The Mother's Act

Have you heard about the new proposed legislation, The Mother's Act.

Be afraid ... be very afraid ... and then rise up and make your voices heard .... on behalf of all mothers and babies and families.

SC 1375: Mom's Opportunity to Access Health, Eduction, Research, and Support for Postpartum Depression Act.

"A bill to ensure new mothers and their families are educated about postpartum depression, screened for symptoms, and provided with essential services, and to increase research at the National Institutes of Health on postpartum depression."

That last phase is KEY PHRASE ... "and to increase research at the NIH on postpartum depression."  Here we go again ... women and babies are going to be UNINFORMED and NON-CONSENTING research subjects.  

Lord of Mercy, folks, this is terrifyingly wrong.  Track this bill at:

www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill-s110-1375

  

(Sorry, I can't link this with html code as I am on the road and using someone else's MAC and having difficulty with functions I am not familiar with.  I will fix it when I arrive at a destination tonight where I will have wireless connection.)

Even within the document itself it is recognized that the incidence of postpartum depression is moderate ... and yet all women will be subjected to anti-depressants during pregnancy? We already know that anti-depressant contribute to fetal heart abnormalities. 

"Baby blues afflicts up to 80 percent of new mothers, postpartum depression occurs in 10 to 20 percent of new mothers, and postpartum psychosis strikes 1 in 1,000 new mothers."

So, a one-size-fits-all research project will not likely look at what causes new mothers to be blue (WHERE does the 80% come from anyway? Perhaps a paradigm shift is order? A shift to seeing that new mothers are not being served well in this modern world that requires them to go back to work within weeks, for example? This project will likely not focus on "alternatives" (the ways that have worked for eons) and will not see themselves (medicine and psychiatry) as the real and recent "alternative".  So, then, this project will not consider what has and did work, nor will they attempt to figure out a non-medical, non-intervention, non-drug answer, like, oh ... say ... paid maternal leave for one or two years like every other industrialized nation, or, oh, yeah ... what about a mother and baby centered model of care during birth that normalizes and naturalizes birth, gives decision-making to mother and father, and provides the social and systemic support.  No, they are going to do what they always do ... treat the masses who don't need it with the cure that doesn't even work well for the few who do need it. 

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

I will be revisiting my Safe Baby Resolution that was introduced in Hawaii last year. (www.safebabyresolution.blogspot.com) It supports social and financial support to be focused on the early, primal period where the baby is built to survive in a particular environment. It asks legislators to look at the current, compelling research such as the high incidence of depression related to medical interventions and disruptions, and to cesarean birth.  It is insane to not create the safety net for birthing women during the primal periods and to then focus on resolving the consequences with drugs and psychiatry.  The research exists to tell us much about depression in postpartum -- drugs and medical interventions are the cause. Good Lord ....   I smell big Pharm.

WHAT IS GOING ON!?!?!?

The sponsor of the bill is New Jersey Senator, Robert Menendez. Co-sponsors are Durbin (IL has been talking about this for awhile), Snowe, Brown, Dodd, and Lautenberg.  I had heard that Obama was a co-sponsor.  He does not appear on the document.

Learn more about him at: www.govtrack.us/congress/person.xpd?id-400272

Contact him and let him know what you think about this proposed legislation to treat all women like depressed chattel at:

317 Senate Hart Office Building

Washington, DC  20510

202.224.47744

202.228.2197 (fax)

One Gateway Cneter,

Suite, 1100

Newark, NY  07102

973.645.3030

973.645.0502 (fax)

208 White Horse Pike, Suite 18

Barrington, NJ 08007

856.757.5353

856.546.1528 (fax)

Let him know what you think of this proposed legislation ... that could further disempower women and hurt babies in so many ways.  There is no reason to mass-treat healthy women, to force them into mental health services and drug therapy that we know do not work, but do further harm.  When I say, "do not work" I mean do not heal the source of the depression nor the symptoms of the depression for most people and we know that drugs have serious side affects.  These drugs should be shown safe for the baby and mother -- heart, liver, brain functioning is impaired by the use of these drugs and should not be used during pregnancy. What are these people thinking? Oh, yeah ... I forgot ... they are getting rich from their money from big Pharm. 

People who are not building a human being who will live their whole lives with the consequences of the side effects (the baby) and who take these meds may minimize some of their symptoms and even become more functional, but rarely are people symptom free and rarely is the quality of their life greatly improved. Their "normal" is typically still far from normal. However, we have non-drug and non-invasive techniques, based in energy psychology and spirituality that are proving more effective.  Do we really want to see all pregnant women forced into the medical, psychiatric drug world? So a few senators and drug companies and all of their cronies can get richer?

Just Say No to Drugs .... and say YES to your Baby.