SCHOOL PUPILS SHOULD BE TAUGHT 'NOT ALL PORN IS BAD,' ADVISE EXPERTS

Well folks, the day has finally arrived. Governments are intending to step out of the "sex education" arena and are encouraging schools to create their own "sex education" curriculum for students.

Thank goodness there is a "group of health and children's charities" that have created a "guide" that "directs teachers to a list of online resources they can use in lessons."

One of the "resources" that teachers are told to use is a website called TheSite.Org. I visited TheSite.org so I could learn more about the type of things they are offering.

On their main page, I found a tab labeled "Sex & Relationships."

I hit the tab and was immediately brought to an article entitled "Strip Clubs- What Goes on in Strip Clubs and Should you Go?

Now THERE'S an important lesson for our children to learn when they are being educated about human sexuality. It's a good thing teachers have this "online resource" to go to, otherwise they might not know how important it is to speak to their students about sex clubs!!!

But wait!! There's several more highly beneficial articles that teachers can use in their lesson plan -- for example, the article entitled "Threesomes." What would a good sex education class be without a discussion about menage a trois? Surely, every student above the age of 10 needs to know about this! Right???

And let's not forget to include the discussion about "How Much Sex is Normal." During this very important lesson, students learn:

"...when couples first get together they usually spend the first couple of months humping each others' brains out. So when it all cools down - and you start swapping orgasms for DVD box sets - it's natural to think "hang on, what's up? Why aren't we having as much sex? IS THIS NORMAL?"

How does sex change in a relationship?

In those gorgeous first few months of a relationship it's common for couples to spend A LOT of their time shagging each other senseless. Every time you meet, you end up horizontal and sans-clothes.

No, you're not sex maniacs. It's science. You're both releasing massive amounts of bonding hormones to attach yourselves to each other. Plus you're learning about each others' bodies, which is a massive turn on. But the reality is you can't continue exchanging bodily fluids at this rate forever. And when the initial "I-want-you-now-immediately-and-repeatedly" lust wanes, people can panic the relationship is waning, too...."

Okey dokey then. It's very good to know that teachers will be educating our children to "hump each others' brains out" and "shag" each other -- and that this is perfectly normal in today's "sex-positive" climate.

But that's not all! This extremely informative site also has featured an article entitled "Fingering a Girl" and one of their latest articles is entitled "Fetishes."

You can see it all for yourself here: http://www.thesite.org/sexandrelationships/havingsex

Phew! It's good to know that teachers have such reliable and professional sites they can go to to learn how to educate their pupils about sex. I am forever indebted to that "group of health and children's charities" for reminding teachers how important it is to tell students not to think badly about pornography and, out of the goodness of their hearts, create such a useful and informative "guide" of "online resources" from which teachers can create their lesson plans.

Clearly, we can all sleep well tonight knowing our children are in good hands.


Source Article:
School pupils should be taught 'not all porn is bad', advise experts
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/10019617/School-pupils-should-be-taught-not-all-porn-is-bad-advise-experts.html

"A publication released by a group of health and children’s charities says that teachers should bear in mind that pornography is “hugely diverse”.

Pupils as young as 11 should be taught the dangers of “sexting” and five-year-olds should know how airbrushing in the media creates unrealistic body image expectations, it says.

Older pupils aged 14 upwards should tackle “real” and “unreal” behaviour in pornography, says the guide, which directs teachers to a list of online resources they can use in lessons.

It suggests using a website called TheSite.org, an advice forum for young people, which tells teenagers that “porn can be great” and aims to tackle a series of “myths” about the subject. “Sex is great. And porn can be great. It’s the idea that porn sex is like real sex which is the problem,” says the website. “But if you can separate the fantasy from the reality you’re much more likely to enjoy both.”

The guide was published by the Sex Education Forum (SEF), a coalition of more than 90 organisations, including the NSPCC and Barnardo’s, established to campaign for better lessons in the subject.

However, critics said many parents would be “horrified” if their children were taught about pornography in school. Campaigners said it was “playing with fire” and warned that it could encourage a casual attitude towards sex.

The publication follows the Government’s announcement that it will no longer include personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE), which is commonly used to deliver sex education lessons, in the National Curriculum. Instead, schools will be left to draw up their own syllabuses.

On Thursday the SEF released the first edition of the online publication Sex Educational Supplement — The Pornography Issue, which is intended to help schools teach sex education, providing resources on how to broach the “potentially difficult and controversial subject” of pornography.

The publication includes a “wish list” compiled by teachers about what they think fellow staff should know, including that “pornography is hugely diverse — it’s not necessarily 'all bad’ ”.

However, Norman Wells, from the Family Education Trust, said that introducing pupils to pornography risked undermining children’s “natural sense of reserve”.

“The intention appears to be to steer children and young people away from a belief in moral absolutes and to encourage them to think that there are no rights and wrongs when it comes to sexual expression,” he said.

“Many parents will be horrified at the prospect of their children being taught about pornography within such a framework. To take a no-holds barred approach to sex education has the potential to break down pupils’ natural sense of reserve and to encourage casual attitudes towards sex.”

He added: “If we want children to view sexual intimacy as something valuable, special and worthy of respect, it needs to be addressed with modesty and restraint. To give lessons on pornography is to play with fire.”

The publication includes lesson ideas for each age group, with suggestions including discussing the dangers of “sexting” with pupils aged 11 to 14. It asks students to think about why young people do it, “which may include positive reasons such as 'for fun’ ”.

The publication features an interview with a state school teacher from Sheffield, who asks her 15 and 16-year-old pupils to give their views on pornography.

Boo Spurgeon, the head of personal, social, health and economic education at Forge Valley Community School, reported that her pupils said they “need the chance to consider the pros and cons, and there should be balanced teaching about it, not just negatives”.

Pupils said the subject should be mentioned in the first year of secondary school, for 11 and 12-year-olds, because “that is the average age that pornography gets viewed”. Students also noted that “you can learn some helpful positions from some films”, but added: “It isn’t a model of good sex, but sometimes people do it because they enjoy it.”

The Department for Education has outlined a system in which schools would be given the task of drawing up their own PSHE curriculum.

Chris McGovern, a former headmaster and chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said lessons on pornography should only be carried out with parental consent. “This material may be widely available but some responsible parents will be very careful to make sure their children can’t access it and they would be horrified to think they are being exposed to it at school,” he said.

Lucy Emmerson, coordinator of the Sex Education Forum, said: “Teachers have told us they are nervous about mentioning pornography, yet given the ease with which children are able to access explicit sexual content on the internet, it is vital that teachers can respond to this reality appropriately.”"

CHILDREN AS YOUNG AS TEN ARE 'SEXTING' -- ROUTINELY HAVING SEX AND SENDING EXPLICIT PICTURES OF THEMSELVES TO CLASSMATES

Source Article:
Children as young as 10 are 'sexting', says study
Schoolchildren as young as 10 are routinely having sex and sending explicit pictures of themselves to classmates, a survey has revealed.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/10025011/Children-as-young-as-10-are-sexting-says-study.html?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=48bca2a4-4fae-4ffe-8d2c-46987dbc365d

"The findings show boys frequently send pictures of their genitals to female pupils and 12-year-old girls agree to boyfriends' demands to send revealing snaps of themselves or be pictured carrying out sex acts.

One schoolteacher questioned said pupils are so pressured into sending naked photos to each other that they trawl the internet looking at child pornography to find suitable images.

The classroom survey was carried out by Michelle Barry, who works with 7,000 youngsters aged seven upwards as part of the Southampton Rape Crisis' preventative education STAR project.

Ms Barry said: "I was gobsmacked when I asked a class of 13-year-olds if they had ever sent naked pictures of themselves and not a single hand did not go up.

"What is most worrying is the fact young people do not identify this as a problem. For them it is part and parcel of school life.

"Sexting is a huge issue and something we are hearing about more and more. Sharing pornographic images is common place."

Ms Barry, who conducted the survey among Year 9 pupils, said the study also showed the average child is first exposed to pornography at the age of 11.

Jon Brown, sexual abuse leader at the NSPCC, said: "The regular and normalised consumption of hardcore pornography among young people has contributed to the explicit sharing of self-generated imagery."

The study follows new guidance issued last month that urges teachers to use tough powers introduced by the Coalition to seize devices suspected of being used to share explicit photos or videos.

Schools should consider informing the police over any extreme material found on pupils’ phones and ensure images are taken off social networking websites, it is claimed.

The move came amid fears over a rise in the number of children sharing explicit material using mobile phones and social networking websites.

Last week, the Sex Education Forum (SEF), a coalition of more than 90 organisations that includes the NSPCC and Barnardo's, published a new magazine providing advice to teachers on how to tackle subjects like "sexting in the classroom.

The publication includes lesson ideas for each age group, with suggestions including discussing the dangers of sexting with pupils aged 11 to 14. It asks students to think about why young people do it, “which may include positive reasons such as 'for fun’".

A study by the NSPCC last year reported up to 40 per cent of young people had been involved in sexting and found teenage girls in particular were facing pressure from classmates to provide sexually explicit pictures of themselves."

DAVID ICKE ON BIRTH OF A NEW EARTH RADIO - THIS FRIDAY - 5/24

Heads-up everyone. This Friday, May 24, on Birth of a New Earth Radio, DAVID ICKE WILL BE MY GUEST from 1-3pm US eastern on Revolution Radio at http://freedomslips.com/

Be sure to tune into Channel B to hear the show. For more info, follow this link:
http://ecstaticbirth.wordpress.com/jeanice-barcelo-live-on-revolution-radio/

GARDENING WITH EPSOM SALT

Source Article
Gardening with Epsom Salt
http://ybertaud9.wordpress.com/2012/06/07/gardening-with-epsom-salt/


http://youtu.be/Mwih2qgrySI

"Epsom salt has become a popular and well-reputed supplement in organic gardening. With the recent push towards “green” living, Epsom salt is an ideal answer to a variety of organic gardening needs. Both cost effective and gentle on your greenery, Epsom salt is an affordable and green treatment for your well-tended plants—both indoors and out.

Completely one-of-a-kind with a chemical structure unlike any other, Epsom salt (or Magnesium Sulfate) is one of the most economic and versatile salt-like substances in the world. Throughout time, Epsom salt has been known as a wonderful garden supplement, helping to create lush grass, full roses, and healthy, vibrant greenery. It has long been considered a planter’s “secret” ingredient to a lovely, lush garden, and is such a simple, affordable way to have a dramatic impact. Just as gourmet salt works with the ingredients in food to enhance and bring a meal to its full potential, Epsom salt enhances fertilizer and soil’s capabilities to bring a deeper level of vitality to your garden’s composition. Ultra Epsom Salt is the highest quality Epsom salt available, and is widely celebrated for its powerful benefits on natural life, ranging from household plants to shrubs, lawns and even trees.

Why Epsom Salt Works in the Garden

Composed almost exclusively of Magnesium Sulfate, Epsom salt is intensely rich in these two minerals that are both crucial to healthy plant life. These same minerals which are so beneficial for bathing and using around the house are also a wonderful facilitator to your garden, helping it reach its fullest potential and creating a lush and vibrant outdoor space. Unlike common fertilizers, Epsom Salt does not build up in the soil over time, so it is very safe to use.

MAGNESIUM

Magnesium is beneficial to plants from the beginning of their life, right when the seed begins to develop. It assists with the process of seed germination; infusing the seed with this important mineral and helping to strengthen the plant cell walls, so that the plant can receive essential nutrients. Magnesium also plays a crucial role in photosynthesis by assisting with the creation of chlorophyll, used by plants to convert sunlight into food. In addition, it is a wonderful help in allowing the plant to soak up phosphorus and nitrogen, which serve as vital fertilizer components for the soil. Magnesium is believed to bring more flowers and fruit to your garden, increasing the bounty as well as the beauty of your space.

SULFATE

Sulfate, a mineral form of sulfur found in nature, is an equally important nutrient for plant life. Sulfate is essential to the health and longevity of plants, and aides in the production of chlorophyll. It joins with the soil to make key nutrients more effective for plants, including nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Sulfate works in conjunction with Magnesium to create a “vitamin” full of minerals, nourishment and health benefits for your garden.

How to Use Epsom Salt in the Garden

EPSOM SALT FOR HOUSEPLANTS

Perhaps the most natural and easiest place to start with Ultra Epsom Salt is with the potted plants that are dispersed around your house and porch. Epsom salt is such a simple way to increase their blooming and health, and is something that you can include easily as a part of a normal routine.For potted plants, simply dissolve 2 tablespoons per gallon of water, and substitute this solution for normal watering at least once a month – although it is safe to do this as often as desired.

Adding this Epsom salt solution to houseplants that have been potted for a long time is especially useful, due in part to natural salt, which can build up in the soil and clog the root cells of the plant. Ultra Epsom Salt can help to clear up this accumulation of natural salts in the pot, and lead to a revival in the plant’s health and vibrancy. It is also useful for a plant that has just been potted, as it will more easily receive the proper nutrients and have a healthy start in life. As general guidance, most plants need plenty of sun to receive the benefits of Ultra Epsom Salt (and photosynthesize), so be sure to keep typical houseplants in a sunny area of the home unless instructed otherwise. Using Ultra Epsom Salt with potted vegetable plants is a really wonderful idea as well, because it can increase the amount of fruit or vegetables you receive from the one plant. This is particularly beneficial to apartment dwellers and those with little or no personal yard space, as Ultra Epsom Salt can help you receive a large bounty within a confined space. A wonderful way to easily and effectively grow food!

FIRST PLANTING WITH EPSOM SALT

For setting up your garden and the initial planting stage, Ultra Epsom Salt is especially useful for getting a nourishing start. Prep your garden soil by sprinkling up to 1 cup of Ultra Epsom Salt per 100 square feet, and then work it into the soil before seeding or planting. This helps the seeds to germinate better, and start with a strong and healthy growth. It is also very beneficial for more mature plants that you are going to add to your garden, since the transition can be difficult for their growth and health.

VEGETABLE GARDENS & EPSOM SALT

For maintaining and creating a vegetable garden, Epsom salt can help you refresh and revitalize the garden you have already created—or create a healthy beginning to a new space. Ultra Epsom Salt is advised for use with all fruits, vegetables, and herbs (It is not advisable to use Epsom salt with the planting of sage—it is not beneficial for this particular plant). As previously mentioned, it does not cause build-up or any harm to plants when used, and so can be used safely and effectively during any stage of the plant’s life. For general purposes, Ultra Epsom Salt works well as a saline solution for a tank sprayer. Simply fill your tank sprayer (commonly available at gardening and home improvement stores) with 1 tablespoon of Ultra Epsom Salt per gallon of water. Then spray your garden after the initial planting, later when it begins to grow (or after a month or so for transplants), and lastly when the vegetables begin to mature. It is believed that this practice will give you healthier vegetables, and a lush vegetable garden.

The advice above is wonderful for any vegetable or herb, but we do have additional advice for some varieties and situations:

Tomatoes & Epsom Salt

Tomatoes are prone to magnesium deficiency later in the growing season, and display this through yellow leaves and less production. They can greatly benefit from Ultra Epsom Salt treatments both at the beginning of their planting and throughout their seasonal life. When gardening, simply add one or two tablespoons per hole before planting the seeds or transplants. Then as the tomato matures, either work in one tablespoon of Ultra Epsom Salt per foot of plant height around the base of the tomato plant (individually), or create the tank sprayer solution mentioned above and use that every two weeks.

Peppers & Epsom Salt

Like tomatoes, peppers are also prone to magnesium deficiency and thrive much more fully with the use of Epsom salt. This can be done in the same way as tomatoes—through adding one or two tablespoons per hole before planting (for seeds and grown plants), and then twice a week based on the height of the plant (see above). A study conducted by the National Gardening Association discovered that four out of six home gardeners noticed that their Epsom salt-treated peppers were larger than those that were un-treated. Many gardeners credit their healthy, vibrant peppers and tomatoes to Epsom salt. This solution truly aides in the production level, aesthetic beauty and quality of the harvest produced.

FLOWER GARDENS & EPSOM SALT

Like vegetable gardens, flower gardens also blossom more vibrantly and beautifully with the use of Ultra Epsom Salt in the soil and as a liquid solution. Epsom salt helps your garden to become the calming, serene environment you have been envisioning, and will increase the beauty of your home and landscape as well. To use, follow the guidelines outlined in the First Planting section for both brand new seedlings and more mature plants. Next, using a tank sprayer, fill with a liquid solution containing one tablespoon of Ultra Epsom Salt per gallon of water. This solution can be used as much as desired during the gardening season; but definitely after the initial planting, then later when you see growth (or after a month or so for transplants), and finally when they have received full bloom. If you don’t have a tank sprayer, you can always create this solution in a watering can using the ratio of 1 tablespoon Ultra Epsom Salt to 1 gallon of water.

Roses and flower bushes have some additional tips concerning the use of Epsom salt:

Roses & Epsom Salt

Roses in particular can greatly benefit from Epsom salt, and it is said to make foliage greener, healthier and lead to more canes and roses. Start by soaking unplanted rose bushes in one half cup of Ultra Epsom Salt per gallon of water before planting, to help the roots get stronger and firmer. Then, when planting, add one tablespoon of Ultra Epsom Salt per hole before inserting the rose bush. After the roses are planted (and to boost already planted roses), make the liquid Ultra Epsom Salt solution listed above for either a tank sprayer or watering can, or simply work in one tablespoon of Ultra Epsom Salt per foot of plant (individually). Once during the beginning of the season, it is also advised to work one half cup of Ultra Epsom Salt into the base of the plant to encourage blooming canes and healthy basal cane development.

SHRUBS & EPSOM SALT

For flowering and green shrubs, particularly evergreens, azaleas and rhododendrons, Epsom salt can improve the blooming of the flowers and the vibrancy of the greenery. Simply work in one tablespoon of Ultra Epsom Salt per nine square feet of bush into the soil, over the root zone, which allows the shrubs to absorb the nutritional benefits. Repeat this every two to four weeks for optimal results.

LAWN CARE & EPSOM SALT

Just as Ultra Epsom Salt can revitalize your garden, so does it improve the greenery and sustainability of your lawn. Epsom salt is particularly useful for preventing a yellowing lawn and creating lusher, softer, deeply green grass. It can be applied using a tank sprayer (which can also be used on your flower and vegetable gardens), a lawn spreader, and by using a hose and spray attachment. Use three pounds per 1250 square feet (25’ x 50’), six pounds per 2500 square feet (50’ x 50’), and twelve pounds per 5000 square feet (50’ x 100’). If using a tank sprayer or a hose and spray attachment, make sure to dilute the salt in plenty of water (enough to make it dissolve), so that it is a concentrated solution.

TREES & EPSOM SALT

Trees, the largest and longest standing part of your garden, can also benefit from Epsom salt by allowing more minerals to be absorbed through the roots, giving you strong healthy trees to enjoy for years to come. If your trees bloom or produce fruit, Ultra Epsom Salt can be particularly useful due to its ability to increase the production of both flowers and bounty. Simply work in two tablespoons per nine square feet into the soil over the root zone three or four times a year. Planning to complete this at the beginning of each season is particularly helpful for preparing the tree for the change in weather, and allowing them to become stronger and healthier.

Source: http://wakeup-world.com/2012/05/05/gardening-with-epsom-salt/"

KILLER WHALES WON'T ABANDON THEIR DISABLED MATES

These majestic animals do NOT belong in captivity or used for human entertainment. BOYCOTT SEAWORLD, circuses, and all "entertainment" industries that profit off the misery and enslavement of other beings.

Source Article
Why Killer Whales Won't Abandon Their Disabled Mates
A whale pod off the coast of South Africa was seen feeding one of their disabled members.
http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/05/19/killer-whales-take-care-their-own

"In many animal societies, if a member of a group is gravely wounded or born with disabling deformities, that animal becomes an unsustainable burden on the others, and is often left behind at the mercy of predators, hunger and disease.

Not so with killer whales. They are among the few species in the world to look after members of their family who cannot look after themselves. Their patience and compassion for each other surpasses, perhaps, even that of humans

The most recent example of this extraordinary commitment to one another was revealed today in the UK's Daily Mail, which ran a story and photo essay of a disabled young male orca off the coast of South Africa; he's missing a pectoral fin and the normally towering dorsal fin that sprouts from the backs of mature bulls.

These disfigurements make it impossible for the whale to hunt alongside his pod. Luckily for him, they are only too willing to hunt for their disabled pod mate.

The pod was seen near Port Elizabeth, South Africa hunting a 50-foot-long, 15-ton Bryde's whale. The young orca stayed behind as the others chased and killed the whale, then brought chunks of flesh to their disabled member.

When researching my book Death at SeaWorld, I was continually amazed by the capacity of orcas to share in the responsibility of group well-being. It may or may not take a village to raise a child but, I learned, it definitely takes a pod to raise an orca, especially one with disabilities.

Orcas are seemingly hardwired by their genes to share. They have been observed delicately splitting a salmon in two, or taking turns while hunting seals on Antarctic ice floes. They make sure there is enough to go around.

Much of this I learned from Dr. Ingrid Visser, founder of New Zealand's Orca Research Network and one of the world's leading experts on killer whales. Last July I had the pleasure to attend a lecture by Dr. Visser on her work with New Zealand orca groups, which she has been studying for years.

Visser spoke of two killer whales who had suffered horrible, nearly fatal gash wounds caused by the propellers of passing boats. It was a miracle one of them survived at all. The animal could not forage for the rays, penguins, jellyfish and marine mammals favored by her group.

When her family would go off to find food, one of them would stay behind to look after her, until the others returned with a meal. Visser spent so much time with this group of orcas, diving in the water right alongside them, that they came to know and trust her. Eventually, she said at her lecture, the whales began to leave their disabled pod member with her as the surrogate guardian.

This remarkable behavior reminded me of the work of Dr. Naomi Rose, the lead protagonist in my book, who spent five summers studying killer whale populations in far northern Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

Older sons routinely "alloparent," or babysit their younger siblings so that mom could go off and rest, or socialize with other females. In exchange for their service, the mature males gain entree to females in other pods, via their mothers' social ties.

Of course, the more you learn about the intelligence, compassion and complex social bonds these amazing animals have developed over millions of years of evolution, the idea of keeping them locked up in tanks for human entertainment and profit becomes even more alien and grotesque.

One of the saddest aspects of orca captivity is that it seems to disrupt the naturally compassionate essence of these animals. Captivity has bred bloody duels, inbreeding and attempted infanticide.

One of the most heartbreaking stories in my book is the tale of the female orca Gudrun, who had been taken from the waters off Iceland in the 1980s. Gudrun gave birth to a deformed and developmentally-challenged calf named Nyar, and almost immediately rejected the child. Instead of bringing Nyar food, Gudrun tried to drown her calf, who had to be separated from her mother.

Two years later, Gudrun endured a life-threatening stillbirth. Sick and in tremendous pain, she swam over to the tank where Nyar was being held, and lovingly nuzzled her deformed daughter through the metal bars of the gate, as if to seek rapprochement. Soon after that, she died.

Infanticde may exist among wild killer whales, but I have never heard of it. Rather than killing their disabled offspring, or simply letting them perish, wild whales go to great lengths to preserve the lives and welfare of all their members. Pods with a disabled member are known to travel more slowly than other pods.

Compassion and commitment are the hallmarks of orca society in the wild. We may never know why captivity reduces these qualities in killer whales, but neurosis and misery are certainly prime suspects."

BREECH HOMEBIRTH - 17 DAYS PAST DUE DATE

What an inspirational story!!!

Source Article:
Via Birth Without Fear Blog
by ALISIA CAMERON on MAY 18, 2013
Breech Homebirth {17 Days Past Due Date}
http://birthwithoutfearblog.com/2013/05/18/breech-homebirth-17-days-past-due-date/

“At 38 weeks pregnant I hired independent midwives to help me have a physiological breech birth at home because the NHS were not supportive of my choices and wanted me to opt for a caesarean. Four weeks and 3 days later my beautiful baby daughter was born at home in record fast timing and it was the most natural and rewarding experience of my life. I have Natal Hypnotherapy and Maya midwives to thank for that. Natal Hypnotherapy gave me the confidence to trust my body and believe in my ability to give birth naturally and Maya midwives supported me, allowing me to trust my instincts and listen to my body before and during the birth. Here is my story.” -Ruth

I had always planned a home birth for my second baby but when I found out she was breech, I was told by the hospital this would be impossible and after an unsuccessful attempt at turning her (ECV) I was given no other option but to have a caesarean. I was distraught, I knew I could deliver this baby normally but was shocked that the hospital were so keen on c-section. They wouldn’t let me leave without consenting to this even though I told them I wanted to explore my options. I was 38 weeks pregnant at this stage and if they had their way I would have had a c-section one week later but I knew baby wasn’t ready and after careful thought and research I told them I wanted to wait and to cancel the caesarean. The majority of staff were not supportive of my choice so I began a quest to find an independent midwife.

Several phone calls later I came across the wonderful Maya midwives, who happened to be experienced in vaginal breech birth and very keen to support me. I was overjoyed and it meant there was a greater chance I could have the home birth I so desperately wanted for my baby. I withdrew from NHS care and had regular visits from the midwives to check baby’s heart rate etc. and then it was just a waiting game. I began listening to my Natal Hypnotherapy prepare for home birth CD again every day, sometimes two or three times a day and I made a poster for my bedroom wall with affirmations and other positive thoughts about the birth.

My due date (20th September) came and went and then a week later there were still no labour signs. The midwives advised that I didn’t do anything to augment the labour, such as acupuncture or reflexology because breech babies must come when they are ready if they are going to come at all. So I waited and waited. Natal Hypnotherapy helped me to remain calm, relaxed and focused at this stressful time when friends and family were growing increasingly concerned. When I reached 42 weeks I decided to go to hospital for a scan and CTG monitoring to make sure everything was ok. The doctors said baby was doing really well and couldn’t find anything at all wrong but would be happier if I’d have a c-section the next day. My instincts told me to wait a little longer and so I agreed to come back two days later for more CTG monitoring. In the meantime I began to prepare myself for the caesarean (by listening to the Natal Hypnotherapy CD) as it was becoming increasingly likely that I might have to give in at some point. Again the CTG monitoring showed that everything was fine but I agreed to go in the next day for my bloods to be taken in case the caesarean was necessary. Although I was more prepared for it, I couldn’t understand how my body could grow this baby, keep her nourished for 9 months and then just abandon her and me when it was time to be born.

That very night I woke at 4am with contractions that felt ‘different’ to the Braxton hicks I’d been having for weeks so I called the midwife, Andy, and she arrived an hour later. I wasn’t in any pain at all but had been preparing for this for months using Natal Hypnotherapy so didn’t really expect to be. There was about an hour where the contractions were really intense but at no time painful and our daughter was born two and a half hours later (bum first) at 7:30. Andy said it was the quickest birth she’d ever seen, so quick that Viv, the second midwife missed it! I was glad I called Andy when I did. I used only a TENS machine and Natal Hypnotherapy techniques and our beautiful breech baby daughter, Amália Rose, was born calmly and peacefully in our bedroom. Her birthday is 7th October 2012, 17 days past the due date. I couldn’t have hoped for a better outcome, I am so glad that I trusted my instincts and my baby and that I had the support of such wonderful midwives. I will treasure that moment forever.

[Moments after birth with my wonderful midwife, Andy Parker]"

FUKUSHIMA FALLOUT - YOUNG CHILDREN BORN ON US WEST COAST ARE 28% MORE LIKELY TO DEVELOP CONGENITAL HYPERTHYROIDISM

A boy receives a radiation scan at a screening center in Koriyama in Fukushima prefecture (AFP Photo / Go Takayama)

Source Article:
Almost third more US West Coast newborns may face thyroid problems after Fukushima nuclear disaster
http://rt.com/usa/fukushima-us-children-thyroid-291/

"Researchers have discovered that the Fukushima nuclear disaster has had far-reaching health effects more drastic than previously thought: young children born on the US West Coast are 28 percent more likely to develop congenital hyperthyroidism.

In examining post-Fukushima conditions along the West Coast, researchers found American-born children to be developing similar conditions that some Europeans acquired after the 1986 meltdown of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

“Fukushima fallout appeared to affect all areas of the US, and was especially large in some, mostly in the western part of the nation,” researchers from the New York-based Radiation and Health Project wrote in a study published by the Open Journal of Pediatrics.

Children born after the 2011 meltdown of Japan’s Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant are at high risk of acquiring congenital hyperthyroidism if they were in the line of fire for radioactive isotopes. Researchers studied concentration levels of radioiodine isotopes (I-131) and congenital hypothyroid cases to make the association.

Just a few days after the meltdown, I-131 concentration levels in California, Hawaii, Alaska, Oregon and Washington were up to 211 times above the normal level, according to the study. At the same time, the number of congenital hypothyroid cases skyrocketed, increasing by an average of 16 percent from March 17 to Dec. 31, 2011. And between March 17 and June 30, shortly after the meltdown, newly born children experienced a 28 percent greater risk of acquiring hyperthyroidism.

In 36 other US states outside of the exposure zone, the risk of congenital hyperthyroidism decreased by 3 percent – a finding that researchers believe may serve as further proof that Fukushima had something to do with the unusually high results found on the West Coast.

The disease is usually rare, but can manifest into a serious condition if left untreated. Affected fetuses and children may suffer serious developmental delay – and a recent report found that 44.2 percent of 94,975 sampled Fukushima children have had thyroid ultrasound abnormalities as a likely result of their exposure to the radiation.

Americans often doubted that radiation from the meltdown would affect the US West Coast, but the latest research sheds light on alarming scientific data that indicates otherwise. Radioactive iodine that enters the human body typically gathers in the thyroid, which release growth hormones. Radiation exposure can therefore stunt the growth of a child’s body and brain. Exposure can have long-lasting effects, which scientists have studied in those who were near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant during its 1986 meltdown. Decades after the accident, a 2011 study by the National Institutes of Health found that higher absorption of I-131 radiation led to an increased risk for thyroid cancer among victims of Chernobyl radiation – a risk that has not diminished over time.

The children who were unfortunate enough to be exposed to Fukushima radiation on the US West Coast, Alaska or Hawaii could face similar risks of congenital hypothyroidism or thyroid cancer throughout their lives, although the Radiation and Health Project Researchers said they are still investigating further to see what other factors might be involved in their findings before drawing any solid conclusions about the effects of Fukushima."

MATERNAL DEATH RATE DOUBLES IN THE U.S. IN 25 YEARS

Kristin Marlowe, 20, was seven months pregnant and being treated for a placental tear at Springfield Mercy Hospital in Springfield, Mo., when she died of a stroke on Aug. 8. Doctors are unsure what caused the stroke. Her baby, Trennon, was delivered by emergency c-section and survived. Her husband, Nick Marlowe, 22, is still struggling from the shock.

The Truth is that women and babies are dying in the U.S at ridiculously high rates because technological intervention is KILLING THEM!!!! As you read the stories below, notice that nary a mention is made about a drug called CYTOTEC which causes both amniotic fluid embolism and blood clots leading to stroke. Cytotec also causes uterine ruptures and birth defects and much more, and this is just one of the myriad, highly toxic drugs that are given to women every
single day during hospital birth.

Hospital birth and what passes for "prenatal care" in this country are the problem. Isn't it time we admitted that?


Source Article:
Why are so many U.S. women dying during childbirth?
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/maternal-death-rate-going-up-across-u-s/article_dd916b4b-38f0-5bae-ba42-ddee636e4cf4.html

"Kristin Marlowe was seven months pregnant and admitted for a small placental tear at Mercy Hospital in Springfield, Mo., when she began to complain of a headache. An hour later, she stopped breathing. Strong, healthy and only 20 years old — she died of a stroke.

¶ Her son, Trennon, was delivered by emergency C-section and survived. ¶ “We knew we were going to spend our life together,” said her husband, Nick Marlowe, 22, still reeling from her death last August. “I can tell you right now, if it wasn’t for my kid, I wouldn’t be here.”

The hospital staff is also struggling for answers. Doctors are unsure how a young woman with no risks or obvious signs quickly took such a tragic turn. “How did this happen?” said obstetrics director Dr. David Redfern. “Why did this happen?’

The maternal death rate in the U.S. is creeping upward — to more than double what it was 25 years ago. [Emphasis Added] Systems identifying deaths have improved, so how much the increase can be attributed to risk is uncertain. But experts agree maternal deaths are no longer declining, are underestimated, largely preventable and disproportionately affect certain groups.

“We have not seen a decrease in maternal mortality, and that is worrisome,” said Dr. George Saade, director of maternal-fetal medicine at University of Texas Medical Branch. He said black women were three to four times more likely than white women to die from pregnancy. “These two things are very concerning, particularly in a developed country like the U.S.”

The 20th century saw a dramatic decrease in pregnancy-related deaths, largely because of improvements in sterile techniques — reaching the lowest point in 1987 at 7.2 deaths per 100,000 live births. The most recent figures available show the rate hovers around 15 deaths per 100,000 births — placing the U.S. near the bottom among developed nations.

The rate of severe complications during and after delivery have also doubled in the last decade, according to a 2012 federal study. Near-misses, where a woman nearly dies, increased by 27 percent. [Emphasis Added]

That means each year in the U.S., about 700 women die of pregnancy-related complications and 52,000 experience emergencies such as acute renal failure, shock, respiratory distress, aneurysms and heart surgery. An additional 34,000 barely avoid death.

The nation’s largest health care accrediting organization, the Joint Commission, warned hospitals three years ago about maternal deaths. Hospitals have since worked to identify risks and respond to emergencies. But experts say more needs to done to improve education, research and guidelines for care — much like the efforts that have improved outcomes for premature babies.

Researchers call it putting the “M” back in maternal-fetal medicine.

Redfern said reviewing Kristin Marlowe’s case alone provided little insight. Cases need to be compared across the state and nation.

“How many pregnant women come in the hospital and complain of a headache? That number is sky high. And how many have a stroke that ends their life? That number is very small,” Redfern said. “What information can we gain from this to prevent this from happening? That is the bottom line. We need to do what is necessary to keep this from happening again.”

After she complained of a headache, Kristin was given a narcotic for the pain. Over the next hour, Nick Marlowe said, she complained of numbness starting in her toes, spreading up her legs and to her neck. She struggled to swallow.

“I kept asking, ‘Why is she going numb? Why does her head still hurt?’ ” he said.

Numbness can be caused by the narcotic she was given, Redfern said. She was not bleeding. Her blood pressure was normal. The persistent headache was a concern, though, and a doctor had just ordered a CT scan when she suddenly turned blue, and her heart stopped.

Marlowe watched his wife slip away as they rushed her to the operating room. “I freaked out, and dropped to my knees and started screaming and praying,” he said.

Doctors are unsure what caused her stroke. Typically, a clot breaks off from somewhere in the body and blocks a main blood vessel to the brain. But in her case, the scattered brain injuries did not fit the pattern of a clot, Redfern said.

She was so sweet, Nick Marlowe said. A polite Southern girl, she was in church every Sunday. “She was the best thing that ever happened to me,” he said.

When he looks at Trennon, he sees Kristin’s deep blue eyes. “I think about having to tell him what happened,” Marlowe said. “How am I going to do it? When am I going to do it? Someday he’s going say, ‘Why does everyone at school have a mommy? Where is my mommy?’ ”

Why it's happening

RISK FACTORS CAN PILE UP

As someone with Type 1 diabetes, Nicole McLeroy got thorough counseling about the risks of getting pregnant. Her disease could worsen, disabling her with nerve damage or kidney failure. She could have a stillbirth or a baby with a birth defect.

“They told me all the risks that could be involved,” said McLeroy, 33, of Belleville. “It really scared me.”

So when she got pregnant with her baby, now 4 months old, she traveled across the river to the Barnes-Jewish Hospital high-risk clinic for her prenatal care. “I knew I had to really stay on my A-game through nine months,” McLeroy said.

Studies show that maternal deaths and severe complications can largely be prevented with changes in health behaviors and quality of care. Doctors say pregnancy has become increasingly risky for several reasons: the prevalence of obesity, Type 2 diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease; more older women having children; advancements in fertility treatments resulting in twin births; and the high rate of C-sections.

“All of those things put together are causing what seemingly was a downward-going problem to tick back up,” said Dr. Michael Nelson, vice chairman of obstetrics at Washington University School of Medicine. “Even though the absolute risk of having a mortality from one complication is very low, many women have multiple conditions.”

The leading causes of pregnancy-related deaths are changing. When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began in 1987 taking a closer look at maternal deaths, hemorrhage was blamed for more than one in four. Now it’s diseases of the heart and blood vessels.

Deaths from stroke are also on the rise. A recent CDC study shows pregnancy-related strokes increased by 50 percent in 2006-2007, compared with 1994-1996. [Emphasis Added]

Experts are calling for more research on how chronic conditions are best managed during pregnancy and how to identify and respond to complications.

“Pregnancy has a lot of symptoms that go along with it which are normal,” said Dr. William Callaghan, director of the CDC’s maternal and infant health branch. “But how do we discriminate the normal shortness of breath from the shortness of breath that comes with an impending blood clot or impending heart attack?”

Researchers and high-risk pregnancy specialists say an important step is stratifying maternity care, parallel to what has been adopted in the care of high-risk newborns. Higher-level hospitals would have the specialists and infrastructure needed to take care of complex cases, help institute guidelines to improve care, and consult with lower-level hospitals. The approach allows for comparisons of outcomes and a more efficient use of resources.

“You have hospitals building these high-level NICUs to get these preemies, but they don’t spend the same resources on the maternal side,” Saade said.

Saade and his team published a commentary last fall in the Obstetrics & Gynecology journal calling for stratification, arguing that hospitals often transfer a woman only because they are unable to provide care for her baby.

“Most of the time no one is asking, ‘Can that other hospital care for the mother?’ That’s why we wrote this commentary. To me it was shocking and amazing,” Saade said. “We say, ‘We are going to send you here because they can take care of the baby.’ But almost half the time, the baby is premature or early because the mother is sick. Often, the mother needs as much attention as the baby or even more.”

McLeroy’s pregnancy was closely watched. She started with an electrocardiogram to test the strength of her heart. She worked with a nutritionist. Her kidney function, insulin resistance and the size of her baby were routinely tested. Her weekly prenatal appointments became semiweekly as she neared her due date.

Her delivery required the same attention. Her blood pressure increased during labor, requiring a risky medication to control it and prevent seizures. She needed a C-section. After the operation, her blood sugar shot up, placing her in danger of organ failure or even coma. She stayed six days in the hospital.

High-risk specialists say counseling women about risks before getting pregnant, much like the warnings McLeroy received, is also key in improving outcomes — especially because half of pregnancies are unplanned.

“We aren’t doing well enough, there’s no question about that,” Nelson said. “We aren’t educating and giving our population preconception counseling and conditioning for optimal pregnancy outcomes.”


What hospitals are doing about it

TRAINING, PREVENTION ARE KEY

Lucy Richards gave birth about an hour ago. Her labor was induced and she had a large baby, both risk factors for hemorrhage — massive bleeding accounting for about 12 percent of maternal deaths.

Lucy is a high-tech simulator. The lifelike mannequin can deliver a baby with an umbilical cord and placenta. She bleeds, has vital signs and takes needles. She is controlled and given a voice by operators in a nearby room, filming how trainees care for her.

A group of students at the Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College noticed her sheets soaked in blood. They inserted a catheter, gave her oxygen and constantly massaged her uterus to help it contract — while also dealing with family members and her questions and fears. The team gave Lucy the wrong dose of a medication.

“This is good practice,” said assistant professor Katherine Hufker, “so we can make mistakes in practice and not in real life.”

Using emergency simulations is one of many things St. Louis-area hospital officials say they are doing to better care for a riskier population of pregnant women.

Other efforts include in-depth reviews of cases; improving communication; educating staff about risk factors and signs of trouble; and instituting strict rules on labor inductions.

Patients must wear compression socks during C-sections to help prevent blood clots. Each room has “hemorrhage carts” with all the necessary supplies at the ready.

“Is risk acutely higher? Yes. And is our attention to safety higher? Absolutely,” said Mercy’s vice president of women’s services, Dr. Marc Gunter.

A year ago, Mercy Hospital St. Louis hired round-the-clock laborists — obstetricians who only deliver babies. They work with the nurses, private physicians and medical residents, and participate in twice-daily safety rounds. “It adds another level of safety,” said the chair of obstetrics, Dr. Octavio Chirino.

Barnes-Jewish Hospital launched last November the region’s first maternal-fetal transport service that staffs the helicopter or ambulance with obstetric and pediatric nurses.

At Missouri Baptist Medical Center, pregnant women experiencing risky complications stay in intensive care adjacent to labor and delivery, should conditions rapidly worsen, said obstetrics chief Dr. David Weinstein.

St. Mary’s Health Center has a no-weight-gain program for obese patients, with a nutritionist and diabetes educator. “Through an aggressive approach, we can keep weight gain down and reduce C-sections and improve neonatal outcomes,” said maternal-fetal medicine director Dr. Gilad Gross.

Yet, hospitals can do more to rein in “rogue doctors” who are not following the latest safety evidence, said Dr. George Macones, obstetrics chairman at Barnes-Jewish. Examples include not offering flu shots, administering antibiotics too late during C-sections and improperly giving medications to women who suspect they are having preterm contractions.

“I’m going to lay major responsibility on hospitals to educate physicians on guidelines and protocols …,” Macones said. “Hospitals are somewhat reluctant to do that because they are afraid of making doctors angry.”

What hospitals can also do, many say, is promote spontaneous, vaginal births — the safest for mothers and babies. One procedure or drug increases the risk for another, often causing a cascade of interventions that ends with a C-section.

The surgery carries risk as well as increasing the chances for having an ectopic pregnancy or life-threatening problems with the placenta in later pregnancies. In the U.S., the C-section rate has skyrocketed to 33 percent of all births. The World Health Organization says it should be closer to 15 percent.

“We don’t want to turn a natural thing into a high-risk condition for a low-risk population,” Nelson said.

St. Mary’s officials say they are considering using nurse midwives, advanced nurses trained to promote natural birth. Their low-tech approach has been shown to reduce C-section rates and improve other health outcomes. Mercy St. Louis is also considering opening an adjacent birth center staffed by midwives.

At the nursing college, the students also responded to another simulation — a normal birth. “They need to know what that looks like too,” said instructor Gale Bunt.


What more needs to be done

SHARING DATA BUILDS ON SUCCESS

Recordia Kennedy chose to spend her baby’s first birthday with cake and balloons in a Barnes-Jewish Hospital meeting room. The party guests were doctors and nurses.

“This is the best present I could’ve thought of, to have everyone here who saved my life,” said Kennedy, 42, of St. Louis. “You guys worked a miracle.”

During labor, Kennedy suffered one of the least understood and catastrophic complications of pregnancy: an amniotic fluid embolism. Most women don’t survive. Most who do have brain damage.

She survived because the chief of obstetric anesthesiology happened to take an interest in the rare complication. Dr. Barbara Leighton pored through stacks of animal studies and came up with a potential life-saving cocktail of drugs. And the cocktail worked.

Kennedy’s survival shows a need to understand the causes and treatments of potentially catastrophic maternal conditions.

Kennedy was nearing the end of her labor when she complained of chest pain. Within seconds, her heart stopped.

Amniotic fluid had entered her bloodstream, producing a rapid, allergic-like reaction that causes the heart and lungs to fail. Her baby was delivered by forceps. For nearly 45 minutes, nurses and doctors worked to revive Kennedy.

Nurse Dan Parmeley remembered the list of drugs to try in case of an embolism, which Leighton had posted in the operating rooms. Within seconds of getting the drugs, Kennedy’s pulse returned. “These are four generally safe drugs, but they are not what you usually give in a cardiac arrest,” Leighton said. “You would just think, ‘Wow, that’s a weird combination of drugs.’ It’s not in any protocols.”

Leighton plans to present the case later this month at the annual meeting of anesthesia professionals and hopes to get her research published, but that can take months.

The key to improving safety and quickly sharing findings such as Leighton’s, experts say, are statewide maternal mortality review committees made up of key players in prenatal, childbirth and postpartum care.

Ideally, committees would regularly review deaths to gain insight on warning signs, prevention and treatments. Addressing severe complications and near-misses would also help identify gaps in care.

Callaghan at the CDC calls state mortality review committees the “Rolls-Royce” in collecting accurate data. Changes could be implemented statewide.

Missouri created its Pregnancy Associated Mortality Review Committee two years ago to determine the number of pregnancy-related deaths over the past 10 years.

The Illinois Maternal Morality Review Committee has been cited as an example for other states to follow. The committee was formed in 2000 to review deaths in-depth. By 2007, the committee determined hemorrhage was the leading cause, prompting a state requirement that every doctor and nurse working in hospital obstetrics complete a hemorrhage education program.

Many states, however, lack the resources for such efforts. Federal legislation proposed two years ago to beef up state maternal mortality committees stalled.

But Callaghan says the alarm has sounded. “Nationally, there is a bigger effort around improving care than there ever has been before” by government, doctors groups and researchers, he said.

Before Kennedy opened birthday gifts from the staff, she asked a question that silenced the room. She wanted to know more about what happened to her and whether it had happened before.

Someone somberly answered that it had happened before. Although not often. And not with the same results."

SWADDLING BEING BANNED AT DAY CARE CENTERS -- BECAUSE IT IS HARMFUL TO BABIES!!!

I have been saying that swaddling is extremely harmful for infants for many years. Now, the mainstream is finally catching on, although the media seem bent on making it seem unreasonable that this dangerous practice is now being banned in day care centers.

Swaddling is a straight-up trauma-based mind-control technique in which infants are prevented from moving, sometimes with a pacifier in their mouth to additionally prevent them from making any sounds. Swaddled infants have extremely high levels of cortisol in their brains and are not sleeping. They are in parasympathetic shock.

Using swaddling to try to quiet a traumatized, abandoned, terrified infant is a very dangerous practice that will compound the trauma and lead to life-long problems.

The swaddling of infants needs to end now.

Source Article:
Ban on Swaddling Throws Day Cares Into Chaos
http://moms.popsugar.com/Day-Care-Swaddling-Ban-29056999

"Is swaddling dangerous? As day care centers around the country start to ban the widely accepted practice, the jobs of caretakers are getting much more difficult. Unswaddled infants, they say, are harder to soothe, sleep less, and require more one-on-one attention.

The controversial ban stems from findings that improper swaddling, which can happen in institutional settings like day care centers, may cause hip dysplasia or put infants at risk for suffocation and is based on an advisory from several public health organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics. But not all experts are falling into line with it; Dr. Harvey Karp, author of The Happiest Baby on the Block, told the Huffington Post that a strong case against swaddling has not yet been proven."

Important Study...
http://community.lsoft.com/scripts/WA-lsoftdonations.exe?A2=ind0306D&L=LACTNET&D=1&P=93743

"Subject: swaddling revisited

From: Rachel Myr

Reply-To: Lactation Information and Discussion <[log in to unmask]>

Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2003

There's swaddling and then there's Swaddling, as practiced in Russia from
birth onwards and in many other countries where then-Soviet birth culture
made inroads.
In the March issue of Acta Paediatrica (the one with Lisa Amir's cover photo
and her great article on duration of BF correlating with prenatal intent to
BF :-)) there is an article about a study done in St. Petersburg, Russia, in
collaboration with many of the foremost Swedish breastfeeding researchers
alive. They compared body temperatures in babies swaddled and laid in cots,
swaddled and held in mother's arms, clothed and laid in cots, clothed and
held in mother's arms, and babies left skin-to-skin on mother's bare chest.
All these treatments were carried out in the first two hours post partum and
they controlled well for confounders.

They measured skin temperature in one axilla, on the back, thigh and foot, I
think. The foot and the axilla were definitely two of the points, at any
rate. What they found was that the swaddled babies had colder feet than any
other group. The skin-to-skin group had the warmest feet. Body temp
otherwise was within normal range for all babies. The reduced foot
temperature in the swaddled babies persisted for days. They believe that
the difference in foot temperature between the groups cannot be explained by
temperature conservation alone, but that the swaddled babies had higher
cortisol levels and the s-t-s babies had the lowest, implying that lying
naked on mother's body was the most energy efficient way of helping babies
recover from the normal stress of being born. Higher foot temp was believed
to come from better perfusion of the extremities due to vasodilation. The
duration of the lowered foot temp in the tightly swaddled babies could
indicate that this increase in cortisol production is long lasting. Also
worth noting is that in both groups observed in cots or in mother's arms,
the babies in cots were colder than babies held in mother's arms.

John Kennell wrote a commentary to this study, published in the same issue
of Acta Paediatrica, saying what you'd expect one of the first researchers
to notice bonding as a survival process to say. Worth reading as much as
the study is.

When I read this article I realized that we are always looking for
nutritional explanations for the impaired health of babies who are not
breastfed. But simply being born in a culture that separates mother and
baby immediately post partum, and 'allows' them to be together as long as
their skins barely touch, could have implications for our blood pressure and
even our insulin metabolism for the rest of our lives. I believe
breastfeeding would mitigate the effects of such unphysiologic care, but it
would be far better if we regained some respect for what newborns and
mothers really need, and changed our way of 'caring' for them to reflect
those needs. Simply placing a baby under a warming lamp is an insult to
both baby and mother - as though the only thing mother is good for, is
generating heat.

This tight swaddling from birth onwards is not very much like the swaddling
shown on the 'miracle blanket' website. My hesitancy about the blanket is
more from the marketing (implying babies ought to sleep all night from a
very, very young age, inter alia) than from the swaddling as it is shown
here. Also, they spelled dysplasia 'displacia' when boasting that the
blanket won't inhibit development of hips and knees - that always weakens my
confidence in a product.

Rachel Myr
Kristiansand, Norway
still feeling warm to the tips of my own toes after attending a beautiful,
normal home birth two nights ago, where baby stayed naked on mother's body
til after her first feed was completed - about two hours post partum.
Baby's axillary temp was 36.9 C (98.4 F) at two hours and her toes were warm
and pink. She had by then been suckling with audible swallows most of the
time, for about 80 minutes."

HUNDREDS OF TOXIC CHEMICALS FOUND IN UMBILICAL CORDS OF NEWBORNS

Source Article:
Study finds hundreds of toxic chemicals in umbilical cords of newborns
http://wsws.org/en/articles/2005/12/toxi-d07.html

By E. Galen
7 December 2005

"The umbilical cord is a baby’s lifeline, bringing nourishment from the mother and removing waste. The amniotic fluid bathes the growing embryo, and the umbilical cord brings the embryo oxygen, nutrients—and a startling array of toxic industrial chemicals, according to a recent study, “Body Burden: The Pollution in Newborns.”

In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers from two major laboratories looked for the presence of toxic chemicals in umbilical cord blood of 10 newborn babies born in U.S. hospitals in August and September 2004. A collaboration of the Environmental Working Group and Commonweal brought about the study. (For the full report, go to http://www.ewg.org/reports/bodyburden2/.)

Of the more than 400 chemicals tested for, 287 were detected in umbilical cord blood. Of these, 180 cause cancer in humans or animals, 217 are toxic to the brain or nervous system, and 208 cause birth defects or abnormal development in animals. Scientists refer to the presence of such toxins in the newborn as “body burden.”

According to the study’s authors, the scope of testing was limited because chemical companies are not required to divulge methods for detecting the presence of their chemicals in the human body. “Had we tested for a broader array of chemicals,” they wrote, “we would almost certainly have detected far more than 287.”

Among those substances found to be polluting the blood supply for the newborn babies were eight perfluorochemicals used as stain and oil repellants in fast-food packaging, clothes and textiles, including the Teflon chemical PFQA, a carcinogen; dozens of widely used bromated flame retardants and their toxic byproducts; and many pesticides.

Publication of this study, despite its sensational findings, created barely a ripple in the national media. There was no outcry from the Christian fundamentalists against the poisoning of fetuses by the chemical industry, in sharp contrast to their hysteria over abortion rights. The ultra-right fanatics demonize pregnant teenagers and even the victims of rape and incest as “murderers” for terminating their pregnancies. But it is apparently an article of faith that corporate polluters should have the right to continue pumping out dangerous chemicals that damage individuals and even generations, in the name of “free enterprise.”

This latest research was done to investigate the root causes of diseases caused by chemicals with in-utero origins. Certain factors contribute to children’s unique susceptibility to the dangerous effect of chemicals. An immature porous blood-brain barrier in the fetus allows greater chemical exposures to the developing brain; a developing child’s chemical exposures are greater pound-for-pound than those of an adult; and systems that detoxify and excrete industrial chemicals are not fully developed (National Academy of Sciences, 1993).

The difference between the effect of chemical exposure on adults and embryos can be seen in the case of mercury exposure. In Minamata, Japan, in the 1950s, poisonous mercury waste was dumped into a bay, contaminating the food chain. Autopsies of adults revealed mercury-caused lesions in a few areas of the brain, while in a fetus, lesions covered nearly the entire cortex.

Here is a summary from the report of the classes of chemical found in the babies’ umbilical cord. Many of them persist for decades in the environment and in people, accumulate in the food chain and are lipophilic, that is, accumulate in fatty tissue and fluids such as breast milk.


Chemicals and pollutants found in human umbilical cord blood
(Source: EWG study)

Mercury (Hg)
Tested for 1, found 1
Pollutant from coal-fired power plants, mercury-containing products, and certain industrial processes. Accumulates in seafood. Hurts brain development and function.

Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
Tested for 18, found 9
Pollutants from burning gasoline and garbage. Linked to cancer. Accumulate in food chain.

Polybrominated dibenzodioxins and furans (PBDD/F)
Tested for 12, found 7
Contaminants in brominated flame retardants. Pollutants and byproducts from plastic production and incineration. Accumulate in food chain. Toxic to developing endocrine (hormone) system.

Perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs)
Tested for 12, found 9
Active ingredients or breakdown products of Teflon, Scotchgard, fabric and carpet protectors, food packaging. Global contaminants. Accumulate in the environment and the food chain, in meat, dairy, fish and eggs. Linked to cancer, birth defects, and more.

Polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and furans (PBCD/F)
Tested for 17, found 11
Pollutants, by-products of PVC production, industrial bleaching, and incineration. Cause cancer in humans. Persist for decades in the environment. Very toxic to developing endocrine (hormone) system.

Organochlorine pesticides (OCs)
Tested for 28, found 21
DDT, chlordane and other pesticides. Largely banned in the U.S. Persist for decades in the environment. Accumulate up the food chain to man. Cause cancer and numerous reproductive effects.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs)
Tested for 46, found 32
Flame retardant in furniture foam, computers, and televisions. Accumulates in the food chain and human tissues. Adversely affects brain development and the thyroid.

Polychlorinated napthalenes (PCNs)
Tested for 70, found 50
Wood preservatives, varnishes, machine-lubricating oils, waste incineration. Formed during chlorination of drinking water. Common PCB contaminant. Contaminate the food chain. Cause liver and kidney damage.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
Tested for 209, found 147
Industrial insulators and lubricants. Banned in the U.S. in 1976. Persist for decades in the environment. Accumulate up the food chain; in meat, dairy and seafood. Cause cancer and nervous system problems.


Long-term effects

Chemicals that may not show harmful effects a short time after exposure may cause subtle changes in development that show up later in childhood as learning or behavior problems or in adulthood as cancers or neurodegenerative disease. Recent studies are beginning to look at how early chemical exposure can put adult health at risk. Scientists from the University of Texas found that fetal exposure to the synthetic hormone and now-banned drug DES permanently changed body tissues and raised the rate of uterine cancer in later life in laboratory animals.

Science understands and can control the spread of polio, smallpox, diphtheria and other diseases that were scourges in the past. But less clear is the cause of diseases on the increase over the last 30 years: asthma (100 percent increase 1982-1993), childhood brain cancer (40 percent increase 1973-1994), acute lymphocytic leukemia (62 percent increase 1973-1999) and autism (1,000 percent increase from early 1980s to 1996). Early life exposure to environmental toxins is certainly one suspect.

One chemical studied in the laboratory is Deca, the common name for one of three commercial fire retardants. It is added to plastics, computer monitors, TV screens, and home appliances. People absorb the chemical from food they eat and by ingesting small particles of it in their homes and worksites. When lab animals were given one single exposure to Deca, it adversely impacted learning, memory and behavior. As the animals aged, the effects grew worse. The period of greatest sensitivity to the chemical correlates to the third trimester of human pregnancy, when the brain of the fetus is rapidly growing.

One of the most sobering sections of the report examines what impact the exposure of the embryo to these hundreds of toxins will have in future generations. The researchers explain that besides genetic mutations—that is, physical changes in gene structure—there can be epigenetic changes that can silence or activate a gene (turn it permanently off or on) in a way that can be inherited. Such epigenetic changes have been linked to the fungicide vinclozolin and pesticide methoxychlor, which impaired sperm counts and sperm motility among animals in the womb and for three subsequent generations.


Lack of government regulation

Besides the fact that procedures to find chemicals in the fetus are difficult, there is another major problem in tracking the effects on people. Business has virtually free rein in its use of deadly toxins. US industries manufacture and import about 75,000 chemicals, using 3,000 of them at the rate of more than a million pounds a year. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the federal government’s regulatory agency, does not require that these chemicals be tested for safety before they flood the environment.

The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), a federal law passed in 1976, approved as safe the 63,000 chemicals in use at the time. The law requires that the government approve new chemicals within 90 days of a company request, with companies requesting approval for about seven new chemicals a day. The law has no teeth, requiring only that the EPA negotiate with industry or complete a formal “test rule” for each individual study it wants. Needless to say, not many studies are done before chemicals are put on the market.

Even when companies agree voluntarily to test a chemical, large parts of their reports submitted to the EPA, including health and safety findings, are redacted as business secrets and can’t be reviewed. In addition, the EPA takes years to review information submitted by industry.

For example, recently, research has raised concerns about the effect of Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), used in the manufacture of nonstick cookware such as Teflon, and many other applications. The EPA began an extensive review of PFOA in 2003. It had to file a lawsuit over DuPont’s alleged suppression of information on health studies. Most data on it has not been made available to the public. Reams of information have been given to the EPA, and it is just getting to processing these documents, as this potentially dangerous chemical continues to be massively used.

The TSCA requires that if use of a chemical is risky, top priority must be to minimize the costs to industry for any action. The act does not allow the EPA to require that the industry keep chemicals off the market as a precaution to protect public health. Rather, the chemicals have to be proven unsafe first. Since PCBs and DDT were banned in the 1970s, few chemicals have been regulated to make sure millions of people are protected from their effects.

The paltry environmental regulations that exist are being aggressively undermined by the Bush administration. Advisory committees to government agencies such as the EPA are rife with corporate executives, and polluters produce their own “scientific” studies that claim the dangerous chemicals they use are safe for the environment."

FIVE-YEAR-OLDS GET SEX EDUCATION BOOK ON HOW TO ACHIEVE ORGASM AND USE A CONDOM

Source Article:
Outrage as five-year-olds get sex-education book on how to achieve orgasms and put on a condom in Germany
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2315185/Five-year-olds-Germany-given-sex-education-book-achieve-orgasms-condom.html

"German school children as young as five were given a sex-education book giving graphic advice on how to put on a condom and how to achieve orgasms.

Outraged parents complained when youngsters at a school in Berlin were given the book, called 'Where Do You Come From?', which features explicit cartoon depictions of sex.



The book, which shows a couple called Lisa and Lars engaging in various of stages of intercourse, shows Lisa putting a condom on Lars and another image of the pair having sex.



According to Spiegel Online, the school in the Kreuzberg area of Berlin did not initially respond to parents' complaints.

It was only when the local press got wind of the controversy and complaints were made to the city's governing body, the Berlin Senate, that anything was done.

The book is still said to be available at the school but not readily accessible by pupils.



Parents were not only concerned by the images featured in the book, but also by some of the explicit descriptions used.
The book, aimed at educating children aged five years and upwards, reads: 'When it's so good that it can't get any better, Lisa and Lars have an orgasm,' and 'the vagina and penis feel nice and tingly and warm.'



Politician Dorothee Baer of the Christian Social Union party in Bavaria said: 'Sex education should accompany the development of children, but not speed it up.'

Monika Grutters from the Christian Democratic Union Party told the Die Welt newspaper that she is against 'unnecessary zeal' in sex education.

Where Do You Come From? was first published by Loewe Verlag in association with German family planning group Pro Familia in 1991.

The publishing house said that the book is no longer being produced as some of its messages are out of date and added that it is being replaced with a book called 'Was I in Mummy's Stomach Too?' which the publishers say is less explicit.
The outrage comes as teachers in the UK have been encouraged to introduce pornography into the classroom, using sex education lessons to explain that porn is 'not all bad' and 'hugely diverse'.

The recommendations, included in an educational guide, suggest that teachers confront 'myths' about porn and inform children as young as five about sexualisation.

The guidance could have significant influence in British schools after the Government's decision to keep sex education lessons voluntary, leaving schools to devise their own ways of teaching the subject."

BILL INTRODUCED BY CONGRESSMAN POSEY (FL.) REQUIRING STUDY OF AUTISM RATE IN VACCINATED VS. UNVACCINATED

The CDC has steadfastly refused to do such a study because they KNOW that it will prove that vaccines have caused the world's worst epidemic of neurological, brain, intestinal, and other dysfunction.

Via Dr. Mayer Eisenstein
www.homefirst.com

"Dr. Mayer Eisenstein, author of Make an Informed Vaccine Decision for the Health of Your Child: A Parent's Guide to Childhood Shots, was pleased to hear that Congressman Bill Posey, from Florida, has introduced a bill "requiring the study of vaccinated versus unvaccinated children and the connection to autism." Introduced in April, H.R. 1757 is co-sponsored by Representative Carol Maloney but needs more support from other representatives. Eisenstein, a long-term opponent of mass vaccination and government mandated vaccines, runs a number of medical clinics and he advises parents to avoid all vaccinations for their children.

During hearings held in April, Congressman Posey took Dr. Boyle of CDC to task on the issue of why there had never been a targeted and well-funded study conducted comparing vaccinated and unvaccinated children? The refusal of the CDC to examine the autism rates amongst the unvaccinated and vaccinated children is a scandal and points to the highly incestuous relationship between the agency and vaccine manufacturers. Former CDC officials often get top positions in major drug companies and the performance of CDC officials, when testifying before Congress, are usually unproductive and display a high-level of disrespect for the governing body.

Dr. Eisenstein knows all too well why they are stonewalling such a study: Because it will show a link between vaccines and autism and other developmental disorders amongst children! Such a result, as reported on Health Impact News Daily, "will indict CDC and expose their responsibility for creating the biggest epidemic in U.S. history: Vaccine-inducted autism.

Here is the text of the speech Congressman Bill Posey made in Congress on April 26, 2013"

ABORTION HORROR HITS MICHIGAN WHEN DECAPITATED HEAD FOUND LEFT IN WOMB

Source Article:
ABORTION HORROR HITS MICHIGAN WHEN DECAPITATED HEAD FOUND LEFT IN WOMB
http://republicbroadcasting.org/index.php?cmd=news.article&articleID=5221

"By now you’ve seen and heard about the House of Horrors as it has been referred to in the news. Abortionist Dr. Kermit Gosnell of Philadelphia ran a clinic in the poorer area of the city and preyed upon thousands of young women who couldn’t afford to go anywhere else. He has been charged with the death of one woman and four newborns, although reports from different sources clearly indicate that he has killed many more than four live born babies.

Last July we learned about 24 year old Tonya Reaves who went to a Chicago area Planned Parenthood clinic to have an abortion. Not only was her unborn murdered at the clinic, so was Tonya. She was hemorrhaging after the procedure but the staff at the clinic failed to call for help until several hours later. But by the time help arrived and she was transported to a hospital, it was too late. Her one year old son will never know his mother and it seems no one at the clinic was ever punished for their neglect.

Other women have died at the hands of abortion doctors and clinic workers, but that rarely ever makes the news. In fact, Tonya Reaves death at the Chicago Planned Parenthood clinic happened on the same day that James Holmes went into the theater in Aurora, Colorado and opened fire. We heard lots about that, but virtually no media covered the murder of Reaves because it would paint a negative image on abortion and they can’t let that happen, can they?

Now we are hearing about another abortion horror story, only this time it’s coming from Muskegon, Michigan. Dr. Robert Alexander, the abortionist in question, has had several of his patients sent to the emergency room after botched abortions. According to one OB/GYN who has seen several of Alexander’s victims:

“Dr. Alexander perforated the woman’s uterus so badly that it was hanging on by two blood vessels. The decapitated head of a fetus was in the woman’s abdomen and the large intestine had been grasped and pulled away from its blood supply and into the vagina. The woman required a hysterectomy, colonoscopy [colectomy?], and several units of blood to save her life.”

The worse part of this is that there were multiple complaints filed against Alexander for his negligence, but those complaints were not taken seriously by the Michigan Board of Medicine. In 2009, Dr. George Shade, chairman of the board responded to a complaint by stating that no investigation was needed. Further investigation revealed that Alexander had served time in prison for selling illegal prescriptions and had his medical license suspended. Upon his release from prison, Dr. George Shade helped Alexander get his license re-instated by becoming his mentor and helping him.

Eventually in December 2012, Alexander’s clinic was shut down. When police entered the clinic to investigate a break-in on Dec. 26, 2012, they found what they described as unsafe and unsanitary conditions, not too dissimilar to that of the clinic that Gosnell operated in Philadelphia. They found blood dripping from the p-trap of a sink, dirty and stained medical equipment, improper storage of needles, a leaking ceiling and bags of trash next to lab equipment. The fire department also discovered that the clinic had been illegally dumping chemicals and other liquids down the drain.

Fortunately, Alexander is no longer murdering babies in Muskegon, but that doesn’t mean he can’t go elsewhere and start again. The OB/GYN doctor that reported finding the decapitated head in the mother’s womb commented about the clinic being shut down, saying:

“I, for one, was very happy to hear he is no longer practicing in Muskegon, but I fear for women anywhere this man would go.”

In this case, it was Alexander’s connection to Dr. George Shade, that allowed him to continue to butcher women and babies and run another House of Horror. All it takes is one or two shootings for liberal Democrats to react and take action against guns. How many of these incidents will it take before they take action to shut down the bloody institution of abortion? Sandy Hook saw the death of 20 kids. Abortion kills between 750,000 to 1,300,000 kids a year. You weigh the difference and tell me there isn’t an agenda on both issues."

US RANKS 68TH IN THE WORLD FOR INFANT SURVIVAL -- DEAD LAST AMONG INDUSTRIALIZED NATIONS

What the article is NOT saying is that the high rate of infant deaths in the US is a direct result of technological interference during pregnancy and birth.



Via Berman Family Chiropractic
John Bergman, D.C.
www.bergmanchiropractic.com

More US Babies Die on Their First Day Than in 68 Other Countries, Report Shows
http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/30/17988462-more-us-babies-die-on-their-first-day-than-in-68-other-countries-report-shows?lite

The above headline comes from an NBC News story on May 7, 2013. The story, and several more in other news outlets, is based on a report released April 30, 2013 titled "Surviving the First Day", by the organization, Save the Children. The study shows that the United States ranks 68th in the world for infant survival beyond the first day. This places the US last among industrialized nations, and behind such countries as Cuba, Egypt and Mexico. [Emphasis Added]

The report shows that in the US three babies die in their first day for every 1000 born. Page 55 of the report states it clearly by saying, "The United States has the highest first-day death rate in the industrialized world. An estimated 11,300 newborn babies die each year in the United States on the day they are born. This is 50 percent more first-day deaths than all other industrialized countries combined."

The US spends more on healthcare than any other nation. The US also uses a very high rate of medical intervention in child birth with a national cesarean birth rate of over 32 percent. In some hospitals the cesarean rate is almost 70 percent. [Emphasis Added]

An article in Consumer News on May 8, 2013 questions medical intervention in childbirth in the US. The article starts off by saying, "Pregnant women often undergo medical procedures and invasive interventions, including induced labors and cesarean sections, without fully understanding the risks or being involved in making decisions about their care."
According to the findings of a major new survey conducted by Childbirth Connection, a nonprofit organization that focuses on maternity care, many procedures are unnecessary and carry risks the expecting mother may not be aware of. Maureen Corry, M.P.H., executive director of Childbirth Connection stated, "Our survey suggests that pregnant women need to take a more active role to make sure they get the care that is best for themselves and their babies. They need access to trustworthy information about the benefits and harms of interventions, to educate themselves, and be their own advocate."

The Surviving the First Day report notes that the US has a very high rate of premature births, which they feel contributes to the high death rate. The report notes, "Many babies in the United States are born too early. The U.S. preterm birth rate (1 in 8 births) is one of the highest in the industrialized world (second only to Cyprus). In fact, 130 countries from all across the world have lower preterm birth rates than the United States. The U.S. prematurity rate is twice that of Finland, Japan, Norway and Sweden. The United States has over half a million preterm births each year – the sixth largest number in the world (after India, China, Nigeria, Pakistan and Indonesia)." The report continues, "According to the latest estimates, complications of preterm birth are the direct cause of 35 percent of all newborn deaths in the U.S., making preterm birth the number one killer of newborns."

The report also points out that the US has a high rate of adolescents giving birth. "The United States also has the highest adolescent birth rate of any industrialized country. Teenage mothers in the U.S. tend to be poorer, less educated, and receive less prenatal care than older mothers."

ROOT CANAL COVER-UP EXPOSED

Source Article:
Root Canal Cover-Up Exposed
http://foodmatters.tv/articles-1/root-canal-cover-up-exposed

An interview with Dr George Meinig, D.D.S.

"Dr. Meinig brings a most curious perspective to an expose of the latent dangers of root canal therapy. As one of the original founders of the American Association of Endodontists (root canal specialists) he's filled his share of root canals. And when he wasn't filling canals himself, he was teaching the technique to dentists across the country at weekend seminars and clinics. About two years ago, having recently retired, he decided to read all 1174 pages of the detailed research of Dr. Weston Price, (D.D.S). Dr. Meinig was startled and shocked. Here was valid documentation of systemic illnesses resulting from latent infections lingering in filled roots. He has since written a book, "Root Canal Cover-Up EXPOSED - Many Illnesses Result", and is devoting himself to radio, TV, and personal appearances before groups in an attempt to blow the whistle and alert the public of the dangers of root canal therapy.

What the problem is with root canal therapy?

First, let me note that my book is based on Dr. Weston Price's twenty-five years of careful, impeccable research. He led a 60-man team of researchers whose findings - suppressed until now rank right up there with the greatest medical discoveries of all time. This is not the usual medical story of a prolonged search for the difficult-to-find causative agent of some devastating disease. Rather, it's the story of how a "cast of millions" (of bacteria) become entrenched inside the structure of teeth and end up causing the largest number of diseases ever traced to a single source.

What diseases? Can you give us some examples?

A high percentage of chronic degenerative diseases can originate from root filled teeth. The most frequent were heart and circulatory diseases and he found 16 different causative agents for these. The next most common diseases were those of the joints, arthritis and rheumatism. In third place - but almost tied for second - were diseases of the brain and nervous system. After that, any disease you can name might (and in some cases has) come from root filled teeth.

What is the "focal infection" theory?

This states that germs from a central focal infection - such as teeth, teeth roots, inflamed gum tissues, or maybe tonsils - metastasize to hearts, eyes, lungs, kidneys, or other organs, glands and tissues, establishing new areas of the same infection. Hardly theory any more, this has been proven and demonstrated many times over. It's 100% accepted today. But it was revolutionary thinking during World War I days, and the early 1920's!

Today, both patients and physicians have been "brain washed" to think that infections are less serious because we now have antibiotics. Well, yes and no. In the case of root-filled teeth, the no longer-living tooth lacks a blood supply to its interior. So circulating antibiotics don't faze the bacteria living there because they can't get at them.

Is everyone who has ever had a root canal filled made ill by it?

No. We believe now that every root canal filling does leak and bacteria do invade the structure. But the variable factor is the strength of the person's immune system. Some healthy people are able to control the germs that escape from their teeth into other areas of the body. We think this happens because their immune system lymphocytes (white blood cells) and other disease fighters aren't constantly compromised by other ailments. In other words, they are able to prevent those new colonies from taking hold in other tissues throughout the body. But over time, most people with root filled teeth do seem to develop some kinds of systemic symptoms they didn't have before.

It's really difficult to grasp that bacteria are embedded deep in the structure of seemingly-hard, solid looking teeth.

I know. Physicians and dentists have that same problem, too. You really have to visualize the tooth structure - all of those microscopic tubules running through the dentin. In a healthy tooth, those tubules transport a fluid that carries nourishment to the inside. For perspective, if the tubules of a front single-root tooth, were stretched out on the ground they'd stretch for three miles!

A root filled tooth no longer has any fluid circulating through it, but the maze of tubules remains. The anaerobic bacteria that live there seem remarkably safe from antibiotics. The bacteria can migrate out into surrounding tissue where they can "hitch hike" to other locations in the body via the bloodstream. The new location can be any organ or gland or tissue, and the new colony will be the next focus of infection in a body plagued by recurrent or chronic infections.

All of the "building up" done to try to enhance the patient's ability to fight infections - to strengthen their immune system - is only a holding action. Many patients won't be well until the source of infection - the root canal tooth - is removed.

I don't doubt what you're saying, but can you tell us more about how Dr. Price could be sure that arthritis or other systemic conditions and illnesses really originated in the teeth - or in a single tooth?

Yes. Many investigations start with the researcher just being curious about something - and then being scientifically careful enough to discover an answer, and then prove it's so, many times over. Dr. Price's first case is very well documented. He removed an infected tooth from a woman who suffered from severe arthritis. As soon as he finished with the patient, he implanted the tooth beneath the skin of a healthy rabbit. Within 48 hours the rabbit was crippled with arthritis!

Further, once the tooth was removed the patient's arthritis improved dramatically. This clearly suggested that the presence of the infected tooth was a causative agent for both that patient's and the rabbit's - arthritis.

In the years that followed, he repeated this procedure many hundreds of times. He later implanted only a portion of the tooth to see if that produced the same results. It did. He then dried the tooth, ground it into powder and injected a tiny bit into several rabbits. Same results, this time producing the same symptoms in multiple animals.

Dr. Price eventually grew cultures of the bacteria and injected them into the animals. Then he went a step further. He put the solution containing the bacteria through a filter small enough to catch the bacteria. So when he injected the resulting liquid it was free of any infecting bacteria. Did the test animals develop the illness? Yes. The only explanation was that the liquid had to contain toxins from the bacteria, and the toxins were also capable of causing disease.

Dr. Price became curious about which was the more potent infective agent, the bacteria or the toxin. He repeated that last experiment, injecting half the animals with the toxin-containing liquid and half of them with the bacteria from the filter. Both groups became ill, but the group injected with the toxins got sicker and died sooner than the bacteria injected animals.

That's amazing. Did the rabbits always develop the same disease the patient had?

Mostly, yes. If the patient had heart disease the rabbit got heart disease. If the patient had kidney disease the rabbit got kidney disease, and so on. Only occasionally did a rabbit develop a different disease - and then the pathology would be quite similar, in a different location.

If extraction proves necessary for anyone reading this, do you want to summarize what's special about the extraction technique?

Just pulling the tooth is not enough when removal proves necessary. Dr. Price found bacteria in the tissues and bone just adjacent to the tooth's root. So we now recommend slow-speed drilling with a burr, to remove one millimeter of the entire bony socket. The purpose is to remove the periodontal ligament (which is always infected with toxins produced by streptococcus bacteria living in the dentin tubules) and the first millimeter of bone that lines the socket (which is usually infected).

There's a whole protocol involved, including irrigating with sterile saline to assure removal of the contaminated bone chips, and treating the socket to stimulate and encourage infection-free healing.

Perhaps we should back up and talk about oral health - to PREVENT needing an extraction. Caries or inflamed gums seem much more common than root canals. Do they pose any threat?

Yes, they absolutely do. But let me point out that we can't talk about oral health apart from total health. The problem is that patients and dentists alike haven't come around to seeing that dental caries reflect systemic - meaning "whole body" - illness. Dentists have learned to restore teeth so expertly that both they and their patients have come to regard tooth decay as a trivial matter. It isn't.

Small cavities too often become big cavities. Big cavities too often lead to further destruction and the eventual need for root canal treatment.

Can you give us some advice about prevention?

The only scientific way to prevent tooth decay is through diet and nutrition. Dr. Ralph Steinman did some outstanding, landmark research at Loma Linda University. He injected a glucose solution into mice - into their bodies, so the glucose didn't even touch their teeth. Then he observed the teeth for any changes. What he found was truly astonishing. The glucose reversed the normal flow of fluid in the dentin tubules, resulting in all of the test animals developing severe tooth decay! Dr. Steinman demonstrated dramatically what I said a minute ago: Dental caries reflect systemic illness.

What a fascinating concept. Can you tell us more about the protective nutrition you mentioned?

Yes. Dr. Price traveled all over the world doing his research on primitive peoples who still lived in their native ways. He found fourteen cultural pockets scattered all over the globe where the natives had no access to "civilization" - and ate no refined foods.

Dr. Price studied their diets carefully. He found they varied greatly, but the one thing they had in common was that they ate whole, unrefined foods. With absolutely no access to tooth brushes, floss, fluoridated water or tooth paste, the primitive peoples studied were almost 100% free of tooth decay. Further - and not unrelated - they were also almost 100% free of all the degenerative diseases we suffer - problems with the heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, joints, skin (allergies), and the whole gamut of illnesses that plague Mankind. No one food proved to be magic as a preventive food. I believe we can thrive best by eating a wide variety of whole foods.

Amazing. So by "diet and nutrition" for oral (and total) health you meant eating a pretty basic diet of whole foods?

Exactly. And no sugar or white flour. These are (and always have been) the first culprits. Tragically, when the primitives were introduced to sugar and white flour their superior level of health deteriorated rapidly. This has been demonstrated time and again. During the last sixty or more years we have added in increasing amounts, highly refined and fabricated cereals and boxed mixes of all kinds, soft drinks, refined vegetable oils and a whole host of other foodless "foods". It is also during those same years that we as a nation have installed more and more root canal fillings - and degenerative diseases have become rampant. I believe - and Dr. Price certainly proved to my satisfaction - that these simultaneous factors are NOT coincidences."

Source: http://curezone.com/dental/root_canal.asp

You can purchase Dr Meinig's Book 'Root Canal Cover-Up Exposed' from the Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation here: www.ppnf.org