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Friday, March 29, 2013

True Dat

Nicole at Bellies and Babies blog has a series of pictures she calls "True Dat" which I find very amusing and true!

"So, let me get this straight... I hire YOU but you can't "let" me...









Sunday, March 24, 2013

Lobbying with the March of Dimes

This past week a group of students, a professor, and I went to our state capital to lobby on the March of Dimes Advocacy Day.

I think the March of Dimes is a great public health organization. The MoD has been the leading non-profit organization for infant health in the U.S. since 1938 when founded by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to find a cure for polio. Today the MoD works for healthier, stronger babies. The mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature births, and infant mortality. The organization funds research to understand problems and find solutions, helping moms have full-term babies and healthy pregnancies. The MoD also provides support to families of preterm infants.

I had never been lobbying before and I wanted to see how it was done. I think lobbying is a great way to try to let your representatives know what issues are important to you, so they keep them on their mind when they are voting! Also, it provides them with information.



This year's MoD Advocacy Day focused on two issues: Critical Congenital Heart Disease (CCHD) screening and a Clean Air Act.

Critical Congenital Heart Disease causes structural damage to the heart and is present at birth. This heart defect causes severe, life-threatening symptoms and requires medical intervention (such as surgery) within the first few days, and some cases hours, of life. It can be detected and treated before there is a problem. It can be identified using a non-invasive and painless method called pulse oximetry (A monitor is placed on the end of your finger or toe to measure the percent oxygen saturation of hemoglobin in the arterial blood). Most hospitals already have this device, and actually already screen infants for this before discharge. However, not every birth facility does so, especially in rural areas. As there are so many other newborn screenings to prevent infant morbidity or mortality in place, this would add a very quick and simple one that would only cost about $5-$8 per infant.

The second issue is related to the harm of secondhand smoke on pregnant women and babies. Smoke exposure during pregnancy can cause babies to be born premature or at low birthweight. Also, babies exposed to smoke are more likely to die from SIDS, are at greater risk for respiratory issues such as asthma, pneumonia, eat infections, etc, and may experience slow lung growth.

Another issue that I was able to bring up was Booster Seat legislation that has been in the works in my state for years. This isn't a March of Dimes project, but one that I am working on for a class advocacy project. Apparently, my state is one of only two in the nation that has no legislation in place requiring booster seat use for children ages 4 - 8 who are under 4 ' 9 ". These children are too large for car seats but not appropriately restrained in an adult seat belt. When these children are in a car crash with only a seat belt designed for an adult body, they are 59% more likely to be injured. Booster seats raise a child up so the belt fits over their hip bones so that they do not experience what is called "seatbelt syndrome" - injuries to the spinal cord, torn liver, spleen or bowel, and internal bleeding.


Interesting to note was that all our discussions had to include these points:
1. How does this save money - I feel like this is a "what's in it for me?" type of argument. But the argument in all of these cases was, of course, it would save massive health care costs if all of these issues were prevented.
2. Ideology. We ran into issues where the legislators don't like "mandates" - particularly the conservative ones.
3. Who is leading the bill. Apparently this is important, though I haven't yet figured out why. So they can decide based on if they like or hate that person?


I highly recommend attending an advocacy day in your state if you ever hear about one. They trained us on our talking points, split us into groups for who would see which people, and gave us food and things to hand out to the representatives and their aids. Seeing the busy in-session house of representatives and senate was lots of fun - basically they just leave their doors open all the time so anyone can come try to catch them and talk to them. There are people walking around all over the place! And, we got to go inside and walk around on the House floor. Great fun!


The March of Dimes - March for Babies is coming up! If you haven't already, I highly recommend that you either sign up to walk or find someone who is walking and donate to them. This will be my third year participating!



Thursday, March 14, 2013

A Short Grad School Rant

Thesis woes...
I am thisclose to having my thesis entirely done and turned in.

Funny, in undergrad I knew that my whole committee didn't read my entire thesis, but it didn't really matter. My advisor didn't care if everyone had read it, if I had incorporated their opinions. I just defended it and turned it in and moved on. This time around, however, even though I don't have a defense, it feels more serious. My advisor provided me with very specific revisions, most of which I am grateful for (only some of which made me somewhat frustrated). Playing the waiting game with my committee has been harder than I thought. I had assumed this month would be insane - getting revisions back, turning them back around, getting more... And so far I've only gotten revisions from one professor. I've had to track down another committee member (unsuccessfully) who has had my draft for  6 weeks and definitely hasn't even started reading it. The neat "rounds" of editing/revisions/drafts that I had envisioned fell apart when I had to just submit a second draft to my committee before hearing from others members. Of course, people would probably say that this is to be expected. But I guess we all go into it optimistically - 'maybe MY professor will be awesome and actually work WITH me to make deadlines!' So far, I still need to hear from two people and I have to be entirely done and submitted in two weeks. So, I wait. And try to make myself do other productive things.

I'll admit I have a serious case of senioritis. I've always been one of those hard-working people who definitely does work every weekend and in the evenings and during vacations. I find it incredible when colleagues or friends tell me they blew off the entire weekend, or still aren't done with an assignment at the eleventh hour. But this semester, that has been me. After 3 years of hardcore grad school, I am ready to be DONE. "They" always say that graduate school is nothing like college, and they are right. It is 10x the amount of reading, 10x the amount of work outside of the classroom. You are building your career, so it is up to you to gain experience through grad assistantships, internships, volunteering, speaking at conferences, getting research grants AND doing well in school and networking. Plus, oh yeah! Most grad students have work or families outside of school at this point, and they're juggling their full-time academic life with a full-time home life.

I wanted so desperately to go back to school, and now I am so ready to just have a job and free time.  Though, I admit, if I had the money... I'd definitely continue taking classes just for the LEARNING. I have loved everything that I have learned (I just don't enjoy the stress!) I would much rather plan my wedding and have doula clients as my "homework" than all of this other stuff. Which I'm doing anyway, on top of everything else.

After I graduate I will miss having free access to all of those articles, though... I love being able to just log-in and find research and evidence on my favorite subject matters - birth and breastfeeding! I wonder if I could work out a way to not be cut off by my university. And sadly, I don't have time to take advantage of them before I graduate in May. Perhaps I'll have more time to blog, though, after graduation.

In other news, even though I don't have a lot of time to blog, I still skim blogs and articles and tweet them a lot! So you can find me there or on the Facebook page for the time being :)


Friday, March 8, 2013

Tongue-Tie in Breastfed Babies

Tongue-tie, or Ankyloglossia, is a condition that occurs in a small percentage of babies (about 4%) that makes it hard for them to breastfeed. It also exists among children and adolescents, but for the purposes of this blog, we will focus on newborns.

The frenulum, or the cord of tissue that connects from underneath your tongue to the bottom of your mouth, is sometimes too short or too tight in newborns (we also have a frenulum between our top lip and our top gums).

As a result of the tight frenulum, baby might not latch correctly, cause pain and nipple trauma for the mother and frustration for everyone. If the baby has trouble sucking, they will have poor weight gain and will be fussy all the time.


photo by Janelle Aby, MD
Symptoms
Anne Smith, IBCLC writes,
In addition to problems with nipple soreness and weight gain, some other signs that the baby may be having problems nursing effectively include breaking suction often during feedings, and making a clicking sound while nursing. Since these symptoms can also be caused by other problems, it’s a good idea to be evaluated by a knowledgeable health care provider (an IBCLC, if possible) to rule out causes other than tongue-tie. Tongue-tie should definitely be considered a possibility if breastfeeding doesn’t improve even after other measures such as adjustments in positioning have been tried.
Additionally, other signs of tongue-tie might include:
  • Heart-shaped tongue tip. The tip of the tongue may be heart shaped or have a “v” shape indentation in the center when the baby sticks out the tongue or cries. (It is possible to have a restrictive frenulum without this classic symptom or to have a tongue that functions adequately, yet has the heart shaped tip.) 
  • Square or round tongue tip. The tongue looks square, or round, on the tip instead of pointed when extended. Difficulty extending the tongue. If your baby is tongue tied 
  • Your baby has difficulty extending the tongue past the gum line. Tapping the tip of the tongue should cause the tongue to come forward, where it should cross the gums. 
  • Tongue does not cup well. When your little one sucks on your finger the tongue should wrap around it like a hot dog bun wraps around a hot dog. 
  • Difficulty moving tongue from side to side. If you rub your baby’s lower gum, the tongue should follow your finger, side to side. 
  • Frenulum is attached very close to the tip of the tongue. Some babies have frenulums attached near the front, but the frenulum is very elastic and allows effective breastfeeding without treatment.

Solutions
Because ankylogossia can cause problems for breastfeeding and cause failure to thrive in the infant, it is a good idea to have it taken care of. Tongue-tie can also cause speech problems for a child in the future.

A really quick out-patient surgery can be performed, where the frenulum is snipped (frenotomy)  and baby can go right back to breastfeeding. There is generally only 1 or 2 drops of blood, and no anesthesia is required.

This procedure has been associated with latch improvement and reduction in maternal pain during breastfeeding. 



Tongue-tie is becoming more and more commonly diagnosed, as lactation consultants and physicians are trained to recognize it, but it is still hard to find someone who can diagnose and treat it. I've known many mothers who have had to search for second and third opinions before someone would finally perform a frenotomy.

Go here for more resources on tongue-tie.


Was your baby tongue-tied? 

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Mass Media Childbirth

While I'm working on finishing up my anthropology Master's thesis, I thought perhaps you'd be interested in perusing another.

Have you heard of the film "Laboring Under an Illusion: Mass Media Childbirth vs. The Real Thing"?  It is made by filmmaker, childbirth educator, anthropologist Vicky Elson. I had a chance to view this film a couple of years ago. It is a quick film, and available to watch online at Amazon for $1.99. If you're interested in a review of the film, there is one at Stand and Deliver.




Turns out the author's thesis on this topic is online! I haven't had a chance to read through it, but it sounds great. Here is the abstract:


Childbirth in American Movies and Television Patterns of Portrayal and Audience Impact
by Victoria L Elson

The author, an independent childbirth educator, systematically analyzed sixty-two American television and motion picture portrayals of human childbirth. She found that many of these portrayals included extreme distortions of time and danger. Comic and dramatic embellishments detracted further from the accuracy of these portrayals.

She also collected ethnographic data on cumulative lifetime effects of such portrayals on viewers, especially as those effects personal beliefs about childbirth. She found that many viewers reported being able to maintain conceptual distance, due to their media literacy. But she also found that a substantial number of viewers self-reported susceptibility to beliefs fostered by media consumption. In many of those viewers, anxiety about giving birth ran deep, in ways that could arguably make those viewers more susceptible to complications, interventions, and inappropriate choices in childbirth.

The paper also includes background information on media literacy, a discussion of present-day American birth, and suggestions for neutralizing the potentially negative effects of mass media birth imagery.


You can read the entire thing online here!

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