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I am a 44 year old single mother of two beautiful children; Brian 20, and Nicole 17. Being a mom is the thing I am most proud of; I could sit and ta...
 
 
 
 

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In Health News: Autism Awareness, Maternal Health, and Postpartum Depression

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I decided to post on some of the interesting health and wellness issues that have been in the news this week...

Starting with the Autism Speaks website...They now have video examples of children with autism, compared to children without, in the hopes of helping parents recognize early signs of the disease. Also, a new study shows that the United States is lagging behind in maternal health, and the House urges health agencies to expand research into Postpartum Depression.

With 1 in every 150 children having some degree of Autism, knowing the symptoms and being diagnosed early is critical. This week Autism Speaks is helping parents learn what is common behavior for most children, as compared to what is common in an Autistic child, with the use of videos.

See this Associated Press Video on the new website. (2 minutes)

Please keep in mind that there are many presenting features associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) that are depicted in the video clips you are about to see. However, most children do not show all of the features all of the time. Instead, many children have some of the features some of the time. Awareness of these common presenting features may help to heighten your index of suspicion. Individually, they may not indicate a problem; however, in combination, they may indicate a need to conduct a screening or a diagnostic evaluation. Not all signs and features need be present for ASD to be diagnosed.

By viewing these videos of symptoms found in Autism, parents can help recognize a potential problem early, and bring it to the attention of their child's pediatrician.

As always, there are critics of this idea who believe that these videos may cause unnecessary worry for parents. However, as both a nurse and a mother, I would say that the potential benefits to parents viewing these videos, far outweighs any potential risk of undue worry.

In spite of all the controversy over the treatment and the politics of Autism, I think one thing everyone can agree on, is the importance of early diagnosis and treatment. With such a short amount of time that a child will actually spend with their doctor, parents are the first line of defense when it comes to recognizing the symptoms their children are exhibiting.

Then there is a new study showing that the United States is lagging behind in maternal health, this also happens to be a topic that is being addressed by the BlogHer community, through BlogHers Act. I found the statistics on this quite disturbing, and shocking. We do still live in the richest country in the world, right?

The United States has a far higher death rate than the European average, the report shows, with one in 4,800 U.S. women dying from complications of pregnancy or childbirth, the same as Belarus and just slightly better than Serbia's rate of one in 4,500.

Just one out of 47,600 women in Ireland die during or just after childbirth, the report found. Bosnia had the second-lowest rate, with 1 in 29,000 women dying during pregnancy and childbirth. -- read full article here

The United States is ranked 41st in the world for maternal mortality, with 1 in 4,800 women dying from pregnancy complications.This is what they are saying at Chrone Speaks...

While the BBC article uses a graph from the Lancet, showing the rise or drop in maternal mortality around the world, I’d like to point out that the US is lumped in with other developing nations.

However, just a few short months ago, in August, there was a very disturbing report that maternal mortality rates were rising in the US.

Causes of the rising maternal mortality rates for the US can be listed in a few short words:

  1. abstinence only education
  2. closing women’s clinics
  3. laws restricting (safe) abortions

I hope the anti-abortionist take note of this — they are the principle reason why women are dying untimely deaths — the rate of unsafe abortions has not changed since 1995.

They make a pretty good point...Look what is happening in Aurora, with the attempt to stop the opening of a Planned Parenthood there. If one truly cares about life, then one should care about all life, including women and mothers. It seems to me there is a degree of rational thought that is sometimes being excluded from many people's biblical interpretation of life. And ignoring that only results in more lives lost...When

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alyssaroyse 5 pts

Thanks to a lot of road time this weekend, i was listening to many episodes of This American Life podcasts. There was one called Unconditional Love, which I highly recommend, and it made me gasp and cry. The last part of it, "Act Two: Hit Me With Your Best Shot" is about 2 parents who made the tough decision to put there severely autistic - and violent - son in a residential treatment center. I don't know much about autism, but this story gave me some good insight into stuff I had never thought about. Here's a link, if you're interested. http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode... As an aside, although the autism story was incredible, the first parts of the show really touched me even more, i HIGHLY recommend it.
___________
Alyssa Royse
JUST CAUSE
make some good news!
www.JustCauseIt.com ( http://www.JustCauseIt.com )

Maurene Caplan Grey 5 pts

The "Melanie Blocker-Stokes Postpartum Depression Research and Care Act" aka HR 20 was first introduced by Rep. Bobby Rush [D-IL] to the 107th Congress in 2001. The Act changed names several times as it was reintroduced to Congress.

The tragic outcome of Melanie Blocker-Stokes ( http://www.melaniesbattle.org/ )'s battle with postpartum depression led to the initiation of the Act.

The Act was passed by the House by a roll-call vote on October 15, 2007 ( http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110... ), and is now with the Senate.

See the top-left column ( http://www.govtrack.us/users/events.xpd?monitors=b... ) for various ways to track the progressof the Act as it moves through the Senate -- and hopefully into legislation.

E-Communications & Community ( http://grey-consulting.com/blog )
Never let the urgent crowd out the important.

alyssaroyse 5 pts

m still amazed. i vaguely remember making the donation, but I was pretty out of it, seeing as I was, um, giving birth. But the idea that, with no effort whatsoever, we saved someone's life yesterday is pretty amazing. Time for more exposure for this simple miracle.

___________
Alyssa Royse
JUST CAUSE
make some good news!
www.JustCauseIt.com ( http://www.JustCauseIt.com )

Denise 9 pts moderator

when you log into BlogHer, click Create Content in the top right corner of the site. Select Blog Entry. Write your blog post and submit. Your blog post appears in the "All posts tab" on the main page and in the topic areas you indicate when writing your post.

~Denise
Fast Times @ Homeschool High ( http://fasttimes.clubmom.com ) & Flamingo House Happenings ( http://www.flamingohouse.net )

Catherine Morgan 5 pts

Thanks for your comment, this is such a wonderful story...and a worthy cause. Thank you so much for sharing it.

As far as posting on BlogHer...I believe you should be able to publish a post such as this in heath and wellness...under "all posts". I'll drop Denise an email and ask her to comment here about how you can do that.

Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan
also at Women 4 Hope ( http://women4hope.wordpress.com/ ) and CatherineBlogs.com ( http://www.catherineblogs.com/ )

alyssaroyse 5 pts

This is only tangentially related to maternal health, but I'm trying to find a way to get word out, and I don't know how to make a blog posting on BlogHer actually visible, only editor blogs.

But, we received a call today from a blood bank in Saint Louis (where our daughter was born) telling us that the cord blood we donated (by donating her placenta and umbilical cord at birth, rather than having it thrown away as medical waste) was a perfect match for someone who was going to die without it. Someone who needed a bone-marrow transplant, which apparently teh stem-cells in cord blood can be used for.

I was stunned, and I want to find a way to get the word out to expectant mothers everywhere, that the simple act of donating rather than disposing can save lives. Stem-cells without all the controversy.

The complete Blog Post, "My Daughter Saved Someone's Life Today," is here: http://justcauseit.com/blogs/alyssa-royse/my-daugh... ( http://justcauseit.com/blogs/alyssa-royse/my-daugh... )

But I just wanted to let people know that this is a rarely discussed option that gives women a chance to save a life while giving birth.
___________
Alyssa Royse
JUST CAUSE
make some good news!
www.JustCauseIt.com ( http://www.JustCauseIt.com )

Catherine Morgan 5 pts

Hi Debra. Thanks for sharing your experience, it sounds like you went through a very difficult time...I know your story will give hope to the many other women who are suffering in that way now. Thank you.

Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan
also at Women 4 Hope ( http://women4hope.wordpress.com/ ) and CatherineBlogs.com ( http://www.catherineblogs.com/ )

Debra Roby 5 pts

I experienced severe depression (and occasional psychotic) problems in my 20s that were caused by hormonal changes. I was only pregnant for 7 weeks, and only on birth control pills for 6 but both combined to give me 2 years of severe problems.

We are an even smaller statistic than the PPD women: those who's brains simply cannot process female hormones. Talk about a group that nobody wants to acknowledge! While they weren't talking at all about this 30 years ago, I was so lucky to be in a city where they woman's health clinic agreed that me + pregnancy didn't sound like a good idea, so as a single woman who had never borne a child, I was still allowed to get the tubal ligation that probably saved my life.

Debra
A Stitch In Time ( http://astitchintime.blogspot.com )
Deb's Daily Distractions ( http://debsdistractions.blogspot.com )

Catherine Morgan 5 pts

Hi Katherine. Postpartum depression is an important issue...that hopefully is finally going to get the the attention it deserves. You're doing great work for this cause.

Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan
also at Women 4 Hope ( http://women4hope.wordpress.com/ ) and CatherineBlogs.com ( http://www.catherineblogs.com/ )

katstone 5 pts

Thank you so much for writing about Blog for the MOTHERS Act Day on October 24th! I am truly honored by your support!

Katherine Stone
Postpartum Progress