If you are looking for another perspective on your chronic pain or chronic illness, please have a listen to my dear friend, Julianne Blake, speak on Kristen White TV at this link: http://youtu.be/mOeY6r315Eg Dr Julianne Blake is a precious sweet and truly genuine soul who is sharing her expertise from her own experience. Lifetstyle Modification Support will be sharing more and more stories on chronic pain in the next year because I am co-authoring a book, Chronic Pain: Treatment and Its Controversies, with my partner, Barry Jones. A new tab will be added to this website so that readers can easily locate information specific to the dialogue of chronic pain and chronic illness.
Can Exercise Improve Your Diabetes?
Janet Still FNP
Lifestyle Modification Support http://stilljanet.com
Can Exercise Improve Your Diabetes?
Easy answer …yes! But you knew I would say that. And that answer is just not enough, is it? Or for some of you, maybe it is and you are reading this article simply to get to the facts and suggested resources in hopes of finding something you can easily incorporate now into your everyday life. For both camps of readers, the purpose of this article is to briefly lead you to your unique goal of improving your health and your prognosis report.
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First, for those of you that are reading with a feeling of angst regarding exercise, I understand that this condition of diabetes has likely already created much more upheaval to your lifestyle than you ever imagined you would have to endure. This article is purposefully brief with a goal of providing you some simple directions you can take today to retake control of your body.
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For those of you that have already accepted change is your choice and who are seeking a way to turn around this character in your life called Diabetes, this writing is to provide you some resources and information that you can implement quickly, for your short term goals, and also that can be used to refine your direction over the long term.
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When your healthcare provider mentions that exercise improves glycemic control, she/he is sharing a key to your taking some of your body back. Plenty of research over the years continues to evaluate the specific details of how physical exercise alters blood sugar levels and reduces the body’s requirement for anti-diabetic medications. Reread that, yes, I said that exercise so changes your blood sugar levels that you will have to take LESS of your diabetes medications. Write that on a piece of paper and tape it to your morning mirror as motivation.
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Three days a week, 30 minutes of moderate exercise, this is the repeated consensus of the minimum to reduce blood sugar. If you do not know, the way exercise works is that your muscles use the blood sugar! too, so that means less work on your pancreas and less work for your medication. Sounds good; let’s keep going with the good news….. what does “moderate exercise” mean exactly? My favorite way to define moderate exercise is: activity that allows one to engage comfortably in conversation while doing the activity. Easily one can see many activities one could incorporate into daily life that allow talking. Walking briskly with a friend or with your dog or how about from the far end of the parking lot are simple changes to include this moderate exercise. Playing with the kids or the neighbors’ kids an easy game of catch ball for 15 – 30 minutes and voila` you have just improved your body’s ability to manage its blood sugar level. Using stairs instead of the elevator; add up your time spent with household or office chores like vacuuming, dusting, and tidying at the end of the day; there are many normal activities that you can do with a focus to increasing your time spent moving.
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I already do all that, you say. Or some of you say that thinking about it makes you tired. This is your body, your health, your independence, so I am assuming you read this with hopes for something unique to your situation. Taking a class is often a great way to have someone do all the calculating and training for you. Classes and trainers are a great idea to wake up your mind regarding what moderate exercise feels like; how to protect your body from injury so that you can keep exercising and taking back your life; and to just get you moving in a new direction. Choose the activity and teacher with an eye to gradual progression from your level of fitness to a moderate routine. Interview the teachers. Any trainer worth their salt cares about the people in their class and is also a great resource for more appropriate classes for your individual circumstances.
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There are some standard resources for everyone regarding exercise and many other health topics, so keep them in mind as a back-up when making decisions about your health plan. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) always has brief and current statements available online with links to more detailed resources. The National Institute of Health also keeps abreast of research on health topics and routinely posts simple information. An example of the type of information you can find online is this very short info sheet on how much activity is sufficient for adult health: http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/guidelines/adults.html which outlines specific types of activity to meet the minimum requirements of adult health. The CDC also has a phone line dedicated to providing information at: 800-CDC-INFO (800-232-4636).
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Yoga gets you moving and gently waking up those unused muscles, which can protect you from injury. Tai Chi is actually considered to be resistance exercise, so adds the benefit of keeping your bones healthy too. Dance classes with a focus on fun, movement, and progressive strength building are a happy way to keep your muscles using up blood sugar while having a good time meeting new folks. If a swimming pool is available to you, aqua aerobics is easy on the sense of working hard because water lessens the gravity while absorbing heat. And always walking is the simplest, most flexible, and very affordable exercise for changing your lifestyle into something you can still call your own.
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Call up your local hospital or your provider’s clinic to ask for recommended exercise groups, trainers, and/or classes. Schools and colleges offer adult education classes all year nowadays and usually include at least a few exercise classes at a reasonable cost to get you connected to your community’s resources. As mentioned before, classes offer the added benefit of meeting others with like goals as well as networking connections in general. Some gyms offer less expensive memberships for attending workout classes only. And just get out and walk….take notice of how you feel before and after the walk. Chances are very good that you will be glad you now have a good reason to get back into using your body…because it plain ‘ole feels good.
Resources and References:
American Diabetes Association; 2013. Fitness; American Diabetes Association: Food and Fitness. Retrieved from: http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/fitness/
American Diabetes Association; 2013. Success story: Sarah Boison; American Diabetes Association: Success Stories. Retrieved from: http://diabetesstopshere.org/2013/03/25/success-story-sarah-boison/
Casteneda, C., Layne, J., Munoz-Orians, L., Gordon, P., Walsmith, J., Foldvari, m., Roubenoff, R., Tucker, K., and Nelson, M. 2002. A randomized controlled trial of resistance exercise training to improve glycemic control in older adults with type 2 diabetes; Diabetes Care 25, 12; 2335-2341.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention CDC; 2011. How much physical activity do adults need?; CDC 24/7: Saving Lives, Protecting People: Physical Activity. Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/guidelines/adults.html
National Institute of Health NIH, 2013. Get active; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Retrieved from: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/wecan/get-active/
van Dijk J, Tummers K, Stehouwer C, Hartgens F, van Loon L.; 2012. Exercise therapy in type 2 diabetes: is daily exercise required to optimize glycemic control? Diabetes Care 35, 5; 948-54.
Brain Food; Continuing the dialogue on how to make a healthy brain
- Janet's Eye on the Media
"Your brain thrives on fat and cholesterol" and the products that are fat-free are depriving you of needed nutrients. Lifestyle Modification Support (LMS) has been talking about this the past year.... I hope you will consider the information seriously. Look up the references and many many articles addressing this issue.
Here is another book on the topic and the source of that quote above: Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar--Your Brain's Silent Killers by David Perlmutter and Kristin Loberg. Found on amazon.com at :
http://www.amazon.com/Grain-Brain-Surprising-Sugar--Your-Killers/dp/031623480X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375704621&sr=8-1&keywords=GRAIN+BRAIN
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Some times reading the daily news feeds on health, the scene resembles a battlefield. There sure seems to be a lot of contenders for the battlefield! Scrutinizing the players more closely with an eye to motives, one could get the impression that the real prize is money .... not providing the most efficient path to whole health. Meanwhile, folks are also making a living providing you with information...well some are. Might I make a suggestion? always read the books and articles remembering what the authors stand to win by promoting their viewpoint. This is no critique on the book above or any information in the news today in particular. I mean this caution honestly.
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Patient-centered healthcare planning begins with You educating yourself and making a commitment to directing your care, and life therefore. Another way to say this is: taking the helm of your healthcare direction means being accountable to your awareness and decisions. . . . which includes changing your mind when you learn new data and sift it through your discerning brain. So I am describing an ongoing process or a "way of life"... an active occupation of being responsible.
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To maintain a discerning mind requires a well nurtured brain. A healthy brain mind is the key to enjoying life, the "feeling" of being alive, many tout. Makes sense to me, and even further, my own experience is that when those around me are healthily vital, alert and discerning, and capable of interacting spontaneously in given situations and circumstances, I benefit, the people I care about gain much in expanded awareness, and the ever expanding world grows and evolves in front if us by our own volition. I am stating, (I am certain your discerning mind has caught by now), my motivation for sharing this information, nearly all the information in the Lifestyle Modification Support (LMS) blog. And I am also explaining to you why it is so important that you care about your brain's health.
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A curious observation of healthy vital folks is that they seem to love, thrive on, life, and its challenges. While those that are "tired" and describing they just want to stop thinking or working at the end of the day (some the beginning or middle of their day sadly) appear to censor aspects of life, especially anything challenging. Why, this one wonders. Some of you are answering, well that is normal, isn't it? We work all day; we get tired; and we go home to eat, drink, and sleep. IS this normal? Whose normal? When did this become normal? What else was going on historically when this picture became normal? A few points to contemplate. I am not here to do all of your homework; I am here to stimulate your attention.
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If you are too tired to desire the healthy and engaging challenges of life, what can you do to wake up your brain? Should you want more out of your life, how can you make active movements towards creating the aliveness you enjoy? LMS has been sharing references all along this ongoing discussion and its many permutations and we are so happy to continue doing so. But bottom line today is: please consider that you really are what you eat. With some foods/chemicals, time on the particular element or food must be lived to realize the changes ... both healthy and fatiguing.
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To realize a healthy and vital brain, eat the foods that feed your brain; avoid the "foods" that starve the brain or otherwise disable its continued vitality. Pretty simple. Oh, except for knowing what that means literally in what to buy and eat from your market or favorite food server/restaurant. So let's keep up on what is happening in the world of nutritional research today.... (I always ask for and enjoy feedback). I mean real and valid research rather than pseudo-science that has become popular among the biggest "food" (and drug) sellers today. To date, research from around the world continues to reveal that many modern foodlike substances sold in packages as food in your local grocery store do not contain valuable and needed nutrients for your body. The sellers of these foodlike substances even openly state that providing health is not their business, rather making money is their primary incentive (The extraordinary science of addictive junk food, Moss; 2013). What, then, is healthy food? the other part of the question and the only part that matters to me....getting real food for my brain. Another article on why fat-free might as well be called eating cardboard, addictive cardboard truly, cardboard all the same... is Dr AnneMarie Colbin's blog "Fat-free Food: A Bad Idea at: http://www.foodandhealing.com/articles/article-fatfreebad.htm
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Lifestyle Modification Support will continue to add articles on good food for your brain from many sources. Meanwhile, scroll down the front page of LMS to reread the articles shared already on how fat is required for brain cells to function. For a really adorable article, easy to read and understand, on how our brains evolved via fat, read The Human Brain from the Franklin Institute at: http://www.fi.edu/learn/brain/fats.html . Or read Brain Food: Good Fats Better for Memory on LiveScience at: http://www.livescience.com/20429-good-fats-good-brain.html . For those of you preferring a more scholarly diatribe but brief, check out Dr Gary Wenk's article in Your Brain On Food titled Dietary Fats That Improve Brain Function at: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/your-brain-food/201205/dietary-fats-improve-brain-function .
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I sincerely hope this helps you get started, if you only just catching up to this conversation.
Always, stay awake and alive! and feel free to contact me personally or via this blog to share your thoughts, concepts, questions, or concerns. 
I Am,
Janet Still FNP
Got Skim Milk?: Maybe a Recipe for Obesity and Cancer
Okay, what did I tell you?
I do not exactly appreciate the "I told ya so" comeback; yet, sometimes it is all one can say! Research that is scientifically valid will continue to back these conclusions (in the linked story/article), because the logic is sound as well as the makers of said products have openly admitted that they are not in the BUSINESS of health, they are in the BUSINESS of selling food items. Please go back and read my previous posts, if you are wondering where I am coming up with my viewpoint. And finally, research will validate these findings because, simply, foods in their natural state have evolved alongside of our gastro-intestinal (GI) systems. New foods created in labs for dubious ends, such as profit, will require some time to integrate into our cellular metabolic processes. Let me see.....how long did it take for us to adjust to wheat, for example. I use that as my example because some will say that we have not actually finished integrating the use of wheat in our GI systems.
Just checking in. Many more immediate and up to the minute news posts are on the facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lifestyle-Modification-Support/107128452736585?fref=ts
Keep contacting me with all of your ideas and questions. I enjoy hearing from you.
Eat Whole Fat, Real Fat, for Health
Eat Whole Fat, Real Fat, for Health
This post has taken far too long to be written! because my mind had the idea that one post could contain this topic. Then I recognized that this piece of the nutrition puzzle today continues from the previous posts about junk food addiction. And this topic regarding "good fat vs bad fat" is more than one post. So here we go - - -!
You say, wait, I have to eat a low fat diet because I have a weight problem. I say, you have a weight problem because you are malnourished...and eating low fat foods is contributing to your body's hunger for Real Fat so needed by all of our bodies, including rather importantly the brain part of our bodies. Please be reassured: this is NOT your fault that you keep eating foods that are not providing the real nutrients! Remember the previous post about junk food addiction? As you can see, all these posts for a few months fall into this topic.
Have you heard of the documentary, Hungry For Change? I mention the video, which can be streamed on Netflix and viewed on YouTube, because I understand that having imagery while hearing information gets the information into some folks' brains. [Planning to start making videos to go with the main posts in Lifestyle Modification Support for those of you that get more out of eye contact.] Hungry For Change breaks down in simple terms how the food we are eating is not really food in the real sense...but "food-like products." Hrmmm what does that mean?
I am going to anticipate your questions about this topic, beginning with a brief discussion today on whole fat versus low fat or non-fat. Please contact me all the ways that you do to ask your burning questions. The fat question is what instigated this post. In the past, I have spoken of how much sugar is clandestinely added to nearly every processed food you buy and eat. [Processed = anything prepared by someone you never met somewhere else. Examples? everything from cake and biscuit mixes, cereals, canned or packaged soups, frozen meals/snacks, salad dressings, pizza sauces, condiments, bread, flavored milks and vitamin drinks .... ]
Fat-free generally means LOTS of sugar products added. Why one is constantly hungry on low fat diets is that one is NOT giving the healthy fat that one needs while eating much more sugar than one might choose consciously. And, as I have mentioned before, sweet is added via a number of processed forms of "sugar"...high fructose corn syrup being the head of the pack. So imagine your brain, on the one hand requiring whole fat, not getting it; but also utilizing sugar rapidly too, unhealthy over-processed forms of sugar, because it is HUNGRY!! for nutrition. And what happens next....is your brain is hard-wired to want sugar and starts craving more and more and more..... Sugar gives a beta-endorphin high. The more of this "high" the body gets, the more habituated the body becomes to it and thus needs ...more!
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more to come....... additions will continue at the bottom of the article as they are added.
Focuses to include: what are whole healthy fats? and what are unhealthy (dangerous) fats? How fat protects us from toxins....
BBC News - Scrubbing Up: Do hospitals legitimise junk food?
BBC News - Scrubbing Up: Do hospitals legitimise junk food? Following up the last blog I whipped out (admittedly!) on Brain Foods, this article from the BBC finishes another "nail on the head" of my personal list of pet peeves. There are plenty of stories one can find online that concur with what the BBC is opening for discussion. In fact, some of us have been talking about this issue for thirty years! Thank you, Cardiologist Asseem Malhotra, for writing about the problem in a fresh way. Nutrition is not all that hard to calculate.... pointedly, nutrition is still as simple as A, B, C, because we humans have not had an opportunity to mutate all that much since we began to be able to calculate the nutrients in our foods. So what is going on? Why are we being given limited choices for high quality healthy nutrition everywhere we turn? but especially, why are we being given limited choices from the places one would expect to have the best choices offered? As promised, I am working on a quick and concise discussion of why whole fats are much healthier than low fat foods. From this BBC article, you may begin to guess why. In a nutshell, right now, I will sign off saying, the less we bother the food before it gets to our kitchen, the healthier it is for our bodies. Until our next interaction, live well...Love and laugh. ~janet
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Update on this brief story line.....
I have not been able to get out of this story because I went on to discover a lot more written on the topic plus then NYT published a very thorough article on The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food" six days ago. I cannot stop studying it and "Running off" in cyber land to follow up the details.....!
Crazy making lines from the astounding article "The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food" at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/magazine/the-extraordinary-science-of-junk-food.html?pagewanted=1&_r=4 :
“One article said something like, ‘If you take Lunchables apart, the most healthy item in it is the napkin.' " ===================== "... the food industry already knew some things about making people happy — and it started with sugar. Many of the Prego sauces — whether cheesy, chunky or light — have one feature in common: The largest ingredient, after tomatoes, is sugar. A mere half-cup of Prego Traditional, for instance, has the equivalent of more than two teaspoons of sugar, as much as two-plus Oreo cookies." ===================== “(Stephen)Sanger (of General Mills) was trying to say, ‘Look, we’re not going to screw around with the company jewels here and change the formulations because a bunch of guys in white coats are worried about obesity.” ===================== "These (new Lunchables) would be promoted as more healthful versions, with “fresh fruit,” but their list of ingredients — containing upward of 70 items, with sucrose, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup and fruit concentrate all in the same tray..." ===================== "The company’s Yoplait brand had transformed traditional unsweetened breakfast yogurt into a veritable dessert. It now had twice as much sugar per serving as General Mills’ marshmallow cereal Lucky Charms." ===================== ....and more.... O.o
Feed Your Brain
More bad news about high fructose corn syrup.... or good news
...depending on where one is standing. Research is piling up on how high fructose corn syrup interferes with the message in our brain that tells us we are satiated. Thus, the consumer of the beverage or food that has been sweetened with high fructose corn syrup continues to feel hungry despite repeated helpings of the artificially sweetened food. One thing leads to another.... we are drinking that soda or eating that cookie to fill an empty space in the tummy. When we still feel hungry, we continue to eat. Did I mention how many calories are in high fructose corn syrup? Or shall I go into the instruction on how our bodies utilize refined sugars versus complex glucose in vegetables, for example? Save that discussion for another day. Today, I am bringing up a few helpful hints about feeding your brain.
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Feed your brain....
foods that provide the building blocks for maintaining nerve cells. Oh that is right! the brain is our central nerve station. Naturally, nerve cells have needs. Sure, sugar..glucose is the brain's fuel. But, like all food, sugar is a molecule that comes in many shapes and sizes. In the universe, there are surely uses for every shape of any molecule, but just as your car requires certain versions of oil to adequately remain clean and perform its job, your body requires certain versions of the various nutrients.
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I remember that old 1950s idea about "better life through chemicals"
because I am a late baby boomer and we were blitzed with all kinds of images: in school book stories, Life and other magazine images, the radio talk shows, and movies, with how our imminent future was going to look because science would save the day! Lots of jokes abound about asking what happened to those old "futuristic" images. Still very much a proponent of science, my viewpoint is that we have taken a left turn on science when we try to recreate what nature has already done a brilliant job of providing. Instead of scattering the earthly treasures provided, by changing them, perhaps we might apply science to truly understanding why the naturally occurring versions of molecules are so perfect for our bodies and the balance of this world as we know it.
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Foods that taste great AND feed your brain, so well, that you might find yourself actually satiated and forgetting 'bout craving that moon pie or dreamsicle:
This is the easy part, because naturally occurring brain foods are very satiating! As I said, glucose is the brain's favorite chemical...and the most long-lasting source is the immediate intake of fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Yes, it is preferable to lightly graze through the day rather than a few huge meals a day. Recently, studies have been touting the great benefits of berries for the brain. Not a fan of berries? avocados are a very nutrient dense food and the brain loves that healthy fat too. (Look for articles on healthy fat in the archives and in upcoming posts). Maybe you desire something unique to express your individualism.... pomegranates make many expert lists as an excellent source of protection against free radical damage to your brain cells. Drinking pomegranate juice skips the digging into seeds part of eating the fruit raw and condenses the amount of good food to your brain. Read the label and make sure the manufacturers did not muck up a good thing by sweetening it with high fructose corn syrup. Whole grains are an excellent source of brain food too... in a well chosen grain, one improves circulation to the brain (and heart) as well as carbohydrates and even some omega-3s...talk about multi-tasking. Speaking of omega-3s ... think: nuts, seeds, and cold water fish. Keep current on mercury levels of the fish of course. Right now the recommendation is Wild Salmon from Alaska, tilefish, shellfish, and light tuna. There is more I can share about food choices, MUCH more! but for the sake of keeping this brief enough to provide food for thought while avoiding boredom, I am ending this post with these quickie hints.
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Good news...
that I mentioned at the beginning is that if you are giving your brain the foods it truly craves .... a few yummy ideas provided here ... then you are being a good provider to your brain. Who is going to make sure your brain works smoothly better than you? So, do not worry about high fructose corn syrup; just avoid consuming it in sodas and desserts and all the secret hidden places, like ketchups and sauces and crackers ... Read the labels, because high fructose corn syrup, in one form or another, is nearly always near the top in the list of ingredients. More to the point, if you are giving your brain the food that human brains evolved eating to the gifted state we can now experience, then you will soon stop craving the altered foods that use high fructose corn syrup to tease your brain.
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One last thought....
experts report many unfortunate things about these altered/processed chemicals in the ingredients. High fructose corn syrup, for example, has now been linked to obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, liver dysfunction, higher triglyceride levels in men, and disruptions to memory and learning. Why take the risk with the gem of a brain you carry in your head? In the end, when what we eat satisfies us, WE EAT LESS. Eating less because you are eating right should help with the grocery tab, sure, but it also helps with the part of your brain tabulating your quality of life. Feel good, it really is easy.
One Billion Rising San Diego - YouTube
Hometowne! version One Billion Rising San Diego - YouTube.
How To: Debbie Allen Teaches Break the Chain Dance - YouTube
Ready? Here are the dance steps to Break the Chain.... we be happening, Ladies!
How To: Debbie Allen Teaches Break the Chain Dance - YouTube.
National Sleep Day: 8 New Findings About Sleep And Your Health
National Sleep Day: 8 New Findings About Sleep And Your Health. Happy Sleeping Day!
Be well, be happy.
One Billion Rising Short Film - YouTube
Keep this discussion going....
http://www.onebillionrising.org
via One Billion Rising Short Film - YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl2AO-7Vlzk&feature=colike
This film may be hard to watch in the beginning, but it has a joyful finale` ...won't you please join us in making this finale` A REALITY...NOW?
...reading The New Midwifery (Page & McCandlish 2006) and how the "technocratic" system furthers the oppression of women, a subtle violence against women by silencing their voice, their right to have a say in their life. In so many aspects of life, we have choice but are unsupported to take it.
There is a One Billion Rising event happening near you February 14.... or you can start up your own. Please join us in dancing our truth that violence against women is not okay.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS EVENT. Ask me or go to the webpage: http://www.onebillionrising.org/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl2AO-7Vlzk&feature=colike
Organic vs Biotech
Pay careful attention to the details on the current controversy regarding claims made by a former "Big Tobacco" pseudo-science propagandist who is employed at Stanford? The good thing about this controversy is people are talking.... and what the corporate "persons" have not considered is: now real science can be brought into a public discussion....because the commercial interests [read: greed] stepped up and threw mud where there is a battle...the battle for truth regarding how biotech in agriculture has little to do with what is best for all of us and more to do with commercial profit. Want attention? okay, let's start talking science. And while we are at it, let's talk logic; and let's talk freedom of choice; and let us broach the difficult expectation of truthful advertising. More to come...
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[Today September 14, 2012] Ben Paynter of http://www.benpaynter.net/ who blogs/writes in many venues shared a particularly enlightening bit about the health of his intestines...or as he stated it, his "POOP BUGS". You can find the short piece as number 14 of Living by Numbers: The Wired Guide to Health in Wired's October 2012 issue (p 126). The article is apparently unavailable on wired.com, so I contemplated copying it in its entirety here because, honestly, in such a brief, and comical, description of his stool analysis, he provides a great deal of tips about why gastro-intestinal health is so crucial to overall health. [I strongly encourage you to get this issue and read his quipped essay.]
But the BIG reason I bring the article up here is the last sentence. In four short columns, Ben quickly shared the telling results of his Metametrix test....his "Adiposity Index," his "Predominant Bacteria Analysis," his "Yeast/Fungi" count, and last but so definitely NOT least, his "Drug Resistance" panel. What? drug resistance? in a stool sample? you remark avidly curious as to how drug resistance could be revealed in a stool sample. Never fear, I will not bore you with the details of how the DNA of the bacteria shows this....at least, not now.... suffice it to say, that the DNA in Ben's gut bacteria were the source of all this fascinating information! By now, as highly intelligent as you have demonstrated yourself to be by your choice of reading materials, you have no doubt sleuthed the connection between Ben's discovered drug resistance and the title of this blog "Organic vs Biotech"... I will let Ben's words say it so simply, "I can't turn my superbugs back into Clark Kent bugs, but I can eat organics to avoid future exposure to antibiotics." !!!! and thus, prevent further antibiotic resistant bacteria from getting a toe-hold in his body, thereby preventing the antibiotic's effectiveness in future should he need it. Remarkably, Ben thought it significant to mention that he likely acquired his particular superbugs via eating a food that had been exposed to said antibiotic, since apparently Ben has never taken the antibiotics for which he has discovered that he has a thriving resistance.
Yes, one more reason to eat organic.... a reason which can be measured....should anyone be interested in actually doing so rather than taking candy from the drug pushers, so to speak; meaning accepting without question a poorly structured "Study" by researchers of questionable motivations.
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Additional articles commenting on the organic vs biotech question:
http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2012/09/five-ways-stanford-study-underestimates-organic-food
http://blogs.kqed.org/newsfix/2012/09/04/michael-pollan-organic-study/?
http://geneticroulettemovie.com/
http://www.naturalnews.com/037108_Stanford_Ingram_Olkin_Big_Tobacco.html
More will be added to this blog.......
5 Daily Encountered Heart Attack Triggers
Friends, this article from Rodale is too important not to share directly. News stories have been putting out this information more frequently in the last few years, but this article succinctly and plainly lists the daily offenders, simple details for recognition, and briefly suggests alternatives. So I am sharing the article forthwith!
You can find the original article at: http://www.rodale.com/heart-attack-causes?cm_mmc=TheDailyFixNL-_-1033878-_-09062012-_-5_unexpected_heart_attack_triggers_title
heart attack causes
5 Unexpected Heart Attack Triggers
Everyday things could be troubling your ticker.
By Leah Zerbe
Defuse heart attack triggers that lurk in your home.
A bacon cheeseburger fetish topped with a couch potato mentality is a surefire recipe for a heart attack. But those obvious bad choices aren't the only things taking a toll on your ticker. Scientists discovering surprising new heart attack causes—including ones you may unknowingly be exposing yourself to every day. Learn about the new heart attack triggers and eliminate them from your daily routine!
Nonstick Chemicals Nonstick and stain-repelling chemicals are convenient, but in terms of health, they might not be worth it. Previously linked to infertility, high cholesterol, and ADHD, a September 2012 study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine also shows a connection between perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) chemicals and heart disease. Regardless of age, body mass, or the presence of diabetes or other diseases, researchers found that people with the highest PFOA levels in their blood were twice as likely to have cardiovascular disease compared with people with the lowest levels.
Avoid it: If you use nonstick pots, pans, and bakeware, replace them with uncoated stainless steel, made-in-America cast iron, or glass the minute you start seeing chips in the finish. More PFOA avoidance tactics? Stay away from fabrics, furniture, and carpeting advertised as "stain repellent," and eat fast food less—many fast-food containers contain PFOA-containing grease barriers.
Antibacterial Soap Triclosan, an antibacterial soap and toothpaste chemical, is a well-known bad actor when it comes to health, thanks to its ties to thyroid disease and its role in creating hard-to-kill, antibiotic-resistant germs. You can now add increased heart disease risk to the dangers of antibacterial soap, thanks to new research suggesting it can damage heart and muscle tissue.
Avoid it: You get virtually no benefit for the risk you take when buying and using antibacterial products, since researchers have proven that washing with regular soap and water works just as well. To avoid triclosan, steer clear of anything advertised as "antibacterial," "antimicrobial," "germ-killing," "odor-free," or "odor-killing." When it comes to personal care products, check the label to make sure triclosan isn't on the ingredients list.
Canned Food Sodium isn't canned foods' only setback. The notoriously toxic canned food chemical bisphenol A, or BPA, is a potent hormone disruptor tied to breast cancer, anger problems in female children, obesity, and infertility. And now, it's implicated in heart disease. A 2011 study published in the journal PLoS ONE found even small doses of BPA—ones we're commonly exposed to—could lead to dangerous heart arrhythmia, erratic beating that could cause sudden cardiac death. The BPA-heart disease link gained more traction just months later when researchers discovered that healthy people with higher BPA levels are more likely to develop heart disease down the line.
Avoid it: Limit canned food and instead opt for fresh or frozen. (Eden Foods is one brand that went BPA free and disclosed its plant-based BPA replacement; some companies have eliminated the BPA but are using a toxic alternative.) Also decline trivial cash receipts. Thermal receipts—the most popular kind in use today—are coated in BPA that's readily absorbed into your skin. Some No. 7 plastics also contain BPA, so choose glass or stainless steel food and drink containers, and never heat plastic in the microwave or dishwasher—higher temps accelerate leaching.
Traffic Jams Traffic can kill, and not just via wrecks. Scientists have uncovered a connection between air pollution, traffic jams, and heart attack risk. German researchers interviewed heart attack survivors to try and pinpoint certain heart attack triggers. They found that people stuck in traffic—whether as a driver, passenger, bike rider, or passenger on public transportation—experienced a 3.2 times higher risk of having a heart attack compared to people who weren't trapped in a traffic jam. (Add it to the list of reasons to pitch to your boss to let you work from home.)
Avoid it: Check air-quality reports before hitting the road, keep your windows closed on the highway, and lobby your boss to allow more telecommuting to reduce your exposure to tailpipe pollution.
Certain Seafood Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish are supposed to protect your heart, not harm it. Syracuse University researchers churned up evidence suggesting you should be picky about what type of fish you eat, though. They found fish contaminated with high levels of mercury actually interfered with the body's response to stress, increasing the odds of heart disease. The mercury interferes with the body's natural cortisol hormone levels in a heart-unhealthy way.
Avoid it: In addition to tuna, fish with the highest levels of mercury are usually the big predatory species, such as swordfish, king mackerel, and any kind of shark. But watch out for recreational species, as well. The U.S. Geological Survey has found dangerously high mercury levels in some freshwater species, including trout and bass. For more tips on finding safer fish, read The Surprising Heart Attack Trigger in the Seafood Aisle and 12 Fish You Should Never Eat.
Keep Talking! what about violence against women?
http://www.midwife.org/Statement-on-Rape-and-Pregnancy
The American College of Nurse Midwives made this (see website link) brief, plain, and straightforward statement regarding a US Representative's recent incorrect remark about rape and pregnancy. The most uncomfortable aspect of this political faux pas is its reflection of ignorance. My first reaction upon reading the remark so widely broadcasted was, "but people know better...don't they?" followed by the disturbing realization that if this person gets away with saying this, the dark ages descend. Thus, I am hoping to keep the conversation rolling.... there are so many potential avenues regarding education. Please help me keep this vital issue rolling. Wherever you chat, blog, converse....ask others what they know about resources for education on health.
Women Give Birth and Pizzas Are Delivered: Language and Western Childbirth Paradigms
ScienceDirect.com - Journal of Midwifery & Womens Health - Women Give Birth and Pizzas Are Delivered: Language and Western Childbirth Paradigms. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For all of you interested in conscious use of language, this article makes a clear and succinct commentary on just how powerful words are.
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Personal reflection
Women Give Birth and Pizzas Are Delivered: Language and Western Childbirth Paradigms
Lauren P. Hunter, CNM, PhD [Author Vitae]
- Available online 28 February 2006.
- http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.midwives.org/10.1016/j.jmwh.2005.11.009, How to Cite or Link Using DOI
- Cited by in Scopus (11)
This article examines two differing health paradigms, their language, and their effect on the culture of Western childbirth practices. Specifically, the differences in perspectives and language between the dominant paradigm/culture (the biomedical model of curing) and the alternative paradigm/culture (a holistic model of caring) are explored. Examples of language from the medical, midwifery, and nursing literature that affect childbirth culture and the care of childbearing women and their families are examined. The use of language as a tool of power and its known and postulated effects on the childbirth experience, nursing care, midwifery practice, and holistic care are explored. The author argues for the use of a woman-centered paradigm for childbirth experiences.
Introduction
Language is a powerful tool of communication. The spoken or written word is the way human beings communicate their societal and cultural norms and values. [1], [2], [3], [4] and [5] The dominant culture has the advantage of using language to shape social policy and culture. Words can be used in social interactions to influence others.3
Kitzinger,6 an advocate of women’s right to control their own birth process, states that language socially controls women’s lives because it is man-made and expresses men’s views and perspectives. She believes women’s experiences are unspoken because there is no language in which the experience can be expressed. One reason gynocentric science (women’s knowledge) has been invisible is because the androcentric (male-centered) model has placed a premium on the written word and written results as documentation of scientific procedure.7 Kahn2 reviewed hundreds of years of Western writing that portrays the patriarchal influence on childbirth and childbirth language from a sociologic perspective. She concludes that this patriarchal influence is responsible for the lack of woman-centered language and the neglect of the use of women’s experiences in childbirth as legitimate knowledge.
Midwives, nurses, and women, however, often transmitted their wisdom and knowledge through personalized contact and encounters. The professions of midwifery and nursing have a historical and cultural tradition of imparting knowledge in an oral manner, which has further contributed to lack of recognition in the current medical paradigm. This article describes the language of two different health paradigms and the effect language has on the culture of Western childbirth practices.
The paradigm of the science of caring: a holistic model of care
The science of caring is the paradigm from which the philosophical and theoretical bases of midwifery and nursing originate. To define caring and its many meanings would be impossible because of the volume of literature and differences in opinion about the concept “care.” [8], [9], [10] and [11] The fact that care has more than one definition should not be disconcerting. Instead, it is congruent with a midwifery/nursing science that emphasizes the uniqueness of each nurse-client encounter. Meleis10 states that caring is a human behavior that encompasses the holistic being: physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and moral. The crux of caring is centered on the relationship between the caregiver and the client. Each experience is a unique encounter and contextual in nature. Dahlberg,8 Hagell,9 and Sterk et al.11 describe the caring relationship as an “intersubjective experience.”
Caring encounters concentrate on the relationship with and the supporting of the client instead of focusing on illness and pathology. This is supported by the Cochrane review by Hodnett12 of the positive outcomes of continuous social support during labor and the integrated review by Hunter13 of the importance of a provider being with women during childbirth to provide advice and information, comfort, and presence within a reciprocal relationship. Midwifery models of care emphasize the empowerment of women as partners in care and the provider-client relationship as central components. [14], [15], [16] and [17]
The paradigm of the biomedical model
The dominant paradigm in Western childbirth care, the biomedical model of science, has several traditional tenets. The model emphasizes pathology that is diagnosed and treated on the basis of three Cartesian principles. [9] and [18] First, the mind is considered separate from the body. From the Cartesian viewpoint, neither can influence the other. Second, physical nature is viewed mechanistically. The body is a machine that, if broken, can be fixed by medical intervention. Finally, Cartesian science is based on a written language of logic and rationalism. Emotive language and contextual information is not considered valid scientific data.
Increased use of technology has contributed to the continuation of these objective constructs as the dominant force in obstetric practice. Technologic interventions and medical terminology become symbols of power in the hospital setting and reinforce the control of the provider at the expense of the woman. [1] and [19] Sandelowski20 observes that technology most often consists of inanimate objects, and as such, increases the view of the “human body” as an artifact of or orifice for technology.
In feminist work on gender and science, Keller21 discusses the perceived differences in human nature and language between the dominant masculine paradigm, which are objective, reasoning, mechanistic, and rational, versus the alternative feminine paradigm of language, which is subjective, emotional, intuitive, artistic, and in tune with nature. Androcentric language affects current descriptions of disease states, research, general health matters, and to some extent, the paradigm of other health care professions.
From a research perspective, the dominant biomedical paradigm emphasizes “hard” data, which produces operational and tangible outcomes. The gold standard for research is the randomized controlled trial that seeks the one truth for each hypothesis. As the professions of midwifery and nursing have struggled to gain legitimacy, they too have emphasized this scientific standard, requiring quantifiable, objective research as the benchmark of true science. This view has contributed to the lack of women’s voices and perspectives in women’s health research that may be more amenable to (contextual) qualitative data collection.
From the perspective of the medical model, childbirth is considered a pathologic condition that is inherently risky and should take place in a hospital to ensure safety. By emphasizing risk, Sterk et al.11 and Wagner22 argue that even more power is created for the provider who is the only person who can reduce or control the chance of risk.
An example of the power of the biomedical model is provided in an ethnographic study conducted in England. The research performed by Machin and Scamell19 used two study groups: 20 women who took prenatal classes and made informed choice about childbirth options (medical care versus alternative care) and 20 women who did not take classes, and who relied on their providers to “take care of things as they saw fit.” The women in the informed choice group described themselves as wanting control and empowerment over the birth process. The women in the second group did not want to challenge the medical model and did not see the need for control over decision-making activities. The researchers found that the women in the group who resisted the medical model of care during pregnancy ultimately succumbed to the model during childbirth. From the interviews and observation data, the authors concluded that because the women were vulnerable during labor, they gave in to the prevailing symbolic messages, language, power, and control of the dominant medical culture. Both the providers and the environment in the study conveyed the message that science (i.e., technology and medicalized childbirth) was the safest route for their birth.
Role of language
Hewison’s23 grounded theory study of nursing power via language in client interactions was based on the premises that 1) language is an integral part of social interactions, 2) the way language is used reveals the power structure of the social encounter, and 3) nurses function with minimal power in encounters with other health professionals. Although power through verbal social interaction can be shared, she discovered that the most common form of nurse-patient interaction was “controlling the agenda.” Verbal communication was used to ensure that the patient was aware of her submissive role in the hospital and in compliance with hospital routines and procedures instead of for caring encounters.
Nichols and Humenick24 discuss the need for positive expression surrounding birth based on neurolinguistic science, which suggests that language affects the brain and nervous system. In a feminist discourse on women and resilience, Stewart25 agrees that feelings of inadequacy and deficiency can occur if humiliating language is used to describe childbirth, because the language used gives form to the experience. Indeed, this could be one reason for the newly evolved psychiatric terminology, “tokophobia,” used to describe the fear and anxiety some women experience surrounding childbirth.26
Fenwick et al.27 surveyed 59 women in Australia and North America about their perceptions of their birth experience after having a cesarean birth. All participants were members of an organization that supports consumer information about cesarean birth. Survey participants who had negative experiences identified health professional’s language, attitudes, and care practices as dismissive. Although the study findings are limited by selection bias, the content analysis highlighted the fact that communication difficulties were found between obstetric providers who used mechanistic language and women who spoke experientially about birth. Participants stated that their wishes and feelings were not acknowledged, and that the language used by providers was abusive, aggressive, and/or misleading, especially when routine practices were questioned.
Miles28 provides an excellent example depicting the different perspectives present between parents and the obstetricians with respect to childbirth. At an open forum to discuss the possibility of an alternative birth center, each group’s comments used to describe the childbirth process were recorded. Obstetricians chose objective words that indicated the need for control, such as death, risk, control, protection, costs, proof, management, standards, and efficacy, whereas parents chose words that were subjective, care oriented, and relational, such as, family, love, bonding, feelings, anxiety, unhurried, quiet, meaningful, and life ritual, as descriptors of childbirth.
Disempowering and pejorative words that emphasize the poor quality of the uterine “machine,” women’s inability to give birth, and the ability of obstetric providers to resolve these issues are rampant in obstetric language. For example, the process of the fetus traveling through the birth canal is referred to as “the mechanism of labor.” A woman’s labor that does not progress on a specific timetable is referred to as “arrested.” If “active management” is unable to speed the progression of labor, the process is referred to as a failure, as in, “failure to progress.” Contractions of the uterus can be labeled “inadequate” or “false,” and the cervix can be considered “unfavorable” or “incompetent.” A woman’s gestational term is called a “confinement,” and babies are “delivered” by the provider, not “borne” by the mother. A vaginal birth after previous caesarean birth is called a “trial of labor” and, if unsuccessful, is yet one more failure for the woman as her body betrays her and is referred to as a “failed attempt” at vaginal birth. First-time mothers have “untried pelvises.” Ultimately, mother and baby become the mechanistic “maternal-fetal unit.”
Obstetric jargon has been described as judgment and value ridden, in addition to mechanistic.18 Examples include lazy uterus, boggy fundus, and floppy cervix. Value-laden language can also lead to the stereotyping of women and to generalizations about how childbirth services should be provided. In turn, stereotyping can become a substitute for communicating with the laboring woman.29 Bastian30 postulates that the language itself is instrumental in forcing the mother/woman to maintain a passive and invisible role during childbirth.
Walton4 provides further examples of inappropriate words used during childbirth and discusses the power of words as socially owned symbols that reflect our culture. She argues that words only remain in use if they are useful to a culture and symbolically valid. One interesting childbirth metaphor she discusses is the provider’s use of the term “check a woman,” in reference to a vaginal examination. She further states that this terminology represents a power imbalance between the mother and the provider, because “to check” means either to “restrain or stop” or to “tick off a list.” If the provider is “ticking off a list” when “checking,” the mother is reduced to a product that must be assessed and a passive participant in the relationship, rather than a “partner in care.” She argues that the use of the word “patient” as a label for laboring women conjures up the thought of illness, submissiveness, and compliancy. Alternatively, the label “client” encourages the woman to become a consumer of an institutional product or procedure instead of attending to her own needs.
Kitzinger6 adds that even technical terms involving childbirth are male dominated because many of the normal physical “sensations” of childbirth have been named after the man who “describes” the process rather than the woman who experiences the “sensation.” Braxton-Hicks contractions, the painless uterine tightening a woman begins to “sense” as early as 6 weeks into her pregnancy, are named after the male physician who first “discovered” them. Another example of the androcentric dominance of childbirth language can be found by scanning the titles of manuscripts in current obstetric journals. The titles lend credence to the belief that women are viewed as objects, as opposed to living beings, and that the experience of childbirth is objectified and mechanized. One such example of this type of discourse is displayed in the following title of an article published in Obstetrics and Gynecology: “Induction of Labor in the Nineties: Conquering the Unfavorable Cervix.”31
Freda,32 in a discourse on ethical debates surrounding childbirth, stated that one of the last frontiers to be changed in the 21st century would be the end of medicalized birth and pejorative terminology concerning childbirth. She thought that nursing students would look back at the language used in the 1990s as evidence of control of providers over women and the passivity of laboring women and view these as oddities. Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, her predictions have not come true.
The language of holistic care and midwifery
A burgeoning number of articles have been published in midwifery and feminist-oriented journals since the 1990s that focus on changing the language surrounding childbirth. Ferguson,33 a Welsh midwife, advocates that the simple word “birth” should replace “confinement.” She argues that women should no longer be confined to bed during childbirth and that “confinement” is simply another word for hospital routines and medical management. Unfortunately, in the United States, many women are routinely confined to a bed during their labor and birth.
Zeidenstein5 discuses how it has been easier for midwives who practice homebirths to use woman-centered language that is respectful and truthful. However, the very existence of homebirth, which is frightening to those providers who feel the need to control childbirth in the name of safety, has created its own medicalized metaphors. Women who plan homebirth but require hospitalization for complications during labor are often called “train wrecks,” and the title of this article is borrowed from the often-verbalized obstetric phrase, “the only thing that should be delivered at home is a pizza.”
For changes in language and childbirth to occur, midwives and nurses must consciously use terminology in a manner that is empowering and reflective of the holistic model of care from which the professions originate. This new language can reflect women’s voices, philosophy, and their need for interpersonal relationships and encounters within the childbirth experience. [15], [34], [35] and [36] Institutions can also contribute to the empowerment of women through the use of caring, supportive, family-centered language in maternity care. Phillips37 provides an excellent example of this when he examines the terminology surrounding hospital visitation. Visitation guidelines that empower clients to make their own decisions regarding visitors use words such as welcome, encourage, and choose, whereas those that favor institutional power and staff control use phrases such as “allowed to be present” and “limited to the following number of visitors.”
Kirkham38 states that we must create a language for midwifery and for childbearing women that expresses our intuitive and creative dimensions and experiential knowledge. Labia means lips and labial is a sound using the lips.39 Considering that two sets of lips, the labia majora and labia minora, surround the birth opening, women’s voices should be heard clearly with articulated power during birth.
A wonderful example of woman-centered language for childbirth can be found in the words that are encouraged by those belonging to the hypnobirthing movement. Wainer40 replaces the medical words “mucous plug” with “birth gel” or “baby gel.” “Gel” conjures an image of softness and ripeness, which is congruent with early labor and with the feelings that women express during this time. The words “surge” or “wave” would replace the medical terminology of “contraction” or “pains.” Wainer further argues that women in the past have responded to words that have been used to describe their labor. For instance, she believes we have a high rate of “cephalopelvic disproportion” (CPD) and “failure to progress” precisely because women have been doing what providers have requested: “contracting.” She refreshingly suggests that women’s cervixes no longer need to “dilate” but, instead, “circle” around the baby’s head. Kahn2 describes the historical and current significance of the circle as a symbol of unity, wholeness, fulfillment, and perfection within the culture of birth and adds that providers do not really deliver a newborn, but instead “usher” the child into the world.
Implications for practice and policy
To be perceived as legitimate providers in the health care arena, the professions of midwifery/nursing often conform to the dominant paradigm instead of the caring paradigm. Fahy41 found that Australian midwives and nurses who offered empowerment to laboring women by encouraging them to define childbirth from their own perspective were “disciplined by the dominant power.” Sterk et al.11 contend that because midwives/nurses are conditioned to function within the dominant paradigm, they contribute to the passivity of patients through their lack of individualized “caring.”
Condon42 argues, ironically, that the public sees “caring” as belonging in the domain of women and that this association is harmful to the caring professions. Hagell9 further discusses how the type of knowledge that an epistemologic community uses (i.e., caring) can affect the profession’s legitimacy. Many argue that “women’s work” (i.e., women’s knowledge) has always been considered invisible and unimportant by the dominant male culture. [7], [9] and [25] Ginzberg7 states that women’s knowledge, midwifery, home economics, and cooking are designated as art, and insignificant by the andocentric paradigm. She contends that if these practices were male dominated, they would have been awarded the distinction of “sciences” instead of “arts.”
Caring research has been considered less powerful. If one identified the type of research and language that would flow from a philosophy of caring, holism, and woman-centered knowledge, it would be encounter-oriented, contextual, phenomenal, and experience-based. The dominant medical paradigm refers to this as soft research or soft outcomes. Oakley43 argues that so-called “soft” outcomes for childbearing women, such as maternal satisfaction, family bonding, and postpartum depression, are essential factors to be studied along with “hard” outcomes.
Page44 describes power as the ability to put ideas into action, and Wagner22 states that those in power control information. To encourage the practice of childbirth within a woman-centered context, it is imperative for the professions of midwifery/nursing to make several powerful political changes. It is evident that the language surrounding childbirth must change if we are to honor the process of childbirth as a miraculous experience for women who can trust their bodies to be powerful and capable of a natural phenomenon. Kamphuis45 states that although words help to shape our attitudes, changes in attitudes can help to create new language. This new language needs to be fostered in educational institutions of midwifery, nursing, and medicine. [30] and [46] This task should be achievable because the half-life of knowledge, especially in high-technology fields such as health care, is less than 3 to 5 years.47
One way this change can be facilitated is by the use of appropriate, woman-centered language that emphasizes caring and respect. Page44 concludes that giving power to the mother and family during pregnancy and childbirth is an initial basic building block for future “positive personal power” to be used during a lifetime of parenting. It is our responsibility to share our power with our clients by providing a relationship, including appropriate language that is structured to meet the needs of the woman. [48] and [49] Part of this process includes empowering women and their families. Empowerment can occur through interpersonal understanding in a relationship that fosters reciprocity, mutuality, and dialogue, during which the needs of the woman and her family are discovered through the process of the communication.50
It is important that the professions of midwifery/nursing recognize that our history and cultural tradition is of imparting knowledge in an oral manner of communication. As we develop and use woman-centered language, we can create a body of written text that documents our profession’s legitimate knowledge and ways of knowing. If we are going to listen to women, we need to help them create a language that is meaningful to the speaker.
Our challenge is to honor and use our own knowledge of caring and holism. It is crucial to bring this knowledge into the main arena of childbirth as a worthy science that complements and works with other paradigms through creation of a common language and model of caring for health care providers.
Conclusion
Women want and need both a healthy baby and a satisfying childbirth experience. To achieve these goals, the “competing” paradigms must combine to create an environment that is not “hard” versus “soft,” nor men versus women, but rather, an integration of “differing” paradigms that will complement each other. Parker and Gibbs51 suggest that through midwifery’s struggle to support both traditional and scientific practice in childbearing, we have become excellent mediators for future melding between communities, professions, cultures, and paradigms. Although this will continue to be a difficult and stressful task, this author believes that midwives are the best choice because we speak and understand the multiple languages surrounding childbirth. We are the profession that will make sense of multiple truths from all paradigms in our continuing efforts to construct the most empowering setting in which women can “give birth.” Through woman-centered language and personal empowerment of birthing women, the professions of midwifery/nursing can reverse the culture of risk that prevails in the current childbirth milieu.
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Address correspondence to Lauren P. Hunter, CNM, PhD, Nurse-Midwife Program Director and Advisor, San Diego State University, College of Health and Human Services, School of Nursing, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, CA 92182-4158.
Vitae
Lauren P. Hunter, CNM, PhD, is the Director of Graduate Nurse-Midwifery Education and an Assistant Professor at San Diego State University, San Diego, California.
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