September 28, 2009 - Stephanie Dawn

September 28
Stephanie Dawn
Stephanie Dawn, ASLP is a licensed therapist and healer with a private practice in Santa Monica, California. She is the founder of Sacred Birth Work, conscious childbirth preparation education including classes, workshops and private sessions in person and via telephone, to support pregnant women and men to vision the birth of their dreams. Her work takes into account the whole person, emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual and that includes the baby! She is the author of The Sacred Birth Workbook and the mother of Jasper and Zephyr, born at home and in a hospital, respectively, with midwives and doulas. Learn more by going to www.stephaniedawn.com

Stephanie Dawn shared her power insights and work in helping parents to prepare for SACRED BIRTH ... an experience that is the result of the parents individually clearing their own issues and creating together, envisioning together the birth of the One coming into their lives.

Information from the show:

Rich:
New book on 911.

Janel:

Yukio Hatoyama is Japan’s new leader. He officially took office last Wednesday, and he is already threatening to split with the United States.

Hatoyama blames America for the global economic crisis and says that the U.S. is responsible for “the destruction of human dignity.” He campaigned on protecting traditional Japanese economic activities and reducing U.S.-led globalization. ics

70% of Japanese births are attended by midwifes, often in dedicated birth houses or in private homes. Japan's cesarean rate has doubled in the last 18 years from 11% to now about 21%. That means that less than 10% of births in Japan are non-surgical, vaginal births in the hospital. Compare that to about 60% in the US. In the US it's said to be less than 6% of all births are home or birth centers while 95% of births are in the hospital. Over 30% of those births in the US are surgical birth. In the US it's over 30% and as much as 80% in some hospitals.

The World Health Organization recommends no more than a 10% cesarean rate in developed countries, based upon research indicating more harm than good to both mothers and babies when the cesarean rate tops 15%.

A recent study in Birth 2006 showed that looked at national linked birth and infant death data for the 1998-2001 birth cohorts (5,762,037 live births and 11,897 infant deaths) and they were analyzed to assess the risk of infant and neonatal mortality for women with no indicated risk by method of delivery and cause of death. RESULTS: Neonatal mortality rates were higher among infants delivered by cesarean section (1.77 per 1,000 live births) than for those delivered vaginally (0.62).

Basically they found that c-section triples the rate of newborn death, even for healthy, low-risk moms and healthy babies.

Crime in Japan is lower than in many other first world countries but child abuse, a known precursor to crime and incarceration is on the rise in Japan. Machiko Ayukyo, is a lawyer who handles child abuse cases and is a director of the Center for Child Abuse Prevention says this year, the Ministry of Health and Welfare commissioned its first child abuse survey. THAT is amazing. HOW LONG have we had the war on child abuse in this country? The ministry also plans to start specialized training for social workers in child abuse, to provide increased psychological support for abused children and to distribute a video to publicize the problem.

http://www.nospank.net/n-f10.htm

September 21 - Guest Lynn Reed

September 21
Lynn Reed
Trust Birth Augusta. Jewish mother shares her story of coming to new awareness of circumcision. She talks about the numerous cuts made to human during the primal period of life: circumcision, cord cutting, cesarean surgical cut, episiotomy .., all of which "cut us off" from our mothers and our foundation for empathy and intimacy.

This is a must-listen-to show. Lynn lays it down so we can all get a better understanding of the Jewish traditions and how her struggle over circumcision led to some of the new ways for Jewish familes.

Check out www.trustbirth.org.

The Tenants of the Trust Birth Initiative

The decisions that women make concerning their birth should be based on the truth rather
than fears and misconceptions.

Every woman deserves the right to hear the truth about birth.

Women know how to give birth. They may not realize that they do, but they do.
Birth is a natural function of life.

Our bodies were designed to give birth just as they were designed to conceive and grow a
baby. Our bodies know how to finish what they began.

Birth should not be a time in a woman’s life when she has to FIGHT for anything.

Birth should not be a battlefield.

Birth is not normally a medical event and rarely needs any medical interference.

Birth belongs to women and not to their birth attendant.

We don’t want to promote any birth attendant as being more essential to the process than
the woman giving birth.

We don’t want to promote any place as being safer for birth than the woman’s home.

We don’t lie to women about what may or may not happen if they follow a formula or a plan.

If supporting a woman’s choices is really our goal then we have to tell her the truth about the
limitation of her choices once she enters a hospital.

We tell the truth: Interference with birth starts the minute she leaves her home and the minute
she is in the hospital she is no longer in charge.

Hospitals offer no measure of safety for birth for the average woman and, in fact, increase the
chances of many potential complications.

The Trust Birth Initiative is not ANTI-hospital as much as we are pro-TRUTH.

Interfering with birth increases risks regardless of where the birth takes place.

Women and their babies are being abused in the name of “safety.”

There are too many surgical births, too many epidurals, too many episiotomies, too many
inductions, too much monitoring and managing.

Women are being scared and bullied and manipulated.

Women are being robbed experience of giving birth; babies are being robbed of a peaceful
environment in which to be born.

This is what we believe....