Huge Danger, Must Know Information Regarding Yaz, Jasmine and Contraceptives Containing "DRSP" Drospirenone, Law Suits and Health Concerns.

Recently the following news has surfaced, alike many drugs- in my personal opinion- to be claimed as "safe" and OK to use, suddenly the information surfaces that the approval that the FDA gave ALL birth control methods using the component "DRSP" or Drospirenone was based on FALSE evidence that the drug was safe! Ahhh! 

Commissioner for the FDA, D. Kessler has testified that the initial approval of the DRSP (DROSPIRENONE) family of pills was tainted by non-disclosure of important data or information. The pills have been confirmed as increasing the risk of blood clots in comparison to other pills and recent FDA hearings confirmed the need to update the warning label – for a 3rd time in the last 24 months – to communicate this risk to users.

Given that the DRSP(DROSPIRENONE) family of contraceptives have been available in the U.S. for a decade more lawsuits are anticipated in the future. 

In the past, the FDA has repeatedly allowed the manufacturer – BAYER HEALTHCARE PHARMACEUTICALS – to update or change the warning label to the pills at issue. As a result, many women were not warned of risks that have come to light in recent months!

This is why I must reemphasize the distrust in this corrupt system of mainly drug based medicine and emphasize that you do all research possible on anything that is produced by pharmaceutical companies or large corporate drug companies. 

BAYER HEALTHCARE PHARMACEUTICALS is one of many who produce damaging or deadly drugs without a care for the human population, but concern for the corporate billions that they gain from us and our insurance companies, every single year. Spiking the cost of insurances and actual needed health care. Hindering the way for workable alternative health technologies that actually help people, since they do not require the use of drugs and literally shattering our future potential, changing the chemistry,biology and in some cases warping and damaging the DNA structure of our bodies! 

Some of these drugs pass on through the body for generations, leak into our water system, where our filtering technologies have no way of removing them, through our use of our facilities, toilets, sinks, etc. Being fed into the ocean where the fish and other oceanic life consumes it and thus coming full circle back to us accumulating and making our bodies toxic, sick and killing us either slowly or quickly. 

This is no longer a mild concern! This is serious business ladies and gentlemen! 

Please help me spread the word. 

Just Forwarding the La Leche League Guidelines for Storing Breast Milk to All My Mommies. ;)

What are the LLLI guidelines for storing my pumped milk?

Your milk is a living substance so precious some call it "white blood". It is essential to store your expressed (pumped) milk properly to maximize its nutritional and anti-infective qualities. Human milk actually has anti-bacterial properties that help it to stay fresh. Giving your baby the freshest milk you have pumped ensures its high quality.

This information is based on current research and applies to mothers who:

• have healthy, full-term babies;
• are storing their milk for home use (as opposed to hospital use);
• wash their hands before expressing;
• use containers that have been washed in hot, soapy water and rinsed.

Storage Guidelines

All milk should be dated before storing. Storing milk in 2-4 ounce amounts may reduce waste. Refrigerated milk has more anti-infective properties than frozen milk. Cool fresh milk in the refrigerator before adding it to previously frozen milk.

Preferably, human milk should be refrigerated or chilled right after it is expressed. Acceptable guidelines for storing human milk are as follows. Store milk:

• at room temperature (66-78°F, 19-26°C) for 4 hours (ideal), up to 6 hours (acceptable) (Some sources use 8 hours)
• in a refrigerator (<39°F, <4°C) for 72 hours (ideal), up to 8 days (acceptable if collected in a very clean, careful way)
• in a freezer (-0.4 to -4°F, -18 to -20°C) for 6 months (ideal) up to 12 months (acceptable)

What Type of Container to Use

The best options for storing human milk:

• are glass or hard-sided plastic containers with well-fitting tops
• containers not made with the controversial chemical bisphenol A (BPA)
• are containers which have been washed in hot, soapy, water, rinsed well, and allowed to air-dry before use
• containers should not be filled to the top - leave an inch of space to allow the milk to expand as it freezes
• freezer milk bags that are designed for storing human milk
• put only 60 to 120 ml (two to four ounces) of milk in the container (the amount your baby is likely to eat in a single feeding) to avoid waste

Disposable bottle liners or plastic bags are not recommended. With these, the risk of contamination is greater. Bags are less durable and tend to leak, and some types of plastic may destroy nutrients in milk. Mark the date on the storage container. Include your baby's name on the label if your baby is in a day care setting.

How to Warm the Milk

Frozen milk: thaw in the refrigerator overnight or under cool running water. Gradually increase the temperature of the water to heat the milk to feeding temperature.

Refrigerated milk: Warm the milk under warm running water for several minutes. Or immerse the container in a pan of water that has been heated on the stove. Do not heat the milk directly on the stove. Some babies accept milk right from the refrigerator.

Do not bring temperature of milk to boiling point.

Human milk may separate into a milk layer and a cream layer when it is stored. This is normal. Swirl it gently to redistribute the cream before giving it to baby.

Do not use a microwave oven to heat human milk. It may cause the loss of some of the beneficial properties of the milk. Microwaves do not heat liquids evenly and may leave hot spots in the container of milk. This could be dangerous for infants.

Sometimes thawed milk may smell or taste soapy. This is due to the breakdown of milk fats. The milk is safe and most babies wil still drink it. If there is a rancid smell from high lipase (enzyme that breaks down milk fats) activity when the milk has been chilled or frozen, the milk can be heated to scalding (bubbles around the edges, not boiling) after expression, then quickly cooled and frozen. This deactivates the lipase enzyme. Scalded milk is still a healthier choice than commercial infant formula.

If you or your baby has a thrush or yeast/fungus infection, continue to breastfeed during the outbreak and treatment. While being treated, you can continue to express your milk and give it to your baby. Be aware that refrigerating or freezing milk does not kill yeast. After treatment is finished, any leftover milk that was expressed during the infection should be discarded.

Thawed Milk

Previously frozen milk that has been thawed can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. While there is limited evidence to date that milk thawed for a few hours may be refrozen, this results in further breakdown of milk components and loss of antimicrobial activity. At this time, the accepted practice is not to refreeze thawed milk. While some mothers and caregivers reheat expressed milk that was leftover and refrigerated after a previous feeding, there is no research on the safety of this practice. There is also no research about whether freshly expressed milk left unfinished at room temperature should be discarded, or can be saved for a short time (perhaps up to one hour as reported by some mothers and caregivers) to finish the feeding if the baby wakens from having fallen asleep or still appears hungry.

According to THE BREASTFEEDING ANSWER BOOK, page 228, research indicates that human milk has previously unrecognized properties that protect it from bacterial contamination. One study, Pardou 1994, found that after 8 days of refrigeration some of the milk actually had lower bacterial levels than it did on the day it was expressed.

Expressed milk can be kept in a common refrigerator at the workplace or in a day care center. The US Centers for Disease Control and the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration agree that human milk is not among the body fluids that require special handling or storage in a separate container.

Resources

Attend a La Leche League Group meeting in your area for additional information and support. To find a Leader of a local Group, visit Finding a Local LLL Group.

Additional information on pumping and milk storage can be found on our milk storage and pumping resource pages.

These items may be available from the LLLI Online Store or from your local Leader:

THE WOMANLY ART OF BREASTFEEDING, published by La Leche League International, is the most complete resource available for the breastfeeding mother.

Nursing Mother, Working Mother, by Gale Pryor: Mothers who have decided to combine breastfeeding with working will find this an immensely helpful and reassuring book. The author includes practical information about planning for and returning to employment, clear concise tips on breastfeeding, pumping, storing, and transporting milk, and possible alternatives to full time employment such as job sharing, working from home, and budgeting to stay home full time. The book suggests numerous ways that mothers can build and maintain closeness with their babies in spite of separation.

Storing Human Milk: Describes the procedures taken when storing human milk. (Pad of 50 tear-off sheets)

Expressing Your Milk: Includes two pamphlets helpful to mothers who need to pump or express their milk: "The Balancing Act" and "A Mother's Guide to Pumping Milk." Also contains two tear-off sheets: "Manual Expression of Breast Milk -- Marmet Technique" and "Working and Breastfeeding."

Our FAQs present information from La Leche League International on topics of interest to parents of breastfed children. Not all of the information may be pertinent to your family's lifestyle. This information is general in nature and not intended to be advice, medical or otherwise. If you have a serious breastfeeding problem or concern, you are strongly encouraged to talk directly to a La Leche League Leader. Please consult health care professionals on any medical issue, as La Leche League Leaders are not medical practitioners.

Page last edited 2012-07-28 02:39:13 UTC.

The Truth About The Glamorous Cedars Hospital

Some of you may have seen my Yelp review on Cedars hospital, "Hospital to the Stars". 

Some of you not. For those that are interested in how this hospital rates on my most recent visit there, read the following article. It is not pretty, I'm sorry to say.

I remember in the early to mid 2000's Cedars actually used to leave you alone if you wanted natural birth, kinda just leave you be in the room without bothering you, I would of LOVED that treatment this time around, however, no luck. The nurses, specially Nurse "Violet" invaded the space constantly, being overly sweet almost like the Doctor had asked her to stick to us, constantly trying to convince my patient to do this intervention and that, and straight out lying to her the whole time. I couldn't get a word in edgewise, and I didn't really have time to discuss anything in private with my client. 

The whole time not only was she invasive in her nursing, she decided she needed to take one entire side of the bed, during pushing and her Husband and I had to stay to one side. Now, I have very rarely ran into such petty troubles at any hospital before. Nurses usually are respectful that one has a coach, and of course their spouse is there also to coach, they usually respectfully allow us to do our job and leave us alone. All the meanwhile she was screaming pushing instructions to my client, "push, push, push! In your bottom, it's your bottom, In your bottom! Push!" I could of knocked her out. But instead, I stepped aside to allow the husband to help me on my side, offered him my chair which he politely declined and we both stayed to one side. I have never felt so intruded at a birth. Constant weird vibes, resentfulness from the nurse and strange indignant attitudes from both Nurse and Doctor, as if they couldn't conceive of any other method birth, and I was crazy for trying to get a client a more natural experience. I don't know if this had to do with the cultural differences of both major participants in this birth Nurse Violet and Doctor Baud-aria. I'd hoped not, but honestly other people I have dealt with- even in past experiences at Cedars at least in relation to their attitude, haven't been this much trouble, I haven't had this much drama at any hospital. So, I guess I'll say it's a combination of bad circumstances and terrible luck. 

In this most recent birth my client was told that 97% of women at Cedars get epidurals- if that's not a red flag of a statistic, I don't know what is! 

Instead of being angry, Like I was in my review. 'll give you a list of things to consider. No, I do not recommend Cedars if you intend a natural childbirth. If you intend to get drugged-up anyway and could care less 'cause you believe that nothing really affects you or your baby, than by all means, Cedars will be the perfect "friendly" place for you. They'll accommodate to your every need. 

They love intervention and DRUGS, they LOVE DRUGS, and even when they promise you they don't intervene, wont offer you drugs, will allow natural birthing options, alternative methods of laboring and alternative pushing positions, they do not. 

My client had a very, very specific birth plan, it was completely natural and entailed even things like husband wanted to catch the baby, etc. This is what happened to the major points of it. 

Birth Plan Violation #1 (Do not offer me drugs) Requested No epidural- was literally convinced into epidural- was told epidural had no narcotics. By Nurse Violet and two other attending nurses, all with a dismissive "oh, no, of course it doesn't!" No narcotics, ever! (While the MD Anesthesiologist) confirmed the fact that their particular epidural combination HAS and did in fact have a narcotic component which was in fact put into my clients body and was probably what was causing the itching and discomfort- allergic reaction. 

Birth Plan Violation #2 (No Residents, or not fully licensed professionals)  Requested no Residents work of her or her baby- 3 Residents were forced upon us, and Doctor and Nurse gave them OK to work on baby despite the fact that I just informed the pediatric team she did not want residents to work on her baby. 

Birth Plan Violation #3 (My Doula speaks for me and forwards you my reuqest) Upon attempting to discuss something in private with Client, Nurse Violet decided to have a screaming confrontation with me telling me I couldn't give the client a professional perspective because "she" was a professional and I wasn't. And I was "biased" against pitocin- not having spoken to my client about pitocin until that very moment in time. I had an internal chuckle at this- because whatever choices she made about Pitocin came from her own research and her Lamaze class. So, I just snapped and told her, I actually haven't' spoken to my client about Pitocin at all. And it was a mess. A horrible dramatic mess right in front of the patient. I don't generally loose my cool, but my last couple of hospital experiences one at Kaiser Sunset and Cedars, have left me a little more on edge, because they have both been very concerning. 

Birth Plan Violation #4 (Please do not give me pitocin) was talked into Pitocin due to "non effective contractions" per Doctor and Nurse Violet who told her that Pitocin has "no known links to c-section". I just shook my head at this point. 

Birth plan Violation # 5 (Asked to use alternative pushing positions, was told she could use bar to squat and push.) Nurse Violet brought in pushing bar, and proceeded to humorously tell doctor what the "theory" behind using bar was. Doctor simply laughed at her and told her she wasn't going to use bar and she was going to push out baby on her back because baby was already on her way down..

Birth plan Violation # 6 ( Do light massage of uterus.) Doctor proceeded with an extra ordinary invasive uterine massage, told her "She didn't care if she killed her, she was going to it to save her from bleeding". Patient had NORMAL bleeding. Nothing extraordinary, uterus clamped down as normal right away.

Birth Plan Violatio #7 (Unecessary Interventions) Was told baby had an emergency and thus birth plan options did not apply. Baby had a debatable +3 meconium, which was actually about +2, I saw it myself, I've seen +3 meconium, there's no doubt, that this was not what this was. I observed it, the original attending OB confirmed a +1, +2, baby was immediately responsive, yet they kept working on her as if she wasn't. They scared the shit out of the parents, because the fully licensed Pediatric Nurse was teaching 3 other students- thus- I'm sure the full display of "all the things that can happen with a meconium baby" had to be achieved. Violating present and clear research that was recently published regarding proceeding with aggressive suctioning and old meconium procedures despite responsiveness of newborn. She was put on an oxygen measurement machine, though she was pink and responsive. I could go on, but it will get too technical.

Birth plan Violation # 8 (Do not do unathorized procedures to the newborn) Bloods were drawn on the baby for sugar levels, according to the nurses (Nurse Violet) and the Pediatric Nurse, due to "concerns for sugar levels with meconium babies). I asked them for this protocol in writing, never having heard of it, and never having heard of correlation between meconium babies and low sugar levels.) Unless they were trying to determine if baby had suffered an oxygen insult above and beyond the normal process of birth- but even then, the fact that the newborn was responsive 1 min after birth. They stared blankly at me and left the room, never giving me an answer. Turns out, best we can figure that they assumed the baby was small for the gestational age of pregnancy, even though patient told them repeatedly that small babies ran in her family and culture. Not only was blood drawn from babies arm without consent or full disclosure, upon asking Nurse Violet if bloods had been drawn before newborn had a chance to breastfeed, making the results questionable, she said "No, way, never! No, we don't do that here without you breastfeeding first, ever!" AFTER the fact that it had already done it. . 

Turns out baby was "fine". No problems breathing, with oxygen loads, with sugars, with anything. And yet all the drama. I don't believe that I should be able to recognize a baby who is responsive and be able to recognize meconium stages better than the "professionals" but apparently- YES. That is correct. I don't know how they have never seen a responsive baby Vs a non responsive baby.

And how they have never seen actual +3 meconium, but I have and can recognize the difference in how it looks, and how it interacts with the newborn.

And I'm going to assume that they have in fact seen a SGA baby before- Small for Gestational Age baby before- rather than a circumstantially small child, and they actually know how to tell the telltale signs of an actual SGA and can tell the difference!

I'm going to assume that the reason these unnecessary things were done to the fragile, traumatized newborn, who took in about 8 loads of epidural an one heavy load of pitocin  was not because they are stupid but because they needed to check off some items in the pediatric teams licensing.

Birth plan Violation # 5 (Please do not do any of the "Standard" procedures on baby until 24 hours of birth) All procedures where done to baby at once. Arythromicin, Vitamin K, possibly even Vaccines.
(I'm horrified, all this time the mother was asking for her baby. Which she asked for them to work on on her bed- which they didn't.)

Birth Plan Violation # 9 ( Breastfeeding only) Was told to give baby formula in between breastfeeding due to a few oz "too much" weight loss after delivery. Despite the fact they had pumped her with 4 x the usual fluids during labor. And they did not properly inform her of the possible bad affects of giving a new born formula and how that would affect breastfeeding for her- which it did.

Those are the major things. I hope you can see why I had to write this. And I hope you can use the information for your own good.

Much Love,
Claudia