Hypocrisies of Pre & Postnatal Care

The baby making business is un-doubtfully lucrative. This lucrative business is driven by the fear of neonatal loss, as well as fear tactics that have been successfully promoted  these last few decades. The thing about fear tactics is that it ultimately reveals its ugly nature, and the ugliness is its predatory nature that constantly adapts to promote the lucrativity of the business. When that happens we have a variety of mixed messages and a boatload of hypocrisies of your choosing. Here are some of the mix messages I’ve personally experienced and I’m sure some of you moms have as well.

Due Dates

Which are otherwise known as Estimated Due Dates. It takes 266 days for  a baby  to gestate in the womb from conception, and in most cases moms do not know  when they conceived. Neither do doctors for that matter, so they have a system in calculating the EDD from the woman’s last monthly period.  This calculation includes weeks that mom isn’t pregnant (40 weeks). This EDD hypocrisy lies in the simple fact that due dates that are estimated by doctors are clearly educated guesses at best. Yet the practice of inducing labor because a woman has gone past her due date is widely practiced despite evidence that all is well and warm with baby. Would it not make sense that induction of labor not be considered until two weeks or more past the ESTIMATED due date, especially if the babe is happy,  content and peaceful? ESTIMATED due dates have by large become “do or die dates” a practice that contradicts it’s own term.
Post to Read: What’s In Your Due Date?

Heat

How many of you have been told by your OBGYN to avoid hot tubs, hot showers and hot baths as it can potentially harm your unborn? And it makes perfect sense as a baby cannot regulate their body temp. while in utero. Yet, ultrasounds which operate with heat, are routinely used upon unsuspecting moms, for reasons as simple as “seeing” if everything is okay with the baby. I dare say an ultrasound would have a much greater heat impact than a hot shower.
Post to Read: Ultrasound in Prenatal Testing, A Heated Debate

Drugs

It goes without saying that street drugs are a big no-no during pregnancy and that  fact is reiterated by Doctors all across America. Yet, heavy drugs, some considered narcotics, are used during labor for various “purposes” that carry real  risk to the unborn babe.
Article to Read : Using Narcotics for Pain Relief During Childbirth

Sleep Positions

When pregnant with my first child, I was told to avoid sleeping on my back as the pressure of the uterus  would depress major arties, thus restrict blood flow to the uterus and baby. So when I found myself unintentionally sleeping on my back, I would wake in a panic. Poke and prod my protruding belly until I got some sort of satisfactory reaction. It was during my third pregnancy with a midwife that I was informed that information was a myth and I could sleep freely on my back. I did so with gusto. However, doctors who do chide moms for sleeping on their backs, generally expect the labor moms to labor on their backs. For hours at a time at that. Does this not contradict the reason for not sleeping on your back? What is so wrong about this hypocrisy is that laboring on your back IS a real problem that can result in injuries. Yet it is a commonplace practice.

Article to Read: Positioning for Prevention

Herbs

Herbs are a big NO-NO when it comes to doctors. The common reason is because herbs are largely un- researched and to take “risks” in ingesting them is akin to bad parenting. Yet, many doctors participate in prenatal testing and prescribing drugs that carry known risks to pregnant and breastfeeding moms. Yerba Mate tea, by example is has a bit of controversy surrounding it as most medical websites claim it’s stimulating factor is inappropriate for breastfeeding moms. However the medical community is now saying it is safe to take Vicodin, a very strong painkiller (Hydrocodone) to cope with Breastfeeding pain, even though traces of it will end up in the breast milk. Breast feeding should not be painful. If you’re experiencing pain, the first thing that needs to be checked is the latch and then position and even still drugs should not be an option, but a solid source of support of a lactation consultant. Drinking a herbal tea, makes me a bad parent, but taking a powerful painkiller is smart parenting.

I don’t feel so bad about drinking my Yerba Mate.
Article to read: Small Does of Vicodin OK for Breast-Feeding Moms…
Post to Read: Breastfeeding, Tea & Me