Leading Birth Control Linked to 23 Deaths

[photo credit: peer grimm/peer grimm/picture-alliance/dpa/ ]

Yaz and Yasmin are two of the most prescribed birth control pills on the market. They are made by Bayer, and prescribed around the world as birth control to women of all ages.  According to the website, Yaz is also approved to treat PMDD (Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder), and treat moderate acne in women as young as 14. Yasmin and Safyral (which is Yasmin but with folate and B vitamins) are approved only as birth control. Safyral is also approved for “Provid[ing] a daily dose of folate supplementation, which is recommended for women in their reproductive years. Folate lowers the risk of having rare neural tube birth defects in a pregnancy occurring during Safyral use or shortly after stopping.” (The fact that a birth control pill is including folate and b vitamins in case of a pregnancy which might occur while ON the pill , which is supposed to prevent pregnancy, is a whole ‘nother thing. I’m not even going there. At least not right now). Both pills contain a synthetic estrogen, and progesterone. When a woman is pregnant, the progesterone in her body is at higher levels than the estrogen, which prevents ovulation. The pill is designed to work the same way, by “tricking” the body into thinking it’s pregnant. If ovulation does occur, however, the pill is also designed to thicken cervical fluid to prevent sperm from reaching the egg that might have been released. The pill is touted as being 99% effective when used correctly.

The pill is not without side effects, though. The scariest side effect of any of these pills is the blood clots and risk of heart attack or stroke. Here’s the blurb from the Yaz insert:

Beyaz and YAZ increase the risk of serious conditions including blood clots, stroke, and heart attack. These can be life-threatening or lead to permanent disability. The risk of blood clots is highest during the first year of use. This increased risk is highest when you first start taking birth control pills and when you restart the same or different birth control pills after not using them for a month or more. Users of drospirenone-containing pills (like Beyaz and YAZ) may have a higher risk of blood clots than users of birth control pills that do not contain drospirenone. Talk to your healthcare provider about your risk of blood clots before deciding which Pill is right for you.

In addition, drospirenone is a different kind of hormone that for some may increase potassium too much. Consult your healthcare provider if you are on daily long-term treatment for a chronic condition with medications that may also increase potassium (see below), as you should have a blood test to check your potassium level during the first month of taking Beyaz or YAZ.

Like most people do with drug side effect warnings, users of the pill tend to brush this aside and assume that it won’t happen to them. Unfortunately, 23 women in Canada are reported as dead because of the blood clotting side effect in the birth control pills, which led to heart attacks, stroke, and clots in their lungs. Officials are saying that there are probably many more, but these are the only reported. Here is a link to the Summary of Adverse Reactions for Yaz, and here is the one for Yasmin. ALL of the side effects listed in those reports are shocking to see, but obviously the deaths are the most striking. According to Health Canada, “Overall, the body of current evidence suggests that the risk of blood clots is 1.5 to 3 times higher with oral contraceptives that contain drospirenone relative to those that contain levonorgestrel, a different hormone.” Drospirenone is the progestin that is in the pill, and only Bayer uses it.

Back in 2011, there were lawsuits happening against Bayer from the US. The FDA took a closer look at the pill, and required that better warnings be put on the label. According to their report, “women taking pills containing the hormone drospirenone were 74 percent more likely to experience clots than those on low- estrogen pills.” Bayer is stating that they stand behind their products, and they do not believe that their oral contraceptives pose a higher risk than any others on the market.

All of the legal stuff aside, at least 23 women have died from taking these pills. That is crazy! Why is that okay? In what world did we decide that preventing a pregnancy is more important than risking life itself? 

To me, the bigger issue is that women are not being educated on how they can prevent pregnancy without the use of these, or any other chemical forms of birth control. There are so many side effects to all of these artificial hormones and chemicals, yet they are prescribed without women even considering them. Did you know that a woman’s body has a way of telling her when she is fertile? If she knows what to look for, avoiding pregnancy (or achieving pregnancy) is easy, and there are ZERO side effects. If a woman follows the rules, she has just as high of a chance of avoiding pregnancy as if she were on the pill–99%.

There are many methods of natural family planning out there. NFP through the Catholic church, the Creighton method, the Billings method, and Fertility Awareness Method are the most common. Personally, I am most versed and experienced in FAM. It’s what is called a sympto-thermal method, meaning a woman observes physical symptoms, as well as takes her temperature, to determine when she ovulates. Ovulation is the time during the month that a woman can get pregnant, which is only a few days, despite what most women think. I’m not going to go into all of the ins and outs of FAM right now; but, suffice it to say, if women everywhere were educated about their natural options for birth control, these 23 deaths, and the ones that haven’t come forward yet or just aren’t known, could have all been prevented. 23 women would be living, 23 families wouldn’t be torn apart, and goodness knows how many more precious lives could have come from those 23 women.

If you have questions about FAM, or are interested in learning more about it, visit my website at http://www.jillrackow.com, or email me jill (dot) rackow (at) gmail.com.

Happy Father’s Day!

One of the biggest events in any man’s life is the day he becomes a father (or becomes a father again)! I want to wish a very happy father’s day to all of you dads out there, and especially the ones who have allowed me to be a part of their big day. You are so very special and important, and I hope you are honored today!

Hypnobirthing

[photo credit: http://www.birthwithoutfearblog.com ] 

It’s always amazing to me how quickly something is pushed into the limelight when someone famous talks about it. Kate Middleton is considering a hypnobirth. It’s allllll over the news, and suddenly hundreds of thousands of news sources are talking about hypnobirthing. Which is really pretty awesome, if you think about it. Most of the images of birth we see are of screaming women begging for epidurals (ahem…which was me during my birth…) while people rush around frantically to catch a baby that is about to come flying out. It is great that the image of something a little more natural and peaceful is now taking the lead, at least temporarily. 

So, what exactly IS hypnobirthing?

Well, it has nothing to do with a pocket watch dangling in front of your face, I can tell you that much.

“HypnoBirthing is a childbirth method that focuses on preparing parents for gentle birth.  In HypnoBirthing classes, you will learn proven techniques in a well-thought-out program of deep relaxation, visualization, and self-hypnosis,” according to hypnobirthing.com. Women who choose hypnobirthing practice throughout their pregnancy by listening to tracks whose aim is to help them get into a deep relaxation. The tracks use calming music and sounds, and repetitive vocalizations to help the laboring woman go inside of herself to focus on labor and delivery. Women are not unconscious, and in fact train themselves to be able to go in and out of their hypnotic state at will, as they need to.

Like any coping mechanisms a woman might employ during labor, hypnobirthing does NOT mean she will have a painless labor and delivery. Some women do report having a less painful delivery, or one that they are more easily able to handle, but deep relaxation alone will not take away all of the discomfort of childbirth.

Hypnobirthing also doesn’t promise that you will have an intervention-free delivery. In fact, hypnobirthing techniques can be used while getting an epidural, or even having a cesarean delivery. The practices can help a woman feel more in control of a situation in which many women would feel very out of control.

What are the benefits of hypnobirthing? There are quite a few, but the biggest one that most websites tout is the elimination of the fear/tension/pain syndrome, which makes sense. Basically, when we experience fear, we tense up, and pain gets worse. Think about when you get a shot, for example. You know it’s coming, you tense up your arm, and it hurts ten times more than if you relax and keep your muscle soft. If women tense up during labor, contractions feel worse, and are harder to handle. We tense up when we’re afraid, so if we can prevent the fear of childbirth and the fear of contractions, we can help ease the pain of labor and delivery. Another benefit is the reduction in anesthetic or narcotic pain relief. The majority of women who use hypnobirthing report feeling more in control and less pain, and so fewer women ask for medical pain relief. If this is something you’re hoping for in your labor and delivery, you might want to give hypnobirthing a try!

There are a few different ways a mom and her partner can learn about and practice hypnobirthing. The most hands-on way is through taking a class. There are hypnobirthing practitioners all over the world! The most popular hypnobirthing classes are from HypnoBabies. If a class isn’t your thing, though, you can also buy the CDs and practice on your own. In fact, if you join their website, you can download two of their Mp3 tracks for free to try out before you purchase the bundle (yay for free stuff!).

If Kate actually does decide to go for a hypno-water-birth like she says she is considering (Go Kate!), I’m sure we’ll hear even more about it in the months to come.

Have you ever tried hypnobirthing? What was your experience?

 

Bottled UP!

http://vimeo.com/31402693

“In the most successful ad campaign in history, formula companies convinced mothers to trade in their breasts for bottles, and the baby bottle swiftly became the most recognizable symbol of infancy. The phenomenon of the nursing mother has all but disappeared from our cultural landscape as the sexual breast supplanted the mothering breast. The simple act of nursing a baby engenders a plethora of reactions from society, especially when done in public.”

Bottle UP! is a new documentary discussing why the number of women who startbreastfeeding–and continue with it–is so low in the US. It’s got some big names in it: Alanis Morissette, Minnie Driver, and Carrie-Anne Moss all speak out in support of breastfeeding, and against the negative effects of formula advertising campaigns and businesses. The full-length film is coming out during World Breastfeeding Week, August 1-7.

“Breast milk is best.” We hear it all over the place.That doesn’t mean it’s easy, though! Biologically speaking, the percentage of women who truly don’t produce enough milk to feed their babies is only 1-5%. Many women are unfortunately told that they “can’t” breastfeed, and without supportive and knowledgable partners, lactation consultants, nurses, friends, La Leche League leaders, doctors, etc… many women quit much sooner than is recommended, or don’t start at all.

(And, let’s just get this out of the way: This isn’t a slam against women who choose to use formula. We all know that just like c-sections, there is a proper time and place for it. It doesn’t mean you love your baby any less. We all make choices in the way we parent our kids–how we feed them is one of those).

World Breastfeeding Week is August 1-7. The goal this year is to draw attention to peer support in helping mothers begin and sustain breastfeeding. In conjunction with WBW, The Big Latch On (http://www.biglatchon.org/) will be hosting events all over the US, including in Champaign. (More info to come on that!). I hope you’ll join me, and thousands of other moms, dads, lactation consultants, breastfeeding counselors, doulas, midwives, doctors, and la leche league leaders in raising awareness of the importance of breastfeeding, and the importance of SUPPORTING and ENCOURAGING mothers in their breastfeeding journeys.

Dolphin as a Doula?

[image credit: http://www.livescience.com ] 

When the news of a woman planning to give birth while swimming with dolphins came across my email, I thought it was a joke…it’s not. Adam and Heather Barrington, a couple from North Carolina, are planning to travel to Hawaii for the birth of their baby in July. They are working with the Sirius Institute, which touts that giving birth while swimming with dolphins can have many benefits. According to them, “dolphins are able to heal or improve a wide range of medical conditions.” Now, I haven’t done tons of research on this, but I imagine that if a dolphin were able to totally heal someone of a major medical condition, we’d hear about it. I do know that dolphins can provide a lot of therapeutic benefits to people with autism, Down’s syndrome, Alzheimer’s, etc… 

We do know there are benefits to water birth. Giving birth in the water has been shown to shorten the first stage of labor, be a natural way to reduce the amount of pain a woman experiences, reduce tearing, and have a calming effect on both mom and baby (water birth babies often don’t cry when they are delivered as most babies born “on land” do). I suppose Sirius’ idea is that: waterbirth (good) + dolphins (good) = amazing, healing water birth experience for mom (great). 

Sounds great on paper, but when you break it down…I’m not sold. According to Discovery, dolphins are known for doing some pretty terrible things. Dolphins are wild animals; predators that in fact, have been known to kill other animals. They are strong, quick, and very agile. The dolphins that Sirius is talking about using for births are “free dolphins,” meaning they are untamed. They are dolphins in the wild who “are curious about pregnant women and often come to check them out.” According to Medical Daily, “To make any claim that a dolphin-assisted birth is beneficial to mother and child, a researcher would need to unravel the many factors involved in order to tease out the potential effects of the presence of dolphins,” Despite this, Sirius claims that they receive 3-4 requests per week from people asking about birthing with dolphins. “Some of the reported occurrences include a mother and a baby playing with the dolphins within 45 minutes of the birth,” claims the site, “another instance of a free dolphin escorting a newborn human baby to the surface for its first breath.” They claim that wild dolphins will come into shallower pools, massaging the mother to help deliver the child. Despite all of that, when it comes down to it, Sirius has yet to actually have a woman go through with their dolphin assisted birth. “We haven’t gotten there yet.” said one of their founders, Paradise (Star) Newland.

Will the Barringtons go through with it? Would you? 

Why Wear Your Baby?

[Photo from http://www.lucky-baby.com ]

A study was released in mid-April in the Current Biology journal concluding that there are actual biological changes that occur in infants when they are carried. As parents, we all know that when our babies cry, picking them up is a great way to calm them. But, it can be very frustrating when we put our babies back down and they immediately start crying again. This frustration leaves a lot of parents feeling like their babies are almost manipulating them, and it leads to a lot of babies left to “cry-it-out” when their parents just can’t handle it anymore.

Biologically, though, there is a reason that our babies want to be in our arms.

Carrying your baby reduces their crying, obviously. It also reduces their body movements (flailing), which saves them precious calories. It reduces their heart-rate, their respiration rate, and allows their cerebellum to relax, creating a parasympathetic response of well-being. When babies are left to cry, their cerebellum sends the signal that the baby is in danger, which causes the fight-or-flight response to kick in: adrenaline surges, and the stress hormone called cortisol goes up. Studies have shown that high levels of this hormone can effect developing brains, causing a decrease in memory and cognitive ability. In the study, they observed these occurrences in both mice, and humans. In mice, if they injected them with a substance that slowed their relaxation response to carrying, the maternal response slowed as well. Meaning, if your baby DIDN’T respond by relaxing and crying less, biologically, you would be less likely to respond to them and protect them. It’s all science, folks. Babies cry because they want to be protected, and they feel protected when their mothers (or primary care-givers) hold them and carry them. The less crying that occurs, the better their little brains develop.

So why baby-wearing?

I don’t know about you, but I certainly can’t carry my kid around all day long and do nothing else. I mean, I could, but my house would be a mess, we wouldn’t have food on the table, and no one would have clean underwear.

Babywearing allows a baby/toddler to be close to their mom, and feel that “response of well-being,” while also allowing their mom to have her hands free to do whatever else she needs to do.

Babywearing was a life-saver to me, especially when Belle was little, and even now. Most evenings, I cook dinner with her in a sling on my hip, or in the Ergo on my back. I am able to cook, clean, walk the dog, and do whatever else I needed to do without having to put her down and worry about her crying.

You may be saying, “but my baby doesn’t like to be worn!” …and that’s totally okay. Not every single baby is going to respond the exact same way. If your kid is happier in a swing, or chair, or on a blanket on the floor, more power to you. Biologically, though, the majority of babies have the strong desire to be held close to their parents. Babywearing allows that to happen, while keeping our lives moving. If you haven’t tried it, give it a shot!

My personal favorite carriers are the Moby Wrap for infants, and the Ergo for older babies/toddlers. What are your favorite carriers? What have you been able to do thanks to wearing your baby?

Welcome!

Welcome to the Water Cooler! This is the place where news is shared, and people talk. I’m glad you’re here!

After my daughter was born, I stepped back from marketing myself as a doula, and only took on repeat clients. Now that Annabelle is older, more confident, and less breast-fed (hah!) I’m excited to be putting myself back out there. Come on over and visit my new website: http://www.jillrackow.com.

The Water Cooler will be updated with evidence-based articles about birth, babies, and breastfeeding, in the hopes of helping to educate women and their partners in order to take control of their health-care. If you have any questions, or anything you’d like to see discussed here, please comment and let me know. Here’s to good discussions!