Part 2: Healthy Conception, Pregnancy & Babyhood

Now we move on to Part 2 of the previous post on How to Have a Healthy Conception, Pregnancy and the First 6 Months of Babyhood. Topics in this blog post are The Birthing Process and Vaccines.

The Birthing Process

A book on Waldorf Education and Child Development

In the Waldorf Schools, they tell the "Rainbow Bridge Birth Story" on the birthday of your child. See a personalized version for my son below:

Once upon a time there was a little child named Santiago who was still with the angles in heaven and he was very happy there. He looked at the beautiful colors and listened to the lovely music, and that was where he belonged. But one day the clouds parted in heaven and Santiago saw the beautiful green earth below with all the people happily playing and working and he suddenly longed to go there and see what it was like. He saw all the rainbow colors of the earth, He saw butterflies visiting flowers and birds flying in the air. They seemed to be beckoning him. He saw fish swimming in the sea and all the different plants that covered the earth. he saw children climbing trees running and jumping in the meadows and walking through sand and leaves. It was all so beautiful! So he said to his angel, ‘Please, may I go down to earth now?” But his angel looked at him and said, “No, it is too soon. You must wait a little while yet”. So the child went and was happy and soon forgot about the earth. Then one day again he saw a glimpse of the earth through the clouds again. He saw mother and fathers doing their work. He saw bakers and engineers and writers and farmers. He saw mothers and fathers loving their children. Then he saw a beautiful mother with love and longing in her heart for a child and he asked his angel now, “May I go to her?” The angel said, “You must go through the land of dreams first.” The next night the little child had a dream. He dreamed that he met and man and a woman and they stretched out their arms to him and asked him to come be their child. The child told his angel the dream. The angel said, “It is now time for you to go.” So the child asked, “So may I go now?” “You shall see.” Said the angel. That night the child went to sleep into dreamland and while ten moons waxed and waned he rocked in a little boat. And at the end of that time a beautiful rainbow bridge stretched from heaven to earth and on it came the child as a tiny baby and slid into his mother and father’s waiting arms. They looked in awe at this new life and said “We shall call him Santiago.

Now, isn't that just magical and beautiful? When I first read and heard that story, it brought tears to my eyes mainly because of how TRUTHFUL it is! Children are divine beings and parents should remember that. It is said that it is them who choose us, not the other way around. We will become parents when we are chosen. So, it is just proper that we be ready when the time comes. Preparation is essential and that is why it is good for couples to educate themselves on mindful parenting. It is also a gift that pregnancy takes 9 months (or more) so that we can really take time to transition, just like they are transitioning from heavenly beings into our world. We must remember that.

---------------------------------------

"You must negotiate with your doctor or midwife" 

-Jake Tan on preparing & fighting for your birth plan

Jake Tan is a believer in gentle births. He says that many of our children's illnesses may be traced to birth traumas. And of course, our earliest impressions of life are critical.

During gestation, birth and early childhood, the limbic system registers all of our sensations and feelings, without translating it into the language of cortex, simply because it's not developed yet. That memory lives in the body through out the rest of our life whether we know of it or not. - Birth Into Being

Tan recommends delayed cord clamping (Yay!) because it will cut the essential distribution of baby's blood from the placenta. He read an article to us stating this fact which was written in 1969! My goodness! Why are many doctors still cutting the cords too early? Call it what it is - it is baby's blood not cord blood (in cord blood banking). Would you steal blood from your newborn child so that you can save stem cells for future illnesses he/she might not even have? Why are we feeding in to a fear based module of thinking?

What if, by cutting the cord too early, we created the exact conditions that stem cell research is trying to fix? And what if we just gave Mother Nature a chance, left the cord intact at least until it stops pulsating, and started gathering data on these newborns? As health care providers, “first do no harm” means little if we can’t acknowledge with humility that, yes, perhaps we got it wrong; we should be willing to learn from our mistakes and do our best to provide the next generation with what is its birthright: a cord full of rich blood. -Childbirth With Love

Have you read the story of my lotus birth here? (Where I did NOT cut the umbilical cord of my baby after birth and waited until it fell off naturally)

"Children are wanting to come into this world...to be cared for - not subject to stress" 

-Jake Tan

Think about that statement. Are we subjecting our children to unnecesary stress? Tan says that children cannot develop in a stressful environment. We all might be nodding our heads to agree but do we really know if we are doing our children good by exposing them to electronic media, television, advertisements (even billboards on EDSA). It is unappropriate for their age to be xposed to such stress factors when they must see the world to be GOOD, BEAUTIFUL and TRUE. These are words from Rudolph Steiner, the founder of Anthroposophy and Waldorf Education.

-------------------------

Now this is the part where is gets controversial. Vaccinations.

Seven years ago I already had my doubts with pharmaceutical vaccinations. When I discussed my concerns with my husband, I wasn't prepared with research to back me up so we 'compromised' by giving my son some vaccinations which we spaced out in 4 months for the 3 separate jabs of the Dtap/IPV/HiB vaccine. The HepaB shot was administered at birth (I don't even remember giving the go signal for this) plus 2 more separate jabs within the next 8 months.

The Guardian writes an article on some of the side effects on these here. If only I could turn back time, I wouldn't have vaccinated my son.

Jake Tan supports my current view on vaccinations. It is unnecesary. Yes, you read right. Growing up, we've been told that vaccines saves lives so you might be shocked and even react violently on how seemingly selfish I am for choosing NOT to vaccinate my daughter but let me shed more light on the matter.

In Anthroposophic Medicine, it is believed that children will only use illnesses to release certain capacities. When your child gets a fever, it is encouraged to let the fever take its course so the body will learn how to manage and heal on its own. When we suppress this innate ability of our body to take charge, we are sabotaging the healing process. There is a beautiful article explaining these matters: Anthroposophy, Diseases and Vaccinations in one blog article here.

I was once a panic-stricken parent but slowly I have learned to trust in the inner body wisdom of my children AND personally take charge of their health, not leave it to the doctors and government. We as parents are responsible for keeping our children healthy. A healthy immune system depends primarily on lifestyle and diet. If your immune system is strong, you will not be vulnerable to viral outbreaks. It's really as simple as that.

"The most protected child (vaccinated) is the most sickly child"

-Jake Tan

"The recent epidemics are from fully vaccinated children" 

-Jake Tan

Contrary to popular belief, the recent 2014 measles outbreak in NYC was from a vaccinated woman! Read about it on Science Mag here. Why should I even bother to vaccinate when fully vaccinated children don't get immunity after all?

Have you read up on the active ingredients of vaccines? MSG, Formaldehyde, Monkey Kidney Tissue, Calf Serum are just some of the ingredients found in vaccines. Read the complete listing of ingredients from VaxTruth.Org here.

What about polio?

The children are being vaccinated for measles and polio, in spite of the fact that measles rates are very low and declining in the Philippines, and that there has not been a single case of polio in the Philippines since 1993. - Health Impact News

There is an interesting chart comparing vaccinated and unvaccinated children in Dr. Mercola's website here. Knowing that my child will be more susceptible to allergies, asthma, ADHD and Autism if given vaccines...again, why would I allow this?

Here's a very timely health documentary that will help open our eyes further.

The hidden story about vaccines, drugs and food… Three huge topics in one film. Why put all this in one movie? Because these issues are directly related, and we have an opportunity to harness the millions of us engaged in each of them to overcome the noise put out by the medical-industrial conglomerate. You peel back the layers and see what’s really driving our industrialized food, our vaccine expansion, and our dependence on pharmaceuticals – it’s the same culprit. Huge corporations funded by individual misery, one broken life at a time. These three story lines converge on Wall Street, but this story takes us beyond the problem to the inspiring and empowering role mothers are now taking in uniting to protect their families.

Link to the movie here: http://ykr.be/1mjafybyd6

I have interviewed several people on their thoughts and feelings about vaccinations and will share in a separate blog post soon.

This is my blog stating my personal opinions on the matter. If you believe otherwise for you and your children, I respect that. Let's continue to live in peace next to each other :)

The Business of Being Born

Here is the documentary that shifted my perspective on the modern birthing process. We live in an age where birthing in hospitals is considered the norm and any alternative plan would be deemed unsafe by most of society. I am speaking from a Filipina's experience living in Manila. When I voice out that I am considering a homebirth, majority of my family and friends think that I have lost my mind. While I value the expertise of doctors for emergency situations, treating the very sick- It is not necessary for normal, healthy women to birth in hospitals.

Watch and let me know what you think!

Beyond the Wound

For many months I have been silent in the other blog because I am slowly transitioning to yet another milestone in my life. In due time, we expect another addition to our family! I have been keeping this blessing under the radar because I wanted to protect the soul of the baby (a Kabbalistic belief and an old Filipino practice too, I was told).

It does not feel right to speak about these personal, controversial and radical matters in the other blog anymore so here is the birth of one blog specially created for an advocacy I currently feel so strongly about - Birthing.

To launch, I am posting a powerful masterpiece entitled "CESAREAN, beyond the Wound" by an exceptionally talented Argentinian artist I found online thanks to Jhoanna Parvati. 

"The series is comprised by more than thirty photographs of women that had cesarean sections and some brief and precise commentaries from the protagonists. The images show the physical and emotional scar. They invite the viewer to contemplate the wound and to go beyond, to reach some sort of understanding and commitment for a respectful birth care."

 -Ana Álvarez-Errecalde



The images and message resonate with me because 6 years ago, I underwent the knife (against my wishes) for the birth of my son, Santi. 

Of course I had a detailed birth plan, went to Lamaze class with my husband and was determined to do a natural vaginal birth. You know what they say, things never go as planned. On the month of my due date, my water broke and we rushed to the hospital because we were told to do so, for fear of a dry and painful labor? I don't recall the reason. 

As new vulnerable parents, we succumbed to all hospital protocols without a fight. My husband was not allowed in the room with me because we didn't get a Lamaze room (back then we were on a budget and reserved a spartan room ---no special treatment for those who cannot afford to pay for one) so I labored alone for 17 hours strapped down to a bed with an IV and fetal monitor attached to my body. I did not know then that by the positioning of my body, I would not open so I stayed only 4cm dilated until the very end. There was a stranger in there at one point, an intern who I was annoyed at because he was glued to his phone sending text messages while I was in pain. The least you can do is be compassionate, I thought/screamed to myself, but I suffered in silence instead. 

Now that I am pregnant with my second child and prepare myself for another (more humane) birth, I learn that all those horrific circumstances I experienced at the hospital prevented me from having a natural birth my body was designed for. Unnecessary interventions result to unnecessary c-sections. I cannot help but to think and feel that my husband, Santi and I was robbed of this natural body experience, a somewhat rite of passage for our family.

This is what I am faced with, a return to center as I heal from old wounds from the past. In Kabbalah, they believe that circumstances will repeat in order for you to learn the lesson. I am blessed to come face my demons once again- in birthing myself anew. This time, I will fight for what is rightfully ours. May this journey into my becoming inspire other mothers and women wanting to be mothers in choosing a more gentle path for their babies. As Ibu Robin says, "Peace Begins at Birth".