Welcome to the blog of Anna Hughes

Supporting our Immune Systems Naturally

2011-10-01T20:24:00.000-07:00

These are the notes from a Conscious Parenting Meeting on 11/8/11. It is a collection of everyone's ideas. We are a group of passionate parents who have done lots of reading and gathering of information on lots of things related to parenting. This is a collection of the ways in which we help our children and ourselves have the strongest immune systems in a natural way. Of course don't take our ideas as gospel. Do your own reading, enquiring too! The following are individual comments and contributions and are not a professional opinion (not to say they're not valid!), please take from this whatever you feel is beneficial.

Keep foods natural, fresh, and wherever possible source locally. Ideally growing your own fruit and vegetables enables you to know exactly what has gone into the growing process and assures you of freshness.
Cow’s milk is now highly processed and has now lost much of it’s original goodness. Raw milk is much better for you.
In Dunedin there is a source of raw milk in Port Chalmers - $1.25 per 600ml bottle. Merrell and Alex milk their biodynamic cows at the end of Reynoldstown Road (head towards Long Beach/Purakaunui from Port Chalmers, first turn off after the 50km sign). They have a money jar there. It pays to bring the correct change. Set up a roster within your community with a number of families, then you don’t have to travel out there every week.
Oat milk and Soy milk (not GM) are good alternatives.
Antje -just tried hemp milk and love it!! Very healthy and delicious (not cheap though)
Avoid dairy products when sick. Oat milk or Rice milk good alternatives during this time. Increase protein, ie; eggs.
Certain foods give more nutrients when cooked, eg; tomatoes.
Use a wide variety of grains and rice in the diet – buckwheat can be used in baking as well as cooking, amaranth, quinoa, millet, polenta, couscous, buckwheat... Soaking overnight helps with digestion. Great in muesli.
Use a wide variety of nuts and seeds – can be soaked overnight and more readily digested – great in muesli.
Lots of green leafy vegetables – Kale has a very high nutritional value and is easily grown in the cold Dunedin climate.
Fruit smoothies are a great way to eat/drink a variety of fruit, especially for children who may not like to eat different types of fruit in its original state. Using a blender cut up any kind of fruit you like, put in a large spoonful of LSA (Linseed, Sunflower & Almond crushed up), add a few spoonfuls of yoghurt, water (enough to get the consistency you like), blend all together.
Nuts – eat a variety of whole nuts (not salted peanuts) – a small handful a day, eg; walnuts, hazelnuts, brazil nuts, almonds
Seeds – eat a variety of seeds per day – can be soaked overnight for easier digestion, used in baking, put into meals (cooked or uncooked). → HEMPseeds are the best! found a source to buy them as they can’t be sold uncrushed and for human consumption in nz. so when it says, they are for feeding to your animals, that’s only cause they can’t be advertised for eating ourselves: www.purewellbeing.co.nz
Beans, Pulses, Sprouts – all good.
Cacao Beans/Powder – great for antioxidants. Must be raw!
Protein from other sources other than meat – Goji berries, beans, eggs.
Oils – Hemp seed oil and Linseed oil are high in Omega 3. Other good oils are coconut oil, flaxseed oil and fish oil (make sure it’s tested for mercury). Omega oils: best one by far to take orally is Flaxseed. You can't (afford) or take Coconut or Hemp in large enough doses and Flax is actually better for you.
Coconut – for the monolaurin - coconut milk or cream can be used in baking instead of cows milk. Drinking Whole coconut’s milk good for you. Eating coconut also beneficial, whether shredded or whole.
Garlic – best raw, pressed in a mortar first and left for 10 minutes before use. Better to mix with a little olive oil and put on top of food rather than cook with it. Hummus is a great source of this raw garlic and kids who have grown up on it love it!
Onions, leeks, red peppers – all good for healthy immune systems.
Sugar (not naturally occurring in fruit etc) suppresses the immune system. Avoid where ever possible. Dates and fruits such as apples and bananas are very sweet and can be used as a substitute in cooking/baking. Stevia can be used as a substitute for sugar and can be bought already prepared or you could grow your own plant (see notes at end). Think this is about $25/kg at the Health Food Store. Apparently much sweeter than sugar so you don’t need to much!
Honey and bee products – bee pollen, royal jelly. Check for bee allergies first!
Herbs – use regularly rather than just at the time of sickness. Great as herbal teas. Many people have commented that Artemis Virogone has been really effective for them. The Immunoboost tea is also good for regular use. Conscious Parenting has a wholesale account with Sandra at Artemis! We do regular orders.
Probiotics – good for gut maintenance. Especially good at time of illness or after a course of antibiotics. Apparently even breastfed babies/toddlers can have some extra in times of illness.
Most may not know that plain, unsweetened, organic yoghurt is one the best sources of probiotic around.. you can even have it if sensitive to dairy. It can be taken 3tablespoons per day.. I give it with my crushed LSA and flaxseed oil to my 2year old when he is needing some. Plus its a good way to get oil into him.
Blood Group Diets – diets based on blood group types. Certain foods affect different people in different ways and may attribute to various health issues. This is not a new concept and was studied by a doctor in the 60’s.
Honey: good quality honey is actually anti-microbial so works as an attractive sweetener for food and can be taken as a medicine. Anti-oxidant honey can me made with Thyme (or bought) and is great for when you are sick
Allergies – suggested that the body needs to ingest the allergen to recognize whether it was a food or not. Alicia – could you elaborate on what I have written please.
Supplements: Some people believe that it is really hard to get everything we need from our food these days. Even on an Organic, wholefood diet our body has to content with some many more chemicals than it ever has that a greater source of antioxidant is needed to combat this. High quality supplements are difficult to find in the shops and are expensive. If you choose to use supplements high quality ones are the only ones worth considering. Supplements made from the whole plant/ food form supplements such as camu camu for vitamin c etc.
Colloidal Silver: This is basically silver water. It has been used extensively in the past. It is an anti-viral, anti-bacterial remedy. Can be used in the eyes for conjunctivitis. Can be given to the quite young – need to ask in Health food shop who it is ok for. You can also buy a machine and make your own colloidal silver!
Homeopathy: Also been used for hundreds of years. Based on the idea that ‘like’ verses ‘like’. So if you’re bleeding you take a remedy that induces bleeding and they cancel each other out! Classical homeopaths believe there is a remedy for each of us that supports us in healing ourselves. Many CP families use homeopathy. Barbara Ward and Sue Fitzgibbon are two homeopaths in Dunedin who come with recommendations.
Olive Leaf extract: Anyone know anything about this?

Suggested reading – How to Raise Healthy Kids in spite of Your Doctor by Dr Mendleson. Some good information on the Ask Doctor Sears website too.

At the meeting it was asked where Stevia plants could be bought from. Did a google search and found the following from Kings Seeds.

http://www.kingsseeds.co.nz/shop/Herbs/Culinary/Other+Culinary+Herbs/Stevia-6495.html

Stevia

Botanical Name: Stevia rebaudiana

Sugar Herb. An exciting breakthrough in natural sweeteners. The leaves of this plant are 20-30 times sweeter than cane sugar but with extremely low calorie levels so it gives the user an intense feeling of sweetness on the taste buds but with no increase in blood sugar levels. Stevia is a sub-tropical, frost sensitive perennial that is ideally suited for growing as a kitchen pot plant. Use the leaves directly for sweetening hot drinks or alternatively sprinkle leaves in salads, cereals, over meats and with cooked vegetables to enhance flavour. Seed needs light to germinate so sow on surface or only lightly cover. Grow on, in a light, sandy soil with good drainage and do not over water. Plants can be left outside during summer but must be brought in before the temperature drops below 10°C. Protect from wind and frost.

Tender Perennial; 20-25 degrees; 7-10 days; 30cm height; 15cm apart; 2; Transplant; 15 seeds; Culinary.

This recipe is great for over winter.. (mucus is one of the biggest causes of lowered immunity)

Mucous reducing vinegar

To a 1 litre preserving jar add chopped;

Horseradish

Cayenne pepper

Onion

Garlic

Ginger

Fill the jar with apple cider vinegar

It says one litre of vinegar on recipe about a tablespoon of ginger, garlic, horseraddish and onion, and a teaspoon of cayenne that should do it- as long as its covered you should be good.

Dose 1dsp to 1tbs 3-6 times daily. Can add honey.

New Zealand Babywearing Week

2011-09-27T16:39:00.000-07:00

This post contains all the information you need to be a part of the Dunedin event during New Zealand Babywearing Week. The details of what is happening, who can be a part of it, when, where and WHY! Please pass this onto everyone! Cheers, and see you there!

This is the first time Dunedin has participated in New Zealand (and International) Babywearing Week. We will all meet in the Gardens carpark (accessed off the one way going South) at 11.30.

We plan to walk along the path parallel but in the opposite direction to the One Way system going South. Reaching the main walking entrance to the Gardens at the intersection and start of North East Valley, we'll turn and walk towards and up the hill. At the gravel path we'll walk back down and cross the bridge to the cafe, then past the duck pond to the Bandstand.

We'll have a BYO picnic on the lawn or in the Bandstand if the weather is bad. This event is rain or shine so please bring an umbrella or jacket for the walk. During the picnic a number of parents will demonstrate the use of the baby carrier of their choice, so if you're interested in babywearing devices this is definitely the part for you. Everyone is welcome to all parts of the event.

There are many sponsors for this years babywearing week who have kindly donated $210 worth of spot prizes to giveaway on the day. Thanks to all these sponsors! Anyone who walks and stays for the picnic is eligible for a prize. Here's what you're into win:

A manduca front pouch valued at $39.95 courtesy of Wickelkinder GmbH
A one year subscription to The Natural Parent Magazine valued at $32.00 courtesy of The Natural Parent Magazine
A pair of manduca fumbee shoulder strap protectors suitable for baby carriers, carseats and push chairs, valued at $29.95 courtesy of Wickelkinder GmbH
An OURS DVD valued at $25.00 courtesy of OURS DVD
A bag of Rockin’ Green eco laundry detergent valued at $22.80 courtesy of Rockin’ Green NZ
A pair of Huggalugs leg & arm warmers valued at $19.95 courtesy of Huggalugs
A Tummy2Tummy Babywearing Instructional DVD valued at $19.95 courtesy of My Natural Baby Ltd
Two copies of the latest issue of The Natural Parent Magazine valued at $9.90 each courtesy of The Natural Parent Magazine

WHY are we doing this?

Babywearing is something that parents (particularly Mothers) have done for hundreds of thousands of years. Only in the last couple of thousand in our Western culture has this practice largely died out, until recently. A couple of thousand years can not change the evolutionary expectation of a human infant to be held close to an adult. It is a survival instinct built into our DNA. When this expectation is not meet it can cause fear and distress for an infant who feels vulnerable to attack or fear they will not be provided the necessities of life. Many, many cultures in Asia, Africa, South America and the Pacific Islands continue to wear their babies.

In New Zealand parents are increasingly wearing their babies once again and many feel very passionate about the benefits for themselves and their babies. This week and our Dunedin event is about connecting with other babywearing families and promoting the technique to those who have yet to discover the joy of babywearing.

Here are some of the reasons I wear (or have worn) both of my children:

- It meets their innate expectation to be held close to an adult. Both of my children have found obvious calm and peace in the sling against my husband and I, their grandparents and aunties. They go from unsettled to serene when put in the sling.

- Both my children were windy, spiller-uppers and benefited from the upright position in the sling. It was fantastic for us at the end of the day when their little digestive systems were uncomfortable and they were scratchy and unsettled. The sling remedied this almost every time.

- We practiced Elimination Communication with both of our children and wearing them in the sling helped us to easily pick up on their need to go! We very rarely got weed on as they knew the sling was their nest not to be soiled.

- Carrying our children in an ergonomic position helped their legs, hips and spine to strengthen from being jiggled along with our movement while being well supported.

- They were a physical part of our lives, watching what we were doing, learning about life from our perspective, socialising, being a part of conversations, exercise, parties and everyday chores.

- We all benefited from the close contact. Skin to skin was especially important for our first child who needed some medical attention when he was born. My husband found babywearing to be a particularly good way of connecting with his young children.

- The practicality of being able to get on with things was great. We could still get the washing done, dinner cooked (care was needed here around hot things!) and had a mobile bed for our baby so we continued to get out and about connecting with friends.

There are many, many more reasons why families chose to wear their babies. Come along on Saturday 15th October, 2011 and chat with other families about why they do it. See you there!

'Nappy free' second time around!

2011-08-11T17:00:00.000-07:00

Having done everything to it's fullest with my first child I thought I'd try Elimination Communication in a slightly more relaxed way with my second child. I tend to be an all or nothing kind of person which has it's positive and negative aspects!

Niwha was born at home in the birthing pool in an hour and twenty minutes! You can read more about that here. I was in 'baby moon' mode for a few weeks. It was wonderful. I decided not to attempt to catch pees and poos for a few days (

had to hold myself back! It was a good challenge for me.) On day 5 I accidently caught a poo on a nappy over the change table.

Ok, time to start acting on the signals that I had been looking for since birth. It was great. I caught some and missed lots and it was ok! This time around I've used nappies so much more. Eli was out of nappies at about 3 months!!! How did we do that?! We used padded undies that were way too big initially, but were a good back up. I prioritised Eli's need to go over everything else. I'd stop the car when I thought he needed to go. I'd park in a place where I could use the bushes when he wasn't keen on the potty - generally just for pee, but occasionally he'd catch me out and I'd be picking up poo or burying it as best I could.

Child number 2 is so different. You just can't imagine being busier when you have one child. Then the second one arrives and wahoa it's busier! Eli took a long time to adjust to having to share his parents. It was im

portant to us to give him an equal if not greater amount of our attention. I just couldn't focus on Niwha's toileting needs enough to catch even most of his pee/poo. Niwha is now 1 year old and he is as aware of his need to go as Eli was at the same age - I think! We've hardly missed a poo as his signals are strong. Recently he was sitting in his high chair (often a place where he needs to poo - in one end, out the other!) and he looked at me and grunted a few times. It was really obvious. Sure enough he happily let me get him out and onto the potty where he had his poo. He has also recently slide the potty to me and that

ended in a poo in the potty too. I have definitely been more motivated to catch poos. A pee in the pants or on the floor isn't a big deal, but a poo is a different story.

We still catch lots of pees, mostly based on timing and our thoughts that he needs to go. When we are making an effort to focus on him and remember to help him go we are rewarded with less washing. Just recently after weeks of illness - hand, foot and mouth, followed by chicken pox, I noticed that I didn't have any

washing to do for a couple of days.

Ah, he's feeling better! When he was sick, he just didn't want help to go in the right place. We continued to try to help him without forcing him and just accepted that we'd do a bit more washing until he felt better. He even pooed his nappy a few times. Once in the middle of the night! He doesn't poo at night anymore, hasn't for ages. So I knew he really was sick.

Night times have been a different this time around. I helped Eli on the potty every time he

squirmed before waking. It was tiring. He would then want to feed back to sleep which caused him to need to go again a couple of hours later! Or maybe he was going to wake that often anyway! Who knows. Since having Niwha I have realised that I probably suffered some post traumatic stress after Eli's birth and perhaps he did too. So I decided the emphasis at night this time around was sleep. My plan was to feed Niwha when he woke at night and then try him on the potty. This was so I could leave him when he squirmed to ensure that I wasn't actually waking him when he was just stirring and because in those first few months I knew he would need to poo and it was easier to catch it in the potty rather than change and clean a pooy nappy. Eventually he stopped needing to poo at night and I stopped putting him on the potty. He would often need to go when he was going to sleep. Lying down for big feeds to sleep often stimulated his need to go, even just a pee. He would pull off the breast and not settle to sleep. Once I'd given him the opportunity to pee or poo on the potty he would settle down and feed to sleep. He still does this sometimes.

In order to maximise my sleep even more I bought a pack of the Moltex eco disposable nappies. This came about when we were off to a friends wedding, involving a weekend of camping. I just couldn't get my head around cloth nappies for a whole weekend in a tent so at night I had him in a disposable. First time I had ever bought disposables! Didn't think it was worth it for a while as he was peeing out of them. I thought he could go a whole night in one disposable, but it seems he just pees too much for that. So back to cloth we went. However at about 9-10 months he was sleeping sooo badly I decided to give disposables another go. I changed him between 2-4am into a cloth nappy, otherwise we'd just feed, roll over and go back to sleep. It did help me. I didn't have to wake up as much as I would if I had to change him, which often took me a long time to go back to sleep. So I was getting more sleep. I put these nappies in our compost to see what would happen. A couple of months later I turned the compost and it wasn't until the next day that I remembered they had been there and I hadn't seen them at all! Yeepppeee. I felt better about using them, although they still come all the way from Germany! Not that 'eco' really. Now I bury them in a shallow trench on a weekly basis. Wasn't sure I wanted all those nappies in our compost, which I use on the vegie garden. It will be interesting to see how the transition to using the potty/toilet at night will go with Niwha, but for now the sleep is worth it.

So at 1 year old, I'm teaching Niwha the sign for potty. Well I'm attempting to! He doesn't normally wearing a nappy when we're at home and sometimes - when I'm feeling connected and onto it, we just wear undies when out and about too. Most of the time Niwha wears a nappy when we're out. As he hates the carseat, I know 'hate' is a strong word, but at times I really think he does! we don't get him out even when we think he needs to pee. We would for a poo! Getting him back in the car seat is just not worth it!

Going 'nappy free' (it's a concept rather than really free of nappies for us this time) has been and still is great. We love it. My husband loves that he can help Niwha to go to the toilet in the correct place, in a pleasant way rather than simply change a nappy. The difference is the empowerment given to Niwha. He gets to choose where he 'goes' rather than wearing a mobile toilet that is changed while he is passively lying on his back, at a time that is convenient to Mum or Dad. He is an active participant in his toileting and at the same time he is learning the correct place to go to the toilet. So many toilet training struggles come from parents 'teaching' their babies to go in their intimate clothing, then at some age (anyway between 18 months and 3 or older! these days) telling them that what they've been doing is wrong and now they need to go on the potty or toilet. This is confusing and upsetting for a small child.

Helping Niwha to go to the toilet is not hard, it's not stressful and it's very rewarding for both us and him. I've been heartened to read about elimination communication in many mainstream forums lately. The new 'The Natural Parenting' New Zealand magazine has an article on Dr Sarah J Buckley MD experience of elimination communication with her 4th baby in the recent Winter edition. This ancient (in more than half the world it's still current!) practice is being rediscovered. It is just another way of bonding with your child. Another way of practicing attachment parenting and parenting in the moment. It is a gentle, very gentle process that involves working with your baby. They definitely let you know when they don't want to go! When I think Niwha actually needs to go, but is not keen, I try a different place (outside on the grass often works!) or give him 5 minutes and try again and if we still 'miss', oh well at least I knew when he went and can have a go at catching the next one. This is a problem when he's in a nappy. If he's wet, I don't know when he went and it can be hard to pick when he needs to go again.

For more information on the 'how to's' of nappy free you can read my earlier post on this subject. There are lots of great books and websites out there too. Ingrid Bauer's 'Diaper Free' is inspirational, though it does encourage a very full time approach, not great for an all or nothing person like me! I've heard, though I haven't read, that 'The Diaper Free Baby' by Christine Gross Loh is better in terms of offering part time options etc.

Elimination communication, natural infant hygiene, infant potty training or 'nappy free' can be done by anyone interested in working 'with' their child in helping them go to the toilet when they need to go and eliminating toilet training struggles. It can be done full time without nappies, full time with nappies or part time with any combination of nappies. I would recommend cloth nappies as much as you can for environmental reasons and because your baby will feel wet which is a good thing! It motivates them to signal if their signals are being responded too.

Most of all enjoy your experience in help your baby to go to the toilet! It is fun. :)

Vaccination

2011-07-13T01:38:00.000-07:00

I've been putting this off for a long time! Partly because I haven't been sure where I stand and partly because I haven't wanted to vocalise it. I am very aware that I am in a minority and that the majority has some angry and damning people in it. I'm not sure where to start so I'll just launch into it.

The most aggressive argument I hear from those who believe in vaccination is about herd immunisation. The idea that the more people who are vaccinated the harder that it is for the disease to spread through the community. Seems logical in theory. There are two things that just don't work with this argument. One is that immunity from vaccination is not a given. Many people find that they still get the disease after being vaccinated or discover that that they have not created antibodies to a disease that they have been vaccinated against. Recently someone mentioned that you don't always create antibodies towards a disease, but that doesn't mean that you're not immune to it. I'm not sure how this works and haven't looked into it. Something I might do one day, but right now if you want to know more you might have to look into it yourself.

If you do become immune to a disease through vaccination even vaccine manufacturers will now tell you that that immunity will probably only last you between 2-12 years for tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough (pertussis) and for measles, mumps, rubella, haemophilus influenzae type b (HIb), polio and hepatitis b they either don't know or "it appears to result in long-term immunity" according to the Immunisation Advisory Centre. It would be interesting to know how many adults who were vaccinated as children still have immunity to these diseases. I don't hear of too many adults going to get booster shots for any of these diseases, unless they're traveling to countries where these diseases are more prevalent or they get a tetanus booster when they go to Accident & Emergency with a severe cut. In terms of pertussis this is notable as it's not a dangerous disease for an adult but could easily be passed onto a baby under 6 months for whom it could be more dangerous.

There is also evidence (see the research that this blog links to) that either the vaccines aren't working or immunity is waning for disease that 'appear[s] to result in long-term immunity'. This quote from the above mentioned blog mentions a number of issues I have already touched on. "The measure of immunity used in science (antibody titres) is not always predictive of whether a person will develop an illness or not. The shift in the age group who are sick with mumps suggests waning immunity, with 19-24 year olds now most likely to contract mumps. The cause for this waning immunity is not well understood, with the possibility that a reduction in circulation of the virus could result in a reduction in the natural ‘boosting’ effect when there is already immunity to mumps virus." http://insidevaccines.com/wordpress/

So as someone else eloquently put it on a forum I was reading, "In regard to herd immunity I usually say that the idea of herd immunity is a myth designed to get us all to police each other. It is a myth as many vaccines only last for 5-10 years (whooping cough for example) and how many adults and teens do you know who get regular booster shots? When was their last booster shot? So the rates of vaccination across the community are way lower than reported, and I don't see why it has to be my 4 month old who is responsible for that. It really is ridiculous that the burden of "community safety" is put upon our smallest and most vulnerable. Herd immunity really to me is a piece of propaganda designed to make good parents feel guilty and to get the community to police its dissidents."

Hear, hear. I agree with this parent completely. So onto what I find more horrifying from the insidevaccines.com article is that the population most likely to get mumps is now 19-23 yr olds. This is also the age where mumps are more dangerous in terms of becoming testicular mumps in men and causing sterility. "Orchitis (testicle inflammation) affects 1 in 5 adult males" IMAC. My emphasis added. Also from the IMAC site is that most reported cases of mumps in NZ are for 5-9 yr olds. Again my emphasis. Doesn't mention whether these cases are in vaccinated or unvaccinated children.

Here's a direct quote from Dr Russell Blaylock in December 2009 found on this blog.

"That vaccine-induced herd immunity is mostly myth can be proven quite simply. When I was in medical school, we were taught that all of the childhood vaccines lasted a lifetime. This thinking existed for over 70 years. It was not until relatively recently that it was discovered that most of these vaccines lost their effectiveness 2 to 10 years after being given. What this means is that at least half the population, that is the baby boomers, have had no vaccine-induced immunity against any of these diseases for which they had been vaccinated very early in life. In essence, at least 50% or more of the population was unprotected for decades.

If we listen to present-day wisdom, we are all at risk of resurgent massive epidemics should the vaccination rate fall below 95%. Yet, we have all lived for at least 30 to 40 years with 50% or less of the population having vaccine protection. That is, herd immunity has not existed in this country for many decades and no resurgent epidemics have occurred. Vaccine-induced herd immunity is a lie used to frighten doctors, public-health officials, other medical personnel, and the public into accepting vaccinations."

My most common response to the herd immunity argument and my irresponsibility is that I wouldn't expect another parent to do something to their child that they believed was detrimental to them for the sake of my children and I would expect the same in return. My responsibility is firstly to my children and then to 'doing no harm' and doing good where I can in society. I also believe that 'herd immunity' is a myth for the same reason someone has mentioned already. Wow look at the world's population! We have done a pretty good job at surviving these life threatening childhood diseases!!! I make sure my children have the strongest immune systems that they can, through extended breastfeeding (they have a bit of my immunity for 2-3 years!), a really good diet, (low in sugar, bad fats and preservatives/additives etc), a high quality supplement on top of that when they're over 2 and not breastfeeding so much or at all, fish oils, probiotics. When they get sick I keep them home (we live frugally on one income in order to provide this for our children when they're young) use homeopathy, herbal remedies and vitamins (not cheap). We very rarely visit the doctor. My children get sick and they get better quickly. My 1 year old has had 1 dose of pamol so far. The only drug in his system ever. Dare I say it but when it comes to natural selection my children will survive. It is not acceptable for anyone to die these days. Well anyone young. So we are taught to fear death and these diseases and not to trust our bodies and our children's bodies ability to heal. Sometimes I wonder whether people vaccinate their children thinking that they now don't have to worry about being conscious of keeping them healthy.

As I've eluded to another reason I don't vaccinate my children is all the unknowns about vaccines. There is very little thorough research on the safety of vaccines. It simply hasn't been done! An example of this is the chemical aluminum. "No one has actually studied vaccine amounts of aluminum in healthy human infants to make sure it is safe." Sears, R.W. (2007). The Vaccine Book. I was just flabbergasted to read this information on aluminum. I'll try to sum it up for you:

Aluminum: There is some interesting past research on IV (straight into the vein) aluminum in premature babies. Injected aluminum bypasses the protective mechanism of the GI (gastrointestinal) tract and it circulates and is deposited in human tissues. "...if premature babies get more than 10 micrograms of aluminum per day in their IV solution, it may accumulate in their bones and brain at toxic levels." (Sears, R.W. 2007). "...toxicity is difficult to detect just by observing symptoms." In a 1997 study in The New England Journal of Medicine premature babies were split into 2 group - those with aluminum in their IV drip and those without. Hundreds of babies were studied. One group received an average of 50 micrograms per day and the other group about 10 micrograms per day over about 10 days. This study concluded that aluminum impaired the neurologic and mental development of the premature babies who received more than 10 micrograms of IV aluminum per day. No one knows how long it takes to absorb into the bloodstream from the muscle and then excretion into the urine and out of the body when it's injected into the skin and muscles of infants.

I had a look at the vaccines injected into a 6 week old according to the New Zealand Vaccination Schedule (it's actually called Immunisation Schedule, but I can't bring myself to use that word as it is not descriptive of what it is. It hopes to create immunity, but may not, therefore it is a vaccination schedule not a guaranteed 'immunisation' schedule). I digress. So at 6 weeks a baby receives 2 injections. One is the INFANIX -hexa of Diphtheria, Tetanus, Whooping cough (DTaP), Polio, Hepatitis B (Hep B) and Haemophilus influenzae type b (HIB). The other is Prevenar of Pneumococcal (Pc). Using Dr Bob Sears, The Vaccine Book, written in 2007 I added up the amount of aluminum that a baby of 6 weeks would get. He didn't have the INFANIX -hexa vaccine as so I just added up the aluminun in DTaP, HIB and Polio combo vaccine from Pentacel (330 micrograms) with the Hep B vaccine (250 microgram) and the Pc (125 micrograms) which comes to a grand total of 705 micrograms of aluminum injected into the skin/muscle of a 6 week old in one go! The same 6 week old will get that amount again 6 weeks later. Hmmm is the kidney function of a 6 week old that much better than a premature baby? How quickly does the blood stream absorb this amount from the muscle? How much ends up accumulating in tissues, including the brain of this baby in it's first 3 months of life? Nobody knows the answer to these questions because nobody has studied it!

Other ingredients in vaccines also concern me. These include human and animal tissue, mercury (now only found in flu vaccines and some tetanus vaccines), formaldehyde, MSG, 2-Phenoxyethanol and more.

The human and animal tissue present in MMR, Chickenpox, Polio, Flu, DTaP, Tetanus and diphtheria, Tdap are Human blood proteins, human lung cells, human fetal lung cells, human cell lines, cow serum, cow heart-muscle extract, cow tissue extract, monkey kidney cells, guinea pig embryo cells, chicken embryos, chicken kidney cells, chicken eggs.

Already it has been discovered that between 1955-1963 some of the monkey kidney cells used in the injected polio vaccine contained the SV-40 virus, which is known to cause brain tumors, bone cancer, lymphoma and mesothelioma cancer in animals. The genetically identical virus has been found in human tumors today. They now test for this disease, but how many other diseases are or could go undetected in the production of vaccines? So far they don't know how to screen for mad cow disease. We didn't know it existed until the 1980's and cow serum had been used in vaccines for decades before that. Was anyone injected with it? Who knows. It is my concern and those of others too that virus' may go undetected in future vaccine batches.

Formaldehyde is used to preserve the frogs, cats etc that you may have dissected in biology class. Some say that you would have inhaled more of it in this class than you'd ever get in a vaccine. However it's my opinion that injection of chemicals like this is a whole different story. Our bodies are used to dealing with pollutants (in more recent years, so we're probably still not 'used' to dealing with them) and pathogens that enter through the nose, mouth, ears etc - naturally occurring 'holes' in our bodies. Our immune systems are set up to fight these dangers as they enter the body. When injected into skin and muscle, then very quickly the blood stream our bodies first defenses don't get a chance to protect us from the damage they might do when they reach the blood stream. Most of our immune system is in our gut. The other argument is that these chemicals are in such miniscule amounts that they 'probably' wouldn't harm us. Although our bodies have to cope with a lot these days, they are still very fine tuned organisms. Tipping the balance of any, even naturally occurring chemicals in our bodies could cause problems.

My final thoughts on vaccines are this. Our population seems to be surviving pretty well. We didn't all die out when there were no vaccines around to prevent these childhood diseases. As my aunty commented recently, "oh yes I had the measles when I was little, everyone did." And yes some people died from it. What I'd like to know and may never find out is, who were these people? What was their level of health before contracting the disease? Did they have underlying conditions? Were they fully and well nourished? What was their socio-economical status (which may had influenced their level of nourishment and living conditions)?

No one is allowed to die these days, especially not when they're young. It's considered a tragedy and there is no way I'd want it to be my child, no one would. The strongest, fittest, healthiest would have survived. Perhaps in some cases some of the strongest, fittest and healthiest did succumb to these diseases and who knows why, but I'd bet that most of the time it was the under or malnourished, those who lived in damp, unhygienic conditions and those who already had underlying condition or immune disorders.

My response to childhood diseases is to do what I can to arm my children with the strongest immune systems and the best of health so that when they contract these diseases and in some cases I hope they do Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Chicken Pox (might be incubating that one in our house right now!), they will get sick and get well again with no permanent damage. Of course I will be there to give them the support they need. It is well known that the use of cod liver oil supports someone through the measles. As the measles virus uses up vitamin A from the body, cod liver oil replaces this so the body can still function well enough to overcome the disease and suffer less through it. Grandma knew what was good for us! Or maybe we need to go back to Great Grandma. I also heard a story of a doctor who was successfully treating many malnourished children with severe cases of measles with IV Vitamin C. He went on leave and instructed his stand in to do the same. The stand in doctor didn't believe this to be the right way to treat measles and didn't follow his instructions. In the time the doctor was on leave 2 children died from measles. Not sure of the accuracy of this story but have heard of the use of IV Vitamin C before. These diseases have been around for so long we (medical establishment and anyone who has investigated them) know what we are dealing with when they pop up. There is so much we don't know about vaccines.

The 'pop up' rate in the western world is low these days, probably due to vaccines and in some cases this can be a problem. It is thought that without the wild strains of these diseases floating around the community, no one (including those who have been vaccinated) are being immune 'boosted' by them. When immunity wanes (in those who have been vaccinated, possibly even those who get the disease if they are not exposed to it again for a very long time) which it does after approximately 10 years for most people and most vaccines then we have an adult population at greater risk. Not only are they at greater risk of catching the disease if it was to arise (until we fix the problem of under and malnourishment in many parts of the world these diseases will continue to kill these populations and spread around the world) they are also approximately 20% more likely to be hospitalised.

Many vaccine proponents argue that those of us who chose not to vaccinate do so in a climate of low levels of the diseases and because we weren't around to see rows and rows of sick and in some cases dying people we don't understand what we're risking. This might be so. I make my decision based on when and where we live. If there was a major disaster and we were suddenly without a sewage system and clean water it might be a problem. Again, survival of the fittest might come back into play. Until then I will continue to arm my children with strong bodies and minds in order to be the 'fittest'.

At the end of the day vaccination in New Zealand is a choice. At this stage (and I can't envision it changing, but won't rule it out) I choose not to vaccinate myself or my children. When they are old enough I will help them to understand the issue and they can make a decision for themselves. Until then we will look after ourselves without the use of vaccination and all the short and long term, known and unknown risks they pose.

My recommendations for achieving a natural birth

2010-08-20T21:55:00.000-07:00

I am the mother of two boys. Both were born at home as this is where I felt most comfortable birthing. Both were very different experiences. I realise since having Niwha recently that in order to have a gentle, natural birth with no drugs and no intervention good preparation is necessary. These are my recommendations for achieving the natural birth you want no matter where you choose to birth.

Preparation:

1. Health and fitness – walking, swimming, pregnancy yoga and pilates, good whole foods. Limit sugar intake. Raspberry leaf (after 4-5 months), nettle teas (or a pregnancy tea that has both).

2. To ensure your baby is in a good position, sit upright with pelvis straight or tilted slightly forward. During labour, use an upright, even leaning forward position.

3. Watch videos of natural, positive births – search Hypnobirthing or Gentle birth on You Tube. Visualise your own birth – see it exactly as you want it to happen.

4. Practice breathing – breathing to fully relax, breathing long, slow and deep to assist you through contractions. Birth breathing – practice while having a poo – breathe in, as you breathe out, breathe down your back, imagining your breath is actually coming out your vagina. See the Hypnobirthing book for more detail.

5. Massage (or get your partner to) your perineum with almond, rosehip or st John’s wart oil every night for 6-8 weeks before your due date. See the Pink Kit or Hypnobirthing book for more detail on how to do this.

6. Avoid listening to any negative stories of birthing. Simply ask the person talking to tell you all about it after you have birthed your baby.

7. Research all the choices you have during your birthing.

8. Write a birth plan with your partner – have your ideal as well as what you are willing to compromise if you experience pressure from your medical attendants.

9. Ensure you have a lead maternity carer who will support your birth plan – you can change LMC’s at any time!

10. Remember that your due date is just a guess date. Your baby may take more or less time to grow to a point where they are ready to come into the world. Induction paths the way to greater often easily avoidable intervention.
Dealing with the pressure to induce – are you healthy and well? Is the baby still moving? Ask your LMC to monitor you and your baby more closely. If you receive huge amounts of pressure compromise by having a scan to check the baby – particularly the fluid around the baby. Ask that they do not estimate the size of your baby! They often get this very wrong with large overestimations and being told you’re having a 9-10lb baby can psych you out! A big baby is a healthy baby and if they are in the optimal position they will be no harder to birth!
If your waters have broken statistics show that there is an increased risk of infection after 18 hours. You may receive pressure to induce after 24 hours or less. Again, avoiding this will give you a great chance of having a natural birth. I was willing to go for 48 hours taking all the necessary precautions and using high doses of Vitamin C and taking Echinacea to boost the body’s defences against infection. After 48 hours I was willing to consider antibiotics, not induction. In the meantime use every natural induction method – walk, walk, walk, visualise your cervix opening, have a hot curry or take cod liver oil to get your bowels moving, use acupressure or acupuncture (this is often very effective!)

During Labour:
1. Use Naturo pharm Pre-birth. Rescue remedy to stay calm and relaxed.
2. Stay active. Move with and between contractions – see the New Active Birth book. Relax, laugh, eat, drink, go to the toilet.
3. Visualise and use affirmations to stay focused on the outcome you want and being relaxed. See Hypnobirthing for affirmations or make up your own – say them in the present (not future) and use only positive language.
4. Use water! Ideally a birthing pool that you can also birth in. Hot water takes pain away, helps you deal with the pressure in your lower pelvis and softens your vagina so it can stretch better.
5. Hot towels on your lower back (hang them over a oil column heater, they don’t need to be wet). Partner massage on the dimples on your lower back. Light touch massage – see hypnobirthing book – releases endorphins.
6. Use your breathing techniques, breathing up into your abdomen with every contraction. Remember that a contraction only lasts for a short amount of time. You can breathe through it and get a rest afterwards. During the final opening stage, before the baby is ready to move out of the birth canal contractions are closer together. You may say something like ‘I can’t do this any more’. Tell your partner that this means you are close to birthing your baby and not a sign that you need intervention! When you notice yourself saying this celebrate in the knowledge that you are close to meeting your baby.

Dealing with the pressure to receive interventions:
One great question to ask (or have your partner ask) whenever an intervention is suggested is ‘Is this a medical emergency?’ If not then intervention can be avoided.
State in your birth plan that you do not want to be ‘offered’ any pain relief or other intervention. State that you do not want other medical staff wandering into your room. Some anaesthetist’s walk in and say they are leaving soon so if you want an epidural you better have it now!! This is not true as there is always an anaesthetist around for emergencies. I’ve heard it said that for every ‘extra’ person in the room you can add an hour onto your labour! You have the right (and your partner) to ask unnecessary people to leave your birthing space.
Hold onto your waters! If your waters haven’t broken some LMC’s want to break them to get things moving. This is unnecessary and can cause problems. Many baby’s break their waters as they are born (or you or your LMC can break them as the baby is being born). Your baby will come in it’s own time – stay relaxed, rest (on your left hand side or in a slightly reclined position), eat, drink and trust your body and your baby.
Remember that every drug you have goes through to your baby. It can affect their breathing and ability to breastfeed. Birth is your child’s first experience in the world. It affects them personally in either a positive or negative way. There is soooo much you can do to make it a positive experience for your baby and yourself. If you are one of the 5% of people who really need medical help, then that is what we are privileged to have available here.

Recommended reading during pregnancy and early parenthood:

Liedloff, Jean. (1975) The Continuum Concept. In Search of Happiness Lost.
This is an absolute classic in the alternative parenting world. Jean’s writing style is really difficult but it’s a must read before you have kids.

Mongan, Marie. (2006). Hypnobirthing: The Mongan Method.
Highly recommended. Fantastic, beautiful, gentle and empowering way to birth your baby. 95% of women who use this method have natural, gentle birthing experiences.

Balaskas, Janet. (????). New Active Birth. A concise guide to Natural Childbirth.
Great book for staying active before and during labour and preparing to birth your baby naturally.

La Leche League International. The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding.
The bible for breastfeeding! La Leche League is an International group of volunteers who support and educate on breastfeeding and related things. Borrow this from your local LLL group – brylin@ihug.co.nz and linda@guru.net.nz are two LLL leaders in Dunedin. Ask to see a Lactation consultant before you leave the hospital regardless of how it’s going. If at home and you’re not convinced it’s perfect, go into the hospital and see the consultant or visit a LLL leader.
Remember that only a small percentage of women actually can’t breastfeed. Don’t give up, get help and only use formula as a last resort. Many women express full time if their baby can not breastfeed, instead of resorting to formula.

Weed, Susan. (1986). Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year.
Very 80’s book! Great natural, herbal remedy’s for every pregnancy, birth, infant related issue.

Gethin, Anni & Macgregor, Beth. (2007) Helping your baby to sleep: Why gentle techniques work best. Finch Publishing.
This is a great book for parents who want to make going to bed and sleeping a gentle and positive experience for their baby. Dr William Sears books are also recommended.

Also see my other blog posts for information on Raising a Nappy Free Baby and Baby Wearing.

Niwha Stuart Hughes' birth story

2010-08-12T18:59:00.000-07:00

At 38 weeks pregnant I was ready to have my baby (as many women are at that point)! I had a sore sacroiliac joint and had a horrible time attempting to go to a movie before my baby was born. I came home quite emotional for no real reason. Monday 2nd August was my husbands birthday and Eli decided that he didn't want to go to Kindy. I had to stay with him for more than an hour and he still sobbed when I left. He'd been settled at Kindy until now. That evening we had a very quiet family dinner to celebrate my husband's birthday, which was really a bit overshadowed by strange feelings from myself and Eli. That night my husband said, 'I really want to call your Mum and tell her to come down now'. She lives in Nelson and had a ticket to fly down that weekend. He had a feeling that we would need her earlier than that. My due date was the 11th August.

At 11.45pm that night my waters broke. I didn't wake my husband. I text Mum and asked her to see whether she could get down here as soon as possible. I called our midwife to let her know that my waters had broken and that I had one small contraction and a bit of the shakes. My

waters were pink with vernix so all normal. My husband woke up and I told him. 'Great' he said. We bought the pool in and started to fill it, but I wasn't having any contractions, just leaking lots of fluid! I had told our midwife I would call when things got going. She was pretty sure things would happen quite fast. By 1.30am we stopped filling the pool and went back to bed. There wasn't much sleeping going on with the anticipation and a contraction every hour or two.

No work or Kindy for the boys in the morning. Eli was very excited at the site of the pool in the lounge and it was a struggle to keep him and his toys out of it! Our midwife was due to visit in the morning anyway. It was good to see her and confirm that the baby and myself were all good. Mum was on the first flight down here. She ended up circling above Dunedin for an hour due to fog and was the last person in the shuttle to be dropped off so she was itching to get here. Contractions continued at 1-2 hours apart for the day. Our midwife came back late afternoon and found the baby had moved down a lot further during the day. Yeepppeee. Late afternoon after another walk contractions were about half an hour apart. I had a full dinner, but didn't feel like dessert! Any food went straight through me so I knew my body didn't want to cope with any thing else. Some of the contractions were good ones and I had to stop what I was doing and concentrate on the hypnobirthing slow breathing and visualising the vertical muscles of my uterus pulling up and the horizontal muscles around my cervix relaxing and opening out and up so the baby could move down.

As soon as Eli was asleep contractions started coming 5 mins apart. I used a Swiss ball and the hypnobirthing sleep breathing to fully relax in between contractions. I was visualising my baby in the optimal birthing position and moved into a position on my knee and leaning forward

onto the couch. Mum started timing contractions at 7.53pm and I called the midwife. She asked me to call after the contractions had been 5 mins apart for an hour or dropped to less than that. At the time I thought, a whole hour, really! I should have clicked then that I was progressing really fast. Our timing of contractions wasn't great. Mum was using the clock on the phone and I sometimes forgot to tell her I was having a contraction. I was slow breathing through each contraction and it mustn't have been that obvious to anyone else that I was having one. So sometimes the contractions were 2-3 mins apart and other were timed at 6-7. Sometimes a contraction was very strong and other times it was not and over with quickly so I didn't know if it 'counted'. Well it had pretty much been an hour when my husband called our midwife again. He told her I was keen to get in the pool. She asked me to hold off and she was on her way. My husband relayed the message and added 'but you do what you want to.' As my waters had been broken for 20 hours I didn't want to get in to soon either. However soon after my husband hung up I had a very obvious bearing down contraction. It was sooo intense. It felt like my uterus had lifted up and slammed the baby down against my vagina. I almost swore and had to pull myself back into a focused slow breath. I said 'That was a pushing contraction'. After the next one I could feel the baby's head pushing against my vagina and I said 'Text the midwife and tell her this baby is coming, but not to speed.' Then I said 'I'm getting in the pool'.

I got in the pool and my husband pushed record on the video camera and stayed with me. He used light touch massage and massaged the dimples on my lower back, both were really good. A one stage he started reading me some of the hypnobirthing affirmations. After the first one, I said 'I'm way past that' and after the next one I said 'shut up'. We laughed and he said 'good they're in the fire.' Mum tried to get Eli up

to be there for the birth, but he said he didn't want to. A couple of intense contractions bought the baby's head to crowning. I felt with my hand and smoothed around his head. I relaxed and enjoyed the break before the next contraction that I knew would birth the head. After his head came out I said to my husband 'The heads out'. He replied with 'ahem'. I little bit shocked and nervous I think, but he had complete confidence that I could birth our baby successfully. The midwife still hadn't arrived. I felt around the baby's head and waited for the next contraction that would bring him out. As the rest of his body was born I moved from my knees bringing one foot forward and supported my baby out. I turned him over, felt over his body and looked at him under the water before bringing him out and to my chest. My husband asked what sex he was and I replied that he was a boy.

This is when we were a bit nervous as he didn't breath spontaneously. I sucked his mouth and nose as I had seen women do on the 'Birth As We Know It' DVD and waited. I mentioned that we might need oxygen, just not knowing how long it would take him to breath on his own. I knew the cord was still attached and would be providing him with something. My husband rubbed his stomach and I sucked his mouth and nose a number of times before he gasped and cried loudly. We laughed with relief and I bought him to my chest again. It was still a few seconds before he started to breath continuously, but once that started we all relaxed and laughed. We kept him warm with face cloths and I kept him in the water as much as possible. He indicated that he was keen to feed, so that is what he was doing when the midwife arrived 11mins after he was born. She was very pleased that all was well. My mum said 'missing the birth must happen every now and again does it?' She said it was only the 3rd time in 25 years that she'd missed a birth. 'Keeps me humble' she said in her wonderfully humble way.

It took a couple of hours to birth the placenta as I just couldn't be bothered! Figured it would come out when it was ready! I was keen to birth it in the pool, but the water was getting cold and I was struggling to feed my baby and keep him in the water and warm. I got set up on the couch and after a couple of half hearted attempts to birth the placenta over a bowl I finally did. The placenta looked good and healthy. We were unsure how long we would leave it attached as we were considering a lotus birth. We decided to cut it.

We were in bed by 1am-ish at which point Eli woke up and asked what I was doing. When I said I was feeding the baby he was soooo excited. He wanted to sleep next to him and was not impressed when we said he had to get back in his bed. He wasn't going back to sleep so my husband and Eli swapped with Mum who was in the spare room. She slept in Eli's bed and in the morning my husband and Eli came back in. The family bed had 3 generations in it for a wee while that morning. It was lovely.

Niwha Stuart Hughes was born about 9.15pm on Tuesday August the 3rd. He weighed 6.4lbs, 2.8kg. Almost 2 pounds lighter than Eli who was 8.3lbs! Wow never thought I'd grow such a little baby. He is healthy and strong, just skinny. He was 50 cm long which was not much shorter than Eli. Head circumference 34cm.

Below is a 6 min clip of the birth from crowning to first cry. It is G rated. No gore and not too much nudity. Look forward to writing a post on preparation for a natural birth. My birthing experiences have shown me just how important physical and mental preparation is in having a successful natural birth.

Hypnobirthing

2010-07-22T20:42:00.000-07:00

Ok, so with Eli's birth in mind I was quite scared at the idea of giving birth again from the moment I discovered I was pregnant. I was slowly coming around to the idea and realisation that what happened was so rare and bizarre that it would not happen again and chances are I'd have a great birth this time when I was introduced to the book Hypnobirthing: The Mongan Method by Marie Mongan.

I must admit that it sounded a bit out there for me. I had all the standard prejudices around hypnosis but was open to reading the book. The book is fantastic. Great history around birthing particularly Grantly Dick-Read's work in the 1800's. He came up with the Fear-Tension-Pain Theory. The theory explains that when someone is fearful it creates tension in their body due the flight/fight response and tension leads to pain. In the context of birth any tension centers around the uterus as a birthing woman is fearful of the pain, experience or idea of having a new baby. Tension in the uterus means that blood to the area is restricted and the baby is pushing against hard muscles causing pain and obviously a Failure To Progress, which funnily enough has the same acronym as Fear Tension Pain (FTP). Obstetricians who have performed cesarians on women who have Failed to Progress have found the muscles of the uterus to be white. So the main objectives of hypnobirthing are relaxation, visualisation, imagery, affirmations to create a calm, gentle, even painless birthing for you and your baby.

Anyway there is more to it than that and I strongly recommend a read of the Hypnobirthing book. So now I was really interested in the philosophy and skills that hypnobirthing had to offer. The woman who recommended the book to me had recently arrived in Dunedin, New Zealand with her family and is a Hypnobirthing instructor. She wanted to run a course for couples she had met. Unfortunately (fortunately for us) we ended up being the only couple interested and I was already in the second half of my pregnancy. So our instructor was happy to run it just for us. There were pro's and con's to that, but ultimately it was a fantastic course. As well as the skills of relaxation, visualisation, imagery and a really positive view of natural birth we also had the opportunity (created for us by our instructor) to process Eli's birth and have time together with this new baby pre-birth. It was a great opportunity for my partner to understand what I was trying to achieve and ways that he could support the process and be involved in the birth of his child. The fact that the course is run for couples is a great thing.

I would recommend a hypnobirthing course to anyone. Great to get it right the first time and if the first time wasn't ideal it's great for setting you up to have a more ideal birth the second time. As part of the course we watched 'Birth as we know it,' a fantastic DVD created by a Russian midwife. Also highly recommended.

I really hope that the hypnobirthing instructor here in Dunedin continues to offer courses to couples and that midwives around the world start to adopt the philosophy and skills of this wonderful technique.

Look forward to writing a post on my birth experience to come and how hypnobirthing helped me.

Eli's birth story 3 years on!

2010-06-21T15:31:00.000-07:00

I've never written Eli's birth story as it's been hard to deal with. I'll try to keep it short!

Eli was in a good position for his birth. My waters broke at about 10am and I went into labour at 8pm that night and he was born about 2am. Labour progressed smoothly and reasonably easily. I was at home, the pool was full and warm and I utilised it in the later stages of my labour. Eli's heart rate was good. I opted to let the midwife use the Doppler so I didn't have to get out of the pool. When I shared the feeling of an urge to push I was encouraged to feel for the babies head. I was fully dilated and it was obvious that I had experienced transition. When I felt for Eli's head I described it as soft and squishy. The midwife was a bit puzzled by this and assumed that his waters hadn't broken completely. I followed the next urge to push and Eli's umbilical cord prolapsed (a loop fell out of me).

For those who don't know, this is a major emergency. As Eli was attempted to birth he was cutting off his own oxygen by compressing his cord. My husband was the only person to ask a question about this rare ( between 0.14% and 0.62%) event in our antenatal classes! In class we were told head down, bum up, keep the cord safe and moist etc and get to the hospital. Well that just wasn't going to happen. I was fully dilated, ready to birth and needed to get Eli out fast! My husband called an ambulance without a prompt. We all knew this was serious. My midwife looked at me and said 'We need to get this baby out now'. I said 'Ok, I'm pushing.' I pushed regardless of contractions, as hard as I could. Our backup midwife arrived, thinking she was coming to a swift moving, easy birth. My yells were the first indication to her as she got out of her car that things may have changed. She helped me out of the pool as our LMC (Lead Maternity Carer) had decided that an episiotomy would help get my baby out as fast as possible. At one stage I was told to have a rest and refused. As our LMC got the anesthetic ready I yelled 'Just cut me'. So she did and it hurt, but I wasn't going to risk taking any more time!

Eli was born in 12 minutes from the moment his cord prolapsed. He was blue and limp and not breathing very well. But he was breathing! He was alive. Many babies don't survive a prolapsed cord. His heart never stopped, though it got as low as 6o beats per minute (I think?). To sum up, the ambulance arrived, we went to the hospital, nasal oxygen helped Eli instantaneously and he had a few hours in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit NICU (at 8.3lbs he was by far the biggest healthiest baby there!). I was stitched up, while my husband stayed with Eli. We were convinced to give him antibiotics 'in case' of infection, grrrr! I wasn't allowed to feed him for 10 hours while his breathing was monitored. He was on a glucose drip. We were allowed home after one night in hospital.

Eli is a happy, healthy, clever almost 3 year old so we were very lucky. On visiting Eli in NICU and learning of his birth a consultant doctor at the hospital said of the birth, something along the lines of 'It was a strange happening within a rare event'. It was reassuring to know that. I had done everything I knew (and I'd read a lot!) to have a healthy, safe pregnancy and birth and I felt pretty disappointed at what happened. Put in perspective I had a live and healthy baby!!!!

Well this post started off as a post on Hypnobirthing as now 33 weeks pregnant with our second child my husband and I have just finished a hypnobirthing course. The greatest benefit of the course was the opportunity to finish processing Eli's birth and go into this one without fear.

We are having this baby at home, in the pool and it's all going to be great! We have the same midwives and I know this one will happen the way I envision it.

Now that this story is told I'll post about Hypnobirthing! :)

Protecting your child from injury or being overprotective?

2010-04-28T21:05:00.000-07:00

It has been a horrendously long time since I last posted on my blog. Always lots to write about, not always the time to write it!
So here we go. My son has be proving himself quite the daredevil lately. Mostly on his bike - I will add a clip of a rather good downhill, with a good crash at the end, when I get to the computer this clip is on! And here it is...

Just yesterday day we had our first tree climbing experience. Well Eli has been climbing trees with his Dad a couple of times a week during their lunch break together while I finish work. So it was really just my first experience tree climbing with Eli. Not that I climbed the tree. I was invited to join him, but at 25 weeks pregnant I decided I'd stay on the ground. Not as climbing fit as I was when pregnant with Eli, teaching multipitch traditional rock climbing at 25 weeks pregnant!

Anyway, I milled around on the ground, trying to be in good 'spotting' positions in case of a fall without looking like I was trying to protect him. I trust his ability to know what he can and can't do. He does push the limits as is good for everyone and yes one day this might have a significant consequence. I believe the consequence is worth it for developing a confidence, skillful person who is aware of his body and what it is capable of.

At quite a young age he climbed to the top of our gate, resting his knees on the top cross bar. The kids up the road who he was trying to watch (most probably join them) came running down yelling that Eli was on the gate. My husband wandered out the sliding door to find him precariously perched. He wandered back inside to get the camera, saying 'You should see this.' As he was out taking photo's and this movie. Myself and a friend who was visiting came outside. As much as we tried to be nonchalant about what we saw, Eli released where he'd put himself, panicked and tumbled over the gate landing flat on his back on the grass. A bit winded and in a bit of shock there were lots of tears, but nothing more. I breathed a sign of relief that he'd gone forward and not backwards onto the concrete!

So, should we have plucked him off as soon as we saw him? Should we have supported him down? Or was what we did ok? The kids walked off in a bit of bewilderment as the realised that we didn't share the panic and fear that they did. Maybe we should have?

Needless to say, since then he has been most careful about what he climbs up! For a while he freaked out when he'd climbed something and wanted down. We continued to refuse to help though we did offer advice and sometimes a spot as he found his way down.

I feel confident and happy in the way we have dealt with Eli's 'sticky situations'. My feelings come from a number of philosophies. Jean Leidloff's, Continuum Concept talks about trusting kids innate ability to keep themselves safe. Also their ability to cope with a bit of pain and suffering and the knowledge that they can come to their parents/caregivers for comfort if they need it. Most of all my belief in Experiential Learning as one of the most powerful types of education. Eli learnt after falling over the fence that there are consequences to climbing past your ability and he hasn't done it since. He pushes the limits and is well aware that there maybe a consequence to doing so. We could not have taught him that more powerfully than through the experiences he's had. Yes, we teach him the danger of the road. Explaining why there was a squashed, dead bird on the road one day was helpful for that lesson! We supervise him when he's using a knife etc, but we don't 'protect' him from these dangers!

There is a risk in everything. To not expose your child to a physical risk is to expose them to the risk of being fearful, scared to put themselves out there and not learn their limits. A bit of physical risk is worth it in my opinion.

Anyway, enough babble from me. Love to hear your thoughts! Anna :)

Submission to the Tertiary Education Strategy

2009-10-19T20:00:00.000-07:00

Submission to the Tertiary Education Strategy

Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the Tertiary Education Strategy. This is a fantastic opportunity for New Zealand to deliver on the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014).

Following are our comments in relation to the goals of the UN Decade.

Key points on the Vision

1.2

We need our current and future workforce to act sustainably. Therefore they need the skills to do this. e.g. 'raise the skills and knowledge of the current and future workforce to meet labour demand, economic, societal and environmental needs.' The Tertiary Education sector must be directed to provide the learning to think and act for a sustainable future.

It is great to see a mention of sustainability in the vision. It is important that this is worded to show the interconnectedness of our economic, social and environmental systems. "...respond to the interconnected needs of our economic, social and environmental systems."

Sustainability research is interdisciplinary research. The Performance-Based Research Fund with it's discipline based panel structure must be reviewed so as to provide for essential interdisciplinary research such as sustainability.

2.1 Priorities

It must be a priority to develop people who have the ability to take a systems thinking approach to all that they do and understand the interconnectedness of our socio-economic systems. Students and our future workforce must understand that we live in a closed system with finite resources and we must therefore operate in a way that our species will be sustained by these resources for many generations to come. It must also be a priority to develop people who can consider others on a world wide scale. It must also be a priority to develop people who can participant and act in the democratic process in the New Zealand system and many other systems globally.

To sum this up it must be a priority for the government to see tertiary education providers develop people who can think and act for a sustainable future.

2.2 How priorities will be achieved

This priority can be achieved by encouraging/expecting providers to integrate teaching and learning for a sustainable future by providing: learning in systems, critical and creative thinking; an understanding of the interconnectedness of our living systems; understanding of ethics across time and space; the motivation and ability to act for a sustainable future.

2.2.2

It is great to see that 'encourage collaboration and shared resources' as part of improving sector performance. Through Open Educational Resource we can expand this further to contribute to the provision of education world wide, enhancing New Zealand's reputation for high quality education. The use of quality Open Educational Resource (OER) will encourage those who have the ability to pay for facilitated and/or face to face education in New Zealand and to be acknowledged through certification for what they have achieved to do so. As well as providing education for those who do not have the same privilege and enhance international links.

3.1 Expectations of Providers

The government must expect tertiary education providers to educate for sustainability. We can no longer afford to ignore the interconnectedness of our living systems. Tomorrows leaders must be able to move our country forward with a systems thinking, collaborative, action approach to addressing the decline of the health and abundance of the natural resources in which we rely.

All tertiary education providers must provide education for sustainability for all their students. All education must have real world application and our future 'real world' must be a sustainable one.

3.3 Monitoring

The government must not only monitor the 'contribution that tertiary education makes to New Zealand's economy and society,' but must monitor the contribution that tertiary education makes to New Zealand's integrated economic, society and environment systems.

Recommendations:

1. Add the integration of Education for Sustainability as an expectation of tertiary education providers.

2. The ability to act for a sustainable future must be an explicit core capability, such as numeracy and literacy. Eco-literacy is an essential skill for all for New Zealand's future.

3. Interdisciplinary study and research must be supported in order to gain strong, worthwhile sustainability research.

Aspects of living sustainably:

2009-09-03T13:57:00.000-07:00

The good old days

Home cooked meals (from scratch) almost every night.

Growing a lot of the households food in the back yard.

Walking or biking to school or work every day, rain or shine.

Putting more clothes on when it's cold.

Showering once a day or less!

Home baked goodies in the cardboard.

One car families.

Three or four changes of clothes, not a walk in wardrobe full.

Taking the bus was fun.

Everything that could be re-used was.

Take away coffees etc, didn't really exist – we all just sat down for one.

We didn't need a clothes drier, microwave, 2 or more TV's, 2 or more computers, 2 or more stereos, a slow cooker, an electric can opener, heated towel rails etc, etc.

How can we still live comfortably, yet decrease of impact on the environment?

I had a discussion with my husband as we were driving to work/pre-school with our 2 year old last week. Before we had our son we had a car each, vans infact – both with beds in them – the single, vagrants dream. We now have one old stationwagon and it's great. My husband commented that we do fine with only one car. In fact he couldn't imagine having another car that he drove to work and left there all day. What a cost and what a waste he said, though reminding me that he didn't used to think like that – my influence. Because he's so used to taking the bus and occassionally riding his bike he just doesn't see it as an inconvience or hard work.

This is what has happened. As people have increasingly been able to afford ever cheaper appliances and cars and marketing has done a fantastic job at telling us we can't live without these things we have come to believe that this is true.

My husbands experience in getting to and from work has become habit and therefore easy. We do have the benefit of being close to a bus route both at home and at work. So all we need to do is change the way we do things and stick them out until they become habit and easy!

Watching Dunedin go through the transition to using cloth bags in the supermarket is an interesting one. I made this transition 4 or so years ago and constantly forgot to put my empty bags back in the car, then forgot to take them into the supermarket and so on. It was frustrating, but after a few months perserverance it became habit and easy. I'm watching frustrated people work at remembering the change of routine now.

We are by no means perfect when it comes to living sustainability. Few people are, but we do a reasonable amount and are very conscious of the decisions we make and how they impact all. We don't own a clothes drier and never have, yet we have a two year old. We raised him 'nappy free' from 6 weeks old, but that's another story. He still has wet pants and dirty clothes and of course my husband and I need to do washing too. Dunedin is by far the sunniest of cities, yet we manage to get most of our washing dry on the line even through most of winter. When we can't we use my husbands designed ceiling clothes rack that sits against the roof near the fire or clothes racks and if something we want to wear is wet, well tough we have to find something else!

We have a eco wood burning fire that has a wet-back attached and we can cook (use a frying pan even) on the top of it. Our power bills in the winter can be as low as $55 and we rarely go over $100 any time of the year. I have applied the fake double glazing to our windows at $25/room and we now have no condensation on our bedroom window sills in the morning. We had to replace our cracked sliding door so we topped up the insurance pay out to get a double-glazed one and most recently we have taken up the Government insulation grant. Unfortunately we can't get under our floor but we able to get two layers of wool (our choice for environmental reasons at a bit more expense) in our ceiling. I'm happy to reveil that we only had to pay $650 of the $1600 it cost as we have community services cards that gave us 60% off with the governments subsiby.

We are not a wealthy family. We earn enough to live comfortably and we only have holidays because we careful about what we spend our money on. Sensible insulation and heating and only 1 car saves us heaps!!!!

I'm an experiential gardener and would hate to have to fully feed my family on what I grow – we'd be hungry!!! But it definitely compliments the huge amount that we spend on food. We eat a lot of organic food, cook meals from scratch as much as possible and buy in bulk avoiding heaps of packaging, though this is defintely what fills our rubbish bin over 3 weeks. Yes, weeks to fill one 65L rubbish bag in a 3 person household. Not bad, but it could be better. I simply refuse in most cases to buy something that can't be re-used as infinitely as possible or recycled or both.

It's not hard or expensive to do little things that will make a huge difference to the quality of our environment. I don't need a heated towel rail, don't even have a heater in our bathroom – it encourages a quick dry and change into warm clothes. I don't need a walk in wardrobe. My op-shop buys see me through and I don't feel bad about passing them on to buy more from the op-shop when I need a change.

As I said, I'm by no means perfect when it comes to living sustainably. The reason I wanted to share some of these things with you is to show you that it's not hard to do, it's cheaper, which means you have more money for things like holidays – or you can simply do less work! Give it a go. Take one thing that you know that has a huge impact on the environment and change it. Stick with it for a few months (convince some others -family or friends/flatmates) to join you and pretty quickly you'll find that it's habit – good habit!! Thanks. Anna :)

Wearing your baby

2009-07-29T23:46:00.000-07:00

My introduction to baby wearing was in my early 20's when I meet a friend of a friend in a market. She was wearing her baby wrapped up in a sling. I could just glimpse his head tucked against her chest. I loved what I saw, it looked so right to me. Although I was far from needing to know all about it I wanted to know how she had tied him so snugly to her. Not long after this meeting the first of my friends had a baby. As a gift I made her one of the slings I had seen that day in the market. It became my standard gift as more of my friends had children. It wasn't until 8 or so years later when I was to have my child that I learnt the reasons why you wear your baby.

The Continuum Concept written by Jean Liedloff talks about our innate expectations at birth formed over a long evolutionary process of thousands of years. One of those innate expectations is close and constant contact with our primary caregiver initially, then any family members or friends from birth to crawling. This stage has been aptly named 'The In-Arms Phase' which happens from birth to 6-8months.

It has only been in the last 100 or so years that we have moved away from this evolutionary practice of carrying our babies to more 'convenient' separateness of placing a baby in a cot, car seat or the floor. This practice denies the baby it's expectation of closeness, warmth, smell, sounds of mum's breathing and heartbeat and constant movement that he/she has experienced for the last 9 months.

Wearing your baby is simply a continuation of the womb. In our evolutionary process we as humans have had to be born earlier and earlier due to the increased size of our brains. Our bodies have not had time to develop in the womb which is why we can't walk soon after being born as most other mammals can. For this reason carrying a baby constantly in a sling has only benefits for their physical development. Babies do not need to kick on the floor to grow strong enough or practice movements towards crawling. They know innately how to crawl they simply need time and strength (that can be gained through being worn) to do it.

Wearing your baby in a sling or other ergonomic device as constantly as possible during the in-arms phase of his/her life meets a baby's innate evolutionary expectations, therefore helping them to feel secure, develop their self esteem and become independent. Yes meeting a babies expectations of constant physical contact during the in-arms phase (among other innate expectations such as being breastfed on demand) actually helps little humans to become more independent. This makes sense when you understand that a secure, confident baby naturally seeks their independence as they grow. Meeting a babies needs in the present moment meets their expectations. It does not spoil them!

There are many more benefits to wearing your baby. These include:

The physical strength your baby (and you) gains from being carried in a safe, ergonomic way. A baby's legs are often straddled with the thighs or even whole legs fully supported by the sling. The support along with constant movement helps to strengthen the baby's joints.

Babies who are worn have less digestive problems and rarely experience colic or reflux. The upright position and constant jostling help the digestive system through an indirect stomach massage.

A baby in a sling is able to closely observe and be a part of the life of his/her carrier. This is how a baby learns about the world. They disperse their energy through their carrier and are stimulated by the everyday routines of this person.

There are also many benefits for the person wearing the baby, often the mother initially. In some cultures a woman who has recently given birth wraps her torso to support her internal organs in gently finding their correct place again (having been moved and squashed by the presence of the baby). Wearing your baby in a wrap around sling has this added benefit.

It also allows you the freedom to do chores and go where you wish knowing that your baby is happy and secure and can sleep when he/she wants to. Your baby has slept when he/she wants to for 9 months in your womb and does not need (or want) a quiet, still bed in which to sleep.

Fathers and other family members are able to experience the intimate closeness to their new love that wearing a baby offers.

Families who practice Elimination Communication find that wearing a baby makes it very easy to pick up on their need to pee or poo. They quickly learn that the sling is their little nest and do not wish to eliminate in it. They often squirm and do what ever else they can to be let out to eliminate in an appropriate place.

There are many types of babywearing devices available. Here are some of my favourites and more that I am not so familiar with. Please note that the popular 'front pack' (there are a number of brands) does not support your baby's thighs therefore the baby's legs hang and all the weight is on their spine. This is not ideal and I don't recommend a front pack for this reason. I also don't recommend wearing your baby in a outward facing direction. This goes against the natural curvature of their spine and again is not ideal.

Wrap around slings: There are a number of brands out there or you can make your own! You don't even need a sewing machine unless you want to get fancy. For a young baby you can use cotton lycra, 50cm wide and 4.2 metres long (longer if you are big). As your baby gets heavy this type of sling is not ideal. For the first couple of months it's great.

The other option that will also take you through to carrying your baby as a toddler is a tight knit cotton with 'give' but no stretch. Make this one 65cm wide (in order to be able to wear your baby on your back when they are strong enough) and 4.2 metres long (longer if necessary). Depending on the type of material you use it may need hemming or overlocking.

Otherwise there are heaps of wrap around slings on the market. My favourite is the Girasol. Contact Irma Jager at intune@clear.net.nz as she is the NZ importer of these beautiful slings and see http://www.peppermint.com/ for wearing instructions and more great information on baby wearing. This site has heaps of different types of slings that I won't talk about here.

Another good baby wearing device is the ERGO. For information and purchase within New Zealand is http://www.junglemama.co.nz/

As well as the website links in this post - one that will lead you to La Leche League International site! The following book on baby wearing looks interesting. Click on it to read a review. Babywearing: The benefits and beauty of this ancient tradition

Recently (early 2010) there has been talk in the media of the 'dangers' of slings. The hype was quite unsubstantiated but some good points about safe baby wearing has come out of it. www.slingbabies.co.nz a great New Zealand, not for profit educational website has an article on safe babywearing that is worth a read. It also has really good information on wearing, benefits, history, the philosophy of baby wearing and more article - one for Dads.

ENJOY THE WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE OF CARRYING YOUR BABY DURING HIS/HER IN-ARMS PHASE!

Sustainability and Midwifery

2009-04-24T00:17:00.000-07:00

In response to Sarah's comments on my 'Raising a nappy free baby' post I just want to write down a few ideas on sustainability and the midwifery profession from my point of view.

I think the most sustainable thing the midwifery profession can do is to encourage women to birth at home. This way there are far fewer resources being used than in the hospital system, there is a greater chance of a natural birth free from interventions such as induction, epidurals, pain relief drugs that get through to the baby and cesarean sections, more chance of immediate and prolonged skin to skin contact and less stress created by being in a familiar environment.

This is coming from someone who had a prolapsed umbilical cord during the homebirth of my son! With no warning it was about to occur, I was grateful that I had just reached second stage and my son was born alive after an episiotomy without anesthetic and 12 minutes of the hardest most painful work I have done! I will have another homebirth as I am quite aware that this was a very rare event and I am scared to think what might have been attempted had I been in the hospital. No intervention could have happened as quickly as I birthed my son.

A bit side tracked there, but I did want to show that it still possible to have rare and very unwanted things happen during a homebirth and still have the ability to deal with it successfully. I could have had anesthetic for the episiotomy, but wasn't willing to waste the time with it!

In order for more women to have natural births with no intervention a midwife can be proactive in informing a pregnant woman on the ways to help their baby present in the best position, be healthy and strong through diet and appropriate exercise, decrease stress in their lives, prepare physically and psychologically themselves and with family members. Preparing a pregnant woman for a positive, intervention free labour and birth is the most sustainable thing a midwife can do. The hospital is always there as a back up. There are risks in labour and birth, but they are no higher than the risks we take going out into the world every day.

Post birth there are many things that a midwife can advise and encourage. I biggest barrier for midwives is the minimal 6 weeks post birth they have with mother, baby and family. Consistency of care for a longer period would enable midwives to support women to breastfeed for longer, make decisions about caring for and raising their babies. I would push for ongoing care for up to a year! This is an issue at the national health system level. At least until this happens (we can advocate for it and hope for the best) a midwife would improve the social sustainability of their profession with greater handover to a well-child network provider, make links for the family with a La Leche League (LLL) Leader and other open and holistic parents support groups such as the Dunedin Conscious Parenting group.

Aspects of raising a baby that I consider to be more sustainable (most are social, though there are definitely elements of environmental and economic sustainability):

- Wearing your baby in a sling, or another ergonomic device that holds the baby safely against mum or any other family member. Frontpacks do not support the baby's hips and spine. The baby must be supported under the full length of his/her thigh when being carried. Countries where babies are carried in this way do not have congenital hip problems.

- Raise your baby without the use of nappies (see my previous post), or use cloth nappies as a back up. Natural Infant Hygiene (nappy free) even part time with the use of cloth nappies as a back up is far more sustainable environmentally and has huge benefits socially.

- Co-sleep safely. More parents in the world sleep with their babies than those who don't. It can be done safely and has been shown to be most effective in the initiation and continuation of breastfeeding.

- Breastfeed. Breast is definitely best. For 2 years and beyond - World Health Organisation recommendation. Unfortunately the NZ health system recommend only 1! It is my opinion that midwives need more training in helping a mother to breastfeed and picking up on problems early. In reality a midwife needs to be a lactation consultant if NZ is to improve our breastfeeding rates. So often women stop breastfeeding before or shortly after 6 weeks (when their midwife no longer supports them). I don't think that one paper on lactation in a midwifery course is enough. Either that or midwives need to have a stronger connections to LLL or a lactation consultant.

-Let your baby lead the weaning process. Baby-lead weaning is a great way to introduce solids. This does not mean you wean your baby from your breast milk! (it's not a great term in that respect!).

-Families need to make informed decisions about vaccinations! Forget your own opinion and offer families information from both sides of the debate. Vitamin K is not a simple vitamin, it's a vaccine! It is possible that the rate of childhood cancer caused by the Vitamin K injection is as high if not higher than the risk of hemophilia that the vaccine is made to prevent! I was never told this and presumed it was a simple vitamin.

-Encourage families to question the way they treat their babies and children. What messages are we sending our children through our language and actions? Exactly why are we praising them? How do we discipline them with love? Is discipline really necessary? There are some fantastic websites on alternative ways of parenting.

-Controlled crying is not a compassionate way to treat our babies. Babies wake often, they're meant to. It stimulates their growing brains, gives them the chance to breastfeed, be comforted and feel secure. Parents force their babies to sleep through the night for their own sake, not the babies. It would have been great to be blessed with a 'sleeper'. Alas I haven't been. We have tried many things to help our son to sleep through the night, but never have we left him alone to cry. Not even for a minute. That would just be teaching him that we are not going to respond to him when he needs it most. He will learn that we can't be trusted to meet his needs. No thanks! I'll continue my gentle attempts to help him to sleep through the night and endure the sleep deprivation! Some mothers claim that they will be better mothers if they could sleep through the night. I think they mean they'd be better housewives. What does your little baby care if you lie around with them all day and sleep when they do! This has been a great book for me: Gethin, Anni & Macgregor, Beth. (2007?) Helping your baby to sleep: Why gentle techniques work best. Finch Publishing.

I'm sure there are many more ways that midwives can operate and practice sustainably. Please feel free to add your suggestions in a comment. Now speaking of sleep! See ya.

Raising a Nappy Free Baby, Natural Infant Hygiene, Elimination Communication or Infant Potty Training

2009-04-07T20:35:00.000-07:00

Whatever you call it the concept is the same! It's about giving our tiny babies the respect they deserve, acknowledging their ability to communicate and meeting their toileting needs in the present moment.

Why do it?

Half the world’s population still raise their babies without nappies and they don’t get peed and pooed on. Nappies have only been around for a hundred years or so and babies were successfully raised without them for thousands of years.

The basic idea is that babies do signal their need to go to the toilet and it is possible to pick up on their signal and meet their need to eliminate cleanly. It’s the most natural thing to do for the babies physical comfort, to avoid nappy rash and digestive problems that can result from nappy use, to support the baby’s body awareness, for environmental reasons, to prevent toilet training struggles and to reduce nappy use.

The greatest benefit is that parents feel they are responding to their baby’s needs in the present moment and this can enhance their bond and develop a deep, close communication and trust. The concept is the same as picking up on when your baby is hungry and feeding him/her, tired and helping them to sleep, windy and needing to burp.

So rather than teach your baby to pee and poo in his/her clothing and then cleaning up after the fact you learn to listen and respond in the present moment to your babies needs and communication.

So how do you actually make this work in our society?

Nappies can be used as a ‘back up’ until you are confident. Your baby will learn to ‘release’ (which they already know how to do), but will learn to release on cue and then therefore learn to ‘hold on’ until it is appropriate to ‘release’, but for the first year or more it is about training yourself as much if not more than training your baby. Though 'training' is not the right word. Developing the communication on this need is a better explanation. The best type of nappy is the big square traditional nappy with no outer, so you can see if your baby has gone and change them immediately. One benefit of nappy free is that your baby never gets used to being in a wet nappy and therefore doesn’t like the feeling when it happens and acts to avoid it happening.

Ways of communicating with your baby about their need to go:

Timing and elimination patterns – watching closely, the parent learns when the baby usually goes and how this relates to other body functions such as nursing or feeding. E.g. most babies pee as soon as they awaken from sleep and at regular intervals after nursing.
Baby’s signals and body language – once they begin watching for it, many parents are amazed to notice that their babies are actually signalling when they need to go. Though every baby is different, some common signals include: fussing, squirming, grunting and vocalising, pausing and becoming still, waking from sleep, a certain frown etc. Your babies signal maybe unique, but over time you will pick up on it.
Intuition - many parents find they are able to simply ‘know’ when their babies need to relieve themselves, especially once they’ve been using Natural Infant Hygiene for a while. E.g. sometimes you just ‘feel’ that your baby needs to go even when you can’t actually see them.
Cueing your baby – Natural Infant Hygiene is a two-way communication. Around the world many parents use a specific sound (such as ‘shhh’ or ‘ssss’) and a specific position to hold their baby when they eliminate. This serves as a kind of preliminary language that the baby comes to associate with the act, and a way for the parents to offer an opportunity to go. However, it is always the baby who decides whether they need to go or not. Sometimes the baby also begins to use this sound as a signal to the parent.

Natural Infant Hygiene is a gentle process. It is not about ‘training’ your baby or rushing them to grow up before they are ready. It’s about the baby communicating their need to go, relaxing and releasing at will with the parent supporting them over an appropriate receptacle. This could be a bucket, toilet, sink, the grass or a specialised infant potty (http://www.junglemama.co.nz/). The baby’s ability to retain develops at the baby’s pace as a natural consequence of his or her awareness.

Millions of parents around the world can attest to the fact that babies clearly can voluntarily regulate their elimination without any coercion or negative effects whatsoever. Parents often feel an increased closeness and respect for their baby. Seeing your baby obviously signal their need to go and respond to your cue gives you such a feeling of pride and respect, it’s amazing.

A Different Kind of Work

A young baby can pee ever 10-20 mins after nursing for 1-2 hrs. This seems like it lot of work! How do you get anything else done? When your baby is very young it is a lot of work, but so is changing, scrubbing and washing nappies. Would you rather spend time focused on the new love of your life or changing/scrubbing their nappies?

Tuning into your baby in this way does require commitment and effort, as does being a responsive parent in general. Most parents in our society prefer to use nappies as a back up, at least part-time during the early learning phase, on outings and sometimes at night if they don’t awaken in time to respond to their baby’s need to go. Some children are reliably toilet independent with this method between about 10-20 months. Early toilet independence is often a natural consquence of raising a nappy free baby, but is not the ultimate goal. Reminding yourself of the ultimate goal of increased gentle communication, stronger bonding and meeting the needs of your baby in the present moment is important during times of potty strikes when your baby is communicating that something else is going on for them.

The real work of Natural Infant Hygiene is that of being in the present moment. There are days when it can seem like the most difficult thing in the world to do and there are days when you have glimpses of enlightenment and think it’s the most wonderful thing in the world.

When to start?

Having your first child comes with soooo much learning that contemplating ‘throwing away the nappies’ can be too much. Think about your priorities first. Establish breastfeeding first, settle into the idea of parenting (this can seemly take forever!), trust your parenting instincts – they can often be clouded by the information we are bombarded with from society, and can be a difficult task.

The best time to start Natural Infant Hygiene is before your baby is moving. In saying that, some parents have had success with their babies up to the age of one year. The longer you leave it the more likely it is that your baby has stopped signalling his/her need to go as it was not getting a response and the more likely it is that your baby has learnt to pee and poo in his/her clothing. At this point conventional potty training is needed and your baby needs to be developmentally ready for this or it can be a traumatic and self esteem blowing event.

Top tips

Accept that you will miss pees and poos – sometimes lots! Breastfeed babies pee and poo is very inoffensive. Pee is 97% water, a few minerals and some trace elements! Human poo is also not that bad. We put animal poo on gardens that produce food we eat, yet our society has created this fear of human faeces.
Have no expectations and be as gentle on yourself as you are on your baby
If the methods you are using are not working try something different
Respect a ‘no’. Straightening up is a sure sign your baby does not want to be helped to go (this doesn’t always mean they don’t need to!) Try a different place; the bathtub, laundry sink, over the toilet or outside is often a winner. In the end if your baby won’t go but pees 5 minutes later they are probably trying to tell you something else is up. Teething, skill acquisition, growth spurt or something that has thrown them off for the time being. Accept the 'no', provide a back up, but don’t give up, they have not 'lost it' and will settle down again.
Invest in a wide bucket and/or infant potty
Use training undies for an older baby, rather than nappies as a back up. These are cheap, easier to wash than nappies and you can definitely tell when your baby has gone!
Purchase a few mattress protectors – cheap from the op shop or off Trade Me
Invest in (buy or make) a wrap around sling (http://www.girosol.de/ – intune@clear.net.nz –importer). http://www.peppermint.com/ for wearing instructions. Babies who are used to being worn, learn that they don’t want to pee/poo in their nest and picking up on their need to go is very easy when they are attached to you.
Consider co-sleeping and learn how to do it safely and comfortably
Carry a potty or bowl/bucket in the car with you, but expect a few misses. Babies do not appreciate getting in and out of the car seat a lot. Better just to sit them on or in a nappy when you think they will need to go and you can’t stop for them.
Join a support group to share experiences with other parents practicing Elimination Communication
Read ‘Diaper Free’
Purchase the big square traditional nappies and/or prefolds
If you are losing the plot put a cloth nappy on your baby! The beauty of our society is that we have the choice!

Resources

Books:
Bauer, Ingrid. (2001). Diaper Free! The Gentle Wisdom for Natural Infant Hygiene.
Boucke, Laurie. Infant Potty Training.
Liedloff, Jean. (1975). The Continuum Concept. “I don’t know whether the world can be saved by a book, but if it could be, this might just be the book.” John Holt, Author/educator.

Websites:
http://www.natural-wisdom.com/
www.white-boucke.com/ipb.html
http://www.diaperfreebaby.org/
www.womenofspirit.asn.au/docs/sb_mind_over_matter.pdf
My online presentation for the Virtual International Day of the Midwife 2010 can be viewed at http://www.slideshare.net/Annah/nappy-free-presentation and the audio to go with it here http://blip.tv/file/3677417. Sorry I haven't synced them, but I'm sure you can open both and pause/play as you need to, to get them in sync.

NZ contacts for Nappy Free support:

Anna Hughes
annajoanhughes@gmail.com
Ph (03) 454 6848

Irma Jager
intune@clear.net.nz
Ph. (03) 526 8080

Irma was one of a number of Nelson women interviewed on Close Up. Go to Close Up, TVNZ on the internet and search for ‘Throwing away the nappies’ to view the 6 minute interview.

‘Go Commando’ Raise a Nappy Free baby!

My current tasks at EDC

2009-03-22T18:12:00.000-07:00

Hi all

Things are pretty busy at the moment. Here is a brief list of what I'm up to:

- Preparing Sustainable practice 1 for it's first class in Term 2

- Developing a workshop for the Staff Development conference on integrating sustainable practice into teaching

- Organising the panel discussion on sustainability in the Polytechnic for the same conference

- Collating a spread sheet of requests for help with Sustainable practice integration into programmes and planning how I (and others if necessary) can meet these requests.

- still chipping away at ideas on Maori and sustainability

Cheers. anna :)

Otago Polytechnic Staff Development conference ideas

2009-03-05T14:59:00.000-08:00

From the committee meeting on Wednesday we have agreed to a key note speech from Sam Mann and a panel discussion on sustainable practice issues.

One of the points of discussion was around including general/admin staff in the key note speech. Sam you may have a good idea what to include in your speech to ensure this. Mark Jackson maybe able to advise and as the Sustainable Management Group won't be meeting before this time input from others maybe helpful to Sam.

Following on from this the panel discussion must also include general/admin staff. Mark Jackson is probably best placed to do this. Barry (if he agrees) and I will speak together r.e. integrating sustainable practice into teaching. I have approached Maureen Howard (DCC Sustainable Living programme and Sustainable Dunedin City, Education person) to speak as an outside voice on the OP Sustainability objectives and how they fit into the sustainability in the Dunedin community or something like that. I'd also like to find a student who would talk about sustainability throughout the Polytechnic from their perspective.

Perhaps Sam could also sit on the panel to have input into the answers to any questions, though he would not speak on the panel as he would have just spoken for an hour?

Half day workshops:
- I have proposed to Barry that he and I run a half day workshop (2 1/2 hrs) for academic staff on integrating sustainable practice into teaching. I propose that this includes staff bringing their course outlines, ideas and any resources that already have for Barry and I to work with them individually as well as collectively to get them going on the right track.

- Another half day workshop could be run by Mark Jackson specifically for general/admin staff on operations, including supply chains, department events, admin resources, sourcing, induction etc.

I'd really appreciate feedback on these ideas, including what needs to be or could be covered by Sam in his key note and each panel presenter. If anyone can think of a student who would be suitable that would be helpful. Thanks. Anna :)

Eco-action Design and Build

2009-02-25T12:54:00.000-08:00

I'm excited about finally making the time to post on Lawrence and Antje's Little Greenie at their Golden Bay Hideaway.

The red and green native grasses in this photo will eventually merge to create a lawn that only needs mowing once a year! Oh and you can see the website for better photos!!

This summer Lawrence and Antje finished building the Little Green and we were lucky enough to be there to prepare it for it's first visitors. Eco-action design and build is Lawrence's company. The name came about as Lawrence wanted to let people know that what he is doing in his design and building is considering the environment and actioning his considerations! He is not just talking about designing and building environmentally sensible dwellings, but he is actually doing - all of it himself, with the help of a few friends.

Some of Lawrence's philosophy includes a modest size and a simple design in order to focus on the important things, such as low energy requirements through excellent insulation and low energy lights and appliances powered by solar energy and a passive solar design. Other features of importance to Lawrence in creating dwellings for a sustainable now include long lasting materials, low maintenance, composting toilet, simple open plan, easy to clean.

Lawrence and Antje's website www.goldenbayhideaway.co.nz has huge amounts of information on the design and construction of the Little Greenie. Lawrence is happy to share more information in person when you come to stay in the Wee Greenie, which is very reasonably priced for luxury accommodation in an amazing environment. Specifically priced to be accessible to more people! In Lawrence and Antje's style!

Perhaps competitors in this years SHaC competition run by Otago Polytechnic could get some tips from Lawrence!

What I'm up to in the Educational Development Centre

2009-02-16T18:22:00.000-08:00

Busy, busy. Hence why I haven't posted for a while. What I've got going on at the moment includes the following:
- Development of the Sustainable Practice 1 course for delivery to the Tourism and Travel Yr 2's in Term 2.
- Applying for academic approval of the Education for Sustainability staff development course.
- Development of a lecture and tutorial on sustainability issues for Ko Te Tai Ao - Natural World paper
- On going involvement in the Otago Polytechnic Sustainability Management Group.

When time allows I am attempting to
- develop something on Maori and sustainability
- work with Heather Day on integrating sustainability into the Graduation Certificate in Tertiary Teaching and Learning
- work with Barry Law in supporting departments in integrating sustainability into their curriculum and teaching. Possibly including a resource book for all staff to access resources for teaching sustainability.
- Supporting any lecturers who approach me for help on teaching sustainability.

Cheers, Anna :)

Summer antics

2009-01-13T16:45:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year. Too short but very sweet was how I'd describe my holiday. Family time and relaxing with friends and their families in the Nelson, Golden Bay area sums it up really.

My partner and I had some much needed time out as Eli was well entertained, possibly to the point of exhaustion and overstimulation by his Taua and Poua and Aunty. It was interesting to watch how he handled the stimulation, new people and lots of travelling. At one point he spent a couple of days in a friends sandpit. Not interested in interacting with anyone, including his parents. Even 18 month olds have copy strategies.

So we arrive home with what seems like quite a different boy and have spent the last week trying to catch up with his changes. It occured to me yesterday that in our efforts to 'catch up' with him we have been giving him a lot more of our energy than is good for him and reverting to societies standard parenting techniques as we encounter new behaviours.

It was refreshing to read the Leidloff Continuum Networks website http://www.continuum-concept.org/ and be reminded of how we really want to parent. I was reminded by Jean Leidoff that it is not healthy for children to be the centre of attention, that they just want to be a part of what you are doing, that reward and punishment are not healthy and it's important to trust that your child is innately good and wants to do the right thing. This immediately made me relax, focus on what I want him to do, not what I don't want him to do; accept that he's been caught out when he pees on the floor without reminding him that he needs to go on the potty - he knows that; attempt to let him be a part of what I'm doing, not react to his wee tantrums; respond to him without judgement; stop asking him what he wants and show him that I know what he wants - if I get it wrong he lets me know; and meet his needs, including breastfeeding him when he asks for it at night. The latter is a hard one as sleep has been an issue and he has started waking often again. Though I have just been reminded to trust him and trust that their is a reason for it - he has been out of sorts and he will come right. When he seems better I'll encourage him to go back to sleep without a feed and if he doesn't complain (much) I'll know we're back on track. Some might say that it's not fair on him, the lack of consistency with when he gets a feed and when he doesn't. I say, I am consistently following my instincts and consistently adapting to his changes. The best kind of consistency a parent can show.

Phew, glad I'm back on track!

Anyway, another highlight of our holiday was visiting Lawrence and Antje McIntyre and their newly finished Eco Hut the Wee Greenie. Once Lawrence has his EcoAction Designs website up and running I'll post a blog on the Wee Greenie and direct you to his site.

In the meantime, happy parenting to you parents out there and remember to think about the whole system when you buy, travel, live! Not too much to ask eh! :)

Gorilla gardening and holidays

2008-12-17T19:14:00.000-08:00

My last day of work for 2008 included some gardening. I guess I can't call it gorilla gardening as Otago Polytechnic's Living Campus is all about interacting with and being a part of the natural environment on campus. Even so it was a good feeling of rebellion when planting tomato plants without 'permission' from someone who might manage this environment. Besides they would have died inside with no one to care for them. So if you're passing H block on Forth St, share some of your water bottle with the two tomato plants bordering the H block sign. That way I'll have fresh tomatos when I return in Jan! Would you email me a photo to accompany this post Leigh?

2009 will bring the inaugural Education for Sustainability staff training course (now complete and ready for review/feedback) and Sustainable Practice 1 and 2 and a busy workload for me at 0.3 of a position. The other 0.7 and some is spent busily loving, educating and meeting the needs of my 18 month old. He will be attending pre-school for 3 1/2 hrs twice a week. I'm a anxious about him going into care, but I'm honest about the fact that I am doing it for myself and not because I believe it's the best thing for him. Sure he might enjoy an hour in a different environment with different people, but after that he would be quite happy in the company of the people he knows and loves. I don't believe in forcing him to become independent at 18 months. I believe in meeting his needs and letting him be dependent for as long as he needs to be. This is often not as long as a child whose needs have not fully been met who continues to demand dependence as a reaction to being forced into independence before they are ready.

Just recently Unicef stated that NZ had the highest rate of care for under 5 year olds and this was not necessarily a good thing. Children from a bad home environment benefit from it and children over 3 benefit from small amounts of care. It was clear on the National program interview that a 'normal' child does not benefit from full time or near full time care. Parents can and will justify the use of childcare for their children any way they can. I will not justify the use of childcare for Eli. It is purely selfish. I want to work as well as be a mother. I want my cake and to eat it too. End of story. Anyway this wasn't meant to be the story.

I'm offically on holiday now. Yeepppeee bring on the long summer days in Nelson, Golden Bay and the West coast, biking and rock climbing with friends and spending time with family. Better get on my bike and home to my boys. See you next year. anna :)

End of year workload

2008-12-07T18:16:00.000-08:00

Kia ora koutou

Here we are two weeks out from Christmas and busy busy. Three new courses and a resource to develop, but no panic there is always time to post a blog, eh Leigh!

Education for Sustainability is a staff development course aimed to upskill staff on what EfS actually is and how it can be implemented. It involves approximately 6 readings with questions and discussion after each. This is a great opportunity for all - literally as it's all online and freely available on the wiki - to think about how they as educators can educate for sustainability within their subject area.

Sustainable Practice 1 and 2 will be run initially for the Tourism and Travel students, but are generic courses open to the whole polytech. Sustainable Practice 1 is an introduction to Sustainability and is very student driven. Sustainable Practice 2 is industry/subject specific where students look at how they are practice sustainably within their profession. Personally I am looking forward to some interaction with the student population again. It will be interesting to see where students are at with the sustainability issue, student directed/negotiated work and action oriented learning!

The resource being developed by Sam Mann and myself is intended to support staff in integrating sustainable practice into their teaching.

As for the photo. That's me showing off my nappy free baby. He does wear pants most of the time, but not a nappy in site during the day. I guess that's applicable to Midwifery and their Sustainable Development paper! Cheers. Have a great Christmas and New Year break, with lots of fun family time and recreation. Love anna :)

2008-11-15T13:42:00.000-08:00

The Good Life!

Life is pretty good when you get a blue sky weekend in Naseby, riding the family friendly tracks with a wee mix of some exciting (leave the chariot with Dad) single track.
Unfortunately that was just one weekend! Now battling a neverending cold, sleepless nights (we are blessed with a wakeful wee boy!), juggling work, parenting, volunteer groups and the general running of life things seem hard.
Hard is relative I know. In fact life is pretty dam easy when I compare our lot to those less fortunate. In fact what am I even complaining about. Looking forward to a holiday up North, possibly seeing my grandparents for the last time and catching up with friends and family. Summer is charging on in in Dunedin and we're loving the days in the garden (cursing the slugs that are eating my brassica's) and on the beach chasing Eli into the surf and dragging him kicking and screaming back out when I can't feel my feet anymore!!! Looking forward to more of it - not the kicking and screaming that is, just the summer! Anna :)

Hello

2008-11-12T18:59:00.001-08:00

start blogging anna. You'll get rich