Issue 40

• A MESSAGE FROM OUR EDITOR | Jeanne Ohm, DC

• FEATURE | The Pitfalls of Going With the Flow In Birth

• TAKING THE STEP | Better Birthing: It’s About Time 

• TAKING THE STEP | Know your Practitioner: The Three Models of Birth and Health Care

• TAKING THE STEP | For the Pregnant Woman: 10 Points to Remember About Birth

• TAKING THE STEP | Go Ahead, Use the F Word

• TAKING THE STEP | Birthing with the Wisdom of the Ages

• STAYING THE COURSE | Birthing Bliss, Birthing Trauma, and Postpartum Depression

• STAYING THE COURSE | The Myth of the Magic Bullet: Understanding the Allopathic Paradigm of Medicine

• STAYING THE COURSE | Informed Consent in Childbirth: Making Rights into Reality

• STAYING THE COURSE | Parental Power

• STAYING THE COURSE | What is Evidence-Based Maternity Care?

• STAYING THE COURSE | Are Ultrasounds Causing Autism in Unborn Babies?

• STAYING THE COURSE | Improving Your Gut Sense in Pregnancy

• LIVING THE JOURNEY | The Mind-Body Connection in Fertility and Pregnancy

• LIVING THE JOURNEY | Prenatal Yoga and Childbirth Education

• LIVING THE JOURNEY | Healing Birth, Healing the Earth 

• LIVING THE JOURNEY | Midwives: Sing the Babies Earthside

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A Message from our Editor

Jeanne Ohm, D.C.

• Editorials

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The Pitfalls of Going With the Flow In Birth

By Melissa Bruijn BA (UQ), Debby Gould BNursing (QUT) GradDipMidwif(ACU)

• Original https://birthtraumatruths.wordpress.com/2012/03/26/the-pitfalls-of-going-with-the-flow-in-birth/

• Gamble, Jenny, et al. “Effectiveness of a counseling intervention following a traumatic childbirth” (2005)   eprints.qut.edu.au/11173/1/11173.pdf  

• “Labour Support: Childbirth Connection” (2013) childbirthconnection.com/article.asp?ck=10174

• Dr Sarah Buckley’s article “Pain in Labour : Your hormones are your Helpers”  https://www.sarahbuckley.com/pain-in-labour-your-hormones-are-your-helpers/

Additional Resources

• Contact Debby Gould for private consultation

• Henci Goer’s, “The Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth”

• Sarah Buckley “Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering : a Doctor’s Guide to Natural Childbirth”

• Birthtalk

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Better Birthing: It’s About Time

By Cynthia Ovregard

 

• Workshops with Cynthia Overgard: hypnobirthingct.com/beyond-hypnobirthing/

• Cynthia Overgaurd. “Taking Charge of Giving Birth”  https://pathwaystofamilywellness.org/Pregnancy-Birth/taking-charge-of-giving-birth.html

• “Cesarean Births are at Hight in US” https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/24/health/24birth.html?_r=1&

• “Practice audits to reduce caesareans in a tertiary referral hospital in south-western China, (2012)” https://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/90/7/11-093369/en/

• “Neonatal mortality, risk factors and causes: a perspective population-based cohort study in urban Pakistan” (2009)  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2636189/

• Brill, Steven. “Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills are Killing Us (March 2013)” https://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2136864,00.html  – requires subscription to Time Magazine

• “The CDC Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System” https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/MaternalInfantHealth/PMSS.html

• Block, Jennifer.  “Too Many Women Dying in the U.S. While Having Babies,” (March 2010) Time Magazine. https://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1971633,00.html

• Roan, Shari.  “Caesarean sections are a major factor in pregnancy-related deaths, report finds,” (April 2011) Los Angeles Times.  https://articles.latimes.com/2011/apr/26/news/la-heb-maternal-mortality-20110426

• Childbirth Connection on Cesarean Section: https://www.childbirthconnection.org/article.asp?ck=10167#factors

• Ethics in Medicine: University of Washington School of Medicine, “Informed Consent” (1998)  https://depts.washington.edu/bioethx/topics/consent.html

• Cynthia’s Podcast : https://www.buzzsprout.com/745532

Additional resources:

• Birthrights.org

• Hypnobirthing of CT

 

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Know your Practitioner: The Three Models of Birth and Health Care

By Robbie Davis-Floyd

• This article excerpt is taken from The Technocratic, Humanistic, and Holistic Paradigms of Childbirth by Robbie Davis-Floyd PhD Originally published in the  International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Vol 75,Supplement No. 1, pp. S5-S23, November 2001. You can read it in its entirety at davis-floyd.com/the-technocratic-humanistic-and-holistic-paradigms-of-childbirth/

• “Teaching Compassion,” Chicago Tribune (March2013) https://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-03-20/health/ct-x-medical-school-arts-20130320_1_doctors-students-humanities

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For the Pregnant Woman: 10 Points to Remember About Birth

By Binnie A Dansby

 

N/A

 

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Go Ahead, Use the F Word

By Patrick Houser

• Fathers To Be: https://www.fatherstobe.org/

• Patrick Houser on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/PathwaysConnect https://www.youtube.com/user/houserpatrick/videos

 

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Birthing with the Wisdom of the Ages

By Jeanne Ohm D.C.

• Ohm, Jeanne.  “Birth Trauma,” (2009) https://www.makinmiracles.com/articles_doctor/birth_trauma.html

• Ohm, Jeanne.  “Birthing From Within,”  Pathways 24 (Winter 2009) https://pathwaystofamilywellness.org/Letters-from-the-Editor/a-message-from-our-editor-issue-24.html

• Birthworks International https://www.birthworks.org/site/about-birthworks.html

References for quotes:

1. Dellorto, Danielle.  “US Ranks Low for Newborn Survival”  (August 2011) https://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/31/u-s-ranks-low-for-newborn-survival/

2. Birth Works International:  https://www.birthworks.org/site/

3. Macari , Marci.  She Births: A Modern Woman’s Guidebook for an Ancient Rite of Passage (2006) https://www.amazon.com/She-Births-Guidebook-Ancient-Passage/dp/0741433907

4. Towbin A.  “Latent Spinal Cord and Brain Stem Injury in Newborn Infants,”  Dev Med Child Neurol. (1969) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/5815001?dopt=Abstract

5. Gutmann G. “Blocked Atlantal Nerve Syndrome in Babies and Infants,”  Manuelle Medizin. (1987)

6. Janov, Arthur. Imprints: the lifelong effects of the birth experience (1983) https://www.amazon.com/Imprints-Lifelong-Effects-Birth-Experience/dp/0399510869

7. Fromberg Eden, OB/GYN in The Business of Being Born  https://www.thebusinessofbeingborn.com/

8. Doris Haire (former President of American Foundation of Maternal and Child Health), The Pregnant Patient’s Bill of Rights (2000)  https://www.aimsusa.org/ppbr.htm

9. Midwifery Today: https://www.midwiferytoday.com/

10. Sister Morning Star: https://www.sistermorningstar.com/

Some of these quotes were originally posted on : https://talkbirth.me/2010/03/08/birth-quotes-update/

 

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Birthing Bliss, Birthing Trauma, and Postpartum Depression

By Kelly Brogan, MD

• Block, Jennifer.  Pushed: The Painful Truth About Modern Childbirth and Maternity Care (2007) https://www.jenniferblock.com/

• “Healthy Birth Practice 4: Avoid Interventions That Are Not Medically Necessary,” https://www.lamaze.org/HBP4

• “Gut microbiota of healthy Canadian infants: profiles by mode of delivery and infant diet at 4 months,” (2013) www.cmaj.ca/content/185/5/385.long

• Cassini, Monica. “Trauma inducing medical care during the birth experience is often the cause of post-partum depression” (April 2013) https://beyondmeds.com/2013/04/13/trauma-inducing-medical-care-during-the-birth-experience-is-often-the-cause-of-post-partum-depression/

• “Delivery mode and the course of pre- and postpartum depression,” (Dec 2012) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22847745

• “Postpartum depression: is mode of delivery a risk factor?” (2012) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23304542

• “Cesarean section and postpartum depression: a review of the evidence examining the link,” (2006) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16554400

• “Interaction of maternal age and mode of delivery in the development of postpartum depression in Yerevan, Armenia,” (2011) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21835474

• “The delivery mode and seasonal variation are associated with the development of postpartum depression,” (2011) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21377210

• “Cesarean section and postpartum depression in a cohort of Chinese women with a high cesarean delivery rate,“ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21877916

• “Maternal brain response to own baby-cry is affected by cesarean section delivery.” (2008) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18771508

• The After Birth Project https://www.afterbirthproject.com/

Additional Resources

• Interview with Ina May Gaskins https://www.mothering.com/community/a/easing-tension-and-fear-in-natural-childbirth-by-understanding-sphincter-law-a-conversation-with-ina-may-gaskin

 

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The Myth of the Magic Bullet: Understanding the Allopathic Paradigm of Medicine

By Barry Taylor

• Maggie Koerth-Baker.  “The Not-So-Hidden Cause Behind the ADHD Epidemic.”  New York Times Magazine Online.  (October2013)  www.nytimes.com/2013/10/20/magazine/the-not-so-hidden-cause-behind-the-adhd-epidemic.html?_r=0

• Alan Schwartz.  “The Selling of Attention Deficit Disorder.”  New York Times Health Online.  (December 2013)  www.nytimes.com/2013/12/15/health/the-selling-of-attention-deficit-disorder.html

• Ohm, Jeanne.  “Shifting the Paradigm: Insight on Germ Theory” in Pathways 36 (Winter 2012)  pathwaystofamilywellness.org/Holistic-Healthcare/shifting-the-paradigm-insight-into-the-germ-theory.html

 

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Informed Consent in Childbirth: Making Rights into Reality

By Hermine Hayes-Klein

• Original posting: https://www.improvingbirth.org/2013/07/informed-consent-in-childbirth/

• Rosenthal, Elizabeth.  “American Way of Birth, Costliest in the World,” New York Times (June 2013) https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/01/health/american-way-of-birth-costliest-in-the-world.html?pagewanted=all&_r=2&

• Pearson, Catherine. “C-Section Rates Vary Across US,” Huffington Post (March 2013) https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/06/c-section-rate-variation-hospitals_n_2819024.html

• Dranove, David and Yasutora Watanabe. “Influence and Deterrence: How Obstetricians Respond to Litigation against Themselves and their Colleagues.” (2001) https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/watanabe/htm/deterrence.pdf

• Sartwelle, Thomas.  “Electronic Fetal Monitoring: A Bridge Too Far,” (September 2012)  https://www.bmpllp.com/publications/376-electronic-fetal-monitoring-bridge-far

• European Court of Human Rights, “Case of Jehovah’s Witnesses of Moscow and others vs. Russia” https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/sites/eng/pages/search.aspx?i=001-99221

• Schloendorff v. Society of New York Hospital (1914) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schloendorff_v._Society_of_New_York_Hospital

• The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Committee on Ethics, “Informed Consent,” (2012) https://www.acog.org/~/media/Committee%20Opinions/Committee%20on%20Ethics/co439.pdf?dmc=1&ts=20130415T1047469933

• FIGO (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics) Professional and Ethical Responsibilities Concerning Sexual and Reproductive Rights https://www.figo.org/files/figo-corp/Rights-Based_%20Code_of_Ethics_October%202003.pdf

• Rubashkin, Nick.  “Legal Coercion in Maternity Care: A Doctor’s View” (March 2013) https://www.improvingbirth.org/2013/03/legal-coercion-in-maternity-care-a-doctors-view-2/

• Human Rights in Childbirth: https://www.humanrightsinchildbirth.com/

• Bynkershoek Research Center for Reproductive Rights: https://www.bynkershoek.eu/activities/bh-research/bhr-reproductive-rights/

• The First International Human Rights in Childbirth Conference (The Hague, The Netherlands): https://www.humanrightsinchildbirth.com/hric-conferences/past-hric-conferences/conference-2012

• “VBAC: Making a Mountain Out of a Molehill” (February 2011) https://midwifethinking.com/2011/02/23/vbac-making-a-mountain-out-of-a-molehill/

• National Organization of Women. “Opposing Bans on Vaginal Birth After C-Section”,” (2005) https://www.now.org/issues/reproductive/vbac.html

 

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Parental Power

By Cristen Pascucci

• Rally to Improve Birth: https://rallytoimprovebirth.com/

 

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What is Evidence-Based Maternity Care?

By Improving Birth

• “What is Evidence-Based Maternity Care?” https://www.improvingbirth.org/the-evidence-shows/

• “Evidence-Based Practice” https://sophia.smith.edu/~jdrisko/evidence_based_practice.htm

• “State of Maternity Care,”(November 2012) https://www.improvingbirth.org/2012/11/state-of-maternity-care/

• Axness, Marci and Melanie Mayo. “Vaginal Birth Triggers Brain Boost, C-Section Doesn’t: Part of Nature’s Plan for Intelligence?” Mothering Magazine (October 2012) https://mothering.com/all-things-mothering/baby-2/breastfeeding/vaginal-birth-triggers-brain-boost

• Dekker, Elizabeth, PhD, RN, APRN “Evidenced Based Fetal Monitoring” Evidence Based Birth (July 2012) https://evidencebasedbirth.com/evidence-based-fetal-monitoring/

• Alfirevic Z et al. “Continuous cardiotocography (CTG) as a form of electronic fetal monitoring (EFM) for fetal assessment during labour.”  Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (2006) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD006066/abstract

• Sakala, Carol and Maureen P. Corry.  “Evidence-Based Maternity Care: What It Is and What It Can Achieve” (October 2008) https://www.milbank.org/uploads/documents/0809MaternityCare/0809MaternityCare.html

• Sandall, Jane, et al. “Midwife-led continuity models versus other models of care for childbearing women,” The Cochrane Collection (August 2013) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD004667.pub3/abstract

 

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Are Ultrasounds Causing Autism in Unborn Babies?

By Jennifer Margulis, PhD

• Margulis, Jennifer.  “Are Ultrasounds Causing Autism in Unborn Babies?”  Women in the World: the Daily Beast.  (April 2013) https://www.thedailybeast.com/witw/articles/2013/04/29/are-ultrasounds-causing-autism-in-unborn-babies.html

• Dr. Jeanne Ohm “Common Obstetrical Procedures and Their Link to Autism.” Pathways 21 (Spring 2009)  pathwaystofamilywellness.org/component/option,com_crossjoomlaarticlemanager/Itemid,225/lang,en/view,crossjoomlaarticl+emanager/

• “Ultrasound Autism Connection?” https://www.ultrasound-autism.org/

• Declining Prenatal Ultrasound:  Why, When and How to Opt Out of Prenatal Ultrasounds:  https://www.declineultrasound.org/

• “Ultrasound Reveals Autism Risk at Birth, Study Finds” (Feb 2013) https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130225112510.htm

• “Association of Autism With Induced or Augmented Childbirth in North Carolina Birth Record (1990-1998) and Education Research (1997-2007) Databases” (October 2013) https://archpedi.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1725449

• Bankhead, Charles.  “Induced Labor Linked to Higher Autism Risk,” MedPage Today (August 2013) https://www.medpagetoday.com/Neurology/Autism/40952

• Gellman, Lindsey.  “Study Finds Link Between Induced Labor and Autism Diagnoses,” The Wall Street Journal (August 2013) https://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323585604579008733374529344.html

• Willingham, Emily. “Autism Risk And Labor Induction: Is There A Link?” Forbes Magazine (August 2013) https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilywillingham/2013/08/14/autism-risk-and-labor-induction-follow-the-money-instead/

 

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Improving Your Gut Sense in Pregnancy

By Stephen Marini, D.C. PhD

• Zimmer, Charles.  “Tending the Body’s Microbial Garden,” The New York Times (June 2012) https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/19/science/studies-of-human-microbiome-yield-new-insights.html

• Shank, Edwin. “The Raw Truth: Common Sense About Raw Milk From a Raw Milk Farmer” Pathways 28 (Winter 2010) https://pathwaystofamilywellness.org/Nutrition/the-raw-truth-common-sense-about-raw-milk-from-a-raw-milk-dairy-farmer.html

• University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences. “Breastfeeding benefits: Human breast milk ingredient adjusts to optimize for beneficial gut bacteria over time.” ScienceDaily, 14 May 2012. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120514122836.htm

• Rob Stein. “Gut Bacteria Might Guide The Workings Of Our Minds.” NPR.org.  November 18, 2013. www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/11/18/244526773/gut-bacteria-might-guide-the-workings-of-our-minds

• Kate Prengaman. “Infant immune systems set on low to encourage microbiome growth.” ArsTechnica.com.  November 10, 2013. https://arstechnica.com/science/2013/11/infant-immune-systems-set-on-low-to-encourage-microbiome-growth/

• Jennifer Tow.  “Gut Microbes and Poop.” Pathways 36. Winter 2012. pathwaystofamilywellness.org/The-Outer-Womb/the-gut-microbes-and-poop.html

• Edwin Shank.  “Fence Rows and Gut Health: A Macro Look at Micro Flora.” Pathways 31. Fall 2011.  pathwaystofamilywellness.org/Sustainable-Community/fence-rows-and-gut-health-a-macro-look-at-microflora.html

• Jeanne Ohm.  “Nourishing the Terrain: Exploring the Connection Between Nutrition and Immunity.” Pathways 36.  Winter 2012.  pathwaystofamilywellness.org/Nutrition/nourishing-the-terrain-exploring-the-connection-between-nutrition-and-immunity.html

 

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The Mind-Body Connection in Fertility and Pregnancy

By Marcy Axness, Phd

• A great collection of resources for anyone dealing with infertility, particularly when stress and other emotional issues impact fertility – www.infertilitymindbody.com/resources.htm

• Tara Parker-Pope. “Lowering Stress Improves Fertility Treatment.” Go Home Be Well.  New York Times Health and Science Online.  May 10, 2011.  well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/10/lowering-stress-improves-fertility-treatment

• Natural Fertility Info – natural-fertility-info.com/mind-body-conceive.html

 

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Prenatal Yoga and Childbirth Education

By Sarah Kamrath

• Who is Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa? www.yogatech.com/Gurmukh

• Khalsa Way Prenatal and Postnatal Teacher Training Program – https://www.goldenbridgeyoga.com/prenatal.php

• More about Sarah Kamrath – https://www.happyhealthychild.com/about/

• Prenatal Kundalini Yoga with Sarah Kamrath – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-BhKhHIU10

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Healing Birth, Healing the Earth

By Sarah J. Buckley, M.D.

• Sarah Buckley – www.sarahbuckley.com

• Taylor, Sandy.  MotherBirth  www.motherbirth.net

• Baker, Jeannine Parvati.   Prenatal Yoga & Natural Birth (2001) https://www.amazon.com/Prenatal-Natural-Childbirth-Third-Edition/dp/1556433824/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

• Institute for Safe Medication Practices.  List of High Alter Medications (2021) Available from https://www.ismp.org/tools/highalertmedications.pdf

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Midwives: Sing the Babies Earthside

By Ibu Robin Lim

• A Million Mothers for Bumi Sehat:  www.amillionmothers.org

• The Bumi Sehat Foundation International:   https://www.bumisehatfoundation.org/