Birth Matters Virginia

Mothers and Babies Aren't The Only Ones Who Pay for Cesareans

The nation's cesarean rate continues to climb.  Mothers and babies pay the highest price, but as shown in Massachusetts, so are taxpayers.

"Between 2000 and 2006, while the Massachusetts caesarean rate climbed from 16th to 10th highest among all states, the state’s ranking on neonatal mortality has slipped from 4th best to a tie for 9th. Six hospitals in the state have caesarean rates greater than 40 percent for first time mothers, yet none of these hospitals is designated as a high-risk center. So much for the argument that high-risk pregnancies are the reason for these rates.

There are also cost consequences for taxpayers — the caesarean rate for Massachusetts mothers on Medicaid is increasing at a faster pace than among privately insured mothers. Nationally, in 2008, average hospital charges for an uncomplicated caesarean section were $14,894, while such charges for an uncomplicated vaginal birth were $8,919." - Timothy R. B. Johnson and Judy Norsigian

To read the full article, including ways to help lower the nations' cesarean rate click here.

Save the Date!

   Our Annual Awards Banquet will be held in Richmond at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens on Sunday, November 7th from 1 to 5 PM.  Tickets are $25.00 for members, $35.00 for non-members, and children under the age of 2 are free.  Admission to the gardens is included in your ticket price.  As with previous years, silent auction, gifts, and services are also included.

    This year's speaker will be Stacey Marie Kerr, author of Homebirth in the Hospital.    She is also featured in this month's International Doula magazine, published by DONA International. 

Stay tuned for more updates!

Baby's First Bacterial Bath Depends on Birth Route

  

New research suggests that babies born via cesarean may be missing out on beneficial bacterial flora and fauna.  Babies born vaginally are colonized by their mothers bacteria, which helps set up thier fledgling immune systems.

"A new survey finds that babies born via cesarean section had markedly different bacteria on their skin, noses mouths and rectums than babies born vaginally. The research adds to evidence that babies born via C-section may miss out on beneficial bacteria passed on by their mothers. 

[...]

Babies born vaginally were colonized predominantly by Lactobacillus, microbes that aid in milk digestion, the research team from the University of Puerto Rico, the University of Colorado in Boulder and two Venezuelan institutes report. The C-section babies were colonized by a mixture of potentially nasty bacteria typically found on the skin and in hospitals, such as Staphylococcus and Acinetobacter."

 

Click here to read the full article from Science News.

 

To Delay or not to Delay...

    If you're accustomed to movie births, you will see a baby emerge, and his or her cord immediately clamped and the physician asking, "Do you wanna cut the cord?"  New research shows tremendous benefit to delaying this moment for just a few minutes.

"Several clinical studies have shown that delaying clamping the umbilical cord not only allows more blood to be transferred but helps prevent anemia as well," said the paper's lead author Dr. Paul Sanberg, director of the Center. "Cord blood also contains many valuable stem cells, making this transfer of stem cells a process that might be considered 'the original stem cell transplant'."

At birth, the placenta and umbilical cord start contracting and pumping blood toward the newborn. After the blood equilibrates, the cord's pulse ceases and blood flow from mother to newborn stops. In recent Western medical practice, early clamping -- from 30 seconds to one minute after birth -- remains the most common practice among obstetricians and midwives, perhaps because the benefits of delaying clamping have not been clear. However, waiting for more than a minute, or until the cord stops pulsating, may be beneficial, the authors said."  - Science News Daily

"Just a two-minute delay in clamping a baby's umbilical cord can boost the child's iron reserves and prevent anemia for months, report nutritionists at the University of California, Davis.

[...]

'By simply delaying cord clamping for this brief time, we can provide the infant with the extra blood, and the iron it contains, from the placenta," said Dewey, an expert in maternal and infant nutrition. "This is an efficient, low-cost way to intervene at birth without harm to the infant or the mother.'" - Science News Daily

For more information on delayed cord clamping, check out the other articles on Science News Daily.

 Umbilical Cord Clamping Should be Delayed, Says Experts

Health Risks, Benefits Come with Delayed Umbilical Cord Clamping

Do We Clamp the Umbilical Cord too Soon?

Vitamin D and Breastfeeding

Vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium and phosphorus, which are crucial for bone health.  Recently, the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center found that breastfeeding mothers, particularly African-American mothers, are deficient in Vitamin D.

"A recent study found as many as two of three mothers in Cincinnati, Ohio, who breastfeed had insufficient blood levels of Vitamin D. In addition, three of four one-month-old infants whose mother breastfeed had Vitamin D insufficiency, according to the study by the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

"Mothers who are Vitamin D deficient produce little or no Vitamin D in her milk and are unable to give a baby all of the Vitamin D that he needs," says Adekunle Dawodu, M.D., a physician in the Center for Global Child Health at Cincinnati Children's and lead author of the study. "Mothers and babies who breastfeed need Vitamin D supplements to ensure optimum health.""

Click here to read the full article from Women's News.

Father's Ethnicity and Breastfeeding

Men's Attitudes Toward Breastfeeding: Findings from the 2007 Texas Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System

Vaaler ML, Castrucci BC, Parks SE, Clark J, Stagg J, Erickson T.

Texas Department of State Health Services, Office of Program Decision Support, 1100 W. 49th St., Austin, TX, 78756, USA, [email protected].

Abstract

Past research on breastfeeding demonstrates that male partners' support is a significant factor in mothers' decisions to breastfeed. This study explored the diversity of men's opinions about breastfeeding, for the purpose of increasing breastfeeding support among men. This study used the Texas sample of the 2007 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to examine whether men's attitudes toward breastfeeding varied by their demographic characteristics and whether fathers' breastfeeding attitudes were related to couples' choice of infant feeding method. Descriptive statistics and linear regression estimated the influence of each demographic characteristic on breastfeeding attitudes. Among a subsample of fathers, multinomial logistic regression analyzed the influence of men's breastfeeding attitudes on their choice of infant feeding method. Findings showed that Spanish-speaking Hispanic men were most likely to agree that breastfeeding had social limitations (e.g. interfere with social life) for mothers, yet they viewed public images of breastfeeding as more acceptable compared with other men. In comparison to U.S.-born men, foreign-born men were in greater agreement that employers should accommodate breastfeeding. Among fathers, support of public images of breastfeeding and attitudes toward employers' accommodations were positively associated with the choice to use breast milk. Men's ethnicity, country of origin, education level, and socioeconomic status all contribute to different norms and expectations about breastfeeding. Men's attitudes about public images of breastfeeding and employers' accommodations for breastfeeding mothers influence the choice of breast milk as the sole infant-feeding method.

As published in the Maternal and Child Health Journal

Babies Help Start Their Own Labors

   Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found that in mice, a protein released from a fetal mouses lungs kicks off a chain reaction of hormonal releases that start labor. 

"In humans the signaling protein, called surfactant protein A, or SP-A, also helps immune cells, called macrophages, fight off infections in the lungs of children and adults by gobbling up bacteria, viruses and fungi that infiltrate the lung airway.

"Women who go into preterm labor frequently have an infection of the membranes that surround the fetus, and the number of macrophages in the wall of the uterus increases with the initiation of preterm labor. When women go into labor at term, they also have an increase in macrophages in the uterus," Dr. Mendelson said."

Click here to get more details and read the complete article from UT Southwestern Medical Center.

World Breastfeeding Week!

From Lactation Education Resources:

World Breastfeeding Week 2010

Breastfeeding: Just 10 Steps!  The Baby-Friendly Way

 

August 1 - 7 each year is World Breastfeeding Week.  This year's theme "Breastfeeding: Just 10 Steps!  The Baby-Friendly Way" focuses on the improvements to breastfeeding support for new mothers.  The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative and Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding are the central theme.  Begin planning now for activities around this theme for your World Breastfeeding Week celebration!  World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) has further information here.