AMA calls for action on public hospitals

For further information, contact Melissa Maimann at Essential Birth Consulting.

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The AMA says a report on public hospitals today provides yet another reminder that a single hospital funding system, rather than more of the same, must be put on the table.

… there were more than seven million presentations to emergency departments in 2007-08.

“Our public hospitals are simply not coping with the increasing pressures,” Dr Pesce said.

“Doctors are increasingly frustrated by a system that consistently fails patients; making them wait when they are in pain, then forcing them out of beds too early when they finally get to hospital.

“Rather than endless cost shifting, we need to examine a single funding responsibility for health.

Birthing is no exception, with fewer hospitals providing birth services and the birth rate being higher than in previous years. The simple solution is to encourage low risk women to birth at home with a midwife; this will relieve pressure on obstetricians and hospital beds.

Melissa Maimann, Essential Birth Consulting 0400 418 448

Tags: Birth choices, hospital birth, Obstetrics, Public and private hospitals

Mother gave birth so quickly her baby slid down her trouser leg

For further information, contact Melissa Maimann at Essential Birth Consulting.

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A mother told of her shock today after she unexpectedly gave birth at home so quickly her baby daughter slid down her trouser leg.

Katherine Allan, 23, was having regular contractions, but was told by the hospital they were still too far apart to require treatment.
However moments later tiny Hannah made her surprise appearance at the bottom of the stairs as Katherine’s partner Alan Moore, 25, helped her walk.

Little Hannah, who weighed 8lb 5oz, literally popped out where she stood and rolled down the front left leg of her grey jogging pants.
… Alan dived to scoop up Hannah just as she slid out across the floor – still attached to her mother via her umbilical cord.

The unexpected birth happened so quickly that Katherine did not feel any pain as the baby arrived at the couple’s home …

Katherine, who was preparing to go into hospital after her contractions got to seven and a half minutes apart on May 9, said the whole thing had been ‘quite an ordeal’.

The full-time mother to two other sons, Ben, five, and Michael, three, said her previous labours had lasted up to 12 hours and stunned by the ease of this birth.

She said: ‘I got to the bottom of the stairs and I just felt this massive urge to push when all of a sudden my waters broke all over the hallway carpet.

… ‘It was a bit strange seeing this little lump roll down my jogging pants which was actually my daughter.

‘My other births definitely weren’t this easy and I will always recommend standing up to do it in future.’

Katherine wrapped Hannah in a towel and sat on the stairs waiting for ambulance staff to arrive, with the baby’s umbilical cord still stretching down her leg, out of the bottom of her pants and up to her baby.
Paramedics and a midwife checked Katherine’s condition before they decided she didn’t need to visit the local hospital and sent her to bed for a rest.

… ‘The whole think was frightening but really brilliant and I was a very proud dad when I cut the umbilical cord with the help of the paramedics.

Homebirth midwives prepare their clients for the possibility of an unassisted birth, in the event that the midwife does not arrive in time. It would be useful for women if hospitals did this type of preparation too – I think it would save a lot of angst and concern from families who experience this.

Melissa Maimann, Essential Birth Consulting 0400 418 448

Tags: Babies, birth, Home birth, hospital birth, Normal Birth

Low milk supply? Maybe it’s something you ate.

For further information, contact Melissa Maimann at Essential Birth Consulting.

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Exposure to dioxins during pregnancy harms the cells in rapidly-changing breast tissue, which may explain why some women have trouble breastfeeding or don’t produce enough milk …

Researchers believe their findings, although only demonstrated in mice at this point, begin to address an area of health that impacts millions of women but has received little attention in the laboratory …

“Estimates are that three to six million mothers worldwide are either unable to initiate breastfeeding or are unable to produce enough milk to nourish their infants,” Lawrence said. “But the cause of this problem is unclear, though it has been suggested that environmental contaminants might play a role. We showed definitively that a known and abundant pollutant has an adverse effect on the way mammary glands develop during pregnancy.”

Dioxins are generated mostly by the incineration of municipal and medical waste, especially certain plastics. Most people are exposed through diet. Dioxins get into the food supply when air emissions settle on farm fields and where livestock graze. Fish also ingest dioxins and related pollutants from contaminated waters. When humans take in dioxin – most often through meat, dairy products, fish and shellfish – the toxin settles in fatty tissues; natural elimination takes place very slowly. The typical human exposure is a daily low dose, which has been linked to possible impairment of the immune system and developing organs.

… researchers showed that dioxin has a profound effect on breast tissue by causing mammary cells to stop their natural cycle of proliferation as early as six days into pregnancy, and lasting through mid-pregnancy. In tissue samples from mice, exposure to dioxin caused a 50-percent decrease in new epithelial cells. This is important, Lawrence said, because mammary glands have a high rate of cell proliferation, especially during early to mid-pregnancy when the most rapid development of the mammary gland occurs.

Researchers also found that dioxin altered the induction of milk-producing genes, which occurs around the ninth day of pregnancy, and reduced the number of ductal branches and mature lobules in the mammary tissue.

… when exposure occurs very early in pregnancy but not later, … sometimes the mammary glands can partially recover from the cellular injury. However … it is irrelevant for humans, who cannot really control their exposure to dioxins …

“Our goal is not to find a safe window of exposure for humans, but to better understand how dioxins affect our health,” she said. “The best thing people who are concerned about this can do is think about what you eat and where your food comes from. We’re not suggesting that we all become vegans — but we hope this study raises awareness about how our food sources can increase the burden of pollutants in the body. Unfortunately, we have very little control over this, except perhaps through the legislative process.” …

Melissa Maimann, Essential Birth Consulting 0400 418 448

Tags: Breastfeeding