We've all heard about birth plans, right? In our medically advanced country, we are encouraged to choose our childbirth style within days of discovering that a fetus is growing in our bellies. Natural childbirth? Scheduled C-Section? VBAC? Epidural? Hospital birth or home birth? Doctor, midwife, doula? Water birth? If you're already a mother, will your kids get to watch? What about your family and friends? Will you film the birth? Take pictures? If it's a boy, will you circumcise him? What about immunizations? Will you breastfeed and for how long? The options are endless. What we don't usually imagine, however, is seeing our newborn baby on oxygen.
Approximately 10% of newborns require assistance to begin breathing at birth. While most infants begin breathing very quickly, a condition called birth asphyxia occurs when a baby's brain and other organs do not get enough oxygen before, during, or right after birth. Birth asphyxia occurs in about four out of every 1,000 full term births, more frequently in preterm births, and can have many causes - umbilical cord problems, the mother's blood pressure, or a very long or difficult delivery, to name a few. Until recently, this would have had no relevance at all when discussing ADHD. In December of 2012, however, a Kaiser Permanente study revealed that birth asphyxia is associated with a 26% greater risk of developing ADHD, regardless of race or ethnicity. This is a HUGE breakthrough for me personally! For years, I've wondered if this had ever been studied. My KayLynn, whose ADHD is severe, had a difficult birth and was on oxygen for about an hour after delivery. From the day she was born, I knew there was something different about her, and she has always been my most demanding, difficult, impulsive, and unpredictable child. She climbed before she walked, rarely slept more than four hours at a time even as a toddler, and never seemed to slow down. She was diagnosed with ADHD a few months before she turned four, which is practically unheard of, and yet no one who knows her would deny that the diagnosis is accurate. While I am sure that her difficult birth is not the cause of her condition, I am also sure that the amount of time her brain was deprived of oxygen did contribute to its severity. No birth plan could have changed that or predicted the crazy wonderfulness that is our life now.
Just like seeing our sweet baby on oxygen is something we don't want to imagine, domestic violence during pregnancy is a sight we wish we could ignore. Unfortunately, one out of every six pregnant women has been a victim of intimate partner violence. Domestic violence is more common than any other health problem among pregnant women, and in many abusive relationships, pregnancy can trigger an increase in violence. As a result, many battered women do not receive adequate prenatal care. These women may be manipulated by their partners into not seeing a doctor, convinced that they don't need or don't deserve appropriate care, too frightened to seek medical attention, or too ashamed to run the risk of a doctor discovering their situation. Domestic violence is motivated by a need for power and control, and as a result, pregnant women are reluctant to leave their partners out of fear that they will be unable to support themselves and their baby. Even if her abuser refrains from physically injuring her while she is pregnant, the victim is often subjected to financial abuse, deprived of adequate nutrition or basic needs, or berated and emotionally battered on a daily basis. The effects of domestic violence during pregnancy are heartbreaking and can have devastating effects on both mother and baby. The number one and number two causes of women's death during pregnancy are domestic homicide and suicide (which is often tied to abuse). If you are in an abusive relationship, whether you're pregnant or not, please get help! Leaving is not easy - and neither is sharing a child with someone who has hurt you - but both are healthier and better for you AND your child than staying in a violent relationship. Take it from me, it IS possible to break the cycle and become a survivor instead of a victim!
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