risk

so we talk about risk a lot in the birthing community. the risks of cesareans, the risks of breech deliveries etc.

i just started reading "the savvy woman patient" published by the society for women's health research and found out i was ignorant as to the two different kinds of risk: relative and absolute.

"relative risk is the amount of increase or decrease in whatever the study was designedto evaluate-breast cancer,heart disease,etc-over an entire population. So, for instance if a news report says that a certain medication doubles the risk of heart attack, it simply means that twice as many people taking the drug will have a heart attack as those not taking the drug.

absolute risk however, is the average persons risk of experiencing that side effect. so, for instance if you personally have a 5% risk of having a heart attack in your lifetime, then taking the drug increases your individual risk by another 5% resulting in a relative risk of 10%. in other words 10% is 5% doubled"

so if you're already at low risk of this or that and you double that low risk its still low risk.

just something to think about.

here are a few links on the topic as well

http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/171/4/353
http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/27000849/
http://gim.unmc.edu/dxtests/effect1.htm
http://jco.ascopubs.org/cgi/content/full/21/23/4263
http://www.springerlink.com/content/cr5246mv1l130870/

ama is at it again

the resolution regarding non-complient, hostile and abusive patients did not pass. but heres another resolution thats just as bad http://www.isms.org/physicians/special/ama/resolution605.pdf

i use the term "health care provider" often becasue not all healthcare providers are in fact physicians. my midwives are not physicians, my chiropractors are not physicians, heck my dentist is not a physician....

of course not all physicians are true HEALTH care providers.... 5 minute visit that ends with an rx? is that really health care?

i'll give them that hey do spend a lot of years in school and do have a lot of specialized knowledge....but so do other health care providers. and many of the other healthcare providers i use spend more time with me as a patient, give more counseling, and focus more on actual health.....

idaho midwifery bill

need to get back and post re the new idaho midwifery bill

some quick links
http://www.legislature.idaho.gov/legislation/2009/H0185Bookmark.htm
http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog.php?view=14569
http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://ptmi.blogspot.com/2009/06/interpretation.html&ct=ga&cd=7677g1wZtmk&usg=AFQjCNGHt-rohgPyy5XFrzb8RBeDKGlgXg

will have to think my own thought s on it though....

poor neglected blog

haven't posted too much lately....the bigger i get the less motivated i am to do it

but have bben stewing on somethings posted on facebook....re you tube and birth videos.the nyt ran an article recently about the trend of posting birth videos and then kneelingwoman ( http://closetotheroot.blogspot.com/ ) posted some thoughts as to thefact that so many of us in the natural childbirth community claim birth as a sacred and private act and the contradictions inherent in posting a "private" act on the internet.

heavy stuff to be thnking about. i doubt i would post a birth video on you tube myself...the hubster is too private for me to be able to do that. i know its my body but yk its his baby too....

but there are some beautifule videos posted. here are some of my favorites:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niJ6F2p9Ql8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7E-wULAaD50

well i thought i had more favorited than i did but go searching.....

other thoughts, i have started the first of the childbirth education series....plan to work on it some more this weekend, and i'll also check my email and post whatever turns up in the inbox that's interesting

oh and one more thought...the pharmacists yesterday made the mistake of saying that for most women who have sexual problems its psychological...i called bullshit on that but now i need to do some research to back myself up. will share when i find it...

childbirth education

this was such a great post filled with lots of good links i'm posting it all by itself

http://cfmidwifery.blogspot.com/2009/05/effectiveness-of-childbirth-education.html

the gist of it revolves around response to a study that came out recently that seems to indicate that childbirth education "doesn't work"

since i'm working on the first in what will become a continuing online cbe series i thought this would make a good kick-off

birth via videoconference, maternity services in australia, more benefits to breastfeeding.....

cleaning out my inbox and came across this sweet story http://www.kfdm.com/news/rose-30232-says-birth.html we ncb folks tend to be suspicious of technology sometimes but in this case technology actually contributed to normalcy....

and heres an opinion from australia regarding intervention in birth http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/caesarean-scar-mongers-should-zip-it-20090220-8dkm.html?page=-1 the article has a strong anti-midwife tone to it as seen in this quote " ... a review of maternity health services ordered by the Health Minister, Nicola Roxon, and due to report in the next few weeks, is expected to place more pressure on women to reject the so-called "medicalisation" of childbirth. The review is expected to pave the way for a midwife takeover.
A discussion paper released last year raised the prospect of expanded Medicare access for midwives, independent of doctors, which will increase the numbers of more risky home births. ..." they go on to state that research shows the medcalization of birth to be improving outcomes.

however i think that was before the tragedy with janet fraser. (just checked and yes it was)

the australian press really went into hyperdrive after that as seen in this article which has lots of links.... http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,25294178-5001021,00.html

ooh and heres a blog post that links to the report mentioned in the original article above http://viv.id.au/blog/20090221.3841/maternity-services-review-medicare-payments-to-obs-up-from-77m-to-211m-since-2004/ heres the report link if you want to skip the blog post (although the post is pretty much a cheat sheet on the report ) http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/64A5ED5A5432C985CA25756000172578/$File/Improving%20Maternity%20Services%20in%20Australia%20-%20The%20Report%20of%20the%20Maternity%20Services%20Review.pdf

ireland is also reviewing their maternity services. apparently their system utilizes stand alone maternity hospitals http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0220/health.html



and heres a study that indicates breastfeeding reduces risk of a relapse more that resuming medication for moms with ms http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/article9936.ece " ... "It turns out that the women who are going right back on medications [and not breastfeeding] are doing the worst. They are at the highest risk of relapse," said lead researcher Annette Langer-Gould. ..." and heres an article that goes into a little bit more detail http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/AAN/13030 and heres another article that references an older study that reached a different conclusion http://www.aan.com/elibrary/neurologytoday/?event=home.showArticle&id=ovid.com:/bib/ovftdb/00132985-200903190-00013

and heres an article from florida re midwifery business http://www.wctv.tv/news/headlines/40031382.html

heres an interesting article about nurse practitioners.... http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/02/21/20090221nursepractitioners0220.html

and an article about the societal impact of shorter maternity leaves http://www.sundayherald.com/life/people/display.var.2490823.0.0.php it contrasts a speedy return to regaular activity with the more traditional practice of babymooning

well the littlest little is up from a nap now so i guess i will close for now