Just a couple of days after I posted the piece on Elective Cesearean Births there is a report out of London Stating that a caesarean delivery more than triples a woman’s risk of dying in childbirth compared to a vaginal birth.

The risk is still quite small, but many developed countries have seen a dramatic rise in the number of Caesareans performed each year as more women elect to avoid a vaginal delivery.

Researchers, led by Catherine Deneux-Tharaux of the Maternite Hopital Tenon in Paris, looked at 65 maternal deaths recorded in the French National Perinatal Survey from 1996 to 2000.

All of the deaths followed births of a single child and were not due to conditions existing prior to delivery. The women had also not been hospitalized during pregnancy.

The researchers found that the risk of death — from blood clots, infection or complications from anesthesia — was 3.6 times higher for women who had Caesareans.

The risk of death after childbirth was increased whether or not the Caesarean was performed before the onset of labor or during labor.

The study was published in the September issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Although rates of maternal death in most developed countries are relatively low — U.S. women have a 1 in 3,500 chance of pregnancy-related death — the incidence of maternal mortality has not significantly decreased in the last two decades, according to American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

SOURCE:Reuters

Gerber’s jarred baby food has not been on Canadian shelves for 8 years. Tonight while shopping at Walmart I noticed that 1/2 of the baby food on their shelves belonged to Gerber.

Years ago Heinz and Gerber had a price war. Gerber had it’s jarred food priced lower in Canada than in the U.S. Heinz complained to the federal government that they were “dumping” baby food. Gerber sold for as little as 33 cents a jar in Canada, about 10 cents less than Heinz.

A federal tribunal sided with Heinz and ordered Gerber to raise its prices 60 percent. Gerber said it couldn’t compete at the new prices and–after 49 years of selling baby food north of the border– abandoned the Canadian market. As a consequence, prices skyrocketed.

The funny part is that Heinz was priced at 65 cents and Gerber was 64 cents. I guess old rivalries never die!

SOURCE:Reason Magazine

An oral vaccine that protects babies against a nasty bug that causes fever, vomiting and diarrhea - and sends thousands of kids to hospital each year - will be available this fall in Canada.

RotaTeq, which protects against rotavirus gastroenteritis, is expected by doctors and pharmacists to be distributed in September.

The vaccine is coming to market here after an extensive trial that involved more than 70,000 infants in 11 countries.

The child will take 3 doses and it will give them “the same immunity as if they would have been exposed to the virus two, three times,” the drug company’s medical director, Dr. Ernest Pregent, said from Montreal.

“And if ever they meet again that virus, their symptoms will be quite milder and they won’t be as sick as the kid who either has not been exposed or is not vaccinated.”

The cost of the vaccine, $55 per dose, is not currently covered by provincial health plans.

The oral vaccine comes in a squeezable plastic tube with twist-off cap so the child can suck the liquid. The first dose should be given at six to 12 weeks of age, and four to 10 weeks should elapse before a subsequent dose is given.

“It’s got nice taste, it’s not sugar but it’s got a taste that is pleasant,” said Pregent. “And it’s by mouth, because a lot of parents are saying, ‘Not another needle!’ ”

The vaccine contains five rotavirus strains that are responsible for about 95 per cent of rotavirus disease in Canada, the drug maker said.

Side-effects of the vaccine can include mild fever and loose stools, said Pregent.

The symptoms of rotavirus can be mild to severe and generally last for three to nine days, with up to 20 episodes of diarrhea a day in some cases.

Children can become dehydrated, and sometimes require medical care. It is estimated to cause up to 7,000 hospitalizations, 27,000 emergency room visits and 56,000 doctor visits in Canada each year, Pregent said.

It’s most prevalent from late March until May, when more than three-quarters of hospitalizations for gastroenteritis are linked to rotavirus, he said.

The highly contagious bug is mainly transmitted through fecal-oral contact, and can be spread both before and after a child becomes sick.

I am always looking for a way not to have to give another vaccine.
Dr.Greene.com says that:

Rotavirus is extremely contagious. Day cares, preschools, and homes with young children are invisible forests of rotavirus. The living, spreading virusremains active on human hands for at least 4 hours, on hard dry surfaces for 10 days, and on wet areas for weeks! Want a good reason to carry a little bottle in your purse, glove compartment, or pocket? Do you dislike vomiting and feeling nauseated? Alcohol-based instant hand sanitizers kill rotavirus in seconds.

SOURCE:www.canada.com

This Deluxe Mini Play Cube made by Haba has 5 different activities on it. Your kids can learn counting, cooperative play, alphabet, and eye-hand coordination. Plays on the floor or table top. Mini Rollercoaster Express, Pathfinder, Counting Abacus, Learn the Alphabet, and Fun Gears!

12 x 12 x 24 inch.$129.99 U.S. @Brain Station

Practicing yoga while pregnant has many benefits for mom and baby. It improves posture, flexibility, circulation, balance, coordination, body image; strengthens abdominal core, low back, upper body (for carrying babies) and pelvic floor muscles; relieves muscle tension, breathlessness, backache, and stress. Yoga improves a new mother’s overall health.

In Toronto, Baby & Me Fitness offers pre and postnatal yoga for moms who want to stay fit and also stay connected to their bodies. Skylar Hill-Jackson, Founder and Co-Director has been leading pre and postnatal fitness classes for 20 years.

Baby & Me Fitness offers a comfortable and supportive environment for new moms who may be experiencing feelings of isolation, feelings of being overwhelmed by the demands of a new baby, and on top of probably having body image issues. They believe in attachment parenting so the babies are close to their moms throughout the class.

Yoga babies is a class that the baby is able to participate in as well. It is for babies aged 4 weeks to crawling. The baby stays connected to mom throughout the class with constant touching and affection.

If you are able to enjoy the full year maternity leave, these classes are something that can provide some much needed socialization for mom and baby. Each class is followed by a 30 minute discussion on various parenting topics.

BY CLEO

I could feed her anytime, anywhere under any circumstances. I never had to worry about sanitizing bottles, warming up to the right temperature, or having to run to the store late at night cause I was running out of formula. It also seemed to work magic whenever she was upset. She never suffered from colic and hardly ever had any spit ups. She was a happy, healthy and very content baby. The other benefit is that it burns so many calories that even though I was eating a lot I kept losing weight to the point where I now weigh less than I did before I got pregnant. Woohoo!

From the beginning I planned to breastfeed until she was 12 to 18 months old. Well, something crazy happenned along the way, as it seemed she had a different plan in mind. Unfortunaltely she learned to fall asleep breastfeeding. So herein lies the problem, she is now almost 2 and a half years old and when she’s ready for naptime or bedtime she now asks for it by name and won’t fall asleep until I give in and breastfeed her.

The truth is that I do believe it is time for me to stop, but doing that is going to take a couple of months of deep commitment and many sleepless nights to establish new routines. I do want to stress that it should be an individuals decision, and should not be influenced by society. I was recently made to feel like a terrible mother by an intern at my last physical. The real sad part was that she was a woman telling me that I shouldn’t still be breastfeeding and to stop right away. What are they teaching them at med school?

Even the World Health Organization (WHO) is recomending breastfeeding past the age of two.

It all comes down to you, and your child. I have chosen to work very hard to make sure I give my baby a great start in life. She is well adjusted, happy, healthy and quite cheeky! Therefore, I’m not going to simply quit breastfeeding her abruptly to appease society. I plan to do it gently and lovingly.

I worked really hard to establish breastfeeding and now I will have to work just as hard to discontinue breastfeeding. Overall, its been a wonderful experience full of ups and downs, but hey, that’s just life.

I urge everyone out there who is thinking of having a baby to take the time to research the benefits of breastfeeding. It’s all about making informed decisions.
So is breastfeeding past two, too much? Not for a growing number of us. It’s a personal decision that each new mother will have to make.

Happy feeding everyone!