar switches reveal that the cellular circuitry is much more complex than previously thought".

Ah yes, our biology, physiology and entire being is fascinating! Layers upon layers of interaction are being discovered - we are not a 'done deal' by any means.

To the scientists:

"Because these previously unrecognized sugar switches are so abundant and potential targets of manipulation by drugs, the discovery of their role has implications for new treatments for a number of diseases, including cancer".

However, what about the role of something incredibly simple, like good low GI (glucose index) nutrition to prevent the signaling switch being corrupted in the first place?

Low GI foods

 

Recipes

http://www.lowcarbiseasy.com/aboutlowcarb.htm#why

 This information is vitally important for couples wanting to have a baby. Nutrition in one of the key environmental contributors to a healthy pregnancy that couples can take control of before they get pregnant. We know how vitally important optimal sugar control is to a healthy baby's anatomy and development.

Medical News: SMFM: Gene Variants Linked to Preterm Labor - in Meeting Coverage, SMFM from MedPage Today

Fascinating article

Medical News: SMFM: Gene Variants Linked to Preterm Labor - in Meeting Coverage, SMFM from MedPage Today

"Some women and fetuses carry gene variants that predispose them to the early onset of labor," Romero said.

The question we need to be asking is "what turns these gene variants 'on'?" and how can we keep them turned 'off'.

My hunch is that CRH is key to the inflammatory processes that do things to genetic switches.

What gets CRH fired up?

Embodied reactions (both conscious and other than conscious) to environmental stressors!

Hmm. Ina May Gaskin's Farm statistics are interesting and I had to put this article here to illustrate my thinking explained below.

Ina May Gaskin, Bonny Reid and her son

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/sep/26/natural-birth-expert

My theory and I know there is a lot of work to be done to 'prove' this 'scientifically', is that this is where one to one midwifery work is so beneficial. Authentic midwifery care, such as provided by midwives like Ina May Gaskin is an 'anxiolytic'. The kindly, loving relationship with a midwife the woman knows and trusts, helps a woman to stay calm, relaxed and feeling loved and through conversations and information sharing encourages the woman to eat well, exercise appropriately and minimise environmental toxins of all kinds - all of which serves to keep CRH stable and therefore physiology stable for optimal growth and functioning. My take on why the incidence of all that plagues pregnant women and their childbearing experience, such as preterm labour, pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, desultory labour etc ad infinitum, is lessened with good, one to one midwifery care.

What to do about the top 15 chemical additives in your food and other hazards

I found the article  Top 15 chemical additives in your food informative and concerning. We are the product of what we eat and we are affected by all the chemicals in our environment.  For pregnant women, what they eat today, walks and talks tomorrow - to borrow and adapt the advertising tagline of a bread manufacturer.

Some additives are said to enhance the nutritive value of the food. More information about what is safe and what is unsafe is available here http://www.cspinet.org/reports/chemcuisine.htm

Over 86,000 man made chemicals are now found in our environment, the number of synthetic chemicals has grown exponentially in 100 years. There were a little over 100 at the beginning of the 1900's. Our bodies are truly amazing that we maintain our health as well as we do, given the number of synthetic substances that our bodies process. Here's a report by the CDC on the measurements of 212 of these chemicals in human blood or urine

http://www.cdc.gov/exposurereport/

Many of the synthetic chemicals are hazardous to human health. One of the ways our bodies cope with toxic chemicals is to sequester them within fat cells. Chemical toxicity is said to be one of the components of the obesity epidemic. Obesity itself is associated with a burgeoning disease rate in the population. More worrying still is that up to 232 toxic chemicals have been detected in newborn cord blood (please see link below for report on umbilical cord blood report)

EWG Minority Cord Blood Report Executive Summary | Environmental Working Group

Even 'healthy' processed foods are suspect. Bonsoy, a popular soy milk drink was recalled in late December 2009 because of unsafe levels of iodine which caused illness in a cluster of people in NSW. Although iodine is necessary for optimal health, too much or too little is dangerous. Ironically , the Australian government was concerned with the drop in the use of iodised salt and has recently legislated for bread makers to add iodine to bread! Only organic bread is exempt.

http://www.recalls.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/971373

What can we do to minimise the effects of these synthetic and natural chemicals?

For a start, eliminate and avoid the synthetic ones and ensure the right intake of naturally occurring vitamins and minerals. To do so makes sense from a biological and ecological perspective.

Some suggestions include:

1. If you smoke, stop!

2. Drink lots of purified water - get a good purifier one that also removes 'bugs' - if you want to know a good one, contact me for a recommendation

3. Avoid processed food

4. take high quality, natural, organic supplements, including Omega 3's and antioxidants. Contact me if you want the best brand

5. Eat whole foods - buy locally grown

  Recipes

6. Avoid out of season whole foods - transportation involves time and chemical preservatives

7. Eat fresh foods - lots of salads

  Recipes

8. When you cook, cook slowly - avoid microwaves - keep veges crisp - do not use bicarb to keep greens 'green' - cook for a short time only

9. Reduce calories

10. Reduce salt intake

11. Reduce sugar intake

12. Drink green tea - antioxidant

13. Avoid transfats

14. Reduce your dependence on plastics of all kinds - bisphenol A is proving to be a real menace

15. Reduce pesticide use - go for the natural ways as much as possible

16. Grow your own veges and companion plant them

Sustainable Gardening Australia

Companion planting guide

 
17. When you grow your own veges, use natural fertilisers, not chemicals.


18. Don't use talcum powder - irritates mucous membranes and is associated with lung and ovarian cancer

19. Don't burn incense - the smoke is an irritant, as menacing as tobacco smoke

20. Get regular, brisk exercise every day for at least 30 minutes - helps the lymph system move toxins along and out - along with all the other benefits of walking

The most natural thing in the world!

The street were I live is on a little peninsula, boarded by a river on one side and a lake on the other. At the end of the street is a walking track through the bush to the end of the peninsula where the river meets the lake. The track is about a kilometre long.

looking out along the track

I have been writing a chapter on the birth environment in a new book by Lorna Davis called "Sustainability, Midwifery and Birth", the focus of which is reducing the carbon footprint of maternity care and the midwife's role in that. I took time out from the final edits and rejigging of the content yesterday evening to go for a walk. As I was walking back from the end of the track, musing about the chapter,  a young couple holding hands were walking towards me.

The father was 'wearing' a baby in a carrier produced by the Australian Breastfeeding Association. I stopped and said hello, congratulating them and commenting on the lovely baby to be told the baby was born the night before last. As we chatted, they told me they had their baby at home - 'in the water', said the proud grinning father as he gently stroked his daughter's hair. The mother was smiling with that look that new mothers who feel fabulous and proud of themselves do. Their conversation about their birth experience was calm, relaxed and full of a sense of joy. The young woman told me her sister is a midwife (who I know) and that the experience had been wonderful. Her confidence was palpable. Being in their presence was such a gift.

I left that couple and their new baby and walked back home, thinking about their experience. That woman's labour and birth was a perfect example of how birth, when women feel good and in control and surrounded by people who love and support her and her process, is a sustainable, eco-friendly human activity.

If ever anyone needs a reason to protect, promote and support normal natural birth, that woman and her experience provides a shining example of how birth is meant to be.

The most natural thing in the world...

BBC News - Dopamine levels in brain 'influence decision making'

Dopamine, a chemical with a key role in setting people's moods, could have a much wider-ranging impact on their everyday lives, research suggests.

Experiments show that altering levels of the chemical in the brain influences the decisions people make.
Professor John Maule, an expert in decision making, at Leeds University Business School, said that in recent years people had begun to realise emotional or "gut instinct" decision making was just as important in human choices as analytical decision making.

BBC News - Dopamine levels in brain 'influence decision making'

Reducing infant mortality and improving the health of babies

A powerful video on  Reducing infant mortality and improving the health of babies from film maker and writer Debbie Takikawa


Reducing Infant Mortality from Debby Takikawa on Vimeo.


The risk of premature birth is discussed in  Report: 13 million babies worldwide born premature
and 1 million premature babies die each year

"The preterm birth rate in the USA is especially high: 12.7% of all babies are born early, according to the March of Dimes. That rate has increased 36% in the past 25 years, partly because of an increase in elective cesarean section, an increase in older mothers and the growing use of assisted reproduction, which increases the risk of twins, triples and higher-order multiple births, the report says. Most of the increase in the USA is in "late preterm" babies, born at 34 to 36 weeks of pregnancy, the report says."

The Role of Environmental Hazards in Premature Birth is being more closely examined, because, as Jennifer Howse states in her position statement preceding the conference report

" Not long ago, discourse on preterm birth was nearly always centered on the role of the mother. Increasingly, however, environmental hazards are being recognized as contributors to the devastating and costly problem of preterm birth"

The words reportedly attributed to Nicholas Fisk, director of the University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research in Australia bear close investigation and consideration.

"Instead of focusing on acute preterm labor, researchers might help more women by identifying underlying problems, such as inflammation, that develop early in the pregnancy"

These emerging insights into the role of environmental toxins in premature birth and other disruptions to the whole process are providing a clarion call for the wholehearted support of all childbearing women by community and government structures to reduce stressors so that inflammatory processes are not switched on.

Medical News: Childhood Abuse Linked to Migraine - in Pediatrics, Domestic Violence from MedPage Today

This important study shows why getting it right during pregnancy and birth are so important. Babies and children must be protected. We have clear evidence of what helps to provide an environment where babies and children are cherished and protected. Childbearing women need to have their needs met, feel respected and valued. Women and their partners who are supported to bond with their babies during pregnancy and experience skin to skin with their babies at birth are less likely to abuse them. Babies who are breastfed are less likely to be abused. If we get it right at the beginning, imagine all the suffering we can eliminate.

Child Abuse Linked to Migraine

by Kristina Fiore, Staff writer, MedPage Today
Published: January 07, 2010
Reviewed by Dori F. Zaleznik, MD, Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston and Dorothy Caputo, MA, RN, BC-ADM, CDE, Nurse Planner Some

" Research suggests that there's an interaction between early maltreatment and chronic stress that leads to hypothalmic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysregulation


"Studies suggest that emotional abuse may have more lasting consequences, including psychiatric sequelae, than physical or sexual abuse," the researchers wrote. "Our finding that persons reporting emotional abuse had a significantly earlier age of migraine onset may have implications for its role in migraine pathophysiology."
For the third part of their study, the researchers looked at the relationship between childhood maltreatment and comorbid pain conditions in headache patients.
They found that 61% of patients reported at least one comorbid condition, while 18% reported two, and 13% reported three or more.
Prevalence of pain conditions was as follows:

• Irritable bowel syndrome: 31%
• Chronic fatigue syndrome: 16%
• Fibromyalgia: 10%
• Interstitial cystitis: 6.5%
• Arthritis: 25%
• Endometriosis (in women): 15%
• Uterine fibroids (in women): 14%

They found that emotional abuse was associated with increased prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, and arthritis, while physical neglect was associated with arthritis.
In women, physical abuse was associated with endometriosis and physical neglect with uterine fibroids.

Medical News: Childhood Abuse Linked to Migraine - in Pediatrics, Domestic Violence from MedPage Today

Preterm babies grow better with Mozart's music

Gone are the days when babies were thought to be 'blank slates' requiring only sleep, clean nappies, warmth and food.


Advances in neuroscience demonstrate that babies need much more than cursory attention to their basic physical needs. Babies from birth, whatever their gestation, require love, sensory stimulation including movement, skin to skin experience with their mothers and the opportunity to engage eye to eye with their mothers. Babies are sensitive, social and interactive; constantly seeking to engage; adjusting, learning and developing according to environmental cues, feedback and experiences.

The environmental needs of babies who are born prematurely require thoughtful consideration as they are often in nurseries, handled by strangers even though they are generally kind and well meaning and subject to painful and unpleasant stimuli.

Exciting work, exploring the needs of premature babies is leading to brilliant discoveries by pioneers such as Dr Nils Bergman, who was the first to highlight the tactile needs of premature babies and developed kangaroo mothercare, or skin to skin baby wearing for premature infants and their mothers.

Dr Bergman demonstrated that premature babies who had 'kangaroo care' stabilise better and faster, cry less, fuss less, grow better and have enhanced brain development. Mother/baby bonding is improved too.

http://www.kangaroomothercare.com/


The recognition that babies are people too and thrive in an enriched environment has had another boost.

A new study carried out by Dr. Dror Mandel and Dr. Ronit Lubetzky of the Tel Aviv Medical Center affiliated with Tel Aviv University's Sackler School of Medicine has found that pre-term infants exposed to thirty minutes of Mozart's music in one session, once per day expend less energy -- and therefore need fewer calories to grow rapidly -- than when they are not "listening" to the music.
"It's not exactly clear how the music is affecting them, but it makes them calmer and less likely to be agitated," says Dr. Mendel, a lecturer at Tel Aviv University.
In the study, Dr. Mandel and Dr. Lubetzky and their team measured the physiological effects of music by Mozart played to pre-term newborns for 30 minutes. After the music was played, the researchers measured infants' energy expenditure again, and compared it to the amount of energy expended when the baby was at rest. After "hearing" the music, the infant expended less energy, a process that can lead to faster weight gain.
A "musical environment" for preemies
When it comes to preemies, one of the main priorities for doctors is to get the baby up to an acceptable body weight so he or she can be sent home. At the hospital, preterm babies may be exposed to infections and other illnesses, and a healthy body weight keeps them immune to other problems in the future.
While the scientists are not sure what occasioned the response, Dr. Mandel offers one hypothesis. "The repetitive melodies in Mozart's music may be affecting the organizational centers of the brain's cortex," he says. "Unlike Beethoven, Bach or Bartok, Mozart's music is composed with a melody that is highly repetitive. This might be the musical explanation. For the scientific one, more investigation is needed."
The study came about through an international project led by the U.S.-based consortium NIDCAP, whose goal is to create a set of standard practices to optimize the health and well-being of neonates. A number of environmental effects, such as tactile stimulation and room lighting, are already known to affect the survival and health of these very susceptible babies.

A sonata a day keeps the doctor away

Wonderful to see this work steadily improving the lot of premature babies and their mothers. However, we need to also focus on preventing prematurity as premature babies have extra risks and potential burdens to deal with as they grow outside the womb. One to one midwifery care with a midwife who respects, listens and cares for the individual woman provides a space place for the woman to explore becoming a mother; process her stressful feelings and develop self confidence. In such a capacity building environment, stress hormones are diminished because women feel valued and in control; inflammatory processes are not triggered and babies grow better and to term.

Aging well starts in womb, as mom's choices affect whole life - USATODAY.com

During the crucial "window of opportunity" before birth and during infancy, environmental cues help "program" a person's DNA, says Alexander Jones of Great Ormond Street Hospital in London and the University College of London Institute for Child Health. This happens through a delicate interplay of genes and the environment called epigenetics, which can determine how a baby reacts for the rest of its life, Jones says.

Through epigenetics, chemical groups attach to DNA. Although they don't change the order of the genes, the chemical groups can switch those genes on or off, Jones says.

Many things, such as chemical contaminants, can cause epigenetic changes. So babies exposed in the womb to synthetic hormones may begin responding abnormally to the natural hormones later made by their own bodies, says Hugh Taylor of Yale University School of Medicine".

"Babies and children also can develop abnormal reactions to stress, says Jack Shonkoff of Harvard University, co-author of a June paper on early influences in health in The Journal of the American Medical Association.

In the short term, reacting to typical, everyday difficulties can help people develop a healthy response to stress.

But persistent, "toxic" stress — such as neglect or extreme poverty — may program a child's nervous system to be on perpetual high alert. Over time, this can damage the immune response and lead to chronic ailments, such as heart disease and depression, the study says.

Aging well starts in womb, as mom's choices affect whole life - USATODAY.com

Wonderful to see the scientific literature on prenatal programming and epigenetics making into the mainstream arena. People who are thinking about becoming parents will find this information critical to their decision making. I wrote about preconceptual and pregnancy work in the book "Birth Territory and Midwifery Guardianship". For anyone who wants to learn more, they may find the book very useful.

Preconceptual counselling with a midwife is a big step in the right direction to managing the complexities of modern life and becoming a parent. Every parent wants the best for their children. This information helps them do take responsibility, seek out support and information before they get pregnant, then take the steps necessary to ensure a 'head' and 'heart' start for their child.

Obstetricians attitude to delayed cord clamping

Obstetricians attitude to cord clamping

Midwives who work with women in a one to one relationship based way with childbearing women weren't at all surprised when researchers found massive benefits with leaving the cord alone after birth for the newborn. Midwives working with women they know are also very aware of the benefits to the mother of leaving the cord alone after birth. Mainstream maternity care has yet to recognise or discover that aspect.

Photo from Wikipedia

Now that current evidence indicates that leaving the umbilical cord to pulsate for at least 3 minutes after birth confers many benefits to newborns, recommendations have been made to change established hospital practice and leave the cord to pulsate. Benefits for the baby from the extra minutes of blood transferred from the placenta include: stem cells, optimal lung and cerebral perfusion, increased number of red blood cells, appropriate blood volume transfer and placentally transferred oxygen during those precious moments as the baby switches from intra to extra uterine life and circulation; reduced rate of sepsis, reduced rates of intraventricular haemorrhage and reduced rates of necrotising enterocolitis.

Two intrepid researchers, both consultant obstetricians, sought to discover whether obstetricians have changed practice in regards to cord clamping in light of the new insights about the value of cord blood to the infant following birth.

Doctors Ononeze and Hutchon‌ said in their article in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (2009)

"Questionnaires were given to obstetricians from 43 different units in UK, other EU countries, USA, Canada, Australia etc. There was a 100% responserate. 53% adopted the recommendation only occasionally whereas 37% have never. Difficulty with implementation in clinical practice was the main reason for failure to adopt recommendation. Unawareness of the evidence of the benefits of delayed cord clamping was the reason in half of the non-compliant group".

Interesting that so many obstetricians a) didn't know about the benefits of leaving the cord to pulsate after birth and b) didn't believe the evidence and c) found it difficult to do in practice. The researchers disagreed leaving the cord to pulsate was difficult in practice, so we can only assume it is because the doctors were not prepared to wait those few minutes.

Given that evidence informed practice is touted at every opportunity in contemporary health care, it is very surprising that our medical colleagues are not up to date and can't find ways to put evidence to work for the better health of babies.

"There is no consensus amongst medical and midwifery staff as to when to clamp the cord following delivery of the newborn. The tradition in obstetric practice is to clamp the cord immediately after birth".

The lack of consensus in timing of cord clamping may well exist in the system that approaches birth as a moving conveyor belt experience in a factory, however those of us who work in relationship based practice are agreed that the best time to cut the clamp and cut the cord depends upon the mother's thinking about how to manage her placenta. For those women who want to leave the baby and placenta attached, then the cord is never clamped and cut. The cord falls off the baby's umbilicus in it's own time. For others, they choose to birth their placenta, then clamp and cut it. Once women understand the process of third stage, they choose to manage it themselves and do very well.

Fabulous to see these two obstetricians doing such great work. Their perspective and honesty is commendable.

Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. 2009 Apr;29(3):223-4.

YouTube - Ignorance Meets Knowledge (extended breastfeeding)

A delightful video normalising extended breastfeeding. Nutrition and health are hot topics at the moment. This video is a great message for our times.




YouTube - Ignorance Meets Knowledge (extended breastfeeding)

t r u t h o u t | Rethinking Education as the Practice of Freedom: Paulo Freire and the Promise of Critical Pedagogy

Paulo Freire has been an inspiration to me and his theory has underpinned and informed my work in my roles as educator and midwife ever since I first read his book "Pedagogy of the Oppressed". This respectful, thought provoking, beautifully written article "Rethinking Education as the Practice of Freedom: Paulo Freire and the Promise of Critical Pedagogy" by Henry A. Giroux, provides an inspiring lens on the most amazing educational theorist ever to grace this earth.

Giroux says, about Freire:

Occupying the often difficult space between existing politics and the as yet possible, Paulo Freire spent most of his life working in the belief that the radical elements of democracy are worth struggling for, that critical education is a basic element of social change and that how we think about politics is inseparable from how we come to understand the world, power and the moral life we aspire to lead. In many ways, Paulo embodied the important but often problematic relationship between the personal and the political. His own life was a testimonial not only to his belief in democracy, but also to the notion that one's life had to come as close as possible to modeling the social relations and experiences that spoke to a more humane and democratic future. At the same time, Paulo never moralized about politics, never employed the discourse of shame or collapsed the political into the personal when talking about social issues. For him, private problems had to be understood in relation to larger public issues. Everything about him suggested that the first order of politics was humility, compassion and a willingness to fight against human injustices.

For anyone who cares about education, liberation and personal mastery, this article is a must read.

t r u t h o u t | Rethinking Education as the Practice of Freedom: Paulo Freire and the Promise of Critical Pedagogy