Apart from the clear health risks involved in choosing to have an elective cesarean, rather than trying for a vaginal delivery sometimes referred to as a TOL or trial of labor, early bonding and breastfeeding is greatly affected. Most women who have surgical deliveries are woozy from the pain medication and separated from their baby for hours, during post operative care. These first hours of birth are critical to bonding and the development of a healthy supply of breast milk.

Furthermore vaginal birth is safer for the baby. Babies who are born vaginally are able to experience the natural cleaning of their lungs that comes from being expelled through the birth canal. Better yet, if the vaginal  birth occurs naturally, without induction, the baby has a better chance of being born at term and far fewer risks of health complications.

Though the overwhelming majority of women, more than 90%, can deliver vaginally, the US cesarean rate currently rests at 29% for babies born in hospital. Most midwives and birth centers have a rate of less than 10% (far closer to what the rate should be). The World Health Organization claims that the target percentage for women receiving operative deliveries should fall between five and ten percent. In 1965, the US ceasarean rate rested at only 4.5%. At that time women commonly went past their estimated due dates and were rarely induced. Today, nearly half of all births are induced with strong forms of synthetic hormones and nearly one in three American women leave the hospital having undergone major surgery for a very natural function.

The more common cesareans become in the US, the more frequently mothers die. Few people realize that the morbidity rate for childbirth in the United States is extremely high and has remained high for decades, only in the last year has a slight dip been noted. There are third world countries, highly dependent on midwife assisted deliveries, that have  substantially better outcomes than the United States.

According to ACOG, the American Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecology, women who do not have serious underlying conditions should be offered a VBAC.  The practice is considered safe, even for most women who have undergone two previous cesareans. Still many doctors and hospitals do not practice this rule and may even convince women that a repeat cesarean is the best or only choice in times when it is not.

If a mother wants to attempt a vaginal delivery, she should take time to contact her local ICAN group for physician or midwife recommendations and continue to push. More and more healthcare workers are opening their eyes to the benefits of VBAC and offering healthy, capable clients the option.

References

Why the U.S. C-Section Rate is So High

Identifying Barriers and Facilitators Toward Implementing Guidelines to Reduce Cesarean Section Rates in Quebec

ACOG Says Yes to VBACS

According to Lisa Bodnar, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh, who was not involved with the study, “While the results do not prove that low vitamin D is to blame for later problems, they point to a very plausible association that warrants more attention.” Vitamin D is crucial for fetal development, but “the effects of lower maternal vitamin D levels on the developing offspring is not fully understood,” said the lead author of the study, Andrew Whitehouse.

Whitehouse also stated that earlier studies have shown some links between low vitamin D during pregnancy and pediatric problems such as weaker bones, asthma, and short stature.
He and his colleagues in Perth, Western Australia conducted this long-term study to determine whether vitamin D levels in the moms might have actually influence later behavioral and language development in their children.

Two decades ago, they measured the vitamin D levels of more than 700 women who were about half-way through their pregnancy. They tested the children of these moms to measure their behavioral and emotional development and language skills at ages 2, 5, 8, 10, 14, and 17 years.
The moms were split into four groups — from lowest to highest vitamin D levels;  researchers found that the risk of having a kid with emotional or behavioral issues was the same for each group.  Although maternal vitamin D status was not shown to be linked with behavioral or emotional problems in children, it was clearly linked with language learning skills.

Mothers with the lowest serum vitamin D levels had between 15 and 46 nanomoles per liter (nmol/L) in their blood, while those with the highest serum vitamin D levels had 72 to 154 nmol/L. According to current guidelines, levels of vitamin D are not considered deficient unless they are below 30 nmol/L.  When the researchers looked at language skills, the team found that mothers with vitamin D levels below 46 nmol/L were more likely to have a child with a language impairment than mothers in the highest vitamin D category.

The language impairments were determined from scores on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test.  About 18 percent of moms with low serum vitamin D had a child with a language learning impairment at age 10, compared to only eight percent of the moms with the highest serum evels of vitamin D.

According to study author Andrew Whitehouse:
“The logical thought is that maternal Vitamin D insufficiency during pregnancy is affecting the normal course of brain development.  If vitamin D insufficiency during prenatal life is a cause of childhood language difficulties — and this still needs to be determined conclusively — then Vitamin D supplementation of pregnant women may be an important next step.”

It is important to note that correlation does NOT equal causation.  Just because low serum vitamin D status is linked with learning disabilities in children, it does not mean that it is the cause of learning disabilities in children.  Women with low serum vitamin D status also tend to be overweight, and being overweight is also associated with developmental delays and cognitive impairments in children.  It may also be likely that poor diet and lack of physical activity in mothers are the main underlying causes in childhood developmental delays, because poor diet, lack of physical activity, obesity, and low vitamin D status are all factors that occur together.

The Institute of Medicine recommends that pregnant women get 600 international units (IUs) of vitamin D per day, but more recent studies on vitamin D during pregnancy suggest that 4,000 IUs of vitamin D per day are optimal for prevention of complications during pregnancy as well as childhood diseases such as asthma and diabetes.

Aside from supplementation, you can boost your vitamin D status by consuming nutrient-rich superfoods that have been traditionally recommended for women of childbearing age for centuries.  These foods include liver (from organically grown, grass-fed animals), egg yolks (from pasture-raised hens if possible), uncooked dairy products, salmon, sardines, and cod liver oil.

You can decrease your risk of having a child with learning disabilities by testing your serum vitamin D status before getting pregnant, optimizing your serum vitamin D to at least 72 nmol/L, making sure you are not overweight, getting an adequate amount of exercise and sleep, spending time in the sun each day without the use of sunblock, and eating a healthy diet that includes organ meats, egg yolks, unpasteurized dairy, fish, and cod liver oil.

But here’s the deal on animal products that are labeled “all natural” and “free range.”  There is no regulation over the use of those terms, which means that any company could theoretically use those terms for marketing purposes.

“All Natural”

What consumers think it means: When somebody says something is all natural, we tend to think this means there’s nothing artificial in the product: no genetically modified organisms, no chemicals, no hormones, no preservatives.  All natural should mean a food has been left the way nature has intended, with no genetic manipulation or man-made ingredients.

What it really means: Since there is no regulation of the term it could really mean anything. But “all natural” typically means that no nitrites, preservatives, or artificial ingredients have been added, and you can check that by reading the ingredients label.   Most companies that label their products as all natural also do not routinely medicate their animals with antibiotics unless the animals are actually sick, and they do not inject their animals with Monsanto’s recombinant bovine growth hormone.  You can verify this by checking the food label for a statement saying “no rBST” and “no antibiotics.”  However, if the company is able to make these claims (no rBST and no antibiotics), but is unable to use the term “organic,” this is because the animals are being fed conventionally grown corn, canola oil, and/or soy instead of organic feed.  Nearly all conventionally grown corn, canola, and soy are genetically modified, “Roundup ready” crops laced with the herbicide glyphosate.

Glypho what?

Glyphosate, otherwise known as Roundup, is an herbicide made by Monsanto which is known to cause birth defects, endocrine disruption, reproductive toxicity, and DNA damage.  Glyphosate also promotes the formation of certain types of fungi that are dangerous to people and can contaminate animal feed. The Fusarium fungus, for example, has been linked to plagues, cancers, infertility, and diseased farm animals.  Glyophosphate is acutely toxic to birds and fish.  When you eat “all natural” animals that were fed non-organic feed containing glyophosphate, you are exposing yourself to glyophosphate and raising your risk of developing health problems that are associated with this deadly herbicide.
But what about the term “free range?”  Isn’t this a step-up from all-natural?  Are free range animals being fed Roundup ready crops?

“Free Range”

What consumers think it means: Free range conveys images of happy animals roaming freely on green pastures, and small family-owned farms that care for their animals’ well-being by feeding them the healthiest foods possible.

What it really means: While it can prove helpful to investigate the reasons why a particular company is using the term free range instead of organic, the term free range usually just means that animals were given a certain amount of space to roam.  In other words, free range means the animals were not raised in a confined animal feeding operation (CAFO).  But if the company is unable to use the term organic, usually this means their free range animals are being fed conventional, Roundup ready corn, canola, and soy.  Some companies may even state on the label that their poultry or pork was fed only grains and/or soy (as opposed to parts of other animals or liquid high fructose corn syrup diets).  But again, if they are not able to use the term organic even though they are not giving routine antibiotics to their animals, this usually means their animals are being fed grains laced with glyphosate.

According to Reuters:
“Environmentalists, consumer groups and plant scientists from several countries are warning that heavy use of the chemical over the years is causing dangerous problems for plants, people and animals alike.”

According to Forbes:
“Monsanto is so despised by environmentalists that Google’s first suggested search term for the St. Louis company is ‘Monsanto evil.’ Readers … voted Monsanto the world’s most evil corporation in a January poll, giving the corporation a whopping 51 percent of the vote.”

Green Left reports:
“GMOs and Roundup, says Robin, are amongst the ‘most dangerous products of modern times’, joining a list that is heavily populated by other Monsanto products such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxin and bovine growth hormones.
In all cases, Monsanto has been fully aware of their harmfulness yet has lied about their dangers with an impunity conferred by the collusion between the company and the public health and environmental authorities of successive U.S. governments.”

According to Dr. Mercola:
Glyphosate is the world’s bestselling weed killer, and it’s found in more than 30 percent of all herbicides. While Roundup Ready crops can withstand the toxin because of GM genetic material from viruses and bacteria, the weed killer is thought to be contributing to Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS), a deadly plant disease that causes plants to turn yellow and die.
How can you confidently avoid unnecessarily feeding glyophosate-tainted foods to your child and yourself?  Besides buying certified organic beef, poultry, pork, dairy, and and eggs, here are a few tips:

• Seek out wild instead of farm-raised seafood
• Look for grass-fed beef (if grass-fed is not stated on the label, assume corn-fed)
• Purchase certified organic poultry
• Make sure pork is certified organic
• Never consume canola or cottonseed oils (almost always GMO)
• Avoid corn, soy, and wheat
• Do not use non-organic sugar from sugar beets (almost always GMO)
• Avoid conventionally grown zucchini and squash (they contain glyphosate)
• Do not buy non-organic Hawaiian papaya
• Never consume high fructose corn syrup or aspartame
• Purchase local, heirloom vegetables from local farmers
• Get involved in a local cowshare or lambshare

While we’ve all heard the popular saying of “You are what you eat,” I’d like to take that one step further by saying, “You are what you eat ATE.”  It is more important now that ever to know the source of your food, and take control of your health and the health of future generations by making intelligent buying decisions.  While constantly worrying about contamination and toxins in your food can do more harm than good, being informed about what’s in the food and taking action to protect yourself is always a wise decision.

If you check with mainstream media resources, you’ll find recommendations such as the importance of eating a low-fat diet rich in whole grains for fiber, dairy for calcium, fruits and vegetables for phytonutrients, nuts and avocados for “healthy” fats, and meat, poultry, and fish for B vitamins and protein.

Magazines that cater to a more health-conscious audience into “green” or “natural” lifestyles tend to recommend a plant-based diet such as a vegan or vegetarian diet for moms, babies, and toddlers, stating that Hollywood celebrities are doing it and as long as you’re careful about taking a B12 supplement and possibly an algae-derived DHA supplement, you won’t be missing anything from skipping the meat.  (Plus, you’ll be saving the planet by eating lower on the food chain, and decreasing your risk for cancer and other diseases by avoiding animal foods high in “toxins” and artery-clogging fat and cholesterol.)

Sure, a plant-based diet sounds good on paper, but what happens to mamas-to-be and mamas who really do “go vegan” for more than a few months?  Do they develop modelesque physiques, sparkling eyes, a glowing complexion, and freedom from disease?  Spend a few hours in the raw vegan blogosphere or watching You Tube videos about the benefits of long-term raw veganism and living on nothing but fruit and vegetable juice, and you might be convinced that eating low on the food chain will help you release excess weight, overcome disease, and become the best version of YOU that you can be.  But if you talk to any meat-eating mamas out there who used to be into a strict vegan lifestyle, you might be surprised by what she tells you.

Indeed, the majority of women who delve into a vegan or vegetarian diet eventually end up eating meat again due to health problems including infertility, amenorhea, lack of energy, thyroid problems, weight gain, lack of muscle tone, feeling cold all the time, brain fog, depressed mood, dental problems, or just a vague feeling of being unwell.  Some women even discover that they are deficient in B12 even though they were using a B12 supplement the entire time they were abstaining from animal products.  While some women tend to keep health issues like these private due to fear of criticism or embarrassment, others freely share their experiences in an effort to prevent other women from suffering from similar health problems.

A few of these women include:

Natasha St. Michael of Raw Radiant Health: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFnlxh5Rf1w&feature=relmfu

Denise Minger of Raw Food SOS: http://rawfoodsos.com/

Melissa of McEwan of Hunt Gather Love: http://huntgatherlove.com/

Lierre Kieth of The Vegetarian Myth: http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/lipid-hypothesis/the-vegetarian-myth/

These are just a few of the thousands of women — including prominent raw vegan bloggers, authors, and celebrities — who had to let go of a diet devoid of vital nutrients only found in animal products because their bodies were able to tell them the truth even when the so-called “experts” could not.

So what’s a crunchy mama supposed to eat?  Fruit smoothies?  Almond milk?  Steak and potatoes?  Bacon?  The reason why it can be so complicated to figure out what we are supposed to eat is partly because we live in a society in which huge corporations largely control our access to food and the information about it’s healthfulness.  A general rule of thumb you can use when trying to answer the question about whether a particular food is healthy or not is, “If it was advertised on TV or promoted as the latest diet craze among svelte Hollywood celebrities, don’t buy it or eat it.”

Based on the diets of modern hunter-gatherer tribes throughout the world who live free of so-called “diseases of civilization” and who have natural pregnancies and births outside the hospital setting, it can be safe to conclude that healthy diets minimize or exclude grains, and include moderate amounts of raw animal products, including those high in saturated fats and cholesterol.  Some healthy snack ideas include:

• a cup of raw milk with 1 – 2 raw egg yolks, flavored with vanilla, cinnamon, and raw honey
• grass-fed beef liverwurst with chopped raw celery, carrot sticks, and cauliflower
• pemmican (a Native American energy bar made with beef jerky, tallow, honey, and sea salt)
• fresh, seasonal fruit with a slice of raw sheep’s milk cheese
• boiled fingerling potatoes seasoned with grass-fed butter and sea salt
• lamb sweetbreads, mushrooms, onions, and kale stir-fried in grass-fed butter
• chicken liver pate spread on raw “crackers” made from sprouted nuts and seeds in a food dehydrator
• tuna sashimi and pickled ginger slices
• salmon roe on raw crackers or in a salad
• homemade veggie juice made with cucumber, celery, ginger, and lemon

This should give you some ideas to get started.  For more information about healthy nutrition choices for mamas and babies, order your copy of Healing Our Children.  When you’re finished reading it, keep it as a great reference book or lend it to a friend who needs it.

The FDA has been working for two years at the War on Health Food to shut down an Amish dairy farmer who was selling fresh raw milk to health-conscious individuals in the Washington, D.C. area. This month a judge banned Daniel Allgyer from selling his milk across state lines; customers were informed that the Amish farm would be shut down all together.  While your tax dollars could be paying for ops to shut down meth labs, illegal drug cartels, and the overprescribing of addictive and dangerous prescription narcotics, instead your taxes are going towards shutting down family farms for selling real food to people who consciously choose to purchase and consume it.

Needless to day, the judge’s decision has not been popular among supporters of the Amish farm. Many consumers of raw dairy products from this Amish farm have been buying from Mr. Allgyer for six years; they say the government is interfering with their rights to feed their children real food.

According to the Food and Drug Administration, unpasteurized milk is unsafe and it is the duty of the FDA to stop sales of milk from one state to another in order to protect the public.  As if this were a drug raid, the FDA launched a full investigation complete with a 5 a.m. surprise inspection and a straw-purchase sting operation against Mr. Allgyer’s Rainbow Acres Farm for selling MILK!

According to Judge Lawrence F. Stengel, Mr. Allgyer’s will have to pay the FDA’s costs for investigating and prosecuting him if he is found selling raw milk again to ready and willing customers.  This is flat out ridiculous!  Even drug dealers are not forced to pay for the costs of police raids on their production and selling of dangerous, illegal drugs.  Why are the feds picking on a small Amish farmer for selling FOOD?

Customers of the Amish dairy are hesitant to talk publicly about their support of raw dairy, fearing the FDA will come after them.

“I can’t believe in 2012 the federal government is raiding Amish farmers at gunpoint all over a basic human right to eat natural food,” said one customer, who wished to remain anonymous.  The customer received weekly shipments of eggs, milk, honey and butter from Rainbow Acres, a farm near Lancaster, Pa. “In Maryland, they force taxpayers to pay for abortions, but God forbid we want the same milk our grandparents drank.”

The FDA is in full support of the judge’s decision to illegalize sales of raw dairy across state lines.

“Intrastate sale of raw milk is allowed in Pennsylvania, and Mr. Allgyer had previously received a warning letter advising him that interstate sale of raw milk for human consumption is illegal,” said agency spokeswoman Siobhan DeLancey.

Neither the FDA nor the Justice Department, would provide any information to reporters on the cost of the investigation.

Consumers who seek out raw dairy products tend to be highly educated and health-conscious.  They are aware of the benefits of drinking unpasteurized milk and making cultured dairy products such as yogurt and kefir from the the milk.  With benefits including beautiful teeth, a strong immune system, and better digestion, raw milk is extremely popular among young parents who want it for their children.

The movement to legalize raw milk unites liberals and conservatives who both make the argument that the federal government has no business controlling what people choose to eat.  If one wants to eat “junk food,” fast food, or large quantities of soda laced with high fructose corn syrup, it is the right of the consumer to do so.  Likewise, consumers should have a right to know which foods in the grocery store have been genetically modified, and they have a right to be able to access healthy unpasteurized dairy products.  Apparently, the FDA does not agree with this position.

In a rally last year, raw milk activists drank fresh milk in a park across Constitution Avenue from the Senate.  The FDA has still concluded that raw milk from clean, small farms is never safer than pasteurized milk that is laced with recombinant bovine growth hormone and genetically modified corn and soy.  With this logic, there is no such thing as “good bacteria” or natural food enzymes, and genetically modified food has no ill effects on health.  This disputes countless numbers of health professionals and consumers who say pasteurization — the process of cooking food at high temperatures kill all bacteria present — makes it less healthy.

Pasteurization became widespread in the 1920s and 1930s dramatically reduced instances of milk-transmitted diseases such as typhoid fever and diphtheria, according to many “experts” on food safety.  Many professionals dispute this claim, stating that milk-transmitted diseases are caused by unhygienic handing of milk, unsanitary farming practices, and extracting milk from unhealthy animals contained in confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs).  When milk is handled properly, and sick animals are kept separate from animals used for producing food, there is less risk of developing foodborne illness from raw dairy than from pasteurized dairy.

According to the Washington Times:

“The FDA began looking into Mr. Allgyer’s operations in late 2009, when an investigator in the agency’s Baltimore office used aliases to sign up for a Yahoo user group made up of Rainbow Acres customers.  The investigator placed orders for raw milk and had it delivered to private residences in Maryland, where it was picked up and documented as evidence in the case. By crossing state lines, the milk became part of interstate commerce and thus subject to the FDA’s ban.”

Mr. Allgyer tried to avoid clashes with the FDA by changing his business model two years ago. He started selling shares in the cows to his customers so that technically the customers owned the milk; he was only transferring it to them.  To that, Judge Stengel said this was “merely a subterfuge.”

The buying club known as “Grassfed On the Hill Buying Club” has about 500 active members.

One organizer of the group said “Many families are dependent on the milk for health reasons or nutritional needs, so a lot of people will be desperately trying to find another source now.”  Shame on the FDA for creating hardship for these families!

Kidding aside, damage can occur inside the human body when you eat too quickly. Pregnant women, in particular, should practice relaxed eating in as calm a setting as possible. The below guide provides four wellness tips for pregnant women to discourage rapid eating, reduce heartburn and indigestion and to improve their sense of wellness.

The Dangers of Eating Too Fast

Eating too rapidly or while stressed is bad for the mind, body and spirit – especially for expectant mothers.

In addition to heartburn and indigestion, rapid, stressed-out eating can also cause:

• An upset stomach
• Cramping
• Gas & bloating
• Overeating
• Slowed digestion & metabolism
• Weight gain

Pregnant women are often plagued with indigestion or heartburn, particularly in the first trimester. Statistics have shown that as many as 25% of pregnant women experience this annoying condition at some point in their pregnancy. However, there are steps that you can take to reduce both conditions – naturally.

Relax and Take it Slow

Stressing yourself out and trying to plow through a meal as quickly as possible is obviously not the way to go, but what is the best way to calm down and enjoy a meal?

1. Take a Deep Belly Breath

Most people breathe shallow breaths; even I am guilty of doing this. One of the quickest (and most therapeutic) ways to soothe frazzled nerves is to take a deep breath from your belly. Breathing deeply relieves stress and improves oxygen flow.

Bring your shoulders up to your ears and inhale deeply from your belly through your nose; drop your shoulders and exhale through your mouth. Finish by rolling your neck from side to side. Repeat this simple exercise as often as possible.

Consciously taking the time to stop and breathe deeply between bites ensures that there is more time to digest food and that proper oxygen flow takes place.

Make a conscious effort to perform this small task every day.

2. Take Your Meals in a Relaxed Environment

Turn off as many electronic devices as you can. The fewer “bleeps” and “bloops” the better. I find that lighting an aromatherapy candle instantly creates a relaxed space and soothes frazzled nerves. Play soothing music and engage in positive communication with a loved one.

3. Savor the flavors

Your tongue begins to suffer taste fatigue after the first few bites, so make those first few tastes really special by taking the time to really enjoy the food.

4. Chopsticks: Curb your Shoveling Urge

If you’ve developed a bad habit of eating rapidly over the years, here is a trick guaranteed to slow down your eating. Teach yourself to eat with chopsticks. Yes, chopsticks. Even if you become especially adept with these wooden utensils, there is only so much food that you can place in your mouth at one time. You can’t shovel food into your mouth without a shovel.

By Taheerah Barney 360nourishment.com

In 2009 a pediatrician filed a claim against Ms. Finn saying that she is assisting people in subverting the law, which could be a public health risk. When the attorney answered that complaint, she was charged with an advertising violation. She was then told that if she appealed the charge, she would be brought up on higher charges!

This is an extremely scary thing that authorities are harassing an attorney who is helping the public fight for their rights to keep their own bodies healthy with nutrition, herbal medicine, and other holistic modalities instead of with forced vaccination.

She has been found guilty of conduct that “immediately threatens the public interest.” This statement is based on the assumption that vaccinations are the only way to protect public health. The reasoning that authorities can take away an attorney’s license to practice law simply because she does not agree with their distorted, scientifically flawed definition of what is in the pubic interest is extremely alarming.

Ms. Finn filed a lawsuit to protect her rights against harsh and unreasonable charges, she is being charged with yet another admonishment!

Imagine if the government made the decision that bloodletting is healthy for children and that you should take half a pint of blood from your children every evening.  If an attorney were to defend parents who believe that bloodletting is not healthy and who do not want to take half a pint of blood from their children every evening, that attorney would be harassed.  This follows the same line of reasoning that an the government should harass an attorney who is defending the right of parents to not vaccinate their children.

If you want to show your support for Patricia Finn, you may connect with her on facebook here (link opens in a new window).  Watch the video below to get the full details on the interview.

The mouth is a dirty place; billions of germs and bacteria are breeding inside your mouth as you’re reading this article. The problem occurs when there is an overgrowth of bacteria in the mouth. These bacteria produce toxins that promote inflammation, such as tooth decay and bleeding gums. Tooth decay creates tiny openings that allow germs to invade your teeth and eventually make their way into your bloodstream. Once these germs enter your blood, they can have a detrimental affect on your organs. According to a Harvard Health Publication, several species of bacteria that cause periodontitis have been found within harmful atherosclerotic plaque in blood vessels, which can lead to a heart attack.

Kavala graham, or oil pulling as it’s commonly known, is an ancient Ayurvedic practice that uses oil to help remove harmful bacteria and germs from your mouth. Why is oral health especially important to women TTC (trying to conceive)? A healthy mouth is important for your health, and your health is directly related to the health of your future child.

One of the first things that you should do, as a woman TTC, is to clean up your mouth.

Scientists at the International Association for Dental Research show a link between expectant mothers with severe periodontal disease, and infant prematurity. Oral germs can put you at risk of health conditions, which you may unknowingly pass onto your child in utero.

Oil pulling is a beneficial addition to your daily dental routine. It’s a very simple concept that involves “pulling” the oil through your teeth by swishing. The whole process takes 20 minutes, and it doesn’t interfere with your morning routine. You can oil pull while cooking breakfast or even while you’re taking a shower!

The two oils I recommend are cold pressed sesame oil and coconut oil. Sesame oil is widely used in Ayurveda for its healing properties; it’s the oldest oil used in this practice. Coconut oil also has strong antimicrobial and antibacterial properties. Dr. Bruce Fife N.D., author of the book Oil Pulling Therapy: Detoxifying and Healing the Body through Oral Cleansing, is a strong proponent of using coconut oil. You can alternate between both oils, or you can create a mixture of the two. For an added germ killing boost, add a drop of tea tree oil or oil of oregano per one tablespoon of the sesame or coconut oil (use only one drop as both of these oils can irritate the skin).

Below is a quick guide to oil pulling:

• Upon waking and before eating or drinking, put one tablespoon of cold-pressed coconut or sesame oil into your mouth.
• Swish and pull the oil through your mouth for 15 to 20 minutes. Important: Do not swallow the oil while you’re doing this.
• After 15 to 20 minutes, spit the oil into the garbage or into your toilet. Rinse with water (twice).
• Brush your teeth.
• Oil pulling can be done up to three times a day (on an empty stomach).

That’s it!

Many people notice that their mouths feel cleaner and fresher, often after the first use. Testimonials of less tooth pain, reduced plaque and mouth odors, healthier pink gums, and reduction and / or elimination of bleeding have all been reported. Oil pulling is like a liquid magnet, targeting unsuspecting food particles hiding out in between your teeth. This is a great addition to regular tooth brushing and flossing.

Your diet also plays a role in the germs in your mouth. In order to get the maximum benefits from oil pulling, reduce sugar, refined carbohydrates and processed foods, as these items contribute to an overgrowth of harmful oral flora.

Improved oral health from oil pulling will support your overall health before and during pregnancy. Oil pulling is a regimen that you can continue for the rest of your life. Although oil pulling is important for oral health, it is not a substitute for regular dental checkups. So, you’ll still have to face the dreaded dentist’s chair. However, making oil pulling a regular part of your oral regimen will help to reduce the amount of time that you spend in the chair.

  Growing up, my mom would have frequent conversations with women about homeschooling. I often heard comments such as: “Homeschooling sounds like a good idea but I could never learn to teach.” or “I just don’t know if I am smart enough to teach high school.” This always struck me as weird because my mom never gave me that impression even though she had only gotten a general Associates Degree and had no prior teaching experience. Yet in talking to her I realized that she had felt the same way starting out. “I can’t be a wife, a mother, and a schoolteacher” she would say to people. But one year she decided to give it a try because she “couldn’t very well mess up first grade” and since then she has been a very successful homeschooler of four. This is a very common feeling for ladies to have when considering whether or not to homeschool. It can seem like a very daunting task but I want to reassure you that it is not as difficult as it may seem at first glance! Here are a few simple things to think about that may help you when you feel that, though you would like to, you do not have the ability to be a successful homeschool mom.

  Number 1: Style makes all the difference. It can be scary when you start thinking about all of the things you need to teach your children and it’s easy to get lost in that instead of stepping back and looking at the big picture. Just because the public school system teaches using a certain curriculum or a certain number of subjects does not mean that is what you have to do. The goal is to have children who know where to find answers, rather than having to actually know all the answers. Instilling a love of learning is more important than learning facts. There may be some things you don’t know but if you can sit with your child and say, “I’m not sure. Let’s figure this out together,” then you are both learning and teaching them to learn as well.

Some people like to have a very rigid homeschool schedule where the kids get up at 6 am and have an hour for each subject. This can work very well but it may not be your style and it doesn’t mean you have to do it that way. Find what works for you and your family. For my family growing up, my mom wanted to put more emphasis on reading, writing and math. She picked books that incorporated history and some science, had vocabulary and spelling drills, and essentially let all the things she considered to be less necessary become part of the things she thought were necessary. This helped her to be less stressed out about having so much to do, and enabled her to feel more confident in herself. Develop what works and have confidence!

Number 2: You don’t need to be ultra-smart; you just need to have faith in yourself. My husband got a degree in engineering physics and I pretty much had no clue what was involved in that until it was explained to me. I am no rocket scientist to be sure! In growing up and watching my mom teach us I learned that fortunately, I did not need to be a rocket scientist either to learn the things I needed throughout my schooling, or to teach my own children. What is needed, however, is the ability to learn. Letting your children figure things out for themselves helps them with their diligence, critical thinking and self-motivation. Perhaps it may not be your style but it is something good and it takes the burden off you feeling you must do or know all of their work. When they realize that they are responsible for their learning instead of having things handed to them, they will often rise to the challenge! When they do need help, be there for them and don’t worry if you don’t know a subject well. You can learn it together and help build your relationship with your children.

Number 3: The amount of schooling time is not as long as it seems. Often people may think that homeschooling will take up too much time in their day. This can be true, depending on your children’s personalities, learning speed and what type of schooling style you use. However, I have found with myself and so many other homeschoolers that they actually have a lot more free time in a day then those in public school. It makes sense if you think about it. With public school you have one teacher for an average of say 30 kids. The teacher has to divide his/her time between that many students. Those who are smarter have to wait for those who are slower, and those who are slower are rushed. Additionally, there are recesses and travel time between classes. When you do school at home you eliminate so much of this. You have fewer students and a teacher who can spend more time on each one, and perhaps the older students even do their own schoolwork. Often growing up, I would get up at 4 am to start school and if I worked well I would be completely done before lunch. And no homework! Of course, 4 am was never appealing and it doesn’t have to be that way but this kind of flexibility is very helpful and can allow you to do things at each child’s pace and to have time for afternoon field trips to the zoo, etc. If you want them to do one math lesson each day, or two lessons and skip a day, you can alter the schedule according to your needs.

Number 4: We can make learning more fun and emphasize what really needs to be there for our kids. If you want to put an emphasis on science, go for it. If you want emphasize reading, go for it. If you want your children to learn things they aren’t learning in public school, you can teach them. If you don’t want your children learning things they learn in public school, don’t teach them. It’s so wonderful to have the flexibility and ability to be in control of what your children are learning and to make school more fun and interesting. Maybe the best way to learn about bugs is to take them into a field, observe, and have them write a report. Maybe the best way to teach home economics is to have them help with dinner. Homeschooling is meant to be a joy and not a burden, giving you opportunities and different choices, and especially allowing you to spend quality time connecting with your children as family.

Number 5: We homeschool even before we send our kids to school. Someone asked my dad once: “Why do you homeschool?” and he replied, “Why did you stop?” I found that to be a very humorous way of illustrating a big truth. We are teaching our children whenever they are with us! They observe everything we do. My husband often comments to me about a couple of mispronunciations I have, and recently when my mom and grandma were here I realized that they both have the same mispronunciations. It made me realize how much I had taken in subconsciously as a child.

To toddlers we teach colors, shapes, behavior, letters, songs, you name it. It comes very naturally and yet as soon as it becomes geometry we get a little nervous. This is understandable. It can feel daunting when you realize the influence you have makes a difference. But this is meant to encourage us to rise to the challenge and believe in ourselves that we can do it, and we can be flexible to get it done how each of us personally needs to do it. As Bob Wiley says in What About Bob: “Baby steps!”

There are many other factors to mention but I hope you find these tips helpful as you consider your possibilities for best educating your children!

By Brittany Wyatt

Their reasoning is that high numbers of Americans are already infected and that vaccinating before sexual activity starts is the answer. The HPV causes cervical cancer as well as other reproductive system cancers in women and cancer of the anus, neck and throat in men. The Human Papillomavirus is infamous for causing genital warts.

The big problem is that 40 different serotypes of the Human Papillomavirus exist and medical science still hasn’t come up with a cure for viruses of any kind. Once you get the infection, there is no cure.

CDC experts believe that the HPV vaccine will reduce the incidence of cervical cancer in women by vaccinating the boys who can pass the virus on to the girls.

The CDC also clearly states that reactions can occur to the HPV vaccine, but “do not last long and go away on their own”. These reactions include pain in 90 percent of those receiving it, a 99.5 degree Fahrenheit fever, fatigue, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and joint or muscle pain. Fainting can also occur. You’d better have the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program phone number available on hand, just in case a negative reaction occurs. The last CDC vaccination recommendation was for Gardasil for girls in 2009 and resulted in the toll free line buzzing with callers who demanded answers about their girl’s paralysis, coma or death.

The HPV vaccine isn’t the first vaccination to be given to children for the prevention of a sexually transmitted disease. The hepatitis B vaccine is administered to babies within hours of their birth.

So what should you do if you don’t feel right about getting your children vaccinated? Well, proponents against the vaccination say that it shouldn’t be given for a host of reasons. Here are some of them:

1. The HPV vaccine for girls resulted in problems as severe as death and major disability; why try it out on boys?
2. Viruses are known for their ability to mutate. The HPV virus currently has 40 different serotypes. The vaccine only “protects” from four of them. It’s created on the premise that these four serotypes will be the ones that will cause HPV infection in your children. This means the scientists are guessing about the future of your child.
3. If the vaccination could prevent a virus from occurring, then why couldn’t the same technology be used to treat an infection? It doesn’t make sense that scientists would have made no progress on a cure, only “prevention”.
4. Leviticus 19:19 in the Scriptures warns against mating different kinds of animals or mixing two types of seed. Mixing results in the sharing of genetic material. Yet this rule is broken when scientists create vaccinations by mixing the seed of a chicken (egg) with the genetic material of whatever species is used to create the vaccine – monkey, pig, bat, or other animal. Each gene carries with it millions of pieces of information. When a virus attacks it, genetic modifications are made. The starting material for a vaccination – an egg – already carries its own DNA in it. Adding the virus modifies the DNA. Injecting that newly combined duo into another animal that is used as a host for increasing the virus production (or involving other species tissues in the process) attaches an unknown amount of new genetic information to the mixture. Now it’s time to inject the vaccine into a human. Prior to receiving a vaccine, a human has already been exposed to other viruses that have made genetic modifications to the DNA. It’s a known fact that viruses interact with each other, and this is a possible reason for some of the fatalities resulting from vaccines.
5. Never in the Bible does it mention that injecting anything into the body is a practice of good health. However, the matter of clean and unclean animals is discussed. A diseased animal is said to be unclean and capable of contaminating others in the Bible. Yet, unclean animals are used in the preparation of the vaccines.
6. Vaccinations can contain known neurotoxins such as formaldehyde, polysorbate 80, ethyl mercury, aluminum, tributyl phosphate, and others. It is a parent’s responsibility to protect their children from anything that can harm them.
7. It is also known that some vaccinations are created from lung tissue from aborted babies. The murder of innocent children (or any human) is prohibited in the Bible, as is the use of tissue from the dead.
8. Taking a vaccination is an act that supports putting one’s faith in the medical system and not the design of the human body and its wonderful immune system which can overcome microbes. Vaccinations are not natural, as injecting anything into the body is not natural by any means.
9. The immune system of a young child isn’t able to handle the detoxification of vaccinations because it is not fully developed until the age of two or three years. This is why mother’s milk is so full of natural immunity for babies.

The list of reasons not to vaccinate is long and detailed. There’s another long list of complications that have occurred as a result of vaccinations. Could the marriage of common sense and the scripture be valuable to us?