Pathways to Family Wellness - Issue #06

Not a Battle, but a Housecleaning

The Outside-In Child

Engineered Foods: A Threat to Children

Movement is Life & Chiropractic Delivers

A Timely Birth {Part Two}

Childbirth Affirmations

A Family Affair: Getting Dad Involved

Time for Play Everyday

Taking a Road Trip With Your Baby

Quarterly Publication of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Associationissue 6

brought to you courtesy of:

i.c.p.a. International ChiropracticPediatric Association

f e at u r e

Chiropractic Family Wellness Lifestyle

ABOUT ICPAThe ICPA values and respects parents’rights to make informed health caredecisions for their children.

Through education, training andresearch in the care of children andpregnant women, the ICPA is advancingawareness of the chiropractic familywellness lifestyle.

PathWAYS is a quarterly publicationof the International ChiropracticPediatric Association

Editorial Board of AdvisorsBruce Lipton, Ph.D.Stephen Marini, Ph.D., D.C.Randall Neustaedter, O.M.D.Jeanne Ohm, D.C.Larry Palevsky, M.D.Jane Sheppard

ICPA327 N Middletown Rd Media, PA [email protected] 800-670-KIDS

© 2005-2006

Design by Tina Aitala Engblom www.taedesign.com

Printed by Beard Printing & Publishing

i.c.p.a.

issue 6

International ChiropracticPediatric Association

The individual articles and links to health care informationin Pathways are based upon the opinions of the respectiveauthor, who retains copyright as marked. The informationprovided is not intended to replace a one-on-one relation-ship with a qualified health care professional and is notintended as medical advice. It is intended as a sharing ofknowledge and information.

The ICPA encourages you to make informed health caredecisions based upon your researched knowledge and in partnership with a qualified health care provider.

Not a Battle, but a Housecleaning

The Outside-In Child

Engineered Foods: A Threat to Children

Movement is Life & Chiropractic Delivers

A Timely Birth {Part Two}

Childbirth Affirmations

A Family Affair: Getting Dad Involved

Time for Play Everyday

Taking a Road Trip With Your Baby

Easing Bug Bites

Research Review

Zachary’s Story

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F E A T U R E

W E L L N E S S L I F E S T Y L E

N U T R I T I O N A L N U G G E T S

C H I R O P R A C T I C F O R L I F E

P R E G N A N C Y M A T T E R S

B I R T H

PA R E N T I N G

M I N D — B O D Y

FA M I LY L I F E

S E A S O N A L S E C T I O N

R E S E A R C H R E V I E W

T E S T I M O N I A L S

There is a saying in chiropractic:“Chiropractic Today, for a Better WorldTomorrow.” When we personally improve our own

lives with chiropractic care, there is a huge ripple effect on

the lives of our family, our community and then, yes, our

world. We cannot separate the physical benefits we expe-

rience under regular chiropractic care from our improved

emotional, mental and social changes. Once we experience

healing changes on these levels, the transformation reach-

es far beyond our own personal selves.

When we talk about the chiropractic family wellness

lifestyle, we are talking about a philosophical approach

guiding the choices we make in our lives. The essence of

the chiropractic philosophy is acknowledging that the

human body is a self healing organism with the wisdom to

know what is best at any given time. The science of chiro-

practic recognizes that the nerve system controls all body

functions and by reducing nerve system stress, we allow

this intelligent directive to achieve its goal of health and

well-being. Understanding this philosophy and science

offers us the confidence and assurance to accept and

expect wellness.

The chiropractic family wellness lifestyle is therefore opti-

mizing our body’s ability to adapt and function at it best

from the editor jeanne ohm,d.c.

and making those choices that sup-

port our body’s natural, inherent abili-

ty to be well. The options are numer-

ous including the foods we eat, the

exercise we engage in, the rest and

relaxation we afford ourselves, along

with many other choices that affect our

health. Included in these options is

our choice for regular chiropractic care for our whole

families with the purpose of enhancing all systems and

functions of our bodies. For each of us, these choices

vary according to our individual needs and perspectives.

As we examine our choices in life that affect us, it is nec-

essary for us to choose from a place of trust and confi-

dence in the body’s wisdom to be well. There are no

rules, no rights and wrongs, no judgments—just a per-

spective of trust to be applied to each situation we and

our families experience every day. It is our hope that

Pathways offers you additional choices and opportuni-

ties so together we can contribute to global wellness.

Many blessings,

Jeanne Ohm, D.C.

2 pathways | issue 6

f e at u r e

We therefore imagine that a cold, sorethroat, flu, etc., are the result of a virus or bacterium having recently enteredour body and having directly caused the irritation and inflammation that weare suffering, i.e., the pain, fever, mucus and other familiar symptoms. We furtherimagine it is a good thing if we never getthese inflammatory symptoms, becauseit means that we have a strong immunesystem which guards our body frombecoming infected.

I once saw a young African man in mypractice who impressed me with his calmdignity and his radiant good health. Iasked him what his parents had donewhen, as a child, he had come down witha fever. He replied that they had wrappedhim in blankets to get him sweating.“Did they ever take your temperature?”I asked. He laughed and shook his head saying, “No, it was different fromwhat is done here.” We often hear that American medicine is the mostadvanced in the world. This is true insome areas of health care, but in otherareas we could use a little of the deeply

rooted wisdom that still informs some of the folk medicine in the developingworld. I think this particularly applies toour modern concept and treatment of theillnesses we commonly call “infections.”

When we come down with a cold or aflu, most of us imagine that some stressor something else has weakened our“defenses” or our “resistance” andallowed “a bug” (a virus or bacterium)to enter our body, where it multipliesand attacks us from within. We think ofthis as “an infection,” that the new bugwithin us is making us sick, and that wewill feel better as soon as our immunesystem has killed it off. When we don’tfeel better soon enough, we might seekremedies or antibiotics to kill the bugmore effectively.

This pretty much describes the wayalmost everyone today, physiciansincluded, thinks about what I refer to in this article as an acute infectious/inflammatory illness like a cold, flu or sore throat. Yet this commonly heldpicture does not correspond to thefacts. It is a deceptive misunderstanding

that in itself is a characteristic sign ofthe simplistic, weakened and fear-basedthinking that hinders progress in manyareas of life today.

If we define infection as the presencewithin us of foreign microorganisms,i.e., bacteria and viruses, then all of us are continually infected from the daywe are born until we die. We all harbortrillions of microbes all the time, includ-ing various disease germs, yet we onlyoccasionally get sick. Most of us arequite happy to never or seldom comedown with an acute infectious/inflamma-tory fever, cold or sore throat, thinkingthat we therefore must have a strongimmune system which guards our bodyfrom becoming “infected.” That too is a deception, and a dangerous one, thatfools us into thinking we are healthywhen the reality is otherwise.

It is a shock to learn that for over onehundred years the evidence has shownthat our immune system does not prevent us from becoming infected bygerms. In the early years of Pasteur’sgerm theory in the nineteenth century, it was first assumed that healthy peoplewere uninfected by bacteria and onlysick people were infected. This assump-tion was soon disproven, as sciencefound that the great majority of thoseinfected with disease germs were

pathways | issue 6 3

NOT A BATTLE, BUT A HOUSECLEANING

Philip Incao, M.D.

Fear of infection is increasingly common today, but it is based on a misunderstanding. Most of us imaginethat we are uninfected when we are well and infectedwhen we are sick.

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healthy, and only a small fraction ofthem ever got sick. The majority of people infected with the bacterium of TB, for example, never got sick fromtuberculosis, but only from the samecoughs and colds that we all get.

Infection alone is not enough to makeus come down with a manifest illness.Something else is needed. Most of the time we are able to live in harmony with certain numbers of disease germsin our body without becoming ill. Forthis blessing we can thank our immunesystem, which is continually vigilant andactive below the surface of our awarenessin keeping the extremely varied andextensive germ population of our bodyunder control. Thus it is not necessarilythe entrance of new germs into ourbody that makes us ill, it is the suddenand excessive multiplication of certaingerms that have already been in us for a longer or briefer time. In some casesthe entrance of a new germ into thebody is quickly followed by its rapidproliferation, and in other cases thegerm can remain dormant or latent in usfor many years or even a lifetime whilewe remain healthy.

This important fact receives far too littleattention and is often totally forgotten in medicine today. Most of the trillions of germs that “infect” or inhabit ourbody from infancy onward are peacefullycoexisting in us or even helping to main-tain our inner ecological balance, likethe acidophilus bacteria that live in ourintestines. They are our “normal flora.”Science has also identified a smallminority of germs, called pathogens,that participate in human disease, likestrep, staph, TB, diphtheria, etc., butthese too have surprisingly more oftenbeen found peacefully coexisting in usrather than being involved in illnesses.

This is called latent or dormant infection,or simply the carrier state. Typhoid Mary was a famous example in the early1900’s of a cook who, though healthyherself, was a carrier of the salmonellabacterium and passed it on to others,some of whom became seriously ill andmany others of whom remained healthydespite being infected. As the promi-nent microbiologist Rene Dubos statedin a 1950’s textbook,

“…the carrier state is not a rareimmunologic freak. In reality,

infection without disease is the rulerather than the exception…

The pathogenic [germs] characteristicof a community do commonly becomeestablished in the tissues of a verylarge percentage of normal persons and yet cause clinical disease only in a very small percentage of them.”(Emphasis mine)

This leads us to the question whichRene Dubos, apparently alone amonghis colleagues, pondered for the rest of his life: if most of the time we areable to peacefully coexist with a diseasegerm in our body (a fact which Pasteurdid not adequately reckon with), what is it that happens when it suddenlystarts multiplying rapidly and we getsick? Have our defenses weakened andallowed the germs to proliferate and go on the attack (which is the thoughtthat frightens us so terribly), or are theymerely multiplying because our body’sbiochemistry has been disturbed and is making available to the germs a suddenly increased supply of their preferred nourishment?

The latter is not a new thought; it waspostulated by Pasteur’s contemporaries.


it may feel as if we are being

attacked but in reality

the inner process causing

our illness symptoms is not

a battle, but an intense

housecleaning

Scientists of Pasteur’s time, includingClaude Bernard, Rudolf Virchow, RudolfSteiner and Max Pettenkofer, held theconviction that the decisive and deter-mining factor in infectious diseases was not the microbe itself but rather the particular condition of the patient’s“host terrain” that favored the growth of a particular microbe. In this view,microbes were not predators but werescavengers which fed on toxic substancesproduced by imbalance, disease anddecay in the host body’s terrain just asflies feed on dung and garbage. Forthese scientists, killing microbes withoutimproving the host terrain imbalancesthat fed the microbes was like killingflies in a messy, untidy kitchen withoutcleaning up the kitchen. Pettenkofereven drank a test tube of virulentcholera bacteria to prove his point that they would do no harm if the inner terrain was healthy. Pettenkofer’s terrainapparently was healthy, because he suffered no ill effects at all from his bacterial brew. Nevertheless, the germtheory was an idea whose time hadarrived, and for many reasons the conceptof germs as vicious predators soon prevailed over the view that they weremerely opportunistic scavengers.

The triumph of the germs-as-predatorsconcept has led to a wave of change in the way people think about acute illnesses such as colds, measles, pneumonia, scarlet fever, tuberculosis,typhoid, smallpox, etc. Since ancienttimes these illnesses had been calledinflammations, literally meaning “a fire within.” In the first century A.D., an early Roman author, Celsus, gave the classical definition of inflammationwhich is still taught today to physicians:a fire-like process in the body whichmanifests in “calor, rubor, tumor anddolor,” i.e., warmth, redness, swellingand pain. These cardinal symptoms ofinflammation, even when not externallyvisible, were understood to characterizeall inflammations from a pimple to apneumonia. Our ancient ancestors alsoknew from hard experience that manyacute inflammations like plague, small-pox, measles, TB, etc., were “catching”or contagious from one person to another.What they did not know was the intimaterelationship of germs or microbes tothese acute inflammatory and contagiousillnesses.

Since Pasteur, we now erroneously consider these illnesses to be “acute

infections,” assuming that the entranceof a new microbe into the host’s body(the infection) triggers the illness. As we saw earlier, it is not the initialentrance of, or the infection with, themicrobe which triggers the illness, but rather the sudden proliferation of a microbe already residing in the hostbody for some time which initiates anacute infectious/inflammatory illness.

Human beings become infected with a great variety of the microbes in theirenvironment, continuing lifelong as they change environments, yet this factof lifelong infection does not explainwhy illness happens, anymore than autoaccidents are explained by the fact thatthe victims are lifelong drivers. An infec-tion is not itself an illness, rather it isthe normal human condition and thecontext in which acute infectious/inflammatory illnesses occur. As we said earlier, something else must happento cause a certain tribe of germs (likestrep, with which almost everyone isinfected to some degree) to suddenlyproliferate and trigger what should cor-rectly be called “an acute strep-relatedinflammation” rather than “an acutestrep infection.” We need to fit our


At the Annual Meeting of the American Medical Association June, 2000, the following statement was issued:

“Antibacterial soaps may be no more effective against germs than common soap, and could contribute to the threat

posed by drug-resistant bacterial strains, according to a statement by the American Medical Association (AMA).”

Unfortunately, they stopped short of recommending that people avoid using the

popular soaps, lotions and mouthwashes.

They have asked government regulators to expedite their review of antibacterial

products and determine if they might contribute to the health threat created by

excessive use of antibiotics.

“There’s no evidence that they do any good and there’s reason to suspect that they

could contribute to a problem” by helping to create antibiotic-resistant bacteria,

said Myron Genel, chairman of the AMA’s Council on Scientific Affairs and a Yale

University pediatrician.

He said use of the products may contribute to the well-recognized problem created

by excessive use of antibiotics that has led to mutated bacterial strains that are

resistant to drugs.

Is the germ theory of disease creating its reality?

thoughts and words to the reality. Thefact that a strep infection might precedea strep-related inflammation by days,months or years is essential to under-standing how and why illness happens.Thus, the term “acute strep infection”commonly used by physicians and laypeople is incorrect, and it creates anincorrect picture in our mind of the illness at hand.

The incorrect picture is that strep bacteriahave invaded our body from the environ-ment and are injuring us. Most impor-tantly, this incorrect picture leads toinappropriate feelings and actions ofthe physician, the caregiver and thepatient who must respond to an illness.Thus the grave mischief caused by a“mere” incorrect mental picture becomesenormous—such is the power of thisidea. The consequences of the germs-as-predators idea are millions of unnecessaryprescriptions written for antibiotics, andthousands of injuries and deaths fromdrug reactions, including 450 deaths per year from Tylenol alone. The enginedriving this inappropriate and dangeroususe of antibiotics and anti-inflammatorydrugs is the fear generated by our com-mon misconception that we are underattack by predatory microbes wheneverwe experience fever, pain, congestionand other symptoms of typical acuteinflammations such as coughs, colds, flu or sore throats.

Now we will move on to consider anotherimportant and common misconceptionabout acute infectious/inflammatory illness. The first misconception was thatinfection is abnormal and causes illness,the truth being that infection is reallythe normal human condition because we all harbor disease germs frequently,yet become sick only occasionally.

The second misconception is that the symptoms of an acute infectious/inflammatory illness like scarlet fever,polio, smallpox or flu are caused by the viciousness, the virulence, of thebacteria or the viruses which we imagineare attacking the cells and tissues ofour body. The sicker we are, that is, themore intense our symptoms, the morevicious we assume the attacking virusesand bacteria to be. In over thirty yearsof practicing medicine, I’ve found that

this assumption, shared by almost allphysicians and their patients, provokesmore unreasoning fear and unnecessaryuse of drugs than any other.

The confusion stems from the fact that inan acute infectious/inflammatory illnesswe are witnessing not one happening but two polar opposite happeningswhich occur together. The first happeningis that bacteria or viruses are proliferatingin our body. If these microbes were pred-ators, we would expect their proliferationto coincide with the worst of our symp-toms, but this is not the case. Most ofthe germ proliferation (which we falselyimagine as an inner attack) happens during the incubation period of the illnesswhen we have little or no symptoms.Viruses and bacteria may enter our bloodstream in large numbers, and may evenstart to leave our body, excreted inmucus and feces, without any awarenessof illness on our part besides possibleminor malaise, headache or tiredness.These symptoms might appear at theend of the incubation period during the few days of prelude or “prodrome” just before the full-blown illness begins.When the incubation period is over and

the clinical illness comes on with all itsstrong symptoms of fever, pain, weak-ness, irritation and often anxiety, it mayfeel as if we are being attacked but inreality the inner process causing our illness symptoms is not a battle, but anintense housecleaning.

I’ve said that an infectious/inflammatoryillness is a joint appearance of two separate and distinct happenings. These two happenings become relatedto each other in the context of the illness as a reaction is related to anaction. Comparing illness to a house-cleaning, the action is the gradual,mostly unnoticed accumulation of dirtand dust (along with the tiny creatureswho make their home in dirt and dust)in the house, and the reaction is the sudden decision of the housekeeper to turn the house upside down in order to clean it from top to bottom. In a house, as in the human body, thehousecleaning is a much bigger distur-bance, though a necessary one, to theorderly routine of the household thanthe accumulation of dirt and dust.

Our immune system is the housekeeperof our body. Usually our inner house-keeper keeps well abreast of her workquietly, escorting dead and dying cells to the exits of our body and making sure that waste matter and poisons are cleared from the body. This is thevery important ongoing maintenance-housecleaning work of our immune system-housekeeper in maintaining the health and integrity of our humanorganism. From birth until death, thisongoing maintenance work never rests,and is responsible for our keepinghealthy and free of illness. But occasion-ally our immune system-housekeeperdetermines that a deep cleaning is need-ed. That’s when the dust flies and we get sick! If you are wondering where the germs are in this comparison of thehuman body to a household, they are the flies, ants, cockroaches or the micewhich live in the house’s inner recessesnot reached by the housekeeper andwhich feed on the crumbs and kitchenscraps that accumulate in the house.

The function of the immune system is to create inflammation. Inflammation,as the word implies, is like a fire in

Occasionally our immune

system-housekeeper

determines that a deep

cleaning is needed.


the body which burns up the waste and debris, along with the germs which feed on waste and debris, and cleanses the body. Thus it is our immune systemwhich causes us to become sick, by creating inflammation to drive out infection and renew us.

The first step in an acute infectious/inflammatory illness is the accumulationof cellular waste materials and toxic by-products of our body’s biochemicalmetabolic processes. This accumulationmay go on for hours or years before theacute illness, and is unnoticed by usbecause the body has various ways itcan store toxic substances to keep themfrom irritating and poisoning us. Thesecond step is the beginning of therelease of certain toxins from storageand the proliferation of bacteria whichare attracted to the now accessible tox-ins just as flies are attracted to garbage.This release from storage may be triggeredby our exposure to an ill person to whoseacute infectious/inflammatory illness we are open and unguarded. Thus, we“catch” the illness, and this second stepdefines its incubation period in whichbacteria or viruses rapidly proliferatewhile causing minor or no symptoms.This second step differs according towhether the illness is bacterial or viral. In a bacterial illness specific types ofbacteria are attracted to the particulartypes of toxins released from storage and made available to them during theincubation period. In a viral illness theviruses themselves are a special form of toxic waste product which cells releasewhen they are provoked by stress (as inan outbreak of herpes or shingles) or by“catching” an illness from another person.

These two steps, the gradual accumula-tion and storage of toxins for days oryears followed by their rapid releasefrom storage and the proliferation ofmicrobes during the incubation period,constitute the action which provokesthe third step, the reaction of theimmune system to clean house. Theintensity of the symptoms of our illnessis a direct expression of the intensity of the reaction of our immune system.The stronger our immune system-housekeeper is, the more dust anddebris she will stir up and the sicker we will feel.

If I am correct in asserting that an acuteinfectious/inflammatory illness is reallyan intense housecleaning and not a battle against predatory invaders, thenpeople with stronger immune systemsand thus stronger housecleaningswould be expected to have more intenseacute inflammatory symptoms andstronger discharges than those withweaker immune systems. By inflamma-tory symptoms I mean pain, redness,swelling and fever followed by a gooddischarge of mucus, pus, rash or diarrhea.In my medical practice I have repeatedlyfound that the stronger and more robustchildren become ill more intensely andacutely (with good outcomes neverthe-less) than the weaker, pale and allergicchildren. I remember well one boy in my practice, who I later discovered hada certain familial immune system defect.His mother often brought him to theoffice because he felt unwell and weak.Usually in children who complain of feel-ing sick, one can find some evidence ofan inflammation in the body, a red throat,a red ear, congested lungs or sinuses,some degree of fever, swollen glands, etc. In this boy I could find nothing. Therewere no signs of inflammation and nosymptoms other than subjective fatigueand feeling unwell. Blood tests revealeda problem with his immune system.

This case brought home to me the factthat a weak immune system has difficul-ty reacting to a gradually accumulatinginfection of uncleared cellular wasteand microbes in the body. Without astrong reaction of the immune system,there is no acute illness, but only avague malaise and fatigue, which aresymptoms of a low-grade poisoning ortoxicity in the body—the result of ourhousekeeper being too weak to do herjob and allowing kitchen debris to accu-mulate, followed inevitably by the fliesand ants. When I would see this boywith the immune system defect in myoffice feeling unwell, it was as if he werestuck in the incubation period of an acuteinfectious/inflammatory illness, unableto become properly acutely ill becausehis immune system was too weak toreact with the inflammatory healing crisishe needed to clear out his body.

Children who are able to have their normal childhood healing crises, con-

sisting of fevers and discharges, therebyexercise and build their cellular immunesystems to be strong and resilient,which is a great benefit for their overallhealth. Vaccinations, antibiotics andanti-inflammatory drugs like Tylenol and ibuprofen all interfere with thisinflammatory cleansing of the body and the immune system-strengtheningwhich results.

All the experts agree that antibiotics aremassively over-prescribed in the U.S.—used in conditions that do not requirethem. Why does this over-prescribingcontinue unabated despite large effortsto educate physicians about the properuse of antibiotics? Upon reflection, any physician can answer this questionbecause all of us see almost dailypatients who come into the office seek-ing antibiotics. These patients have twochief concerns: either their symptomsare too intense or they have been goingon too long, or both.

If we understand the illness to be ahousecleaning, then these concerns are very much minimized. “Your immunesystem is doing a good job—you willsoon bring this healthy, much-neededhousecleaning to a successful conclu-sion” is what a physician of the house-cleaning persuasion might say.

If we believe the illness to be an attackof hostile predatory microbes, thenphysician and patient are both anxious


continued on page 25

Children who are able

to have their normal

childhood healing crises,

consisting of fevers

and discharges, thereby

exercise and build their

cellular immune systems

to be strong and resilient,

which is a great benefit

for their overall health.

Young expectant parents can hardly wait for the arrival

of their blessed child. Months, if not years of dreams

and preparation go into starting a family. Every detail

has been thought of: what schools will our children

attend, what will be our spiritual perspective, how

will we raise our children and enhance their innate

potential in this life.


w e l l n e s s l i f e s t y l e

THE OUTSIDE-IN CHILD

Claudia Anrig, D.C.

IIn a first pregnancy so much attentionwill go into seeking information aboutwhat to expect during those ninemonths and our child’s first year. Even selecting our birth provider andpediatrician is usually a result of oursocial circle. Our circle of influence iscomposed of those who are around usmost consistently in our life: friends,siblings/in-laws, business associatesand those who we aspire to be like.

Magazines and books will provide us with every detail from the bags we should pack to take to the birthingroom, to how to fill the medicine cabi-nets with the baby items should wewant to treat them.

The first year of life can have its challenges with colds, fevers, teethingand upset stomachs. And some parentswill see more complicated symptoms:colic, reflux and infections.

Every parent has been trained to believethat when his or her child is ill we mustimmediately treat a problem. This is typ-ically the regimen with over-the-countermedications or prescription drugs.

A loving parent would not think twice to follow the advice of their books,friends, families, television ads or well-meaning physicians.

However, lost is the wisdom that ourbody has an inborn intelligence to heal and self-regulate. Our culture hasevolved to a chemical consciousness,assuming that all our ills should betreated. Could it be possible that wecould trust our body’s inborn intelli-gence to know what to do?

Our evolved society leaves little room

for time: time for balance, for rest and quietness, or to be sick and healourselves.

Parents have also relied on the pharmaceutical management of thesechildhood symptoms because ourbusy lifestyles do not afford the timefor our children to be sick.

Rather than a watch-and-waitapproach, we struggle to comply withour social training of giving immediaterelief. Isn’t it the calling of all parentsto rush to the aid of their children?

Rather, we should pose the question,“Where has my thinking or program-ming come from and who benefitsfrom these choices?”

Unfortunately, what begins as the well-meaning parent providing the bestfor their children, ends up as exposureto chemicals that are unnecessary. Weend up teaching our children the curecomes from a bottle and we begin theprocess of training our next generationthat their “relief” and comfort comesfrom an outside-in approach.

Children model their parents and followthis behavior as they’re growing up. Torelieve stress or pain the family patternis to find answers from outside of us(an outside-in approach): from over-the-counter drugs, prescriptions, orlearning to self-medicate with alcohol,cigarettes, recreational drugs or food.

No longer are we finding a drug culturebeginning with teens experimenting oraltering their natural state of being, butwe find it’s beginning with our elemen-tary school children. The rise of depres-sion, obesity and behavioral problems

is the outward symptom of an insideimbalance which has its roots in earlyoutside-in influences.

It has been almost a decade since thefirst alarm was heard: that the increaseduse of antibiotics was spiraling out of control. Antibiotics are one of thedozens of medications about which par-ents never consider the consequencesand short- or long-term accumulativeeffects on their child’s developing body.

Why is it that only westernized cultureshave such a large population of ADD/ADHD children? It’s not a case that diag-nosis has improved. Why is it, that, asearly as the toddler years, antidepres-sants are now being used? Many schoolpsychologists are now seeing childrenin first and second grade who informtheir teachers and classmates that theywant to commit suicide.

We should be concerned that the phar-maceutical industries are expandingtheir production of new drugs for the


We should be concerned

that the pharmaceutical

industries are expanding

their production of new

drugs for the pediatric

population spurred on by

our out-of-balance culture

looking for outside-in

health answers.

pediatric population spurred on by ourout-of-balance culture looking for out-side-in health answers.

Many parents are unaware of the grow-ing body of research from the scientificcommunity warning about the lack of proper clinical trials of these newdrugs, and no long-term studies toexamine any damaging effects to thedeveloping child’s body and mind. Thedeveloping years are critical. The firstten to fifteen years of life represent anarray of complex and vital development.Brain, nervous system, organs, glands,and the immune system are just somebody systems that may be greatlyimpacted by the introduction and sometimes repetitive usage of drugs.

Should all drug treatment be halted?No. Humanity will continue to have aneed for crisis treatment so long as ourlifestyle choices remain out of balance.More often than not, parents need toask themselves: Is this chemical neces-sary for my child? Is there a naturalapproach to this symptom? What is theunderlying lifestyle cause to this prob-lem: stress, poor diet, fatigue, interfer-ence to the nervous system, etc.?

Inside-Out Awareness

Posing the question to parents,“Would you like to take a naturalapproach to helping your child’s prob-lem?” the majority would say, “Yes!”,but would not know the correct stepsto take. The first step is to realize that, to some extent, we have all been indoctrinated into the outside-inapproach. For example, the next time

your child has a cold, rather thenreaching for over-the-counter or pre-scription medications slow down andthink why and how did my child getthis cold? Have they been extremelytired (going to bed late and getting upearly), not eating correctly (consumingtoxic or fast foods), experiencing anoverload of stress or is their nervoussystem not optimally expressing itself? Perhaps the cold is an inside-out expression. Is it really a self-clean-ing mechanism that needs to run itscourse? Usually a cold is a naturalmeans for the body to detoxify or slowdown and come back into balance. By understanding the cause, we canmore effectively support the body’sown natural processes. Even moreimportantly, we can become aware of the choices we have to achieve ahealthier more balanced lifestyle forour families’ future.

Inside-Out Lifestyle

As parents start to practice a more balanced, “inside-out” lifestyle, it isimportant to realize that on this journeyit will be hard to break old patterns orcultural habits. Here are some pointersto guide us towards healthier lifestyles:

Acknowledge that the body has aninborn intelligence to heal and to regulate itself and that this processtakes time. Both of these principles runopposite from the outside-in view ofhealth, but trust in these principles areessential for making decisions from theinside-out perspective. Remember to“watch-and-wait” before you give a

chemical to your child, and check to seeif there is a more natural, supportiveapproach to help the body heal itself.

Become informed and make your deci-sions accordingly. There is a growingnetwork of organizations, websites,books, magazines and other sourcesthat will provide you the necessaryinformation to make educated decisions.When uncertain about the recommen-dations to treat symptoms with drugs,get additional opinions before youdecide. Choose from a place of trust,not fear.

Find support in your community foryour family. Surrounding yourself witha wellness team is a great start. A fami-ly chiropractor can be your strongestadvocate for providing an inside-outhealth approach for your entire family.Other natural health care providerssuch as naturopaths and homeopathscan round out a great support network.

Finally, know you are not alone.Millions of parents like yourselves havebecome aware that there is a healthierchoice for themselves and their chil-dren, and that the inside-out lifestylewill bring greater optimal health andfamily expression.

Claudia Anrig, D.C. has maintained a family wellness practice in Fresno, CAsince 1982. She co-edited the textbookPediatric Chiropractic and has writtennumerous articles on children and chiropractic. Dr. Anrig is an active ICPABoard member and frequent contributorto Pathways.

As parents start to practice

a more balanced, “inside-

out” lifestyle, it is important

to realize that on this journey

it will be hard to break old

patterns or cultural habits.



Get Online!www.icpa4kids.org

International Chiropractic Pediatric Association

Seek health care options which support yourchildren’s own natural ability to be healthy…

Get Online!www.icpa4kids.org

Be Informed:

Make knowledgeable health care choices for your family.

Get the Facts:

Review the most current research and articles.

Stay Connected:

Sign up for our free newsletter: Family Wellness First.

Share the Wealth:

Refer other families to discover chiropractic.

International Chiropractic Pediatric Association

Stay Connected Sign up for our free e-newsletter: Family Wellness First.

Be Informed Make knowledgeable health care choices for your family.

Get the Facts Review the most current research and articles.

Share the Wealth Refer other families to discover chiropractic.

parents: Ask your ICPA Doctor for copies of these cards so you can bring

them to your health care providers, local family oriented meetings (breastfeeding,

birth classes, ADHD support groups, etc.) in your communities.

What is Genetic Engineering?

Genetic engineering is a laboratorytechnique used by scientists to changethe DNA of living organisms.

DNA is the blueprint for the individualityof an organism. The organism relies upon the information stored in its DNAfor the management of every biochemicalprocess. The life, growth and unique fea-tures of the organism depend on its DNA.The segments of DNA which have beenassociated with specific features or func-tions of an organism are called genes.

Molecular biologists have discoveredmany enzymes which change the structure of DNA in living organisms.Some of these enzymes can cut and joinstrands of DNA. Using such enzymes,scientists learned to cut specific genesfrom DNA and to build customized DNAusing these genes. They also learnedabout vectors, strands of DNA such asviruses, which can infect a cell andinsert themselves into its DNA.

With this knowledge, scientists startedto build vectors which incorporatedgenes of their choosing and used thenew vectors to insert these genes intothe DNA of living organisms. Genetic

engineers believe they can improve thefoods we eat by doing this. For example,tomatoes are sensitive to frost. Thisshortens their growing season. Fish, on the other hand, survive in very coldwater. Scientists identified a particulargene which enables a flounder to resistcold and used the technology of geneticengineering to insert this “antifreeze”gene into a tomato. This makes it possi-ble to extend the growing season of the tomato.

At first glance, this might look excitingto some people. Deeper considerationreveals serious dangers.

Genetically Engineered FoodsPose Higher Risk for Children

Young, fast-developing bodies are influenced most

Children’s bodies develop at a fast paceand are more likely to be influencedand show the effects of geneticallymodified (GM) foods. That is why independent scientists used youngadolescent rats in their GM feedingstudies. The rats showed significanthealth damage after only 10 days,including damaged immune systems

and digestive function, smaller brains,livers, and testicles, partial atrophy ofthe liver, and potentially pre-cancerouscell growth in the intestines.

Children are more susceptible to allergies

Children are three to four times moreprone to allergies than adults. Infantsbelow two years old are at greatest risk—they have the highest incidence of reactions, especially to new allergensencountered in the diet. Even tinyamounts of allergens can sometimescause reactions in children. Breast fedinfants can be exposed via the mother’sdiet, and fetuses may possibly beexposed in the womb. Michael Meacher,the former minister of the environmentfor the UK, said, “Any baby food containing GM products could lead to a dramatic rise in allergies.” GM corn is particularly problematic for children,as they generally eat a higher percentageof corn in their diet. Further, allergicchildren often rely on corn protein.Mothers using cornstarch as a talc substitute on their children’s skin mightalso inadvertently expose them viainhalation.


Engineered FoodsA Threat to Children

n u t r i t i o n a l n u g g e t s

Children are more susceptible to problems with milk

Milk and dairy products from cowstreated with the genetically engineeredbovine growth hormone (rbGH) containan increased amount of the hormoneIGF-1, which is one of the highest riskfactors associated with breast andprostate cancer. The Council onScientific Affairs of the AmericanMedical Association called for more

studies to determine if ingesting “high-er than normal concentrations of [IGF-1]is safe for children, adolescents, andadults.” Sam Epstein, M.D., Chairmanof the Cancer Prevention Coalition andauthor of eight books, wrote, “rbGHand its digested products could beabsorbed from milk into blood, particu-larly in infants, and produce hormonaland allergic effects.” He described how“cell-stimulating growth factors…couldinduce premature growth and breaststimulation in infants, and possiblypromote breast cancer in adults.” Dr.Epstein pointed out that the hormonesin cows could promote the productionof “steroids and adrenaline-type stres-sor chemicals…likely to contaminatemilk and may be harmful, particularlyto infants and young children.”

Children are more susceptible to nutritional problems

A 2002 report by the UK’s RoyalSociety said that genetic modification“could lead to unpredicted harmfulchanges in the nutritional state offoods.” They therefore recommendedthat potential health effects of GMfoods be rigorously researched before

being fed to pregnant or breast-feedingwomen, elderly people, those sufferingfrom chronic disease, and babies.Likewise, according to former ministerMeacher, unexpected changes in estro-gen levels in GM soy used in infant formula “might affect sexual develop-ment in children,” and that “even smallnutritional changes could cause bowelobstruction.”

Children are in danger fromantibiotic resistant diseases

Children prone to ear and other infectionsare at risk of facing antibiotic resistantstrains of bacteria, due to the use ofantibiotic resistant genes in GM food.The British Medical Association citedthis as one reason why they called fora moratorium of GM foods.

The above articles come from the follow-ing organizations. Please visit their websites for additional information andresources:

Mother’s for Natural Lawwww.safe-food.org/-issue/ge.html

Institute for Responsible Technologywww.seedsofdeception.com/utility/showArticle/?objectID=170


Genetic engineering is the largest food experiment in the history of the world. We are all the guinea pigs.

There are about 40 varieties of genetically engineeredcrops approved for marketing in the U.S. As a result,60-70% of the foods on your grocery shelves containgenetically engineered (GE) components.

Genetically engineered foods contain substances thathave never been a part of the human food supply.They are not subjected to rigorous pre-market safetytesting. And THEY ARE NOT LABELED.

Is genetic engineering safe for you and your family?Safe for the environment? Safe for the future ofmankind? No long-term studies have been done. No one can answer these questions.

Visit Mother’s for Natural Lawwww.safe-food.org/-issue/ge.html

the potential health effects of GM foods needs rigorousresearching before being fed to children

You are eating genetically engineered food. Is it good for you? Do you have a choice?

This may sound a bit strange at first, but if you think

about it for a moment, the truth of this statement begins

to become more and more apparent. Without movement you

could not sustain life: blood cells that don’t move cannot trans-

port oxygen, lungs that don’t move can’t breath, hearts that don’t

move can’t pump blood, and spines that don’t move can’t create

the motion required for proper joint nutrition, for the activities of

daily living, or for the stimulation of the joint-brain pathways required

for proper brain and body function.

You heard correctly, movement (especially of the spine) is required for properbrain function for the coordination of activities such as concentration and learn-

ing, emotions, motor control, and organ function (including immune organs).1-2

Roger Sperry, the recipient of the Nobel prize in 1982 for his work in brain research,stated that the importance of movement of the spine in relation to brain function

could be equated to that of a windmill that generates electricity for a power plant. Healso stated that the more structurally distorted we are, the less energy we have for metab-

olism, for healing, and for thinking.

In fact, research has shown that if you cut off the supply of somatosensory information going tothe brain, the brain will actually reach a state of coma!! 3 That’s right, the brain does not simply con-

trol the body, the brain requires constant stimulation; it requires constant input from movement to keepthe batteries charged.

Did you know that over half of all the nerve impulses being sent between your brain and body in your spinal cord arefor the delivery of movement stimulation to the brain? 4 Movement charges your brain’s battery and makes you able tothink better, feel better, and function better.

Sound a bit too good to be true? Don’t just take my word for it, read the work of some of the most prominent neurolo-gists, physiologists, psychologists, and educators in the world. Messages to your brain created by proper movement


c h i r o p r a c t i c f o r l i f e

James L. Chestnut, B.Ed., MSc., D.C.

is Life & Chiropractic DeliversM O V E M E N T

(especially of your spine) have beencalled an essential nutrient for brainfunction and development.5 In fact,research is now showing that peoplewho do not properly stimulate theirbrain with joint movement have learn-ing, memory, emotional, behavioral,and overall health deficits.

This is especially true for childrenbecause spinal joint receptor stimula-tion plays an integral role in the devel-opment of the child’s brain and nervoussystem and the effects of decreasedstimulation of the brain in childhoodhave been linked to central motorimpairment, developmental impair-ments, learning disabilities, concentra-tion problems like ADHD, behavioralproblems such as violence andincreased illnesses such as ear, nose,and throat infections, sleeping difficul-ties, and colic.6-7

“Connectivity is a crucial feature ofbrain development because the neuralpathways formed during the earlyyears carry signals that allow us toprocess information throughout ourlives (Dixon and Shore).” 7

At first researchers thought that it wasjust the exercise that improved brainand overall health due to increasedblood flow and oxygen supply etc.Further research has shown that aero-bic activity is not what is responsiblefor the amazing benefits of propermovement stimulation of the brain. It is the neurological stimulation of the pathways between moving joints,especially spinal joints, and the brainthat are responsible. “At a major neuroscience symposium in Chicago,where experts in the field of movementand cognition met, the message wasclear: Our body enriches our mind.” 7

Chiropractic Delivers!!!

It should be obvious why it is so impor-tant to ensure every child has a proper-ly moving and aligned spine as thespinal joints are the main source ofsensory movement stimulation to thebrain. If there is subluxation in thespine, movement and therefore essen-tial nutrient delivery to the brain arecompromised.

The upper neck has been found to be particularly important to examinebecause it is the most easily damaged(birth trauma, falls, poor sleeping postures) and it has by far the most movement receptors to stimulate thebrain.4,6

These findings have been confirmed by clinical studies performed by bothchiropractors and medical doctors. In fact, after examining thousands of children, one medical researcherconcluded that “observations of motordevelopment and manual control of the occipito-atlanto-axial (upper neck)joint complex should be obligatoryafter every difficult birth.”He alsostates that the upper neck “should beexamined and, if required, specificallyadjusted … (as) the success of adjust-ment overshadows every other type oftreatment.” 6 Of course it does. A specificadjustment is the ONLY way to correct asubluxation!!

ICPA doctors of chiropractic are all veryfamiliar with this type of work and wehave all seen great results with thecare we provide to children. The problemis that much of society is unaware ofthe pathogenic potential of subluxationand far too many children are sufferingneedlessly. The specific chiropracticadjustment, sound nutritional advice,and some fun “Brain Gym” exercises

can ensure that each child gets the bestpossible chance to have a healthy bodyand mind.

Not only does proper spinal movementincrease overall health, decrease dis-ease and improve the ability to createfeelings of happiness and well-being, it also helps to reduce pain and discom-fort and to diminish feelings of anxietyand stress. When it comes right downto it, we are creatures designed for virtually constant movement, living in a society that involves almost constantsitting. We are also clearly designed to have properly moving and alignedspines, and many of our citizens areunknowingly walking around with sub-luxation in their spines because theyhave NEVER HAD A SPINAL HEALTHEXAM!! This is not a healthy combina-tion. The result is that we have a popu-lation that is much less healthy andmuch more sick, tired, and dis-ease ridden than is necessary.

Please get yourselves and the childrenout and moving around. Everyone willfeel better, think better, have a healthierspine, have increased overall health,and enjoy a much greater quality oflife. All children (and adults, of course)deserve a wonderful quality of life and proper spinal movement is an integral part of this. Motion is lotion,movement is life, and chiropracticdelivers, so get out there and get thosespines moving!!!!

References can be found on-line at:

www.icpa4kids.org/research/references6.htm


The first question one should ask iswhether neonatal mortality statisticsfrom the 1950’s should be compared tomodern statistics, since labor anestheticsand forceps rates were very different.Early labor monitoring was scanty andprenatal monitoring not yet developed.The McClure-Brown report shows a risein stillbirth from 10/1000 at 40 weeks to about 18/1000 at 42 weeks. Yes, that is nearly double. But think about thosenumbers. Even the beginning point isnearly ten times the modern mortalityrate. Either modern delivery methods are vastly different or something iswrong with the data collection. Thisstudy should be updated by researchconducted at least in this century!Modern statistics show an almost flatrate of stillbirth from 40 weeks to 42,with a slight rise at 43 weeks (all num-bers being close to 1/1000).(2)

There is a creeping overreaction in deal-ing with postdate pregnancies. It is truethat the stillbirth and fetal distress ratesrise more sharply after 43 weeks, but it is also true that less than ten percentof babies born at 43 weeks suffer frompostmaturity syndrome (over 90% showno signs). We should react to this rise bymonitoring postdate pregnancies careful-ly and inducing if problems arise. But therise in problems at 43 weeks does notimply a similar risk at 42 and 41 weeks.Postmaturity syndrome is a continuum. It becomes more likely as weeks progresspast the due date but does not start onthe due date. And the risks need to becompared to the risks of interventions.Induction, as already noted, is not riskfree. In addition to the risks of prematuri-

ty, induced labors have higher rates ofcesarean section, uterine rupture, cordprolapse, meconium aspiration, fetal distress, neonatal jaundice, maternalhemorrhage and even the rare but disastrous amniotic fluid embolism.

Large studies have shown that monitoringpregnancy while waiting for spontaneouslabor results in fewer cesareans withoutany rise in stillbirth rate. One retrospec-tive study of almost 1800 post term (past42 weeks) pregnancies with reliabledates compared this group with amatched group delivering “on time”(between 37 and 41 weeks). The perinatalmortality was similar in both groups(0.56/1000 in the post term and0.75/1000 in the on-times group). Therates of meconium, shoulder dystocia and cesarean were almost identical. The rates of fetal distress, instrumentaldelivery and low Apgar were actuallylower in the postdate group than in theon-time group.(3) This is only one of sever-al studies showing postdate pregnanciescan be monitored safely until delivery oruntil indications arise for induction. Eventhe famous Canadian Multicenter Post-term Pregnancy Trial Group (Hannah) of1700 postdate women showed no differ-ence in perinatal outcome among womenwho were monitored past their due date,as compared with those who wereinduced at term.(4)

In some studies, post term births haveshown a higher cesarean rate for suspect-ed fetal distress. However, when a groupof researchers conducted a case-matchedreview of nearly 300 postdate pregnan-cies, they concluded that the increased


p r e g n a n c y m at t e r s

A Timely Birth [part two]

by Gail Hart

Postdates alone are not associated with poor pregnancy outcome. Extreme postdates

or postdates in conjunction with poor fetal growth or developmental abnormalities

do show an increased risk of stillbirth. But if growth restriction and birth defects are

removed, there is no statistical increase in risk until a pregnancy reaches 42 weeks and

no significant risk until past 43 weeks. The primary “evidence” of a sharp rise in still-

birth after 40 weeks—often misquoted as “double at 42 weeks and triple at 43

weeks”—seem to come from one study based on data collected in 1958.(1)

rate of obstetric and neonatal interven-tions “does not appear to be a result ofunderlying pathology associated withpost-term pregnancy.” They suggest that“a lower threshold for clinical interven-tion in pregnancies perceived to be ‘at-risk’ may be a significant contributingfactor.” In other words, the perceivedrisk is greater than the actual risk andcan become a self-fulfilling prophecy!(5)

When monitoring demonstrates the fetalgrowth, activity and amniotic fluid levelsremain within expected norms, the babycan safely wait for spontaneous labor to begin. Spontaneous labor gives thegreatest chance for vaginal birth, eventhough the baby may be slightly largerthan if the mother were induced at 40weeks.

Preventing Prematurity

Few medical treatments have beenproven to truly prevent preterm birth.(Avoiding iatrogenic prematurity is mosteffective, of course!) Some of the mostpromising avenues are readily availableto midwives, and we should share thisresearch with our clients.

The following are some factors shown to be associated with preterm birth andsome strategies for lowering the risks:

Overwork, job fatigue, stress Women inhigh-stress jobs or who work long hourson their feet have nearly three times the

risk of preterm rupture of membranesleading to preterm birth. In a study of3000 primips, those who worked in “highfatigue jobs” had a risk of preterm pre-mature rupture of membranes (pPROM)of 7% compared to 2% for those who didn’t work outside the home.(6) Althoughmany women must work until the end ofpregnancy, changing to less fatiguingjobs, if possible, will lower their risk ofpreterm birth.

Poor nutrition in pregnancy, low weightgain Low maternal weight gain is the single risk factor that crosses all racialand economic indicators. A woman with a low pregnancy weight and/or a low rateof gain before 20 weeks is at high risk for preterm birth. A balance of proteinand carbohydrates provides the bestnutrition. According to the CochraneDatabase, restricted carbohydrate dietsmay raise the risk of preterm birth with-out having any effect on the incidence of macrosomia.

Vitamin C supplements Low levels ofvitamin C have been implicated for severaldecades as contributors to prematurityand preterm rupture of membranes.(7)

In a study of 2064 pregnant women,those who had total vitamin C intakes of <10th percentile of the average intakeprior to conception had twice the risk of preterm birth due to preterm ruptureof membranes (relative risk, 2.2).(8)

Low levels of vitamin C may also be implicated in the risk of preeclampsia,which leads to preterm birth, as well as,frequently, induced labor. Researcherstested women for plasma vitamin C levels.Women who consumed less than 85 mgof vitamin C doubled their risk of devel-oping preeclampsia (odds ration 2.1).Women who consumed the lowestamounts had almost four times the riskof those who consumed the highest.(9)

It is theorized that oxidative stress playsa role in preeclampsia, and we are learn-ing that optimum levels of vitamin C protect against oxidative stress. We don’tknow yet the optimum level of vitamin C or the best recommendation for sup-plements, but it has been proposed that300 mg to 500 mg is probably needed.Many American women consume lessthan 85 mg daily!

Excerpted from A Timely Birth by Gail Hart,Midwifery Today, Issue 72. Copyright © 2004 Midwifery Today, Inc. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permis-sion from Midwifery Today, Winter 2004,Number 72.

www.midwiferytoday.com Phone: + 1 541 344 7438

To contact the author, please write to her at:[email protected]

References can be found on-line at:

www.icpa4kids.org/research/references6.htm

On May 16, 2005, the FDA issued an FDA Alert on the risk of Cytotec(Misoprostol) when used in labor and delivery, which states:

“This Patient Information Sheet is for pregnant women who mayreceive Misoprostol to soften their cervix or induce contractionsto begin labor. Misoprostol is sometimes used to decrease blood loss after delivery of a baby. The FDA does not approvethese uses. No company has sent the FDA scientific proof thatMisoprostol is safe and effective for these uses.

“There can be rare but serious side effects, including a tornuterus (womb), when Misoprostol is used for labor and delivery.A torn uterus may result in severe bleeding, having the uterusremoved (hysterectomy), and death of the mother or baby. These side effects are more likely in women who have had previous uterine surgery, a previous Cesarean delivery (C-section),or several previous births.”

The FDA Alert makes it clear that 1) Cytotec should not be used for labor induction 2) BUT that, if it is to be used against this FDA

recommendation, every woman receiving Cytotec for induction has theright to a fully informed consent which must include the risks listed inthis FDA release. Failure to provide a woman with ALL the informationregarding the side effects of Cytotec (Misoprostol) when used for theinduction of labor denies the patient the right to give her a fullyinformed consent, and may result in serious legal exposure to thosehealth care providers as well as needlessly jeopardizing the health ofthe mother and her child.

The TOFM Foundation petitioned the FDA in November 2004 to issue a more comprehensive advisory regarding the dangers of Cytotec(Misoprostol). The TOFM Foundation applauds the action of the FDA,yet there is more that must be done to alert physicians, nurses, hospi-tals, pharmacists and patients related to potential catastrophic out-comes that can occur when Cytotec (Misoprostol) is used for inducinglabor and/or ripening the cervix.

The FDA Alert on Cytotec can be found at:www.fda.gov/cder/drug/infopage/ misoprostol/default.htm

FDA Alert on Cytotec


b i r t h

by Bridgett Torrence

Julie’s story is not unique. In her latest book, InaMay’s Guide to Childbirth, midwife Ina May Gaskin relates thestory of a woman who said, “I just want to open up and let thisbaby out.” Gaskin wrote, “I had never heard a woman expressthe wish for her cervix to open while I had my fingers on it toconfirm that it was happening. Pretty fancy, I thought, to beable to tell your body exactly what you want to happen andhave it comply.”

Such is the power of the mind-body connection. According toSusan Fekety, MSN CNM, author of The Pocket Midwife:Affirmations for Healthy Pregnancy and Normal Birthing,“Affirmations are mindfully worded statements that guide thesubconscious mind to manifest a particular situation. More andmore research in mind-body medicine shows thatmany (if not all) physical responses start inthe mind-emotional realm. Think of ablush, or the high heartbeat when alover approaches, or butterflies inthe stomach; what we are dis-covering is that the bodyresponds to thoughts.”

Overcoming Fear

Just as positive thoughtscan speed up a labor, neg-ative thoughts can slowdown or even halt labor.Brooke Myung describesthe thoughts that inhibitedher labor progress: “The onlythings I could imagine werebeing overwhelmed by two chil-dren, nursing two and trying to dragmyself out of postpartum depression.No wonder it took me 12 hours to get fromfive to seven centimeters!”

According to Fekety, emotional blocks such as these can beremoved by using affirmations that target the issue hinderinglabor. “In situations where women have a lot of fear, affirma-tions work particularly well because there is an antidote for thefear in the words she says to herself and fear is one of the mosttoxic physiologic conditions there is for a pregnant or laboringwoman. Fear kicks in all the stress hormones, and you don’twant those around.”

Anyone, Anywhere

Anyone can take advantage of the mind-body connection toovercome fear, reduce pain and speed labor by using affirma-tions. Though many women use affirmations throughout theirpregnancies, utilizing the power of positive thought does notrequire any special training. Furthermore, affirmations are notjust for those who choose natural childbirth. Affirmations workfor anyone in any birthing environment. They can also benefitwomen whose labors are induced, who choose pain medicationor who require a surgical childbirth.

“A woman can use affirmations to support her chosen methodof pain control, whether it’s breathing or regional anesthesia,”says Fekety. She also notes that affirmations may be helpful in

minimizing the possible side effects associatedwith epidurals; for instance, keeping a

woman’s blood pressure stable or help-ing her to urinate after giving birth.

Affirmations for Partners

Partners can be empoweredby affirmations, too. “Thedad who’s terrified throughthe whole labor misses alot of the good stuff andhe’s not able to appreci-ate what’s going on,”explains Ina May Gaskin

from her home inTennessee. “Some partners

don’t know they can changethe woman’s hormone levels

and blood just by being sweet toher… If he discovers his words or

caresses can actually remove pain forher, how liberating is that?”

Affirmations also help partners who share some of thesame fears mothers do—will I be a good parent, will I be ableto provide for my child’s needs, is our relationship ready for achild, will I be able to love a second child, what if somethinggoes wrong during the birth? Addressing these issues and over-coming fears can unfetter partners, allowing them to be sup-portive and experience childbirth unhindered.

Bridgett Torrence is a mother, editor and freelance writer. She attributes her positive birthing experiences to the power ofaffirmation. Write to Bridgett at [email protected]


Creating Affirmations Creating custom affirmations is easy. Affirmations are

always in the present tense and always use positive lan-guage. Some examples from The Pocket Midwife include:

My body grows the perfect size baby for me.

I wait patiently for the start of my labor.

My baby is born at the perfect time.

I welcome this opportunity to change and grow.

My body knows exactly what to do.Discover the affirmations that are most meaningful

to you and practice them. The power of affirma-tion is yours for the taking, resting on

the tip of your tongue.

This article will combine a review of what

has been found in the literature about the

role of fathers in breastfeeding with ponder-

ings and ideas based on the author’s own

experiences both as a father and as a trained

father-group leader in Sweden on involving fathers

more in infant feeding.

Even in cultures where most fathers have littleinterest in or knowledge about breastfeeding,they and the maternal mothers may often have agreat deal of power over how mothers feed theirbabies. Studies in Taiwan, Australia, Canada,England, Scotland, Israel, Spain, Brazil, Swedenand PA, NY, MD, MO, GA, in the USA suggest that a father’s approval of breastfeeding (or themother’s perception of this) is associated withgreater breastfeeding success. In one study inOH, USA, strong approval of breastfeeding by the father was associated with 98% breastfeed-ing incidence, compared to only 26.9 when thefather was indifferent to feeding choice.

In many of these studies, others’ opinions werenot found to have any influence. And I have notcome across studies where the opposite is true—that others’ opinions had an impact but fathers’did not. In one study, pregnant women wereasked whose opinion mattered the most regard-ing feeding their infants and 79% said “baby’sfather” compared to 21% “maternal mother.”

One review suggested that fathers influence the following four aspects: the breastfeedingdecision, assistance at first feeding, duration ofbreastfeeding, and risk factors for bottle feeding.

In one study in TX, USA, compared withfathers whose partner planned to bottle feed, fathers whosepartners planned to breastfeed were less likely tothink that breast-feeding is bad forbreasts (52% vs22%), makesbreasts ugly(44% vs 23),and interfereswith sex (72%vs 24%). Yetsurprisinglymothers’ pre-dictions werelittle more accu-rate than randomguessing in pre-dicting their part-ner’s response toattitude questionsabout breastfeeding.


pa r e n t i n g

A Family Affair: Ted Greiner, Ph.D.

What is the father’s role in breastfeeding?

Most studies find that although fathers of breast-fedbabies know more about breastfeeding and havemore positive attitudes toward it than other fathers,their level of knowledge is still low. Presumably,fathers’ knowledge and attitudes could be improvedand they could play a more positive role, though fewdocumented efforts have been made so far to do so.

Can we create a new norm regarding the father’s rolein infant feeding—before the infant formula compa-nies succeed in doing so? One small study in the UKfound that “One of the most significant factors influ-encing the decision to bottle feed appears to be adesire for paternal involvement.” In Sweden I amattempting to promote the idea that the father’s roleafter six months of exclusive breastfeeding could be“chief solid feeder.” From the very beginning, Dad canact as a “kangaroo,” as his body is just as good as an incubator at maintaining infant body temperature.

Does breastfeeding make fathers feel left out? InHungary mothers who believed this were less likelyto breastfeed. Jordan and Wall found that fathers’concerns about breastfeeding included the lack ofopportunity to develop a relationship with their child,feeling inadequate, and being separated from theirmate by the baby. Gamble and Morse identified theprocess that enabled fathers to accept the disparityin the types of relationships that their children hadwith each of their parents as a result of breastfeed-ing, and called it “postponing.” It includes becomingaware of the disparity, simultaneously developing

accepting strategies and acknowledging reinforcingfactors, and, finally, developing compensating behav-iors to increase the fathers’ interactions with theirinfants and promote closer relationships.

An idea is emerging among people concerned aboutpromoting exclusive breastfeeding in patriarchal cultures where the mother-in-law has almost complete power over how a baby is fed. How about educating the father about the benefits of exclusivebreastfeeding and seeing if he can “protect” hischild’s mother against his own mother? Such effortsmust be pursued with care and evaluation of out-comes, however. In Yemen an attempt to do breast-feeding promotion through fathers was ended when it was found that some fathers demanded thatmothers switch immediately to breastfeeding at riskof divorce and that some others, when they foundout the birth-spacing impact of breastfeeding,brought home bottles to their wives.

About Ted Greiner: For over 20 years Ted has beeninvolved at national and international levels in programand policy issues related to breastfeeding and othernutrition issues. His first publications established thefirst scientific evidence that commercial marketing ofbaby foods had a negative influence on how womenfeed their babies.

Visit him at:www.geocities.com/HotSprings/Spa/3156/Ted.htm


Getting Dad Involved

For information on the benefits of co-sleeping, store list and fabric choice,

please go to www.armsreach.com(800) 954-9353 or (805) 278-2559

ARM’S REACH CONCEPTS, INC. ©2004 Arm’s Reach Concepts, Inc. Patent Pending ARM’S REACH, CO-SLEEPER, Mother & Child Logo and all other trademarks are stringently protected. All rights reserved.

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Conver t s to changer or f ree-s tanding un i t

Mini

to get rid of the symptoms along withthe nasty microbes we mistakenlyassume are causing the symptoms. As we saw earlier, the immune system,not the microbes, causes the symptoms.The microbes, however, are an importantstimulus which provokes the immunesystem to react, causing symptoms ofacute inflammatory illness. Therefore,when we kill or inhibit the microbeswith antibiotics, we inhibit the immunesystem at the same time. This inhibitsthe inflammatory symptoms that belongto an active working immune system,creating the illusion that we havehealed the illness when in reality wehave suppressed the symptoms andinterfered with the immune system’swork before its job was done. This is a suppression, not a healing, and it iscrucial to understand the differencebetween the two.

If we make our housekeeper stop herhectic cleaning in order to have somepeace, we will have to put up with anuntidy house. An untidy house and aninactive housekeeper are conditionswhich in the short run lead to a return offlies and ants, and in the long run lead tochronic disease and cancer. This is whyI’ve been saying for fourteen years thatan important way to prevent cancer is toappreciate the great wisdom and benefitof our occasional inflammatory house-cleanings and to refrain from obstructingthem unnecessarily with antibiotics andanti-inflammatory drugs.

This point was recently confirmed by the publication of research showing thatantibiotics increase the risk of breast cancer. Nevertheless, antibiotics are life-saving drugs when an acute infectious/inflammatory illness becomes dangerous.This danger stems not from the intensityof the inflammation directly, but from the toxicity and the sheer volume of themetabolic wastes and poisons which arestirred up and mobilized by the inflamma-tion. If our organism has the strength toclear out all these toxins and dischargethem from our body, the illness usuallyresolves itself. If we lack this strength,then the discerning physician willattempt to support and promote the dis-charging, detoxifying process, keeping a watchful eye on the patient’s strength,and will use an antibiotic if needed toprevent complications or death from thepoisons that have been stirred up by ouroverzealous housekeeper—our immunesystem. This is a toxic or septic inflam-mation, and in such a crisis, an antibiotic

is a blessing. But the likelihood of ourever having to experience such a toxiccrisis will be greatly diminished if weunderstand how to allow all our smaller,nonthreatening inflammatory crises todo their housecleaning work that ourwise inner housekeeper knows we need.

How, therefore can one treat an acuteinfectious/inflammatory illness so as towork with the cleansing and dischargingprocess of the immune system and not against it? I have discussed thesepractical pointers in the chapter “Howto Treat Childhood Illnesses” in thebook The Vaccination Dilemma editedby Christine Murphy (www.lantern-books.com), and also in an article published in Mothering magazine inJuly–August 2003 entitled, “The HealingCrisis: Don’t Worry Mom, I’m JustGrowing.”

These treatment guidelines apply toadults every bit as well as they apply tochildren. They are designed to supportand facilitate the work of the immunesystem, to relieve symptoms, preventcomplications and to promote a success-ful outcome and completion of the taskbegun by the immune system itself. A more detailed discussion of thesetreatment guidelines can also be found,along with directions for use of theappropriate homeopathic/anthropo-sophic remedies for specific symptoms,in my Home Remedy Kit available fromthe Weleda Pharmacy at 800-241-1030.Perhaps the most important points toremember in treating acute infectious/inflammatory illnesses are that fever isgood, toxicity is bad, and discharge oftoxicity is very good.

The danger of an acute infectious/inflammatory illness is not the 105degree fever or the yellow thick mucusdrainage from the nose, but the amountof retained toxicity that is poisoning the patient because it is unable to be discharged from the body quicklyenough. It is normal for the ill patient to be weak, lethargic and oversensitive.Symptoms of excessive retained toxicitypoisoning in the body include increasingirritability and restlessness, an increas-ing look and feel of desperation or anxi-ety, and a decreasing ability to maintainconsciousness and eye contact. If theseare happening, call the doctor.

Toxicity that is stirred up within thebody more quickly than it can becleared and discharged from the body is the primary danger and cause of

complications in an acute infectious/inflammatory illness. We physiciansshould be advising our patients how torecognize and treat toxicity. Up to 106degrees F, the degree of fever is not asign of the seriousness of the illness,but is rather a sign of how strongly theimmune system is working to detoxifyand clear out the illness. Therefore it is best to avoid fever lowering drugs.

Here are some very effective age-oldways to support the immune systemand to promote a good outcome of anacute infectious/inflammatory illness:

1. Total rest and sleep, with as little distraction as possible. No television,radio, tapes or reading.

2. Keep the patient very warmlydressed and covered. Sweating is good. Avoid chilling.

3. A liquid diet of vegetable broth, herbteas, citrus juices. Add rice, millet,carrots or fruit if hungry. Absolutely no meat, fish, eggs, milk products,legumes, beans, nuts or seeds. The digestive power of the bodymust focus on the illness and not be burdened with food.

4. Elimination through bowels, bladderand sweating is essential to treattoxicity and prevent its complica-tions, therefore encourage drinkingof lukewarm clear fluids, and useprune juice or Milk of Magnesia topromote loose bowel movementsonce or twice daily.

5. Provide a sick room environmentwith warm, soft colors and texturesand natural soft light. Include plantsand flowers. The caregiver should be cheerful, peaceful, attentive,observant, encouraging, loving andrespectful of the profound healingwisdom of the inner housekeeper inwhich she is assisting.

Dr. Incao’s special interest is strengthen-ing the health of children against theincreasingly stressful influences of modern life, especially of modern healthcare. He also lectures frequently on thepractical application of a spiritual yet scientific understanding of the humanbeing to healing. Please visit his websiteto find out more about Dr. Inacao and hiswork. www.philipincao.com


Housecleaning continued from page 7


g r e atExpectatBy Kevin Donka, D.C. A very busy road near my home is under

construction right now. I travel this way twiceevery day, but the other day I noticed a sign I hadn’t seenbefore. The sign said, “New lane configurations—EXPECTDELAYS!” Now at first, this didn’t seem strange to me, but as I continued to think about it, I wondered why I shouldEXPECT delays, rather than just preparing for them. What I mean by this is, if I leave a little earlier than I usually do so that I don’t have to worry about being late and I bring an extra CD to listen to in the car, then I am prepared for adelay. And, if there is no delay, everything is still fine. Thisway, my EXPECTATION is that the situation will be fine nomatter what happens.

But again, why should I actually EXPECT delays? If you’restill confused, let me try a different means of explainingwhat I mean. The fact is, you cannot escape something youare giving your attention to. When I put my attention towardEXPECTING a delay, I am very likely to experience that. But,when I put my energy into EXPECTING to be OK with whatev-er happens because I am PREPARED to deal with it, I oftenwill experience whatever is best for me.

This concept is true with every area of your life—even yourhealth. My question for you is, what are you EXPECTING tohappen with your health? In other words, does more of theenergy with your thoughts, words and actions go towardworrying about what might go wrong, or toward what mightgo right?

Most of us were raised with the belief that our bodies areinherently weak and defective and that they will break downwithout some kind of medical intervention. This begins inpregnancy with all of the talk about how hard labor is andthat drugs will be necessary for the mother to be able tohandle it.

The demands of today’s world

require efforts to create balance

in our families. This CD is an

opportunity for us to meet this

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Next, we are told that we need lots of vaccines because ourimmune systems are inadequately prepared to handle life.We are taught that if your body raises its temperature it is a mistake and that we must take some kind of medication tolower it. If we are creative and active in school, we are toldwe have a condition that doesn’t allow us to focus and func-tion normally. We are basically told that we are not goodenough the way we are, but that medications can make us better. This continues on throughout our lives and weunknowingly pass this legacy of lunacy on to our children.

The chiropractic paradigm takes the completely oppositeapproach to health and life. It says that we are all born withan innate intelligence and that when we fully express thisintelligence our bodies are strong, healthy and we are free to happily work toward the actualization of our purpose andpotential in life.

If there is any interference in the ability to express this intelligent force, then we end up in a state of “dis-ease.” We call this interference in your nerve system the subluxationprocess. The chiropractic adjustment process restores thefree flow of intelligent energy and allows us to progressivelyreturn to the full expression of health and life. By makingsure your brain and body can communicate effectively andby living a healthy lifestyle, you are PREPARED for whateverlife brings you.

People raised in this mindset tend to progressively apply thisway of thinking to every area of their lives, and so the legacythey pass on to their children is one of health, hope and faiththat every situation offers an opportunity for growth. Soagain, I ask you—

What do you expect?

time for

There was a time when children playedfrom morning till night.

They ran, jumped, played dress-up, andcreated endless stories out of their activeimaginations.

Now, many scarcely play this way at all.What happened?

• Over four and half hours per daywatching TV, video games, and computer screens

• Academic pressure and testing, beginning with three-year-olds

• Overscheduled lives full of adult-organized activities

• Loss of school recess and safe green space for outdoor play

Decades of research clearly demonstratethat play—active and full of imagination—is more that just fun and games. Itboosts healthy development across abroad spectrum of critical areas: intellec-tual, social, emotional, and physical. Thebenefits are so impressive that every dayof childhood should be a day for play.

the benefits of playChild-initiated play lays a foundation forlearning and academic success. Through

play, children learn to interact with others,develop language skills, recognize andsolve problems, and discover their humanpotential. In short, play helps childrenmake sense of and find their place in theworld.

Physical development: The rough andtumble of active play facilitates children’ssensorimotor development. It is a naturalpreventive for the current epidemic ofchildhood obesity. Research suggests that recess also boosts schoolchildren’sacademic performance.

Academics: There is a close linkbetween play and healthy cognitivegrowth. It lays the foundation for lateracademic success in reading and writing.It provides hands-on experiences withreal-life materials that help childrendevelop abstract scientific and mathemat-ical concepts. Play is critical for the devel-opment of imagination and creative prob-lem-solving skills.

Social and emotional learning:Research suggests that social make-believe play is related to increases in cooperation, empathy, and impulsecontrol, reduced aggression, and betteroverall emotional and social health.


pLayIt’s Fun and Fundamental

every day

International Associationfor the Child’s Right to Play (Play Day kits)516-463-5176;www.ipausa.org

Teachers ResistingUnhealthy Children’sEntertainment (AnnualToy Guide): 617-879-2167;www.truceteachers.org

The Lion and LambProject (Nonviolent playideas): 301-654-3091 or301-537-8193; www.lion-lamb.org

TV Turnoff Network (TakeAction page for limitingTV time):202-333-9220;www.tvturnoff.org

Playing for Keeps (Playideas and resources forparents and educators):877-755-5347; www.play-ingforkeeps.org

All Work and No Play:How Educational Reformsare Harming OurPreschoolers, SharnaOlfman, Ph.D., ed.

Children at Play: UsingWaldorf Principles toFoster Child Developmentby Heaidi Britz-Crecelius

Earthways: SimpleEnvironmental Activitiesfor Young Childrenby Carol Petrash

Reclaiming Childhood:Letting Children BeChildren in OurAchievement-OrientedSociety by William Crain,Ph.D.

The House of MakeBelieve by Dorothy G.Singer, Ph.D. and JeromeL. Singer, Ph.D.

Children’s Play: TheRoots of Reading byEdward Zigler, DorothySinger, and SandraBishop-Josef, eds.

m i n d — b o dy

other resources for reviving play


Sheer joy: The evidence is clear—healthy children of all ages love to play.Experts in child development say thatplenty of time for childhood play is oneof the key factors leading to happiness inadulthood.

what you can do to help your child play?Reduce or eliminate TV: Give yourchildren a chance to flex their own imagi-native muscles. They may be bored atfirst. Be prepared with simple playthingsand suggestions for make-believe play toinspire their inner creativity.

Curtail time spent in adult-organ-ized activities: Children need time forself-initiated play. Overscheduled livesleave little time for play.

Choose simple toys: A good toy is 10 percent toy and 90 percent child. Thechild’s imagination is the engine ofhealthy play. Simple toys and naturalmaterials like wood, boxes, balls, dolls,sand, and clay invite children to createtheir own scene—and then knock themdown and start over.

Encourage outdoor adventures:Reserve time every day for outdoor playwhere children run, climb, find secrethiding places, and dream up dramas.Natural materials—sticks, mud, water,rocks—are the raw materials of play.

Bring back the art of real work:Believe or not, adult activity—cooking,raking, cleaning, washing the car— actually inspires children to play.Children like to help for short periodsand then engage in their own play.

become an advocate for playSpread the word: Share the evidenceabout the importance of imaginative play in pre-school and kindergarten, and at recess for older children, with parents, teachers, school officials, andpolicymakers.

Lobby for safe, well-maintainedparks and play areas in your community.If safety is a concern, organize with otherparents to monitor play areas.

Start an annual Play Day. For tips onhow to do this in your neighborhood or town, see www.ipausa.org.

This article was contributed by the Alliancefor Childhood. The Alliance for Childhoodpromotes policies and practices that support children’s healthy development,love of learning, and joy in living. Theirpublic education campaigns bring to lightboth the promise and the vulnerability of childhood. They act for the sake of thechildren themselves and for a most just,democratic, and ecologically responsiblefuture. For more information visit their website: www.allianceforchildhood.org.


fa m i ly l i f e

Taking a Road Tripwith Your Baby

By Elizabeth Pantley, Author of Gentle Baby Care

To Grandmother’s house wego! And you’ll be in the car for five whole hours—how

can you make the trip enjoy-able with a baby along?

There’s no question:Marathon car trips with a baby on board take agood amount of planningand organization. But itcan be done—and yes, it can even be fun!

Planning the trip

In the hustle that precedes a trip, it can be easy to let things happen,instead of make things happen. Beproactive in making your trip decisions.Contemplating these questions, andcoming up with the right answers, canhelp make your trip more successful:

Does your baby sleep well in the car?If yes, plan your travel time to coincidewith a nap or bedtime so your baby can sleep through part of the journey.If not, plan to leave immediately after a nap or upon waking in the morning.Don’t fool yourself into thinking yourbaby will behave differently than usualin the car just because it’s a specialoccasion.

Is it necessary to make the trip all atonce, or can you break it up with stopsalong the way? The longer your babyis strapped in the car seat, the morelikely he’ll become fussy. Planning a few breaks can keep everyone in abetter frame of mind.

When estimating an arrival time, haveyou factored in plenty of extra time for unplanned surprises? A diaperexplosion that requires a completechange of clothes or a baby whoseinconsolable crying requires an unex-pected 20-minute stop are just two of the things that can easily happen.

Do you have everything you need tomake the trip pleasant? Items like:

- Window shades to protect your babyfrom the sun and create a darker,nap-inducing atmosphere.

- A cooler for cold drinks; a bottlewarmer if needed.

- Plenty of toys that are new or forgot-ten favorites saved just for the trip.

- Baby-friendly music on tape or CD.

- A rear-view baby mirror to keep one eye on baby (unless a secondperson will be sitting with yourlittle one).

- Books to read to your baby.

Preparing the car

Take plenty of time to get the carready for your trip. If two adults aretraveling, consider yourself luckyand arrange for one person to sitin the backseat next to the baby. Ifyou are traveling alone with yourlittle one, you’ll need to be morecreative in setting up the car,and you’ll need to plan for

more frequent stops along the way.

Here are a few tips for making the car atraveling entertainment center for yourbaby:

Use ribbon or yarn and safety pins ortape to hang an array of lightweighttoys from the ceiling of the car to hangover your baby. An alternative is tostring a line from one side of the car to the other with an array of toysattached by ribbons. Bring along anassortment of new toys that can beexchanged when you stopthe car for a rest. Just besure to use small toys and keep them out of thedriver’s line of view.

Tape brightly colored pictures of toys on theback of the seat that your baby will be facing.

If no one will be sittingnext to your baby andyour child is old enough toreach for toys, set up an upside-downbox next to the car seat with a shallowbox or a tray with ledges on top of it.Fill this with toys that your baby canreach for by himself. You might alsoshop around for a baby activity centerthat attaches directly to the car seat.

If you plan to have someone sittingnext to baby, then provide that personwith a gigantic box of toys with whichto entertain the little one—distractionworks wonders to keep a baby happyin the car. One of the best activities forlong car rides is book reading. Checkyour library’s early reading section; ittypically features a large collection ofbaby-pleasing titles in paperback that


are easier to tote along than boardbooks.

Bring along an assortment of snacksand drinks for your older baby who’sregularly eating solids, and rememberto bring food for yourself, too. Even ifyou plan to stop for meals, you maydecide to drive on through if your babyis sleeping or content—saving thestops for fussy times.

Bring books on tape or quiet music forthe adults for times when your baby issleeping. The voice on tape may helpkeep your baby relaxed, and it will besomething you can enjoy.

If you’ll be traveling in the dark, bringalong a battery-operated night-lightor flashlight.

During the journey

If you’ve carefully planned your tripand prepared your vehicle, you’vealready started out on the right foot.

Now keep these things in mind as youmake your way down the road:

Be flexible. When traveling with ababy, even the best-laid plans can bedisrupted. Try to stay relaxed, acceptchanges, and go with the flow.

Stop when you need to. Trying to push“just a little farther” with a crying babyin the car can be dangerous, as you’redistracted and nervous. Take the timeto stop and calm your baby.

Put safety first. Make sure that youkeep your baby in his car seat. Manynursing mothers breastfeed theirbabies during trips. This can be dan-gerous in a moving car, even if you areboth securely belted: You can’t foreseean accident, and your body could slamforcefully into your baby. Instead, pullover and nurse your baby while he’sstill in his car seat. That way, when hefalls asleep, you won’t wake him upmoving him back into his seat.

Remember: Never, ever leave yourbaby alone in the car—not even for a minute.

On the way home

You may be so relieved that you livedthrough your trip that you sort of for-get the other trip ahead of you: the triphome. You’ll need to organize the triphome as well as you did the trip out. Afew days in advance, make certain thatall your supplies are refilled and readyto go. Think about the best time toleave, and plan accordingly. In addi-tion, think about what you learned onthe trip to your destination that mightmake the trip home even easier. Isthere something you wish you wouldhave had but didn’t?Something you felt youcould have done differ-ently? Did you findyourself saying, “Iwish we would


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If we want to create abetter world for ourchildren, we must firstchange the way we bringchildren into the world

have…”? Now’s the time to make anyadjustments to your original travelplan so that your trip back home ispleasant and relaxed.

This article is an excerpt from GentleBaby Care by Elizabeth Pantley.(McGraw-Hill, 2003) Elizabeth Pantley,author of The No-Cry Sleep Solution,has written a new book. Organizedalphabetically to give you the answeryou need within seconds, Gentle BabyCare delivers fast help for the manyquestions you’ll have during your baby’s first year.

Car travel checklist• Well-stocked diaper bag

• Baby’s blanket

• Car seat pillow or head support

• Window shades (sunscreens)

• Change of clothes for your baby

• Enormous box of toys and books

• Music or books on tape or CDs

• Baby food, snacks, and drinks for your baby

• Sipper cups

• Snacks and drinks for the adults

• Cooler

• Wet washcloths in bags, or moist towelettes

• Empty plastic bags for leftovers and trash

• Bottle warmer

• Cell phone

• Baby’s regular sleep music or white noise

(if needed, bring extra batteries)

• First aid kit/prescriptions/medications

• Jumper cables

• Money/wallet/purse/ID

• Medical and insurance information/

emergency phone numbers

• Maps/driving directions

• Baby carrier/sling/stroller

• Camera and film

• Suitcases

s e a s o n a l

Summertime means insect bites and stings. Ouch! Take a

leaf from Susun S. Weed’s storehouse of natural reme-

dies: Soothe, heal, and prevent bites with safe herbal

remedies that grow right where you live, north or south,

east or west, city or country. The best natural remedies

for insect bites are right underfoot.

Plantain, also called ribwort, pig’s ear, and the band-aidplant, is a common weed of lawns, driveways, parks, andplaygrounds. Identify it by the five parallel veins runningthe length of each leaf. (Most leaves have a central veinwith smaller ones branching out from it.) You may findbroad leaf plantain (Plantago majus), with wide leavesand a tall seed head, or narrow leaf plantain (Plantagolanceolata), with long thinleaves and a small flowerhead that looks like a flyingsaucer. Many Plantagospecies have seeds andleaves that can be used asfood or medicine. A SouthAmerican variety (Plantagopsyllium) is used to makeMetamucil™.

How to use plantain? Makea fresh leaf poultice. Pick aleaf, chew it well and put iton the bite. “Like magic”the pain, heat, andswelling— even allergic reac-tions— disappear, fast! (Yes,you can dry plantain leavesand carry them in your firstaid kit. Chew like you would fresh leaves.)

Poultices ease pain, reduce swelling, and help heal. Nowonder they’re the number one natural choice for treatinginsect bites, bee and wasp stings.

Mud is the oldest and simplest poultice. Powdered whiteclay, which should be mixed with a little water or herb tea,can be applied directly to the sting as soon as possible.Clay can be kept on hand at all times and is less likely tocontain fungal spores than the real thing. Finely groundgrains such as rice or oatmeal, or bland starchy substanceslike mallow root, grated potato, or arrowroot powder, arealso used as soothing poultices to ease itching and painfrom insect bites.

Fresh-herb poultices are a little more complicated, but notby much. Just find a healing leaf, pluck it, chew it, andapply it directly to the sting/bite. If you wish, use a largeleaf or an adhesive bandage to hold the poultice in place.Plantain, comfrey (Symphytum uplandica x), yellow dock(Rumex species), wild geranium (Geranium maculatum),wild mallow (Malva neglecta), chickweed (Stellariamedia), and yarrow are only a few of the possibilities.

In the woods, you can take a leaf from a tree, chew it, andapply that to the bite. Any tree will do in an emergency, butif you have a choice, the best leaves are those from witchhazel, willow, oak, or maple. Play it safe: Learn to recog-nize witch hazel (Hamamelis virginia) and willow (Salixspecies) leaves before you chew on them. Maple (Acer) oroak (Quercus) leaves are easier to recognize and safer to

chew—unless you livewhere poison oak grows. Ifuncertain, avoid all shrubsand any trees with slick orshiny leaves. If the leaf youare chewing tastes extreme-ly bitter or burns yourmouth, spit it out at once.

To repel ticks, mosquitoes,and black flies, try a dilutedtincture of yarrow (Alchelliamillefolium) flowers directlyon all exposed skin. A recentUS Army study showedyarrow tincture to be more

effective than DEET as aninsect repellent.

If you’ve spent the day in anarea where Lyme disease is common, take a shower rightaway and scrub yourself with a body brush. Have a friendcheck you out for ticks. Also, it takes the tick some time tomake up its mind where to bite, so most are unattachedand will wash off.

“If the worst happens and I do get a bite, I help myimmune system by taking a daily dose of 2-6 dropperfulsof Echinacea tincture. I avoid Goldenseal as I believe itcould have adverse effects. If I have symptoms, I use adropperful of St. John’s Wort (Hypericum) tincture threetimes a day to help inactivate the Lyme’s organism.”

© 2000, Susun S. Weed

This article was reprinted with permission from Susun Weed.Please visit her site at: www.susunweed.com

Become informed about identifying plants for herbal usage.The World Wide Web offers numerous resources.

Susun S. Weed

Ease Those Bug Bites with Easy Herbs

There are plenty of natural remediesavailable underfoot everywhere—fromthe forests to your own backyard!


What’son yourmind?

Share your feedback,stories, inspirations, ideas,

experiences, questions,

etc., with Pathways…and you may see it in an

upcoming issue!

We’d love to hear from you.

Please e-mail us at

[email protected]

Waterproof sunscreen causes severe burning and even

blindness if it gets into the eyes of children. When flushing

the eyes with water provided no relief to his 2-year-old son,

he called the local Poison Control Center. They advised him

to take his child to an emergency room immediately where

the eyes were flushed with a special solution. His son lost

his sight for 2 days as a result of the sunscreen.

The manufacturer admits the problem but fears parents

will not use it if a large warning is placed on the product

by claiming that the risk of blindness outweighs the risk

of skin cancer.

Parents: use caution when applying sunscreen. If your child

does get waterproof sunscreen in their eyes, take them to

the emergency room immediately!

When looking for chemical-free sunblocks, visit your local

health store, or research on-line.

Waterproof Sunscreen Warning

What’son yourmind?

Share your feedback,stories, inspirations, ideas,

experiences, questions,

etc., with Pathways…and you may see it in an

upcoming issue!

Is your cutie wide awake?Try swaddling. Studies show it helps babies sleep.

Swaddling Helps Babies Sleep

A new study shows the time-honored tradition of swaddling might

help babies sleep.

“In many parts of the world, infants are swaddled to sleep, with their

bodies tightly wrapped in tissue cloths, sheets, or light blankets,”

Patricia Franco, MD, PhD, and colleagues write in the May edition of

the journal Pediatrics. The practice is reported to help babies sleep,

and the researchers’ findings support that idea.

Babies Sleep Longer When Swaddled

In a study of 16 infants aged 6-16 weeks, the researchers found

swaddled babies sleep longer and are less likely to wake up sponta-

neously. During the study, the infants spent several hours sleeping

unrestrained and several hours swaddled with sandbags and bed

sheets wrapped tightly enough to prevent them from moving their

arms and legs. All infants were placed on their backs. The

researchers found swaddling increases a baby’s total amount of

sleep as well as nonrapid eye movement (NREM) or light sleep

compared with when they were not swaddled.

my.webmd.com/content/article/105/107812.htm

Co-sleeping does not cause SIDSIn a recent large study conducted in theUnited Kingdom it was concluded that:

“Bed sharing with nonsmoking parentswas not identified as a risk factor forSIDS in term infants or in those bornweighing at least 2,500 g.”

www.epediatricnews.com/scripts/om.dll/serve?action=searchDB&searchDBfor=home&id=qp

New breast-feeding policy

Nursing moms advised to keep babies close. Nursing babies shouldsleep right next to their parents’ bed, advises the American Academyof Pediatrics in a new breast-feeding policy out on February 7 that’sdrawing applause and pointed criticism. The academy reiterated itspolicy of eight years that mothers should feed babies only breastmilk for six months, unless there are special nutritional needs, andcontinue breast-feeding until the baby is at least age 1 or older, ifdesired. Mothers should keep babies close by so they can hear earlysigns of hunger—stirring and mouth-smacking—before the babycries, says pediatrician Lawrence Gartner, the policy’s senior author.“It’s harder to get the baby to settle on the breast and start feeding if he’s already crying,” Gartner says. “If the crib is in another room oreven across the room, she might not hear the movement.”

USA Today, February 7, 2005.

Episiotomies May Bring More Risks

For years, some doctors believed that an episiotomy, an inci-sion to enlarge the vaginal opening during childbirth, wouldprevent spontaneous tearing that would be harder to repair.They also believed the procedure would help women avoidincontinence and improve their sex lives.

It turns out those beliefs were myths.

A new review of 26 research studies shows that episiotomiesare linked with a higher risk of injury, more trouble healing andmore pain.

Episiotomies also had no effect on incontinence, pelvic floorstrength or sexual function. Women who had the procedurewaited longer to resume sex after childbirth. And their firstpost-birth intercourse caused them more pain.

An episiotomy is usually a small cut—deeper than the width ofa large metal paperclip and about as long. Spontaneous tearsoften are smaller and don’t need stitches.

jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/ abstract/293/17/2141?etoc


r e s e a r c h r e v i ew


For the first time, scientists have

shown that pregnant mothers exposed

to high but common levels of a

widely used ingredient in cosmetics,

fragrances, plastics, and paints can

have baby boys with smaller genitals

and incomplete testicular descent.

The more a mother was exposed to

the chemical called phthalates (THAL-

ates), the greater the chance her boy’s

reproductive development would be

harmed.

Andrea Dunaif, chief of endocrinology

at Northwestern University, called the

findings “strong evidence in humans

that this endocrine-disrupting chemical

is associated with changes in boys.”

The changes are subtle, but male infer-

tility rates appear to be rising, she

said, and it’s hard to know if a problem

is environmental or just diagnosed

more often. “The public health implica-

tions are enormous.”

Environmental Health PerspectivesJournal, May 29, 2005

Synthetic Estrogen Risks

Diethylstilbestrol (DES) was once prescribed to prevent miscarriages or premature delivery. A study thatincluded 3373 women exposed to DES,a synthetic form of estrogen, and 1036unexposed controls revealed that DES-exposed daughters are more likely to experience delays in conceiving(32% of the women in the study) andare less likely to ever conceive. Thosewho do conceive have a 30% risk offirst-trimester miscarriage and facethree to four times the odds of havinga preterm birth, second-trimester miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy.

Obstetrics & Gynecology, 2000, 96(4):483-489.

Antidepressants in pregnancy affect newborns

Infants born to mothers who take antidepressants during thefinal months of pregnancy can suffer mild to severe symptomsof drug withdrawal. Researchers reported that newbornsexposed to antidepressants taken by their mother late in pregnancy have twice the risk of admission to special-carenurseries as newborns not exposed to these drugs. They alsohave twice the risk of respiratory complications. Some wereserious enough to require ventilation. Seizures were alsoreported in these infants.

The newly published review included studies assessing new-born behavior in women taking antidepressants over the pastdecade. Moses-Kolko and colleagues from the University ofPittsburgh School of Medicine report that infants exposed toSRI antidepressants shortly before birth were three times aslikely to exhibit behaviors like jitteriness, respiratory distress,and fussiness as nonexposed infants and those exposed onlyduring early pregnancy.

SRIs are the most widely prescribed antidepressants andinclude the drugs Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Celexa, and Effexor. Use of these medications during pregnancy is not associatedwith fetal malformation, say the researchers. Most reports of antidepressant-related complications occurred in childrenexposed to Prozac and Paxil. Symptoms associated withZoloft, Celexa, and Effexor exposure were less common butstill significant.

The Journal of the American Medical Association, May 18,2005

Common Chemical May Cause Defects in Baby Boys: Pregnant Moms’ Exposure is Key.

I cannot tell this story enough. For us, chiropractic has beenthe answer to a serious problem.

We were experiencing severe tantrums with Zachary, one of our two-and-a-half-year-old twins. The pediatrician said he wasnormal but at the “extreme end of the behavior scale.” As hismother, I wasn’t satisfied with this answer. I felt Zachary wasuncomfortable in some way or in some kind of pain, and I wasdesperately searching for answers.

Zachary’s tantrums would last up to an hour. They includedsobbing, nonsense babbling, throwing and breaking things,and often hurting himself, whether biting himself, pulling his hair, or hitting his own head. He’d throw himself down anywhere, once down a concrete staircase onto a concretepatio, often in the middle of the street, and just lose control.Sometimes he would repeat, “help me, help me, help me.”Almost anything could spark the tantrums, sometimes just a noise or sound he might not like. There could be as many as 5-6 hour-long tantrums a day.

The behavior started when Zach was just over a year old andseemed to be getting progressively worse. His communicationskills, which had developed early, were also regressing. Insteadof exchanging information in a typical toddler conversation, heoften simply repeated the question asked or words said to him.He usually preferred to sit alone rather than have someone sitnext to him.

We put him on a special diet that excluded sugar, wheat, dairy and more. We eliminated many cleaning chemicals andperfumes from our home fearing chemical sensitivity. There was some improvement, but not enough to make life with twin two-and-a-half-year-olds and a six-year-old manageable.

The destructive behavior was taking its toll on the entire family.

Fearing that one of us would soon need to be medicated, myhusband relented and allowed me to take Zachary to the chiro-practor. (Although I’ve been under chiropractic care regularlysince I was 15, my husband was initially opposed to treatmentfor children.) My goal was to relieve whatever it was that wascausing Zach pain or discomfort so that the tantrums wouldbecome more manageable for all of us.

Under steady chiropractic care, we immediately saw improve-ment in the degree of the tantrums. They initially continued tooccur almost as often, but were not as severe. After five weeksof regular visits, the results are nothing short of miraculous.

The tantrums are much more sporadic and last just 5-10 min-utes. Zachary’s grandparents have commented that you can seethat he sometimes makes a conscious effort for control, andoften wins the battle. We can often reason him out of a tantrum,and can work with him to “stay calm.” But there’s more.

His communications skills are back to normal for his age. Heinitiates conversations again, comments reasonably on things,and asks and responds to questions. But perhaps my favoriteimprovement is the emotional one. He sits with me all the timeand will give me all the kisses and hugs I ask for. He says, “Ilove you, Mommy,” whenever the feeling strikes him. I couldn’tbe happier.

Although some people are skeptical that chiropractic was theanswer, they say Zachary simply outgrew the behavior pattern.I might agree, except that the improvement has been suddenand threefold. His behavior, communication and emotionalresponses have all improved drastically, and the improvementscoincide perfectly with his visits to our chiropractor. I mustadmit myself the improvements are more than I expected, but all I could have hoped for.

Susan Boerchers, freelance writer, wife, mother and chiropracticadvocate.

We put him on a special diet that

excluded wheat, dairy and more. We eliminated

many cleaning chemicals and perfumes from

our home fearing chemical sensitivity. There

was some improvement, but not enough…

Perhaps my favorite improvement is the emotional

one. He sits with me all the time and will give

me all the kisses and hugs I ask for. He says,“I love you, Mommy.”

Do you have a chiropractic story about yourself or a familymember that you want to share with us?

Send it to: [email protected] and we will use it in anupcoming issue in Pathways to allow more parents tounderstand the many benefits of family chiropractic care.

Zachary’s Storyte

stim

onia

l


Questions Parents Frequently Ask About Children and Chiropractic

Why?

Children are as susceptible to trauma in their spines from various activi-ties and events. These microtraumas can subluxate the vertebrae of thespine, placing pressure on their spinal nerves and therefore decreasingtheir bodies’ ability to function normally. Although symptoms, such aspain and malfunction may not show up for years, injury to their vital nervous system can have a lifetime of damaging effects.

When?

Children should be checked right after birth because of the potentialdamaging effects of the birth process. Even the most natural births are somewhat traumatic to the infant and may have “hidden damage.”Studies show that many children who experience symptoms of colic, ear infections and asthma have spinal subluxations impairing their nervous system function. Early detection and correction can prevent layers of damage from occurring in the child's vital nervous system.Accumulated damage will have lifelong consequences.

Does it Hurt?

Chiropractors specializing in children use very specific, gentle techniquesto care for children. On the very young, the adjustment is as light as a fingertouch. Doctors of Chiropractic who are members of the InternationalChiropractic Pediatric Association have taken postgraduate classes onspecific techniques for pregnant mothers, infants and children to enhancetheir skills in this field.

How?

Most of the members of theInternational ChiropracticPediatric Association offercomplimentary consulta-tions, giving parents the

opportunity to meet them,find out about chiropractic

for their families and discuss their individual needs.


what does lovemean?

When my grandmother got arthritis, shecouldn’t bend over and paint her toenails

anymore. So my grandfather does it for herall even when his hands got arthritis, too.

That’s Love.

Rebecca - age 8

When someone loves you, the way they sayyour name is different. You just know that

your name is safe in their mouth.

Billy - age 4

Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they

go out and smell each other.

Karl - age 5

Love is when you go out to eat and givesomebody most of your French fries without

making them give you any of theirs.

Chris - age 6

Love is what makes you smile when you’re tired.

Terri - age 4

Love is when my mommy makes coffee formy daddy and she takes a sip before giving

it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.

Danny - age 7

Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you

still want to be together and you talk more.My Mommy and Daddy are like that.

They look gross when they kiss.

Emily - age 8

Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening

presents and listen.

Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)

If you want to learn to love better, youshould start with a friend who you hate.

Nikka - age 6

Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.

Noelle - age 7

Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after

they know each other so well.

Tommy - age 6

During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people

watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that.

I wasn’t scared anymore.

Cindy - age 8

My mommy loves me more than anybody.You don’t see anyone else kissing me

to sleep at night.

Clare - age 6

Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.

Elaine-age 5

Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.

Chris - age 7

Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.

Mary Ann - age 4

I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has

to go out and buy new ones.

Lauren - age 4

When you love somebody, your eyelashes goup and down and little stars come out of you.

Karen - age 7

Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn’t think it’s gross.

Mark - age 6

You really shouldn’t say “I love you” unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.

Jessica - age 8

And the final one—Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of thecontest was to find the most caring child.

(Now this will melt your heart.)

The winner was a four-year-old child whosenext door neighbor was an elderly gentlemanwho had recently lost his wife. Upon seeingthe man cry, the little boy went into the oldgentleman’s yard, climbed onto his lap, andjust sat there. When his Mother asked himwhat he had said to the neighbor, the littleboy said, “Nothing, I just helped him cry.”

l o v e

&the

Heart Warming

Innocenceof

c h i l d r e nA group of professional

people posed this question toa group of 4- to 8-year olds:

“What does love mean?”

The answers they got werebroader and deeper than

anyone could have imagined.See what you think…

www.icpa4kids.org/e-news.htm

More and more parents are taking an activerole in choosing wellness for their families.

Our free e-newsletter brings pertinentresearch and topics right to your desk so you have the resources to make informedhealth care choices.

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Pathways to Family Wellness - Issue #06