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There is a better way!

There is a better way!

I recently read an incredibly sad story of a woman who was grieving her birth experience. Her gut told her that birth was a normal experience for the human body, and there should not be any reason to have to do much of anything to prepare for it.  She didn’t necessarily desire a natural birth, and trusted her careprovider and hospital to do only what was medically necessary.  And there in lies the rub. Birth in the US is not evidenced based. The ways in which laboring and birthing women are treated and cared for are not the ways that will produce the healthiest outcomes.  We have been...

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Glucose Tolerance test

  (This is an excerpt from an upcoming book: Haas, AV; Healthy Babies! Healthy Moms! A Practical Guide to Preventing Problems during Pregnancy, Labor, and Birth , 2024) “This is a blood test done around the 24th week of pregnancy to determine if the woman has glucose intolerance. A fasting woman is given a glucose preparation to drink, and then her blood sugar levels are tested at various times.  One of the major problems with glucose tolerance testing is that it does not necessarily tell us if a woman has gestational diabetes. What it can tell us is if her body does not handle excess...

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Homebirth Conversation on Public Radio

Connections: Understanding the New Study on the Safety of Home Births with Evan Dawson of WRUR Rochester, and members of Rochester Area Birth Network http://wxxinews.org/post/connections-understanding-new-study-safety-home-births For more information check out an excellent analysis by Researcher Henci Goer: http://www.scienceandsensibility.org/homebirth-safety/ And from Researcher Dr. Eugene DeClerq of Boston University: http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/18/opinions/declercq-home-births/index.html

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Delayed cord clamping study

Delayed cord clamping study

This is an interesting study on delayed cord clamping, with references. It discusses the issue of iron and stem cells and the benefits of the baby receiving them as nature intended. Rethinking Placental TFX JPNN 2012

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The Sociology of Birth

How our cultural socialization effects how we birth – Socialization about birth in the United States is a pervasive thing. We are, from the time we are born, receiving messages about our roles in life, and subsequently our ability to birth or be a parent. Both males and females go through this. How we are socialized by our culture and our families dictates our personal beliefs about ourselves and our respective roles. The United States is somewhat unique in this, as a great deal of disassociation from the body and cultural ritual has taken place. Mass consumerism and affluence have shifted...

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