I recently read a great quote. It said "The definitions of "train" vs. "educate"; to train is to not deviate to the left or right, but go straight ahead. To educate is to broaden one's mind on a subject. This society primarily trains - doctors, nurses, attorneys, etc".
This is our medical profession to a T! We have trained them on how to react to situations. They are trained to not do a breech delivery. They are trained to not vaginally deliver twins. They are trained to vaccinate, trained to push for epidurals, trained to do routine c-sections. But are they truly educated? Are they educated on the risk of vaccinations? Are they educated on the dangers of induction? Are they trained on the hazards of repeat and routine c-sections?
We as normal everyday patients, have been trained as well. We've been trained to accept everything our doctors tell us fact. We've been trained to not ask questions or not doubt what we are being told. We are trained, just like we would train a dog, to speak when spoken to in the doctors office and not cause a scene. We train our dogs to jump through hoops and roll over and play dead, just like we've been trained to do when it comes to our opinions and ideas about our health, our bodies or our decisions.
It's time we EDUCATE ourselves!!! It's time we stop being simply trained and start researching and finding our voice. It's time we stand up for ourselves in the delivery room, to our doctors, to the insurance companies and the government.
EDUCATE YOURSELF AND FIND YOUR VOICE!!!
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Sunday, June 1, 2008
The rules for having a baby
This was something that a group of OB nurses on Cafemom.com. The post asked what rules they'd like to see in the delivery room, and this is the 'humor' that they came up with. SAD!!!!!
Rules of the Labor and Delivery area
1. Don't ask me if my wheel can tell you if you got knocked up on the 15th or the 16th. That's too damn close to have 2 different partners anyway... Just suffer for 8 more months, assuming the father is not the one it should be.
2. Bed rest does not include walking around Walmart, or running by the mall to pick up something.
3. Don't come in the middle of the night because you've been throwing up for a week... and then ask me to get you something to eat.
4. Breathing hard, and faking to your family like you're having contractions, WON'T open up your cervix.
5. Tears, and rolling around in the bed also will NOT open your cervix.
6. Doing sit ups while in the bed to make the monitor "go up".... also..... WILL NOT open your cervix.
7. Until your cervix is opening.....don't plan on staying.
8. If you fight with your boyfriend and need a little TLC... go to his mother's house, not the labor room.
9. If you are there with someone in labor, don't try to read the strip and tell me what's going on. You don't know the difference between a fart and a contraction and you'll likely just piss me off and delay your loved one getting pain medication or her epidural.
10. When I ask the patient a question, that's who I want the answer from... OK? I don't need her mother to tell me when she had sex last....
11. This day and time, if a patient is between the ages of 37 and 42... she has had approximatley 2-5 partners. If she is between the ages of 28-36, the average is 7. If she is in her early to mid twenties, then her age is how many partners she's had... If she is a teenager, then "too numerous to count" applies. (and she has had, or currently has chlamydia or trich)
12. Open your damn legs. If you were a virgin, you wouldn't be here.
13. Shave that shit. If we wanted a trip to the jungle... we'd go there.
14. Clean your ass before you come in. Unless you have the umbilical cord hanging out, are in a serious accident, or are bleeding profusely, take time to wash it up a bit... it's going to be on display.
15. You'd better be nice to your nurse. She, not the physician, decides when you get pain medication... There is such a thing as placebo. We can also make you wait the entire 2 hours... adding 45 minutes for our convenience... or we can give it to you 15 minutes early.... it's all in your attitude.
16. The fewer visitors you have in with you... the better mood your nurse will be in.
17. Get rid of that one "know it all" visitor before it's too late. She can ruin the entire experience for you by pissing me off.
18. If this is your 6th baby, either get the epidural before you come in, or don't plan on one.
19. Don't blame us when you're baby can't say it's own name when it's 5. Chances are, it was the cocaine you snorted in the parking lot, just before you were rushed in abrupting.
20. If your pulse is 50 when you come in... from all the downers you've been downing... chances are your baby will be several bricks shy of a full load. It's your fault, not ours.
21. When I ask you if you smoke... you should include marijuana in that answer. Other things that should be included are, hashish, crack, meth, and any other illegal drug that you may have smoked. Nicotine is the least harmful of all the crap you could smoke...dummy.
22. Don't bitch at us because your baby has to stay in the hospital until it's 2 months old, weaning off of Methadone or Morphine. Regardless of what the bullshit clinic says to you.... Methadone is NOT healthy for babies.
23. If you call us and say you're bleeding profusely, then I'd better see some blood when you come in. Do you know how many people we notify for shit like that!
24. Hard labor doesn't just stop with 1 bag of IV fluids. We know a faker when we hydrate one.
25. If you're an addict, we already have a preconceived notion about you, and we probably don't like you. Nothing personal... it's just the way it is. You chose that life... now live it.
26. Regardless of the fact that your neighbor's sister's aunt had a baby at 30 weeks and it is perfect... that does NOT mean we're going to let you have yours at 30 weeks.
27. Your neighbor's sister's aunts baby likely had to stay in the hospital for 6 weeks, and could possibly have problems that you're not aware of... dumb dumb.
28. You'd better tell us if you're on narcotics... trust me...... We'll know soon enough, because our drug of choice is Stadol.... HA HA.
29. If you have track marks on your arm, "NO YOU CAN NOT GO OUT AND SMOKE" with your IV. What do you think we are, Stupid?
30. Don't scream. We hate screamers. It get's on our nerves and we just sit at the desk looking at each other and grinning and making faces. It's not to your advantage.
31. If you don't have custody of your 3 other kids, chances are you won't go home with this one either. We ARE calling Social Services. That's our job.
32. If the baby's dad is in jail, and he's still your boyfriend, we automatically assume "birds of a feather flock together
This is for real. I wish I was making it up. this list was created by a group of OB nurses on a message board http://www.cafemom.com/group/14160/
Rules of the Labor and Delivery area
1. Don't ask me if my wheel can tell you if you got knocked up on the 15th or the 16th. That's too damn close to have 2 different partners anyway... Just suffer for 8 more months, assuming the father is not the one it should be.
2. Bed rest does not include walking around Walmart, or running by the mall to pick up something.
3. Don't come in the middle of the night because you've been throwing up for a week... and then ask me to get you something to eat.
4. Breathing hard, and faking to your family like you're having contractions, WON'T open up your cervix.
5. Tears, and rolling around in the bed also will NOT open your cervix.
6. Doing sit ups while in the bed to make the monitor "go up".... also..... WILL NOT open your cervix.
7. Until your cervix is opening.....don't plan on staying.
8. If you fight with your boyfriend and need a little TLC... go to his mother's house, not the labor room.
9. If you are there with someone in labor, don't try to read the strip and tell me what's going on. You don't know the difference between a fart and a contraction and you'll likely just piss me off and delay your loved one getting pain medication or her epidural.
10. When I ask the patient a question, that's who I want the answer from... OK? I don't need her mother to tell me when she had sex last....
11. This day and time, if a patient is between the ages of 37 and 42... she has had approximatley 2-5 partners. If she is between the ages of 28-36, the average is 7. If she is in her early to mid twenties, then her age is how many partners she's had... If she is a teenager, then "too numerous to count" applies. (and she has had, or currently has chlamydia or trich)
12. Open your damn legs. If you were a virgin, you wouldn't be here.
13. Shave that shit. If we wanted a trip to the jungle... we'd go there.
14. Clean your ass before you come in. Unless you have the umbilical cord hanging out, are in a serious accident, or are bleeding profusely, take time to wash it up a bit... it's going to be on display.
15. You'd better be nice to your nurse. She, not the physician, decides when you get pain medication... There is such a thing as placebo. We can also make you wait the entire 2 hours... adding 45 minutes for our convenience... or we can give it to you 15 minutes early.... it's all in your attitude.
16. The fewer visitors you have in with you... the better mood your nurse will be in.
17. Get rid of that one "know it all" visitor before it's too late. She can ruin the entire experience for you by pissing me off.
18. If this is your 6th baby, either get the epidural before you come in, or don't plan on one.
19. Don't blame us when you're baby can't say it's own name when it's 5. Chances are, it was the cocaine you snorted in the parking lot, just before you were rushed in abrupting.
20. If your pulse is 50 when you come in... from all the downers you've been downing... chances are your baby will be several bricks shy of a full load. It's your fault, not ours.
21. When I ask you if you smoke... you should include marijuana in that answer. Other things that should be included are, hashish, crack, meth, and any other illegal drug that you may have smoked. Nicotine is the least harmful of all the crap you could smoke...dummy.
22. Don't bitch at us because your baby has to stay in the hospital until it's 2 months old, weaning off of Methadone or Morphine. Regardless of what the bullshit clinic says to you.... Methadone is NOT healthy for babies.
23. If you call us and say you're bleeding profusely, then I'd better see some blood when you come in. Do you know how many people we notify for shit like that!
24. Hard labor doesn't just stop with 1 bag of IV fluids. We know a faker when we hydrate one.
25. If you're an addict, we already have a preconceived notion about you, and we probably don't like you. Nothing personal... it's just the way it is. You chose that life... now live it.
26. Regardless of the fact that your neighbor's sister's aunt had a baby at 30 weeks and it is perfect... that does NOT mean we're going to let you have yours at 30 weeks.
27. Your neighbor's sister's aunts baby likely had to stay in the hospital for 6 weeks, and could possibly have problems that you're not aware of... dumb dumb.
28. You'd better tell us if you're on narcotics... trust me...... We'll know soon enough, because our drug of choice is Stadol.... HA HA.
29. If you have track marks on your arm, "NO YOU CAN NOT GO OUT AND SMOKE" with your IV. What do you think we are, Stupid?
30. Don't scream. We hate screamers. It get's on our nerves and we just sit at the desk looking at each other and grinning and making faces. It's not to your advantage.
31. If you don't have custody of your 3 other kids, chances are you won't go home with this one either. We ARE calling Social Services. That's our job.
32. If the baby's dad is in jail, and he's still your boyfriend, we automatically assume "birds of a feather flock together
This is for real. I wish I was making it up. this list was created by a group of OB nurses on a message board http://www.cafemom.com/group/14160/
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Pregnant Woman Has Natural Birth After Two Cesareans with Chiropractic - Case Study
From the March 11, 2008, issue of the the scientific periodical, the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research (JVSR), comes a case study involving a pregnant women who was suffering from back pain and therefore sought out chiropractic care. This was her third pregnancy and the previous two pregnancies resulted in cesarean births. The 29 year old woman was hoping to deliver this baby vaginally.
In this case, the woman started chiropractic care in her 34th week of pregnancy because of suffering from back pain. She reported having experienced on and off lower back pain throughout her pregnancy. She had also had similar problems in the third trimester of her previous pregnancy.
A chiropractic examination was performed and the determination of subluxations was made. Care was initiated focusing mainly on the lower spine. On the patient's 4th visit, she reported that her low back pain had improved significantly and she was "getting around better" than before the care.
In the 40th week of her pregnancy, the woman went into labor. She labored 12 hours at home with her husband before going to the hospital. Although she reported that the medical staff was extremely anxious, given her previous birth history, she delivered a healthy baby girl, naturally and without the use of medications or a Caesarean surgical procedure, as had been the case in her prior births.
The study authors, Joel Alcantara, BSc, DC and Ingrid Hamel, DC, FICPA, concluded, "This case report described the successful chiropractic management of a patient with pregnancy-related low back pain and possibly facilitated a successful vaginal birth despite two previous Caesareans."
http://www.fergusonfamilychiropractic.com/
In this case, the woman started chiropractic care in her 34th week of pregnancy because of suffering from back pain. She reported having experienced on and off lower back pain throughout her pregnancy. She had also had similar problems in the third trimester of her previous pregnancy.
A chiropractic examination was performed and the determination of subluxations was made. Care was initiated focusing mainly on the lower spine. On the patient's 4th visit, she reported that her low back pain had improved significantly and she was "getting around better" than before the care.
In the 40th week of her pregnancy, the woman went into labor. She labored 12 hours at home with her husband before going to the hospital. Although she reported that the medical staff was extremely anxious, given her previous birth history, she delivered a healthy baby girl, naturally and without the use of medications or a Caesarean surgical procedure, as had been the case in her prior births.
The study authors, Joel Alcantara, BSc, DC and Ingrid Hamel, DC, FICPA, concluded, "This case report described the successful chiropractic management of a patient with pregnancy-related low back pain and possibly facilitated a successful vaginal birth despite two previous Caesareans."
http://www.fergusonfamilychiropractic.com/
Breech Pregnancy Returned to Normal with Chiropractic - A Case Study
I'm a chiropractic student right now. When I graduate I will also get my midwifery certification as that is my true passion. Knowing that, my chiropractor gave me this. I thought I'd pass it on. :)
A documented case study showing chiropractic care helping a breech pregnancy was published on April 7, 2008, in the scientific periodical, the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research (JVSR). In this case, a 28 year old woman returned to the chiropractor in her 34th week of pregnancy. She had previously been receiving chiropractic care for headaches and sacroiliac pain.
In week 34 of her pregnancy, the woman's nurse midwife recommended that she return for chiropractic care after it was discovered that the presentation of her current pregnancy was breech. She had previously carried her first pregnancy in a breech presentation until 37 weeks until seeking chiropractic care.
This study notes that approximately 3%-5% of term pregnancies in the United States result in a breech presentation, while 80%-100% of those breech presenting fetus’ are delivered by cesarean section. Breech presentation is when a fetus is set up for the birth with the buttocks or feet toward the birth canal rather than the normal head first, known as the "cephalic presentation".
Upon chiropractic examination, the breech presentation was confirmed and the chiropractic analysis and procedure known as the "Webster Technique" was utilized to determine intrauterine constraint and initiate correction.
Two days after receiving chiropractic care using the Webster Technique, the woman returned to her nurse midwife for her follow up visit. That examination showed that the fetus had turned to a normal presentation. In the conclusion of this case report, the chiropractor, Dr. John Cameron Thomas noted, "The importance of preventing intrauterine constraint and cesarean section deliveries is apparent. For women who desire to deliver vaginally, there are options that can be performed before having a scheduled cesarean section.
http://www.fergusonfamilychiropractic.com/
A documented case study showing chiropractic care helping a breech pregnancy was published on April 7, 2008, in the scientific periodical, the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research (JVSR). In this case, a 28 year old woman returned to the chiropractor in her 34th week of pregnancy. She had previously been receiving chiropractic care for headaches and sacroiliac pain.
In week 34 of her pregnancy, the woman's nurse midwife recommended that she return for chiropractic care after it was discovered that the presentation of her current pregnancy was breech. She had previously carried her first pregnancy in a breech presentation until 37 weeks until seeking chiropractic care.
This study notes that approximately 3%-5% of term pregnancies in the United States result in a breech presentation, while 80%-100% of those breech presenting fetus’ are delivered by cesarean section. Breech presentation is when a fetus is set up for the birth with the buttocks or feet toward the birth canal rather than the normal head first, known as the "cephalic presentation".
Upon chiropractic examination, the breech presentation was confirmed and the chiropractic analysis and procedure known as the "Webster Technique" was utilized to determine intrauterine constraint and initiate correction.
Two days after receiving chiropractic care using the Webster Technique, the woman returned to her nurse midwife for her follow up visit. That examination showed that the fetus had turned to a normal presentation. In the conclusion of this case report, the chiropractor, Dr. John Cameron Thomas noted, "The importance of preventing intrauterine constraint and cesarean section deliveries is apparent. For women who desire to deliver vaginally, there are options that can be performed before having a scheduled cesarean section.
http://www.fergusonfamilychiropractic.com/
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Miss Bimbo
This is the kind of thing that we of moms of girls are up against!!! MissBimbo.com is a site geared to 7-17 year old girls. Remember playing with Barbies? Remember when parents started getting upset because of Barbie pushing a new body ideal of what perfect was? Barbie had perfect boobs, perfect hips, the perfect little waist. Barbie then started having more professional careers, in an attempt to help empower our young girls, through their play, to become doctors, veterinarians and politiciand.
While my 7 year old daughter is busy playing with Webkinz or Barbie online, now there is this virtual bimbo game. In Miss Bimbo, girls are encouraged to purge and have eating disorders, get breast implants and find a sugar daddy to support their shopping habits.
The games creators think that the game is harmless fun, while our youngest daughters are being taught that plastic surgery and diet pills will make them popular. Our daughters face so many challenges when it comes to advertising. They are the target of constant ads being placed that have 'beautiful' women who have large breasts, blond hair, blue eyes and are size 3s. Our daughters don't understand that the real world isn't all women in that range. Even the 'teen magazines' are covered in articles about image and weight. Everything right now is stacked against our daughters.
When you manage to get MissBimbo.com to load, there is a message on there from the creators. It says "As a result of this rather surprising media attention we have decided to remove the option of purchasing diet pills from the game. We apologise to any players whom this may inconvenience but we feel in light of this weeks proceedings it is the correct action to take.
We would also like to sincerely apologise to our players for the media comparison of Miss Bimbo and Paris Hilton. We feel that this does a dis-service to the players whom send their bimbos to university, tea parties or chess tournaments.
At this time we would also like to remind players that the Miss Bimbo team assume no responsibility or liability for any fashion faux pas, hair style disasters or boob jobs incurred in real life as as a result of playing the Miss Bimbo game."
They KNOW that girls go out and have these things done in real life, and are trying to cover their butts. Instead of encouraging girls that this is 'just a game' and to not try these things at home, they are more worried about the 'what ifs' in case girls do go have them done. And they are concerned that their bimbos are being compared to Paris Hilton??? I think the comparison is a real one! I mean lets see a comparison...
Hhhhmmm, do you see comparions??? I think "I" do!!!!
Another question, is why are we allowing the term 'bimbo'? If a game were created that used the 'N word' and was targeted at young black girls, would everyone stand by and support it? Why are we allowing our daughters to be targets??? If the a game as created that was called "The Pimp" and was targeted at getting our boys to find girls to prostitute, do drugs, sleep around, would we stand by and watch, silently? It's time we as parents stand up and voice our concerns over the media and ads geared toward our daughters. We need to begin to protect them!!!
While my 7 year old daughter is busy playing with Webkinz or Barbie online, now there is this virtual bimbo game. In Miss Bimbo, girls are encouraged to purge and have eating disorders, get breast implants and find a sugar daddy to support their shopping habits.
The games creators think that the game is harmless fun, while our youngest daughters are being taught that plastic surgery and diet pills will make them popular. Our daughters face so many challenges when it comes to advertising. They are the target of constant ads being placed that have 'beautiful' women who have large breasts, blond hair, blue eyes and are size 3s. Our daughters don't understand that the real world isn't all women in that range. Even the 'teen magazines' are covered in articles about image and weight. Everything right now is stacked against our daughters.
When you manage to get MissBimbo.com to load, there is a message on there from the creators. It says "As a result of this rather surprising media attention we have decided to remove the option of purchasing diet pills from the game. We apologise to any players whom this may inconvenience but we feel in light of this weeks proceedings it is the correct action to take.
We would also like to sincerely apologise to our players for the media comparison of Miss Bimbo and Paris Hilton. We feel that this does a dis-service to the players whom send their bimbos to university, tea parties or chess tournaments.
At this time we would also like to remind players that the Miss Bimbo team assume no responsibility or liability for any fashion faux pas, hair style disasters or boob jobs incurred in real life as as a result of playing the Miss Bimbo game."
They KNOW that girls go out and have these things done in real life, and are trying to cover their butts. Instead of encouraging girls that this is 'just a game' and to not try these things at home, they are more worried about the 'what ifs' in case girls do go have them done. And they are concerned that their bimbos are being compared to Paris Hilton??? I think the comparison is a real one! I mean lets see a comparison...
Hhhhmmm, do you see comparions??? I think "I" do!!!!
Another question, is why are we allowing the term 'bimbo'? If a game were created that used the 'N word' and was targeted at young black girls, would everyone stand by and support it? Why are we allowing our daughters to be targets??? If the a game as created that was called "The Pimp" and was targeted at getting our boys to find girls to prostitute, do drugs, sleep around, would we stand by and watch, silently? It's time we as parents stand up and voice our concerns over the media and ads geared toward our daughters. We need to begin to protect them!!!
Friday, March 28, 2008
Powerful Women
Powerful women come in all shapes and sizes. They come in all religions, all nationalities and all colors. They are moms, they are teachers, they are pastors, politicians and store clerks. Every woman carries within her the ability for greatness and power, but how do we go about finding that? When you think about world changing women, who comes to mind? Joan of Arc? Rosa Parks? Princess Diana? Mother Theresa? Queen Elizabeth? [url="http://www.amritapuri.org/amma/wonder.php"]Amma[/url]? The list goes on forever.
What makes these women so powerful? It isn't necessarily their pride or their education. It isn't necessarily their 'Type A personality'. It isn't their looks or their financial status. It's their passion. It's their drive for life, their longing to change the things around them and better their world. Amma is a great example. This woman's only goal is to show love. She has millions of followers and all she does is kiss and hug them and tell them a small word of encouragement. She doesn't have to stand up from a pulpit and preach about love. She demonstrates it. Mother Teresa was the same way. She spent her days wtih the 'unlovely' and 'unlovable'. She had a following of people because of her passion for life and her desire to make a difference, no matter how small. She set out to change the world, one person at a time.
What makes you a woman of greatness and power? What is it within you that excites your heart, makes you come alive? Finding out what this thing is, will change your life. It will bring you a new sense of purpose and in that purpose comes your power. Whether your purpose is to change the world in a huge way or to change it by changing your children, the cause is great. No woman is without purpose. None of us without something that truly excited us. Find that thing, and set out to achieve it. Become a powerful woman of purpose!!!
What makes these women so powerful? It isn't necessarily their pride or their education. It isn't necessarily their 'Type A personality'. It isn't their looks or their financial status. It's their passion. It's their drive for life, their longing to change the things around them and better their world. Amma is a great example. This woman's only goal is to show love. She has millions of followers and all she does is kiss and hug them and tell them a small word of encouragement. She doesn't have to stand up from a pulpit and preach about love. She demonstrates it. Mother Teresa was the same way. She spent her days wtih the 'unlovely' and 'unlovable'. She had a following of people because of her passion for life and her desire to make a difference, no matter how small. She set out to change the world, one person at a time.
What makes you a woman of greatness and power? What is it within you that excites your heart, makes you come alive? Finding out what this thing is, will change your life. It will bring you a new sense of purpose and in that purpose comes your power. Whether your purpose is to change the world in a huge way or to change it by changing your children, the cause is great. No woman is without purpose. None of us without something that truly excited us. Find that thing, and set out to achieve it. Become a powerful woman of purpose!!!
Back to it's purpose
I created this as a way to educate women about pregnancy, birth, their bodies, their hormones and just post about women's issues in general. I managed to get away from that this year and turn it into my personal blog (mostly so my family back home would keep up on things going on with us). Well, since NONE of them read it and only one friend does, I'm going to switch gears and go back to what it was intended for. Hopefully it'll then grow some and bring in a small following of women who are interested in these same sorts of things.
Don't worry Karen, I'll start a new one about our family...nothing but MILANO!!!! ;)
Don't worry Karen, I'll start a new one about our family...nothing but MILANO!!!! ;)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)