Remember your Monthly Breast Exam

Your monthly breast exam takes a few minutes, but the few minutes are worth it. If you are like me, it's because I am busy that I forget. But think of it this way, if you get breast cancer that is undetected until it's too late for the BEST help, then you don't have many minutes left.



I suggest you use the day the menstrual period finishes as the day each month to do this. If you choose to do it before your menstrual period, the fluid accumulation that occasionally occurs will confuse the exam. Report any suspicious lumps, drainage, lopsided bumps, painful or painless to your medical physician. When you call, you are talking to a receptionist, who is traditionally a non-medical person. Ask to speak to your doctor's nurse for the earliest appointment.



Most women don't enjoy their yearly female physical. But after 25 years of experience nursing in the mother/baby field, I have seen many cases where the problems that could have been prevented if diagnosed early were found TOO LATE.



Don't be one of those women. Write down your exam date for breasts monthly and your exam month for your yearly physically yearly.



Later,
Cyndi Eaton

RISKS of Cesarean Delivery to Mother and Baby

Please consider this information before opting for a Cesarean Section for your convenience.

• You risk death 5-7 times more than with vaginal birth
• complications during and after surgery include surgical injury to the bladder, uterus and blood vessels, hemorrhage (1-6 women per 100 require a blood transfusion) blood clots in the legs (6-20 per 1000), pulmonary embolism (1-2 per 1000), paralysed bowel(10-20 per 100~mild cases, 1 per 100 severe cases), infection (up to 50 times more common), anesthesia accidents.
• 1/10 women report problems with normal activities for 2 months after the C/S birth...
• Twice as many women require re-hospitalization
• Negative emotions are reported by twice as many women for unplanned C/S
• Related to C/S being an abdominal surgery, internal scar tissue can cause pelvic pain, pain during sexual intercourse, and bowel problems.
• Increase sterility, miscarriage, placenta previa, abruption of the placenta, premature birth, uterine rupture.

Hazards to the BABY for Cesarean Section include:

• for planned C/S. some babies will be inadvertently be delivered prematurely. These babies may then experience breastfeeding problems.
• 1-2 babies per 100 will be cut during the surgery.
• babies are 50 percent more likely to have low APGAR scores, requiring assistance with breathing, and 5 times more likely to be admitted to intensive or intermediate care units.
• Babies born after elective C/S are likely to develop persistent pulmonary hypertension compared with vaginally birthed babies.
• Mother's have more difficulty forming an attachment to the baby.
• Babies are less likely to breastfeed.

Reference:

Coalition for Improving Maternity Services, N.D. The risks of cesarean delivery to mother and baby: A CIMS Fact Sheet: Retrieved by Google website, November 20, 2007, http://www.motherfriendly.org.

Smoking and Pregnancy DON'T Mix!

Smoking and being pregnant don't mix, for several reasons. If you smoke while you are pregnant, then your baby is more likely to:

• be born too soon or too small to be healthy


• die suddenly from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)


• experience asthma or breathing difficulty


• exhibit behavior problems


• perform poorly in school


• grow up to be a smoker, and pass on this terrible heritage


• For more online help:


• http://www.smokefree.gov/


• www.quitnownc.org/iwant.htm


• http://www.americanlegacy.org/

SECOND HAND SMOKE is NO BETTER:

• opening a window may help clear the air, but not improvement enough. Scientists found babies' hair to still contain tobacco chemicals and urine also, even when the window was open and a fan was used.


• whether the baby breathes a lot or a little makes no difference. Babies' sensitive lungs still absorb nicotine, particles and harmful gases.


• second hand smoke contains 4000 chemicals which include carbon monoxide, the same chemical that comes from the car tailpipe. It can kill. The babies' lung work hard, and chances increase for bronchitis and pneumonia.


• babies who are exposed to secondhand smoke don't do well in school. It also doubles their risk of cavities in baby teeth, because it causes babies to have less saliva and more cavity-causing acid in their mouth.


• For Further web help:


• http://www.tobaccorealityunfiltered.com/


• http://www.smokefreenc.org/


• http://www.stepupnc.org/

REFERENCE sources:

(North Carolina Healthy Start Foundation:NC Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health-Women's and Children's Health Section, and the Health and Wellness Trust Fund Commission of North Carolina:'If you smoke and are pregnant: Get Real~Secondhand Smoke Matters.

Take Care When Your Baby Sleeps

-Use a "safety-approved" firm mattress and crib fitted sheet.

-Place your baby on his or her back for naps and at night sleep.

-Use clothing, instead of a blanket for warmth, as a sleeper.

-The infant needs one more layer than you would need to be warm. The room should be comfortable for you.

- DO NOT LET ANY PERSON, relative, friend SMOKE near your baby.

-Make sure nothing covers the baby's head.

-DO NOT use pillows or blankets, baby crib bumpers in your baby's sleep area. No soft toys, soft objects or loose bedding in the sleep area.

-Keep your baby's sleep area near you, but do not allow the baby to sleep in your bed. If you breastfeed your baby in your bed, when your baby is finished with the feeding, remove your baby from your bed and place your baby again in his/her own crib.

-Consider using a pacifier when the baby is laid down to sleep when the baby is at least a month old if you are breastfeeding.

-Using home monitors are not advised to reduce the risk of SIDS. Instead talk to your health provider.

-Provide "tummy time" by placing your baby on his/her abdomen three -four times a day, when you are right there with your baby to allow adequate stimulation of muscle development, and prevent the "flat spots". Reduce extra time in car seats, carriers, and baby bouncers.

Early Prenatal Care is the ONLY way!

Congratulations to all of you women and couples who are pregnant and excited. Congratulations also to all of you women who are not excited you are pregnant, and surprised or shocked that you are......you are in the majority, it seems.

I write to tell you to just go ahead and make a OB-GYN appointment at whichever service provider you can afford as soon as possible. (Yes, it's just fine to do a home pregnancy test first), because THE SOONER THAT YOU START YOUR MEDICAL CARE, THE HEALTHIER YOU AND YOUR BABY CAN BE.

I work as a nurse educator in a busy Birthing Center, but also at the bedside, as I have for 25 years with my BSN degree and now attending college to get my master's in education. I find that the women wait until they are "used to the pregnancy" "thought I should wait until three months to make sure I would carry the baby" "didn't want my family to know"....."didn't want my boyfriend to know"......"didn't want my church to know"....and many others.

But, the sooner you go, the sooner the doctor will have a baseline for your health, the baby's environment for growth, and give you the start up packet of information for having a healthy pregnancy.

For those of you who are surprised, you may indeed find a supportive list of agencies who can assist you with increased nutrition, and advise. Call social services, and look for free services under various names like a pregnancy care center where you can received advise, support and sometimes free items needed for the baby later. One public agency will often refer to other public agency who does a different service for your benefit. THE IMPORTANCE of just GETTING STARTED SOMEWHERE IN THE CIRCLE OF CARE just cannot be minimized. Please start.

In the years that I have worked, I have seen mother's with undiagnosed diabetes, sexually transmitted diseases, high blood pressure, all of which have started a labor and delivery way too early for the baby to survive. Yes, the mother gets served, but the baby didn't make it.

I have noticed a huge population of people, who once they are adults and don't have to go to the well-baby visits their parents took them to while they were yet at home, or college students, they just don't go for yearly or even every two year health check ups. This means that a portion of pregnant women who are getting pregnant just don't know their blood pressure is high, their blood sugar may be "borderline" (the pregnancy pushes them into "gestational diabetes" for the duration of the pregnancy), or they have a sexually transmitted disease which could be passed on the baby at birth.

For you who are surprised about the pregnancy, you will get used to the idea----probably as soon as you get the care provider waiting room. But you will never get used to the poor health consequences for you or the baby is you don't access the care providers care----SOON.

Have a nice day.