Today was an awesome day!!! it started out early with a cup of coffee. I found the sugar so, I was pretty happy about that. Then it was off to the community center where we learned about the potential risk of ultrasounds....some of what we learned....
"Unnecessary Exposure" includes the use of ultrasound to:
1. Confirm the sex of the baby.
2. Assess gestational age (how many weeks old the baby is).
3. Assess fetal size and growth.
4. Confirm multiple pregnancy.... See More
5. Determine fetal presentation (the position of the baby in the womb).
Many health care professionals still use ultrasound for these purposes anyway, even though the American Medical Association has not approved its use for these purposes. With the exception of confirming the sex of the baby, all these pieces of information can be obtained with hands-on skills. A fetoscope or stethoscope can detect the baby's heartbeat without the danger of ultrasound.
According to the World Health Organization and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report, "It is not clear at this time whether ultrasound fetal monitoring is beneficial to the mother or fetus in terms of pregnancy outcome...If there is no generally acknowledged benefit to the monitoring, there is no reason to expose patients to increased... See More cost and risk. The question of benefit has not yet been resolved...and the potential for delayed effects has been virtually ignored."
In other words, Ultrasound technology carries potential risks that have not yet been evaluated, yet many doctors are telling women that there is no risk.
Having an ultrasound is NOT essential to a healthy pregnancy. However, most doctors are trained to use expensive technology and NOT trained to use hands-on skills.
Before you allow an ultrasound to be done on you, do some research, thoroughly question your healthcare provider about safety as well as the value of the information that would be received.
In other words, Ultrasound technology carries potential risks that have not yet been evaluated, yet many doctors are telling women that there is no risk.
Having an ultrasound is NOT essential to a healthy pregnancy. However, most doctors are trained to use expensive technology and NOT trained to use hands-on skills.
Before you allow an ultrasound to be done on you, do some research, thoroughly question your healthcare provider about safety as well as the value of the information that would be received.
Don't be afraid to refuse the test if you are not comfortable with the information you have discovered. It is your constitutional right to refuse any tests you do not want.To give you some means of comparison, I offer this analogy. Have you seen a woman with an extremely high voice break a glass by singing an extremely high pitched note? That is... See More an example of what just ONE relatively slow sound wave can do. Ultrasound technology is based upon ultra high-frequency sound waves, which bombard the child in the womb at an extremely high rate of speed. If one slow sound wave from a woman's voice can break a glass, what can super high frequency sound waves do to your child? Ultrasound waves in laboratory experiments have been known to damage chromosomes, produce internal cellular heat which damages cells, retard the normal development of cells, and many other phenomenons.
So, we learned that using a fetoscope was the safest way to listen to heart tones and to check baby's heart beat. Which you do by counting for fifteen seconds the multiply by 4. We also learned how to use the blood pressure cuff to take ones blood pressure. We also learned how to take ones pulse and respiration. Then we were off to lunch at the farm store where i paid $6 for a burrito and a water. I was starting to realized that the farm store was very expensive.
After lunch i lied down for a bit. Then it was off to class at the clinic.We learned how to use a fetoscope and to do palpitations . we got to use a live model by the name of Cayenne who was 37 weeks along. It was really cool to hear the baby's heart beat through the wood of the fetoscope. And, learning how to palpitate her belly feeling how the baby was laying.
We braked for the afternoon . I decided to check out the Eco Village . So, Katie , Ari and I drove down . We we arrived we were greeted by the Eco Inn that set on the left . It's a yellow building with a blue winding staircase in front. There was a book store on the right. as we walked down the path we came across a chicken coop that was filled with ducks . Beyond that coop was a green house that was filled with tomato plants . The smell was amazing warm and sweet with the smell of damp earth. One side of the green house wall was filled with hay and it had a living roof.
Behind the green house was a Eco out house completely made of ceder it smelled wonderful , believe it or not . It had these long black strips in front of it where rain water collected and the sun warmed it up where you could take a hot shower. it had two toilets , they use one for one year then move to the other so that the one that they used for the passed year could break down into compost. then they switch back.
As we were checking it out a young man in his twenty's walked up. he introduced him self as Will.We kept down the path which ended at the Eco dragon house . It is under construction but, the inside was amazing, made of clay with faces on the walls. the walls were rough with a tree molded on one wall. the place smelled of ceder and earth. The mantel of the fire place was a large face with its mouth as the fire place. we walked out of the home and continued down a path on the right. it ended at two mud dwellings that were occupied. After our little tour we decided to go into town and get a beer.
It took us forever because not all the gas stations have beer in them. so, after 30mins of driving we found a Super-Rama which it the tiniest grocery store i have ever been in. We finally found the beer section which was so small. we each grabbed a 24oz corona and a lime and drove back to the farm.
After getting back to the dorm we were told that the farm was a drug and alcohol free place....for some reason i found this to not be entirely true. So, we went upstairs and drank our cold beers . they were so good being that it was so hot.
It was time for dinner . we drove to Louise's house and had hummus with tofu tahini with cucumber salad. the best part was desert which was pina colada ice bean which is made of soy milk. Ina May was there again and once again i did not sit by her or get to talk to her.
When dinner was over we went to the community center to hear Ina May presentation on maternal mortality in the U.S. She is creating a quilt with each blocks are the name of women that have died from maternal child causes . So many of the blocks were names of women who have died of induction, pre-clamsia , cytotect, Magnesium Sulfate. IT hit me like a ton of bricks because it dawned on me that i was so close to being one of those names. So, after class i asked her if she had names that she needed blocks for . she said yes and became very grateful and gave me a hug and i got my picture with her.
We all came back to the dorm feeling defeated after the presentation. We felt helpless. Every girl here wants to change the world but, where do we start. I think the only way is for me to change the world by doing one birth at a time. Hopefully doing the blocks for Ina May will allow me to do some healing . I couldn't fall asleep after that.
So, we learned that using a fetoscope was the safest way to listen to heart tones and to check baby's heart beat. Which you do by counting for fifteen seconds the multiply by 4. We also learned how to use the blood pressure cuff to take ones blood pressure. We also learned how to take ones pulse and respiration. Then we were off to lunch at the farm store where i paid $6 for a burrito and a water. I was starting to realized that the farm store was very expensive.
After lunch i lied down for a bit. Then it was off to class at the clinic.We learned how to use a fetoscope and to do palpitations . we got to use a live model by the name of Cayenne who was 37 weeks along. It was really cool to hear the baby's heart beat through the wood of the fetoscope. And, learning how to palpitate her belly feeling how the baby was laying.
We braked for the afternoon . I decided to check out the Eco Village . So, Katie , Ari and I drove down . We we arrived we were greeted by the Eco Inn that set on the left . It's a yellow building with a blue winding staircase in front. There was a book store on the right. as we walked down the path we came across a chicken coop that was filled with ducks . Beyond that coop was a green house that was filled with tomato plants . The smell was amazing warm and sweet with the smell of damp earth. One side of the green house wall was filled with hay and it had a living roof.
Behind the green house was a Eco out house completely made of ceder it smelled wonderful , believe it or not . It had these long black strips in front of it where rain water collected and the sun warmed it up where you could take a hot shower. it had two toilets , they use one for one year then move to the other so that the one that they used for the passed year could break down into compost. then they switch back.
As we were checking it out a young man in his twenty's walked up. he introduced him self as Will.We kept down the path which ended at the Eco dragon house . It is under construction but, the inside was amazing, made of clay with faces on the walls. the walls were rough with a tree molded on one wall. the place smelled of ceder and earth. The mantel of the fire place was a large face with its mouth as the fire place. we walked out of the home and continued down a path on the right. it ended at two mud dwellings that were occupied. After our little tour we decided to go into town and get a beer.
It took us forever because not all the gas stations have beer in them. so, after 30mins of driving we found a Super-Rama which it the tiniest grocery store i have ever been in. We finally found the beer section which was so small. we each grabbed a 24oz corona and a lime and drove back to the farm.
After getting back to the dorm we were told that the farm was a drug and alcohol free place....for some reason i found this to not be entirely true. So, we went upstairs and drank our cold beers . they were so good being that it was so hot.
It was time for dinner . we drove to Louise's house and had hummus with tofu tahini with cucumber salad. the best part was desert which was pina colada ice bean which is made of soy milk. Ina May was there again and once again i did not sit by her or get to talk to her.
When dinner was over we went to the community center to hear Ina May presentation on maternal mortality in the U.S. She is creating a quilt with each blocks are the name of women that have died from maternal child causes . So many of the blocks were names of women who have died of induction, pre-clamsia , cytotect, Magnesium Sulfate. IT hit me like a ton of bricks because it dawned on me that i was so close to being one of those names. So, after class i asked her if she had names that she needed blocks for . she said yes and became very grateful and gave me a hug and i got my picture with her.
We all came back to the dorm feeling defeated after the presentation. We felt helpless. Every girl here wants to change the world but, where do we start. I think the only way is for me to change the world by doing one birth at a time. Hopefully doing the blocks for Ina May will allow me to do some healing . I couldn't fall asleep after that.
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