Wagga BaBs Group - program July-December 09

We meet regularly, usually in the Parents as Teachers Centre, Tolland Public School, cnr Raye and Parkhurst Sts, Tolland but please check schedule for alternative venue details where relevant.

Upcoming meetings for 2009 include:

Date: Wednesday 29 July
Time: 12 noon to 2:00pm
Topic: The role of midwives

Date: Wednesday 26 August
Time: 12 noon to 2:00pm
Topic: Baby wearing
Venue: The Farm, Sturt Highway, Gumly

Date: Wednesday 23 September
Time: 12 noon to 2:00pm
Topic: Posterior, breech and challenging birth including VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Caesarean)

Date: Wednesday 14 October
Time: 6:30pm to 8:30pm
Topic: Older mothers: Conception, pregnancy and motherhood over 35

Date: Wednesday 28 October
Time: 12 noon to 2pm
Topic: Surviving the first six weeks

Date: Wednesday 11 November
Time: 6:30pm to 8:30pm
Topic: No sex please – we’re parents: Changing relationship dynamics

Date: Wednesday 26 November
Time: 12 noon to 2:00pm
Topic: Green Parenting
Venue: Mates Gully Café – Fitzmaurice St

Date: Sunday 13 December
Time: From 4:00pm
Event: BaBs Christmas Party (BBQ)
Venue: Palm and Pawn Tavern, North Wagga
Bring: Swimmers, hats, sunscreen
Cost: TBA, pending new management

Further information about each session may be obtained via our Facebook site (search for Wagga BaBs), by emailing waggababs@gmail.com or calling Kirsty 0401 523 121 or Jenny 0418 205 262. Please RSVP via phone or email by 5pm on the day prior to each meeting to help with our planning.

PLEASE sign a petition to save private midwifery and homebirth

GO to the petition

"... with planned national registration of all health professionals to take effect on July 1st 2010 midwives in private practice will be unable to seek registration on the basis of their inability to obtain professional indemnity insurance."
The petition asks that "the senate bring this issue to the parliament's attention and make a speedy redress to assist midwives in private practice to obtain professional indemnity insurance. We also ask that midwives in private practice enjoy the same funding mechanisms as procedural general practitioners and specialist obstetricians under the medicare benefits schedule."

The petition is at the excellent new Homebirth Australia website.

Is there a link between birth interventions and autism?

There are topics that are difficult to address, even within the relative safety experienced in a BaBs group, where women have learnt to listen to each other, and trust and respect each other. Vaccination is one such topic. It has the effect of polarising people into the yes and no camps like no other.

Recently a discussion about the risk of tetanus for unvaccinated children led on to an acknowledgment of concern that vaccination may cause autism. A parent who *believes* that their action (in this case, accepting vaccination of their child) may result in a tragic brain development disorder will do all she or he can to avoid that action. While I have seen no compelling evidence to support these fears, I am convinced of the seriousness of Tetanus as a life threatening infection that can be prevented by vaccination. Unlike airborne and contact infections such as Diptheria, measles, mumps, TB &c that are rarely seen today in the developed world, Tetanus will never be erradicated, and will continue to be a threat whenever contaminated deep cuts or puncture wounds are experienced.

Someone has observed that the Amish don't vaccinate, and their children don't develop autism. I don't know if this is true or not, but that's not the only difference between an Amish family and an ordinary family in Melbourne today. We have electricity, cars, computers, internet, fast foods, pollution, ... We have high rates of induction of labour and other interventions in birth.

A professional research paper published this week in the Journal Medscape Ob/Gyn & Women's Health asked the question Autism, ADHD, and Medicated Births : Relationship to Autism and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder?

The author reviews what is known and what is postulated, and states that "Two questions remain unanswered:
* Are pediatric developmental disorders, such as autism spectrum and ADD/ADHD, actually forms of perinatal brain injury?
* Is there a relationship between the increase in the active management of labor and the increased incidence of these brain disorders in children?"

As with many other questions, no clear answers are yet available. Medicated births may or may not contribute to developmental problems. It follows, therefore, to recommend "a precautionary approach to active management, emphasizing more physiologic protocols and advocating lower synthetic oxytocin doses and allowing more labor time -- rather than adding more oxytocin."

PETITION to support mothers to breastfeed and save the lives of babies

[Photo]

The voices of 45000 People Reach World Health Assembly with a Call to Save Newborn Lives:

Last week, IBFAN, the International Baby Food Action Network, made a clear call when it introduced its ‘One Million Campaign: Support Women to Breastfeed’ at World Health Assembly in Geneva. The IBFAN team submitted a petition to the President of 62nd World Health Assembly, Mr. NS de Silva, Minister of Healthcare Sri Lanka, signed by more than 45000 people from 161 countries.


TELL YOUR FRIENDS


We are now requesting you to Create a “WARM CHAIN OF SUPPORT FOR WOMEN” Motivate FIVE More Friends to sign up! We need to continue to have more and more people signed up and submit petitions to others global forums.

Thanks for your continued support to the ONE MILLION CAMPAIGN- Support Women to Breastfeed


More than 47000 people have already signed, you can help increase the number of voices!



45 People to receive an AWARD from IBFAN

We are extremely thankful for your efforts to putting the ONE MILLION CAMPAIGN well on its way to reaching a million voices. As a small token of appreciation, we are randomly picking up 45 people, one out of every thousand persons who signed up, for an award – a handcrafted pendant in traditional Indian design. The names of awardees will be put up on the campaign website next week. The recipients will also be informed individually by email