[Most links below are in Spanish - you may try translating them using easy Google Translate]
My parents gave me the most important three gifts beyond giving me life.
They swaddled me in their arms and gave lots of skin-to-skin contact and touch.
They fed me with 'mother's milk.'
And they surrounded me in the womb of their voice, of the voices of nature, and played music for me (especially Mozart and classical piano).
But it was not until I heard this played back to me from the ultimate authority that I began to grasp the significance of my parent's gifts. They had done most things right; including touch, music, love.
When our son Twain was only two days old we got our first appointment for a pediatric check up with Dr. Jorge Pronsato. We had no idea he was an authority of great note. His ideas about following the most basic discourse of nature with child rearing have permeated pediatric thought world wide.
"Give the baby mother's milk for as long as you can - at least until the baby is more than a year old," Dr Pronsato advised us. "Your baby benefits from lots of skin contact, as much as possible is perfect."
"And Mozart!" the Doctor added. We were realizing he had given this pep talk many times. "Surround the baby with your songs, your voice. Sing and talk to your baby," he chimed along happily. "Classical music. Jazz. Plenty of it. Plenty of Mozart. Mozart is best. Until at least the age of four! But sing together as a family. Make music and your voice the memory of early childhood."
We ate it up.
Here he lays it out medically in Spanish.
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We have chosen to afford these same opportunities to our own children. We were very priveledged through education, family, culture, and self confidence to choose to have both our children at home, naturally, and without any medicine or intervention whatsoever. It is very important that I pause here to state that as a male, a brother, and a husband, I respect women's choices with their bodies and their decisions regarding childbirth to do what is right and just for themselves and their children.
Having seen two natural births up close and personal - I think it is amazing and I encourage planned birthing as a rule - but it could be scarey. It is especially potentially scarey if you have experiences like I had with my mother; or, if you have been exposed to too much of the negative and misguided and misinformed sensationalism around the pain or panic that some persons have experienced.
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Here is my chance to tell you - an intervention saved my life. It probably saved my mother's life also.
Though I was born a cone head and spent my first few weeks in an 'incubator,' the giant beside the preemies (I was 9.9 lb which in 1970 coming out of a 5'3"small framed mother was considered obscenely huge and over sized), I survived; because of modern medicine; due to my parents shared willingness to take the rare and dangerous risk of cesarean mid-delivery. So, I am sharing this to say that Dr Celsa and Dr Jorge both agree (they are doctors) that some medical intervention has saved lives. We all agree that some amount of medicine may be needed for babies born under circumstances or in critical environments - and that this may not be - many times it is not - the fault of parents behaviors: lack of exercise, bad diets, too much drink or drugs, bad genes, or anything else.
When I told Celsa the story of seeing a child who was challenged at a public theater performance;0 how much her mother struggled to help the child focus on the show, stop crawling onto strangers, and be relatively quiet (he had a disorder which caused him to chronically call out in loud sounds); and, how I had wanted to approach this mother and tell her how perfect her child is and what a sheroic job she is doing with two boys close in age (maybe 8) who clearly loved her and each other but had radically different needs - Celsa said, "yes, they are perfect - every child is a gift of god's perfection." You probably are with me in sentiment here - they are perfect - every one.
I wrote this blog to tell my readers and the world that I have a confession to make, I am not perfect as an adult - SURPRISE - but I was as a child. Children are perfect. My parents made some mistakes, (many 'wives tales' of their times have been mass eclipsed by lies we knowingly consume today).
Our homeopathic OB/GYN Dra Celsa Breunner, is organizing this entire country's OB/GYN and Pediatric doctors to form a manifestation of positive health for infants and at birth. She is working at the National University in Cordoba leading a group of doctors (and in particular female doctors) who believe that healthy birth provides a door to healthful options through life. GOOD NEWS!
Here are some examples of upcoming work and merits of their critical thinking and challenging of 'las normas;' norms around Argentina's medicalization and violence of intervention at birth (80%).
Here is another one of the Drs health tips that play out for a life time of healthful consciousness. Don't put socks or shoes on your baby. Dr Celsa did a lot of research on childrearing by indigeous tribes. She noted that they had zero foot maladies for life. "No constriction at all on baby's feet," she advised, "and you will avoid a lifetime of health concerns." So many indigenous cultures know and practice this. It is difficult in climates the closer we get to the poles. But critical. Worth our effort.
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Here's the big confession, I am overweight. I suffer from it physically and emotionally. And, I have been addicted to Sugars my whole life. This is not good for any part of my health (at 45) but I am ok. I am ok with this. I am capable of making changes for the better. My parents dipped my pacifier in honey to quiet my crying. Today, pacifiers, honey, and quelling crying are all known to hurt not help.
Parents Doulahs, doctors, and Parteras are working together for the humanization of birth. It is a natural act and a regression to our more natural states - as the world occupies us to regain our stewardship of this marvelous planet and become gardeners of the healthy families we all expect.
I have a confession to make: I have been addicted to Sugars my whole life. But, I am changing. I am consuming less; and, I have educated myself to dangers of sugars and addiction. Peace be with you.
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