On Jan 06, 2006, at 10:23 pm, Camille wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I think you may have a problem searching for premature birth in
> traditional societies because they probably didn't have that little
> wheel thingy the doctors use to tell you when you are 'supposed' to
> have the baby (or schedule your ceasarian, more likely.) Just a guess.
> The baby came when it was ready, with no inductions to hurry it along,
> and no worry that it was a week 'late' or 'early'.

Well this had crossed my mind, but I assume even traditional
societies had an idea roughly how long a baby should take and would
probably be able to tell if it was significantly early or late (hell
I bet the MOTHER could tell in a time when people knew their own
bodies).  But then since I doubt premature births ever happened (by
more than say a week) they probably didn't have a concept of it.


> Some complications of pregnancy that can lead to premature birth are
> definitely related to diet: pre-eclampsia and diabetes comes to mind.
> The recommended diet to help avoid pre-eclampsia is lots of protein,
> no sugar or refined grains, lots of veggies... Of course, it still
> contains milk products for protein and whole grains, but it's a good
> start. I especially like the fact it includes eggs and butter (fat).
> http://www.blueribbonbaby.org/

A page on preeclampsia.org starts "We may not know how to cure
preeclampsia yet...".  Oh I laugh.  Every time I learn about a new
disease I go on the support/research charities for it and see how
many clicks it takes to find a line that says "We don't know what
causes this or how to stop it".  Usually it's not very many.

>
> I am 6 months pregnant now. I have been very very thankful to have had
> an easy time so far: very little nausea and a little extreme fatigue
> in the first couple of weeks is all. I have been mostly paleo from the
> start, and pretty strictly paleo this last couple of months since we
> (my midwife and I) are weaning me off my allergy pills.

Interesting that you haven't felt very sick.  I remember someone
telling me that morning sickness was normal even while eating paleo,
although I found it unlikely.  I'm not aware of any other species
that vomits regularly during pregnancy.


> Excuse me while I mount my soapbox here: Begin Rant
> I am really disgusted with how much the government is interfering with
> my pregnancy and birth plans.  <snip>  If everything goes ok with
> this baby,
> I will definitely consider an unattended home birth for any other
> babies I
> might have. Of course, if something goes wrong, I will probably get
> thrown
> in jail for child abuse. You just can't win.
> End Rant

Well that's how it works: follow the governments advice and you will
make you and your family sick, but get the full support of the
doctors and hospitals; or ignore their advice and you will probably
live in perfect health, but if something goes wrong you are a selfish
extremist nutcase who should be punished for thinking differently to
everyone else and deliberately endangering the lives of helpless
children.  From a financial point of view, it's a good way of keeping
the medical beast at the top of the pile.

Ashley