The American Way of Birth: Trauma and Brain Damage

(excerpt from a letter to a legislator)

Source: http://members.tranquility.net/~rwinkel/MGM/birthUSA3.txt

Munchausen Obstetrics

... I've been horrified to discover a pattern of wholesale

institutionalized medical malpractice and quackery surrounding the

business of birth and child health. I can't account for how this

could have come to pass, but the science is difficult to ignore.

First let me mention the epidemiology: a steadily rising rate of

symptoms of trauma and brain damage, including ADHD, autism, mental

illness and addiction among US-born people, a trend dating back to

the post-WWII period when certain obstetrical practices became

commonplace.

These practices are now thoroughly entrenched and seem to be immune

from appeals to science, human rights or common sense. It appears

that medicine views the bodies of women and children as some kind

of empty wilderness waiting to be conquered and colonized.

I assume you're familiar with some of the huge body of research

relating to the enduring effects of early imprinting and abuse of

children. Everything from post traumatic stress to sadism, suicide

and specific suicide methods have been strongly connected to early

experiences in infancy.

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/317/7169/1346

http://www.cirp.org/library/pain/anand4/

http://www.cirp.org/library/psych/jacobsen1/

http://www.cirp.org/library/psych/prescott2/

The implication is that this is the most pivotal time to ensure

that the rights and well-being of children are respected and

protected, not just for their sake, but for the sake of the people

who's lives they impact as adults.

Briefly, this crucial imperative is simply a non-factor in american

birthing practices. The huge dinosaur of american obstetrics is

creating generation after generation of unconsciously traumatized

and often subtly brain-damaged people, people whose lives are often

subsequently burdened with criminal behavior, learning difficulties,

ADHD, addiction, depression and other mental illnesses and symptoms

of brain damage. These iatrogenic outcomes are entirely preventable,

in fact in most cases can be avoided at less cost than the procedures

which cause them. The question of whose interests are served by

making birth needlessly difficult I'll leave to your imagination.

The american way of birth (unfortunately spreading world wide) has

now been linked to large increases in rates of mental ailments

including depression, anxiety disorders, substance abuse and

dependencies by at least 2 large well controlled studies, which

both studiously avoided the most obvious conclusion.

http://www.math.missouri.edu/~rich/MGM/birthUSA1.txt

http://www.math.missouri.edu/~rich/MGM/birthUSA2.txt

While long-debunked but expedient medical claims that infants are

somehow "insensitive to pain" continue to provide endless fodder for

ivory tower medical studies,

http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/second/chamberlain.html

http://www.math.missouri.edu/~rich/MGM/blog/infant_pain.txt

post traumatic stress reactions have been noted in american infants

returning to hospitals, again while neglecting the obvious possibility

that they were remembering birth-related trauma.

http://www.math.missouri.edu/~rich/MGM/oldrefs/www.drkoop.com/newsdetail/93/512690.html

In fact these researchers actually call for more medical intervention

to treat "mentally ill infants," preparing the ground for the wholesale

"mental health" screening, drugging and further brain-damaging of infants,

http://www.ahrp.org/cms/content/view/404/31

a pharmocorporate-funded initiative which is already well underway with

teenagers.

http://www.psychsearch.net/teenscreen.html

http://www.teenscreen-locations.com/

http://ablechild.org/psycho-stimulant%20efect%20on%20children.htm

The level of narcissism and denial going on in medicine surely

deserves a DSM category all its own.

Furthermore, most of the medical "heroics" which lead to these

iatrogenic outcomes are a product of legal pressures

and medical culture and incentives rather than responses

to actual medical crises. For instance:

1) "The majority of hospitals and obstetricians in this country (still)

insist on a birthing position that quite literally makes the baby,

following the curve of the birth canal, be born heading upwards.

States Williams: "The most widely used and often the most satisfactory

(position for delivery) is the dorsal lithotomy position on a

delivery table with leg supports" (Cunningham et al. 1989:315). No

reasons why this position is "the most satisfactory" are given, but

a strong clue is provided in an earlier text:

The lithotomy position is the best. Here the patient lies with

her legs in stirrups and her buttocks close to the lower edge

of the table. The patient is in the ideal position for the

attendant to deal with any complications which may arise (Oxorn

and Foote 1975:110)

"This position, in other words, is the easiest for performing obstetric

interventions, including maintaining sterility, monitoring fetal

heart rate, administering anesthetics, and performing and repairing

episiotomies (McKay and Mahan 1984:111).

"Roberto Caldeyro-Barcia, past president of the International

Federation of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, states unequivocally,

"Except for being hanged by the feet, the supine position is the

worst conceivable position for labor and delivery""

Lithotomy Position

http://www.birthingnaturally.net/barp/lithotomy.html

This dysfunctional medicalized birthing position is the cause of

most difficulties and medical interventions in birth, interventions

which are often traumatic and dangerous to both the baby and the mother.

2) "Immediate clamping of the umbilical cord at birth has become a

standard procedure during the past two decades. This merits

investigation as the cause of increased incidence of autism. Clamping

of the umbilical cord before the lungs function induces a period

of total asphyxia and produces severe hypovolemia by preventing

placental transfusion - a 30% to 50% loss of blood volume - resulting

in a hypoxic, ischemic neonate at risk for brain damage.

As in circulatory arrest and other factors that disrupt aerobic

metabolism, damage of brainstem nuclei and the cerebellum can result.

Visible damage seen in some cases of autism also involves brainstem

nuclei and the cerebellum. The brainstem auditory pathway is

especially vulnerable to brief total asphyxia. Impairment of the

auditory system can be linked to verbal auditory agnosia, which

underlies the language disorder in some children with autism.

Due to blood loss into the placenta, the immediately clamped neonate

is very prone to develop infant anemia that has been widely correlated

with mental deficiency and learning / behavior disorders that become

evident in grade school.

We propose that increased incidence of autism, infant anemia,

childhood mental disorders and hypoxic ischemic brain damage, all

originate at birth from one cause - immediate umbilical cord clamping.

This deserves to be investigated as extensively as genetics or

exposure to toxic substances as an etiological factor for autism.

Normal cord closure, with placental oxygenation and transfusion,

prevents asphyxia and ischemia. Allowing physiological cord closure

at every delivery could at least reduce the incidence of birth brain

injuries."

... "Immediate clamping of the umbilical cord before the child has

breathed (ICC) has been condemned in obstetrical literature for

over 200 years. [1] [2] In the 1970s, primate research [A][3][4]

using ICC to produce neonatal asphyxia resulted in brain lesions

similar to those of human neonatal asphyxia."

http://www.cordclamp.org

Offline? Use: http://www.math.missouri.edu/~rich/www.cordclamp.com/

http://www.math.missouri.edu/~rich/MGM/ICCInjury.txt

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6949700.stm

Anemia resulting from premature clamping may lead to long-term

cognitive deficiencies, even where iron supplements are given:

http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/160/11/1108

SIDS has been correlated with abnormalities in neurochemical

metabolism in the brainstem, which is the area most affected by

ICC. http://www.math.missouri.edu/~rich/MGM/blog/sids.txt

The finding that boys are more vulnerable to the effects of ICC

than girls correlates with higher rates of both SIDS and autism

among boys.

http://www.math.missouri.edu/~rich/MGM/blog/umbilical_gender.txt

The trauma of being asphyxiated at birth after losing half your

blood to the placenta can only be imagined.

3) "In 1975, the College Entrance Examination Board commissioned an

advisory panel to examine the possible reasons for an alarming

continuing decline in the scores of high school students on the

Scholastic Aptitude Tests or, "SAT's," a decline which had started

with the 18-year-olds born in 1945 and thereafter. From 1963 to

1977, the score average on the verbal part of the SAT's fell 49

points. The mathematical scores declined 31 points. (1) (...)

"The SAT is designed to be an unchanging measurement. Considerable

effort has been made to keep the test a sufficiently constant measure

so that any particular score received on a current test indicates

the same level of ability to do college work that the same score

did 36 or 20 or 5 or 2 years ago. The SAT measures individual

students' capacities not only in comparison with their peers in the

particular group but also in comparison with those who took the

test in earlier years .... The SAT score decline does not result

from changes in the test or in the methods of scoring it." (2) (...)

"What happened around 1945 that might have contributed to declining

academic performance in the United States in the years that followed?

Consider this brief history: According to figures from the National

Center for Health Statistics, hospitals were the setting for only

36.9% of American births in 1936. By 1945 that figure had more than

doubled to 78.8%. In 1950, 88% of Americans were born in hospitals.

In 1960 the figure was 96.6% and in 1970, 99.4%. (...)

"A reading of the obstetric literature indicates that there had

always been philosophic differences among doctors regarding normal

childbirth. There were those who felt it was best to allow nature

to take its course and there were those who felt that intervention

was better. In the years following the 40s and under the stresses

of the population explosion, there was a tremendous acceleration

of intervention in obstetric care. Instead of adapting to the

time-consuming demands of normal childbirth, the obstetric community

(with very few exceptions) changed normal childbirth to conform to

the comfort of the mothers and the convenience of the doctors,

hospital staffs and hospital routines -- all at the expense of the

fetus and newborn."

http://www.aimsusa.org/academic.htm

4) "ABSTRACT: Twenty years of clinical and behavioral observation

indicate that cesarean births cause considerable trauma to babies.

The physical and psychological effects are subtle and powerful,

occurring at the unconscious level of the infant psyche. Negative

impacts include excessive crying, feeding difficulties, sleeping

difficulties, colic, and tactile defensiveness. There also may be

long-term psychological effects such as rescue complexes, inferiority

complexes, poor self-esteem, and other dysfunctional behaviors and

feelings."

http://www.eheart.com/cesarean/emerson.html

"Prima Non Nocere: Iatrogenic Cesareans

"When used inappropriately, medical interventions interfere with the

normal process of birth and increase the risk of complications and

cesarean deliveries.28, 29 A US national survey of birth practices

revealed that 93 percent of women had electronic fetal monitoring,

86 percent had intravenous fluids administered through a blood

vessel in their arm (an IV), 55 percent had their amniotic sac

membranes artificially ruptured, 53 percent had oxytocin to strengthen

contractions, and 63 percent had epidurals for pain relief. More

than a third of labors were artificially induced. Almost three

quarters of the women were restricted to bed, and three out of four

were on their backs while pushing their babies out.30

"(...) Our physicians actively resist the implementation of

evidence-based practice and dont believe a cesarean rate in the low

twenties is a problem.31

"Personal accounts from women who have had a cesarean, as well as

emerging research, suggest that despite a healthy baby and a timely

physical recovery, some women experience cesarean birth as a

traumatic event. An unanticipated cesarean is more likely to

increase the risk for postpartum depression and post-traumatic

stress disorder (PTSD). As in other traumatic human experiences,

the symptoms of birth-related PTSD may emerge weeks, months, or years

after the event.9,11 Women re-experience the birth and the emotions

associated with it in dreams or thought intrusions. They avoid

places or people that remind them of the event. Some mothers have

difficulty relating to their infants, and some will avoid sexual

contact that may result in pregnancy. They will also exhibit

symptoms of hyperarousal, such as difficulty sleeping or concentrating,

irritability, and an excessive startle response. Untreated

post-traumatic stress often leads to clinical depression.12"

http://www.mothering.com/articles/pregnancy_birth/cesarean_vbac/sorry-state.html

The Emotional Scars of Cesarean Birth

http://www.obgyn.net/women/women.asp?page=/pb/articles/emotional_cs_scar

5) "The practice of routinely cutting the perineum during hospital

deliveries in the United States, episiotomy, has been shown to be

the principal risk factor for severe tearing during delivery, which

is the injury that it is supposed to prevent. Nonetheless American

obstetricians continue to overuse this procedure ten times more

often than is called for. Episiotomy is also a major risk factor

for infection, loss of sexual pleasure, and incontinence. Women who

have been subjected to episiotomies take longer to heal from delivery,

even compared to women who have equivalent tears."

Episiotomy: Ritual Genital Mutilation in Western Obstetrics

http://www.changesurfer.com/Hlth/episiotomy.html

6) Male circumcision has been linked to severe child psychological

trauma, http://www.cirp.org/library/psych/cansever/

adult male violence, addiction and violence against women,

http://www.cirp.org/library/psych/rhinehart1/

and brain damage.

http://www.cirp.org/library/psych/immerman2/

http://www.cirp.org/library/psych/brain_damage/

Other research implies that the neurological impact

of circumcision is likely to lead to adult violence,

sadomasochism and addiction.

http://www.birthpsychology.com/violence/prescott.html

http://www.cirp.org/library/psych/prescott2/

Contrary to popular belief, most american physicians who practice

circumcision still don't administer anesthetic of any kind, except

for whatever residual obstetrical sedatives which might still be

circulating in the baby's blood.

http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/no-index/about-ama/13585.shtml

Video of a circumcision:

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-6584757516627632617

The circumcision imprint:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmX6RdRNoqk

Circumcision HR primer:

http://www.math.missouri.edu/~rich/MGM/primer.html

7) "Pit to Distress" is the apparently common obstetrical practice

of deliberately overdosing a birthing mother with the induction

drug pitocin in order to create a medical emergency "necessitating"

a cesarean.

http://pregnancy.about.com/b/2009/07/10/pit-to-distress.htm

Again, zero consideration is paid to the baby's subjective experience

of essentially suffering a miscarriage. Normal labor is initiated

by the fetus, not the mother. Most likely this would be imprinted

by the baby as total maternal rejection.

Check out this horror show. A mailing list for ob-gyn's detailing

how they use cytotec (a drug approved for gastric ulcers, which was

discovered to cause miscarriages) to force delivery on demand.

Massive hemorrhages and uterine ruptures have resulted. These

people have lost their minds.

http://www.sciencebasedbirth.com/Citations%20or%20text%2002/Cytotec_EmailsDocs_1990s.htm

8) An internal fetal heart monitor consists of a sensor with a

stainless steel corkscrew which is inserted into the vagina and

screwed into the baby's head or other body part prior to delivery.

http://www.mybirth.com.au/assets/internalmonitorclose.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rzzin8ha4CQ

9) "Myth: Epidurals are safe for mother and baby.

"Fact: An epidural increases the odds of cesarean for lack of progress

somewhere between 2- and 8-fold, especially in first-time moms and

causes fetal distress in about 10% of babies."

http://www.hencigoer.com/obmyth/

"Administration of multiple doses of opiates, barbiturates and

nitrous oxide to mothers during delivery were found to increase the

occurrence of subsequent opiate (RR 4.7, 95% CI 1.8-12.0, p = 0.002)

or amphetamine (RR 5.6, 95% CI 1.6-16.9, p = 0.005) addiction in

the offspring as compared to when no drug was given [22, 23]."

http://www.cirp.org/library/pain/anand4/

Epidural During Birth May Negatively Affect Breast-Feeding

http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/feeds/hscout/2006/12/11/hscout536503.html

Epidural is usually given in combination with pitocin, a combination

which may deprive the baby of oxygen by lowering maternal blood pressure

while increasing intra-uterine pressure, inhibiting oxygen diffusion

across the placental membrane. Pitocin use is associated with autism.

http://www.answers.com/topic/epidural-therapy

http://www.autismtoday.com/articles/ATTN_Researchers.htm

10) The medical community's "guidance" on breastfeeding is a scandal

in itself. Even without the now abundant evidence of the immunological,

nutritional, intellectual and psychological benefits of breastfeeding

for the baby, and its psychological, hormonal and physiological

benefits for post-partum mothers, common sense and human empathy

would strongly argue against intervening in this intimate time of

mother-child bonding. Yet generations of american children have

been denied this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for normal health,

growth and emotional well being on the basis of little more than

uninformed medical hubris working in concert with a well-financed

corporate marketing campaign. The social costs of this medically

inspired mass emotional neglect are predictable.

http://www.theecologist.org/trial_investigations/268337/breastmilk_vs_formula_food.html

http://www.lalecheleague.org/NB/NBbenefits.html

http://www.math.missouri.edu/~rich/MGM/blog/BFeedingIQ.txt

http://www.math.missouri.edu/~rich/MGM/blog/BFStemCell.txt

http://www.babymilkaction.org/

http://www.babymilkaction.org/shop/pcards.html#twins

Hospitals receive kickbacks from formula companies for handing out

formula to new mothers, interfering with the crucial first few days

when breastfeeding must be initiated:

http://banthebags.org/48

Meanwhile, the US WIC program for low income families distributes vouchers

for infant formula, promoting poor health and lower IQ among poor children:

http://www.homelandstupidity.us/2007/05/21/wic-killing-children-with-kindness/

11) Loss of ecstatic birth experience (epidurals)

adversely affects mother/child bonding & child empowerment

http://www.sarahjbuckley.com/articles/ecstatic-birth.htm

12) Early tactile and vestibular (balance) sensory deprivation

imprinting ("swaddling", hosp. nurseries, baby carriers etc)

imprints sociopathy.

http://www.violence.de/

http://www.violence.de/tv/rockabye.html

Birth trauma combined with early maternal rejection (e.g. immediate

mother deprivation in a hospital "isolette", lack of carrying and

breastfeeding etc, which is likely perceived as rejection by mammalian

infants) predispose to violent crime.

http://www.tranquility.net/~rwinkel/janel/BirthComplicRejection.html

"Three new studies led by Notre Dame Psychology Professor Darcia

Narvaez show a relationship between child rearing practices common

in foraging hunter-gatherer societies (how we humans have spent

about 99 percent of our history) and better mental health, greater

empathy and conscience development, and higher intelligence in

children. "Our research shows that the roots of moral functioning

form early in life, in infancy, and depend on the affective quality

of family and community support," says Narvaez, who specializes in

the moral and character development of children. ...

"Narvaez identifies six characteristics of child rearing that were

common to our distant ancestors:

Lots of positive touch - as in no spanking - but nearly constant

carrying, cuddling and holding

Prompt response to baby's fusses and cries. You can't "spoil"

a baby. This means meeting a child's needs before they get upset

and the brain is flooded with toxic chemicals. "Warm, responsive

caregiving like this keeps the infant's brain calm in the years

it is forming its personality and response to the world," Narvaez says

Breastfeeding, ideally 2 to 5 years. A child's immune system

isn't fully formed until age 6 and breast milk provides its

building blocks

Multiple adult caregivers - people beyond mom and dad who also

love the child

Free play with multi-age playmates. Studies show that kids who

don't play enough are more likely to have ADHD and other mental

health issues

Natural childbirth, which provides mothers with the hormone

boosts that give the energy to care for a newborn.

http://newsinfo.nd.edu/news/16829-research-shows-child-rearing-practices-of-distant-ancestors-f/

13) Vaccines

Regressive-type autistic children have a genetic trait which hinders

their ability to eliminate heavy metals (such as mercury) from their

bodies. http://www.math.missouri.edu/~rich/MGM/blog/autism.txt

Contrary to popular belief, the FDA is still (as of May 2012) approving

mercury in multidose flu vaccine vials:

http://www.vaccinesafety.edu/thi-table.htm

Since flu vaccine is given annually, american children are likely getting

more exposure to mercury than ever before.

Baby monkeys subjected to the equivalent of the standard US pediatric

vaccination schedule developed autism.

http://vactruth.com/2012/04/29/monkeys-get-autism/

14) Twilight sleep: It's a remarkable fact that perhaps a majority of

americans born in the last century were imprinted with a combination of

morphine and scopolamine (belladonna, an hallucinogen which produces

delirium) in order to induce amnesia in the mother, so she wouldn't

remember the severe trauma of an american birth. Of course she was

totally emotionally removed from the arrival of her baby as a result.

Researching the long term psychological impact of this concoction

on the baby would be an interesting project, especially in light

of the imprinting research linked above.

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=10226

"Flat earth obstetrics is a 21st century version of a medical Dark

Ages, in which contemporary medicine has forgotten or ignored the

traditional knowledge base and physiological principles necessary

for normal labor and safe, spontaneous birth. Flat Earth Obstetrics

is the belief that medical and surgical interventions are necessary

in every normal childbirth, despite evidence that such a policy is

harmful. The term is derived from the insistence by religious and

political leaders during the Dark Ages that the earth was flat

despite evidence to the contrary.

"The problem with the current form of obstetrical care in the United

States is the uncritical acceptance of an unscientific method --

the routine use of interventionist obstetrics for healthy women

with normal pregnancies.

"Medicalizing normal childbearing in healthy women makes childbirth

unnecessarily and artificially dangerous."

"Obstetrics has been rated as the least scientifically-based specialty

in medicine" [Dr. Ian Chalmers 1987].

http://www.sciencebasedbirth.com/

OB's are routinely pulling babies out with forceps and suction

machines, twisting their necks and spines to compensate for the

dysfunctional birth position. Babies often come out with huge

bruises, dents and bulges on their heads where various devices were

attached. Presumably the brain and spinal cord are easily injured

by such procedures.

The real kicker in all this is how easy it would be to avoid:

The Truth About Birth

http://unassistedbirth.com/uc/truth.html

Leaving Well Alone: A Natural Approach to the Third Stage of Labour

http://www.childbirthsolutions.com/articles/birth/thirdstage/index.php

"I always thought there was no other way for me to give birth- that

I was a birthing failure; incapable of birthing without an induction

jumpstart or a surgical incision. For five childbirths I always

"needed" my doctors to create my birth experiences for me, and to

save me from my own birthing inefficiency and hopelessness. (I was

actually addicted to their "helping" me, and was always effusive

in my gratitude for their efforts.) But then with my sixth, I just

couldn't do it again- I couldn't go back to another hospital to

give birth... I was just too hurt and broken inside.

"I found a lay midwife, and had the beautiful, easy birth that I am

intended to have. I finally gave birth as a full, luscious woman-

all my own hormones, in my own safe place- with no fingers in me,

or straps on my belly. (Or knives in my belly.) I simply pushed my

baby out and went to bed."

A letter from Leilah McCracken

http://www.birthlove.com

Early organized medicine saw midwifery was successfully competing

with them in terms of safety and affordability while undermining their

claims to scientific authority, so they mounted a campaign to

force them out of the birthing business in the early 20th century

http://www.collegeofmidwives.org/safety_issues01/rosenbl1.htm

The next thing our altruistic medical profession did, after eliminating

one of the few professional opportunities available to women at the

time, was to discard their accumulated wisdom and pathologize and

try to control the whole process, rather than let nature take its

course. The results have been disasterous.

It seems medicine's appreciation for its own level of ignorance and

incentives to interfere is inspired by the chemical industry's

approach to the safety of its own products: innocent until

proven guilty. But while the economically conflicted medical

research establishment is busy catching up with monkeys and dogs

in its understanding of birth and child care, children are being

hurt, with often life-long consequences.

I urge you to investigate this issue. Once you crack open this

pandora's box, I guarantee your life will never be the same. But

you will have many allies, and as public awareness is raised, this

country will experience a time of self-reflection that will profoundly

change it for the better.

Thank you. Rich Winkel

Videos:

Birth as we know it

http://www.birthasweknowit.com/trailer.html

Orgasmic birth is nature's way of creating an immediate,

over-the-top, animalistic bond of a new mother to her baby

http://orgasmicbirth.com/

The business of being born

http://www.thebusinessofbeingborn.com/

The other side of the glass

(a birth film for fathers)

http://www.theothersideoftheglass.com