tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5578724578759033432024-03-07T21:00:20.621-08:00The Pagan PapistViatrixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16957538638338118450noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-557872457875903343.post-32989776066707522582011-11-01T20:24:00.000-07:002011-11-01T20:24:43.769-07:00Back Pain = Cesarean Sections<div style="color: #351c75; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> <a href="http://www.ncah.com.au/news-events/new-research-could-reduce-caesarean-rates/887/">Australia trials sterile water injections for laboring back pain in an effort to drop 30% c-section rate.</a></span></div><br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">Interesting. I would not have thought that a woman's experience of back pain in labor is a significant contributor to the high rate of c-sections. Although of course epidurals increase the likelihood of a c-section, so pain that causes a woman to request/accept an epidural would account for some of that... Well. We shall see. </span>Viatrixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16957538638338118450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-557872457875903343.post-38215443717287870482011-10-21T08:08:00.000-07:002011-10-21T08:08:59.973-07:00A shoutout for the Science & Sensibility site<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?p=1022#.TqGJ5CgGCFk.blogger">Science & Sensibility » The NIH VBAC Consensus Conference: Will It Pave the Road to Hell with Good Intentions?</a></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333399; font-size: small;">I recommend this blog post as a brief, yet sensible, look at vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC). Thank you for presenting the data in an intelligent (read: non-panicky) way. </span></div>Viatrixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16957538638338118450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-557872457875903343.post-90473018238642246692011-10-19T22:02:00.000-07:002011-10-19T22:13:19.016-07:00Shackling pregnant women<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">Ok, I have been trained in security, so I understand some of the concerns, although they were overblown. But this was an atrocity. </span><br />
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</div><div style="color: #351c75; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/reader-diaries/2011/04/28/woman-vindicated-federal-court-condemns-shackling-0">Arrested woman shackled during labor and postpartum recovery.</a></span></div><div style="color: #351c75; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #351c75; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Also, Arnold Schwarzenegger's veto. Really? </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">And no, this is <u><i>still not</i></u> the controversial post I promised. Just building the anticipation. </span></div>Viatrixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16957538638338118450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-557872457875903343.post-1299367632948670512011-10-19T21:38:00.000-07:002011-10-19T22:03:30.042-07:00Getting Away With It<div style="color: #351c75; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Disclaimer: This is <u>not</u> the controversial post I have promised. I am still working on that one. Read this one anyway. </span></div><div style="color: #351c75; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I have a liking for the quirky, hidden side of science. I had a ball reading Bill Bryson's </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Short-History-Nearly-Everything/dp/0767908171" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">A Short History of Nearly Everything</a><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">. I snigger far too much at the science in-jokes incorporated in Terry Pratchett's depictions of the institution and the wizards of Unseen University. I really like Holly Tucker's </span><a href="http://www.holly-tucker.com/books/" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">work.</a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> </span><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">In that vein, I expected to be thrilled with</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> </span><a href="http://jenapincott.com/about/" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Jena Pincott's</a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> </span><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">blog. Pop science, yay! Good credentials, reviews and a fellow liking for the quirky, hidden side of science. Unfortunately, I stumbled across a problematic blog post in my very first read.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">In my usual <a href="http://xkcd.com/386/">spirit</a> of zeal for accuracy, I set about commenting on the post. I was pleased to see Pincott make corrections to <a href="http://jenapincott.com/the-real-reason-why-the-rhythm-method-doesnt-work/">her post</a>. She removed some problematic material and made the following statement:</span></span><br />
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<blockquote><div style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">"</span></span>Note: A previous version of this post contained a reference to NFP, the Catholic Church’s form of birth control. NFP techniques such as cervical mucus and basal temperature readings, etc. are much more reliable than the rhythm method. "<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> </span></span></div></blockquote><div style="color: #a64d79;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: #351c75;">I am very much heartened by the correction and glad my initial positive impression of Pincott hadn't collapsed in ruins. I do intend to keep reading her blog and have put her science, technology and history books on my buying list. This incident has given me food for thought, however, at how quick people are to casually mischaracterize or disparage the Catholic Church based on very little or no evidence - in this case, the idea that the Church is promoting the rhythm method despite its hideously poor efficacy seemed based on a misreading of a casual, blog style article in an online Catholic publication. And I was concerned that an otherwise well-read, science-savvy author could be so incorrect regarding the main characteristics of the rhythm method as opposed to other methods, and the current efficacy rates of NFP methods (as published in reputable secular journals and books). And that "natural family planning" is not actually a method, but rather a simple descriptor for a range of non-contraceptive family planning methods. </span></span></span></span></div><div style="color: #a64d79;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Note: I am no longer speaking of Pincott, but in general.)</span> When these kinds of egregious errors crop up in the work of well-educated, experienced authors, it seems to be symptomatic of the busyness blog writers. It is, after all, a medium which doesn't call for the careful attention to detail that a journal article or other published work might. But it is also common to find usually reasonable and careful people fall into accepting whatever negative interpretation of Catholic teaching or idea about the Catholic Church that happens to cross their path. I have noticed that some of my most intelligent and nicest friends have an unthinking aversion to anything Catholic or demonstrate the kind of discrimination that would appall people if it were associated with religious minority groups. Usually, if I challenge them, they correct their statements or adjust their views according to the new information or how persuasive my arguments are. </span></span></span></span></div><div style="color: #a64d79;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: #351c75;">But the fact that it happens so often leads me to speculate that it's a matter of Getting Away With It. It is popular to disparage the Catholic Church (and the Lord knows the Church deserves criticism in at least those times and places where it has failed its own mandate). However, Catholic-Church-bashing is so popular that some of the worst sectarian anti-Catholic propaganda is being published in normally respectable publications. It's quite possible to get away with an alarming amount of bigotry. The trigger for this blog is by no means an example of that, but the wider environment does make it easy to adopt a casual attitude when it comes to mention of the Catholic Church.</span></span></span></span></div><div style="color: #a64d79;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: #351c75;">So, for those interested in the nitty gritty stuff, below is <span style="font-size: xx-small;">(something very like)</span> the comment I submitted. This old MacBook is getting glitchy, so I couldn't view my comment on Pincott's blog. The one below is recreated from memory.</span></span></span></span></div><div style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: #351c75;"> </span></span></span></span></div><div style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: #351c75;">=====</span></span></span></span></div><div style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;"> </span> </span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"></span></span><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">Interesting information regarding male hormones/pheromones and their possible influence on the female reproductive cycle. Thanks for linking to the journal articles. <br />
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A few thoughts:<br />
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What do you mean when you write "early ovulation" - does this mean earlier than might occur if the woman did not have a spouse/sexual partner? I doubt that's what you mean, as it would be quite a strange standard from which to be determining what "early" ovulation may be, since the situation of reproductive women so commonly includes intimate interactions with men. Wouldn't that show in a long run of "early" ovulations, since the woman may well be living intimately with her partner on a daily basis, and which would then be "normal" for her in her situation?<br />
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Of course, I don't imagine you mean the release of an egg significantly (weeks!) ahead of normal time, either!<br />
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My reading of this post may be flawed, but you seem to suppose that barring the effects of male hormones on a woman's cycle, she will normally experience very predictable, regular cycles - this is cited as the reason the rhythm method doesn't work. However, it is normal for a woman to experience some fluctuation in her cycles - even if she is usually regular, she may experience occasionally some cycles that are "out" with earlier or later ovulation than expected and this can be due to a variety of factors - stress, illness, diet etc... In other words, "life." This is expected in most natural family planning methods of which I'm aware. <br />
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None of the major modern natural planning methods (e.g. the Creighton, Billings, Marquette, Sympto-Thermal, Lactational Amenorrhea, Two Day methods) assume a clockwork reproductive system. There is one modern method that began in 2002 that uses a "counting days" system, called the "Standard Days" method. It uses a set formula to determine the start and end of the fertile phase. There is more abstinence with this method, precisely to account for the variability of a woman's cycle, and it can only be used by non-lactating, non-perimenopausal, regularly cycling women whose cycles are not unusually short or long. They track fertility on cycle beads and days of fertility are days 8-19.<br />
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You do not seem to know the difference between the "rhythm method" and "natural family planning." The rhythm method has not been renamed. It is simply one of the methods that form a subset of "natural family planning (NFP.)" NFP is really an umbrella term for a variety of methods. You are incorrect in your explanation of NFP - the rhythm method has not simply had mucus and temperature observations added to it. The rhythm method relied on a calendar/counting approach, which is not compatible with the flexibility entailed with the addition of mucus and temperature observations. An algorithm that might be used with some mucus/temps based methods is not properly comparable with the calendar approach of the rhythm method. In fact, as stated in the Catholic article to which you link, the calendar-rhythm method seems to be no longer taught, due to its very poor efficacy rates and the fact there are far more efficacious methods available. <br />
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"Despite the rhythm method’s high failure rate, the Roman Catholic Church [sic] continues to promote it." <br />
The Catholic Church promotes NFP as a morally licit way for Catholics to responsibly space or limit births. As an institution it its teaching it does not specifically endorse any one method. It speaks only on moral matters relating to its wider theology. In practice, the Church-affiliated NFP instructors in most dioceses belong to the Couple-to-Couple League (Sympto-Thermal Method) or teach the Marquette, Creighton or (less commonly) Billings methods. <br />
The Catholic Church would be fine with a couple's decision to use the rhythm method, if they so choose, whatever its efficacy. However, the Catholic Church is also fine with a couple's decision to use NFP methods with much higher efficacy. <br />
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And on that note, "Contraceptive Technology" (2004) states that the perfect use effectiveness of NFP in preventing pregnancy ranges from 97-99+%. For a better breakdown of more methods:<br />
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Correct Use Typical Use<br />
Chance 85 85<br />
Spermicides 18 29<br />
Withdrawal 4 27<br />
Ovulation Method 3 19 (25)<br />
Condoms 2 15<br />
SDM 5 12<br />
Marquette Method 0.6-2 11-12<br />
Symptothermal 0.4-2 8 -11<br />
Pill 0.3 8<br />
IUD 0.1 0.6<br />
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*Adapted from: Trussell J. <br />
Contraceptive failure in the United States. <br />
Contraception. 2004;70:89-96<br />
As posted on the MM website.<br />
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As you can see, modern NFP methods' efficacy rates are comparable with many popular contraceptive technologies. <br />
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For more information about NFP efficacy compared to contraceptive efficacy, you could see Klaus, H. "Natural Family Planning: A Review. OB-GYN Survey 37 (February 1982):128-150; updated edition 1995, published, NFP Center of Washington, D.C., Bethesda, MD; and Fu, et al. "Contraceptive Failure Rates: New Estimates from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth," Family Planning Perspectives 31 (March/April 1999): 56-63. For a thorough discussion of the difficulties regarding scientific studies on the effectiveness of NFP see Kambic, R. "The Effectiveness of Natural Family Planning Methods for Birth Spacing: A Comprehensive Review" in Girotto, S. & Bressan, F. (eds.) Human Fertility Regulation: Demographic and Statistical Aspects. Verona, Italy: Edizioni Libreria Cortina Verona, 1999 (pp. 63-90).<br />
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For more cutting edge information, the NFP researchers at Marquette University and Georgetown University have been publishing peer reviewed studies on efficacy and related matters in recent years. Creighton University is currently embarking on a large study looking at intentions, use and efficacy and results may be a few years away. <br />
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Giving the calendar-rhythm method's efficacy rates and then equating all modern NFP methods with it is a blatant bait-and-switch. I admire your work; I am a fellow lover of the quirky, hidden side of science. I hope your professionalism drives you to make the appropriate corrections to this post. </span>Viatrixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16957538638338118450noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-557872457875903343.post-33143602974380344032011-10-14T19:43:00.001-07:002011-10-14T19:43:48.165-07:00Prepare Ye<div style="color: #351c75; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">No Godspell revivals, I'm afraid. Just a pagan papist preparing a return. Having two very small children inhibits my blogging. (However do those mommy bloggers do it?) </span></div><div style="color: #351c75; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
However, now I've worked out a time solution that does not involve selling, giving away or otherwise neglecting the little people in the house. </span></div><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br />
So gird your girdables in anticipation of my belated next blog post. Warning: I shall be controversial. </span>Viatrixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16957538638338118450noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-557872457875903343.post-32031463799195130952011-04-09T23:12:00.000-07:002011-10-19T22:11:16.985-07:00Pause for thought.<div style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I read this blog post and all the comments following:</span></div><div style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://birthfaith.org/pitocin/pitocins-untold-impact">Birthfaith on Pitocin</a> </span></div><div style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">What struck me most was the comment, "Pitocin use at birth has really been studied relatively little, considering how prevalent it is."</span></div><div style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The sad history of some routine birthing procedures in medicine - the lithotomy position and episiotomy are the first that spring to mind - leaves me more disheartened than hopeful. </span></div>Viatrixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16957538638338118450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-557872457875903343.post-80152438635843803532011-03-20T15:27:00.000-07:002017-01-19T17:27:29.084-08:00Specifically Catholic - a call to charity among the non-contracepting<div style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Many people have claimed to me that the Catholic Church teaches that Catholic married couples can only avoid pregnancy for "grave reason." </span></div>
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The Church does <i>not</i> teach that “grave reasons” are needed before using NFP to avoid pregnancy. That is a mistranslation, however commonly repeated it may be. And it is a line spouted over and over again. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Humanae Vitae is the most authoritative and arguably most important statement of the Magisterium about this. In the official Latin it cites seriis causis (“serious causes” or “serious reasons”) as necessary for the intent of a married couple to avoid conception to be licit. That is, a couple needs something more than a trivial or selfish reason to avoid pregnancy. This reason does not have to rise to the level of <b>super-serious</b> or life-threatening, which is what most English-speaking people imagine when they hear the word "grave." </span></div>
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In addition to Humanae Vitae, there is also Pius XII’s October 29, 1951 address to Italian Catholic midwives. The most relevant paragraph – in the original Italian – first mentions serios motivos – “serious motives.” The text does also, at the end of the preceding paragraph and later in the relevant one, mention "grave motivo" and "graves razones." The translation of the Italian grave(s) as “grave” is more excusable than the translation of the Latin seriis or the Italian serios as “grave.” However, <i>it is <b>still</b> a mistranslation</i>. The Italian grave (and the Latin gravis) essentially mean “heavy” or “weighty” – as opposed to “light” or “trivial”. In other words – “serious.” Furthermore, it is fairly clear from the wording of the paragraph that Pius is using graves as a synonym for serios – i.e., “serious.” In addition, one has to read that address in the context of his November 11, 1951 address to the Congress of the Family Front and of the Association of Large Families. There he says that the moral limits surrounding the avoiding of pregnancy by natural means are “truly very wide." Thus, they would encompass all those reasons that would be called “serious” – not merely a small subset of such super-serious reasons that would in English be called “grave.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">The Church calls couples to be generous to life, but also to discern how many children to have based on their relationship with God, spouse, and with children already born, and their obligations to society. The answer will be different for each couple. For some, a family of 13 children is both responsible and generous. For others a family of one child is both responsible and generous. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">What I see displayed in the Catholic blogosphere and discussion boards is a lack of charity amongst the respective smaller or larger sized families. Those with smaller families sometimes deride their large family counterparts as freakishly irresponsible. Those with larger families sometimes deride their smaller family counterparts as selfish. Both sides forget that selfish/generous and responsible/rash will display differently depending on the individuals involved and their personal circumstances, of which most of us have very limited knowledge at best.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Let's play nice, kiddywinks. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">(Thanks and credit go to Professor Kevin Miller of Franciscan University for the translation points.)</span></div>
Viatrixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16957538638338118450noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-557872457875903343.post-25120054061087410232011-03-14T21:29:00.000-07:002011-10-19T22:10:36.201-07:00Courting Controversy<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Abortion. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">There. I said it. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">The terminology surrounding abortion debates has been bothering me. Anti-abortion, pro-abortion, pro-choice, pro-life, anti-life, anti-choice</span></span><span style="font-size: small;">.</span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> I mean, <b><i>come on. </i></b>It's at the stage where the labels are meaningless.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I wonder how it started? I imagine it began with the pro-abortion vs. anti-abortion duo. Then the pro-abortion side figured it sounds a lot more marketable to be pro-choice (perhaps after the anti-abortion side began casting disparaging comments about those happy-baby-murderers on the other side.) Then the anti-abortion side said, ok, you're pro-choice? Well, we can one-up you because we are pro-life! How's that for marketable?! Then each side fully adopts their different paradigm, casting aspersions on the other as anti-choice or anti-life. This seems like a feasible order of events, but I don't really know what transpired. What I do know is the current rhetorical situation is useless.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I've heard those who support the legal availability of abortion object to the description of their position as "pro-abortion." The objection is that they are not enthusiastic about abortion, not advocating some kind of wild baby-killing spree at all and so are not really "pro" abortion. Just pro-choice. But they're not. Not really. Are they pro-choice-in-general? All choice is good, even if someone chooses evil? Are they ok with their children choosing to do crack? (As in, they may disapprove of their child's actions, but would defend to the death their child's right to legally choose to do it?) Are they ok with legislative approval for any choice whatsoever as long as the person really thought deeply about it first? Not usually, no. They are not pro-choice-in-all-circumstances.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Nor does it make sense to call their opponents anti-choice. I've never yet met a person who is ideologically opposed to the concept of choice. Nor have I met anyone who is against all availability of choice in all circumstances. Continuing in this vein, I have not met anyone who is anti-life in general, although I have encountered a few who fervently believe that the world would be better if humans died out. Those who support abortion may have a warm and fuzzy approach to all life, plant, animal and human, outside this case of human life in the womb. They might donate to charities, feed the poor, care for the sick and elderly, campaign to rescue those threatened with death for political reasons or in situations of armed conflict. A pro-life person in the abortion debates may not be pro-life absolutely. They may not be vegetarian (in which case a more accurate descriptor may be pro-human-life.)</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> They may support the death penalty in certain circumstances. They may concede the necessity for war at times.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Each side is trying to claim a larger slice of the values pie. It is ridiculous and it ought to stop.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Let us be very clear with our terminology. What is happening now simply fogs the debate and many on either side descend into hysterical name calling. Yes, the issue of abortion touches on other, wider issues, but dialogue is hindered by the way those issues stand in for detailed and precise communication.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">We do not need to determine whether one side is made up of gleeful baby-killers and the other of dour woman-haters. What needs to be determined is whether abortion should be legally available. Making something legal provides it a governmental, and therefore societal, stamp of (moral) approval. Thus, the moral status of the unborn human (a.k.a. the fetus) must be addressed and weighed, in addition to questions regarding women's bodily integrity.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">When it comes to this, the only two standpoints are pro-abortion and anti-abortion. These two labels encompass the spectrum of views in a concise and precise manner. This is a political discussion with specific applications. Think of it with the missing words:</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: small;">PRO-</span><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">the-legal-availability-of</span><span style="font-size: small;">-</span><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">ABORTION, and ANTI-</span><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">the-legal-availability-of<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;">-ABORTION. Thus, the pro-abortion side includes those who support the legal availability of abortion in limited circumstances (for example, in cases of incest or before 13 weeks gestation.) We do not need to know how much or to what extent a person in their camp loves all life or accepts all choice. It is inconsequential. So let's stop it with the great meta-labels.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></span>So, whatever side you're on... take a stand for clarity. Take a stand for the precision with language that will actually enable discussion and decision. </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: #20124d;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: #20124d;">And, for the love of all that is holy, please do not use scientific terms if you don't understand what they mean. (I'm talking to you, pro-abortion people who use the term "zygote" willy-nilly.) </span></span></span></span></span></span>Viatrixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16957538638338118450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-557872457875903343.post-10571732593597479872011-03-05T19:27:00.000-08:002011-03-14T21:41:24.173-07:00Trust No-One. (Ok, trust no medical practice, provider, or facility with your records.)<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Yesterday I received my medical records from my postpartum hospital stay in January this year.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I make a point of requesting copies of my records. Too often have they been misplaced or lost by medical providers over the past. The first time this happened, I was a tender 18 years of age and in hospital, totally paralyzed, with </span></span><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">Guillain-Barré</span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> Syndrome. I had a tracheotomy performed, as I needed to be put on artificial respiration. The first tube they used was a size too small for my throat size, so a couple of weeks later they had to change the tube for a larger size. Since this did not require an operation, it was done in my room in the ICU by the nurses. My parents waited outside for what should be a very quick procedure - they had been told their wait would be 15 minutes, maximum. They ended up waiting for hours, not knowing what was happening. Their anxiety was not relieved when finally, a nurse burst through the doors and said, "That was close!" </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">(That scene wouldn't be out of place in an episode of House.)</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">After they had changed the tube, the ventilator was not inflating my lungs; the air was going into my stomach instead. The nurses tried inserting the tube five times, but each attempt was unsuccessful. They called over the ICU doctor who manually inspected my throat, finding a hole where none should be. </span></span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">There was a </span></span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">tracheoesophageal fistula (a hole between my trachea and esophagus that made it impossible for the machine to properly work. On one side it was 1 centimeter long, on the other side a whopping 3 centimeters. </span></span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">They inserted a larger tube through my mouth and manually pumped air into my lungs as they rushed me to emergency surgery. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">(That scene would be *perfect* for an episode of House!)</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Finding out what happened was difficult. The hospital staff led us to believe that the initial damage was done by the surgeon who originally performed the tracheotomy, and had been masked by the placement of the first tube.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Our requests for apologies and further information were met with evasiveness. I could tell something was not on the up-and-up. I was paralyzed, not stupid! My trust in my carers was shot and the relationship between my family and the staff was strained. The doctors and nurses were often hostile. (My mother saved me a number of times from being given incorrect medication or dosage by nurses who hadn't read my chart that day; a behavior that did not endear her to the nursing staff.) We wanted another hospital, and the hospital wanted to be rid of us, but because of the complication of the fistula, no other hospital would agree to my transfer. The ICU staff were more accustomed to dealing with patients in a coma, not a fully aware young girl with a lively intellect who would make demands on their time with requests for physical needs that could only be communicated laboriously through an alphabet system. It was a happy day when, after 4 months in hospital, I was finally wheeled to the ambulance to rehab. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">(Saying "rehab" makes me feel like a celebrity/socialite [or Gregory House!] My rehab was more about physiotherapy than addiction counseling, however.)</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I contacted a lawyer and obtained my medical records through the Freedom of Information Act.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">It transpired that the fistula was created by the nurse doing the tube-change, who was not using the guidewire and sheath that, for safety, is included in every packet of tracheotomy tubes. The manufacturer strongly recommends using the guidewire and sheath, but it wasn't legally required and I guess the nurse, having done many tube changes, felt complacent. Oops.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">It also turns out that the hospital had "lost" the page of my medical record that noted which nurse performed the procedure, and crucially, <b><i>how many minutes I was without oxygen</i></b>.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">In addition to this outstanding episode, my pre-natal records have been lost by two different medical practices, one in Australia and one in the USA. One American obstetrical clinic also managed to input someone else's details over my own. From one appointment to the next a week later, I had apparently gained 40 pounds, was on Zoloft, and goodness knows what else. Before leaving Australia after my first child's birth, I asked my OB for a copy of my records. He refused, pooh-poohing me and declared that the discharge report I had been given by the hospital would be sufficient for my needs. Foolishly, being a tired new mother, I just let it go. After getting to the USA, I found the hospital discharge summary was not at all sufficient. I then had to jump through a number of hoops to get all the information my American OB required.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Now I keep my complete records at home, and can give copies to the providers when necessary. I recommend everyone else do the same. That way you always have your records, and you'll be sure to care for them with more diligence than many professional practices, simply because you have only one set of records to keep track of, and they're more precious to you personally.<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> There is an added bonus that by insisting on copies yourself, you can review them for errors. </span> </span></span></span>Viatrixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16957538638338118450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-557872457875903343.post-80106486220441397212011-02-26T10:51:00.001-08:002023-11-02T14:23:43.242-07:00Fertility Tracking while Lactating<div style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The term "fertility tracking" brings to mind an image of me, dressed in a safari suit and wielding a machete in one hand and butterfly net in the other, tiptoeing ever closer to the elusive ovum. </span></div><div style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It's been 6 weeks since my little daughter was born, and I'm about to start monitoring my fertility again. It's tricky in the post-partum period for breastfeeding mothers. The breastfeeding keeps the prolactin levels up, which tends to keep FSH - and in consequence, estrogen down - but the estrogen is trying to get through as the body considers re-establishing the monthly cycle. </span></div><div style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Fortunately, I have a wonderful little gadget called the Clearblue Fertility Monitor. In the USA it's approved by the FDA for achieving pregnancy purposes only, although a similar gadget called Persona by the same company is approved in the UK for avoiding pregnancy also. </span></div><div style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The time post-partum when regular cycles have not yet been re-established is one where traditional methods of natural family planning that rely on temperature (BBT) checks and/or cervical fluid checks are not so efficacious. This is where an extra data point like the monitor readings really come in handy. It's also good if, even after the re-establishment of cycles, the production of cervical fluid is all over the place. This was the case after my last pregnancy, and it was a pain in the bee-yoo-tee-tee. In addition, mothers of infants are not often getting the kind of regular and lengthy sleep required for adequate temperature monitoring. </span></div><div style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Huzzah for technology! I am into a natural approach, whenever reasonably possible, to things that affect my body, like family planning and childbirth. I am also a gadget girl, so this monitor caters to both preferences. Technology can be used for both good and evil, or if you prefer, in positive and negative ways. Flooding the body with synthetic hormones for non-therapuetic purposes doesn't strike me as positive. </span></div><div style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">A non-invasive test that supports the ability of women to know and track their own fertility as it is each month? Thank you, science. :-) </span></div><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif"> </span>Viatrixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16957538638338118450noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-557872457875903343.post-2679690346222940682011-02-11T08:50:00.000-08:002011-03-14T21:47:49.192-07:00First from the Pagan Papist in posting...<div style="color: #073763; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Nothin' like a little alliteration to begin, huh?</span></div><div style="color: #073763; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: #073763; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Welcome, friends who will soon (I hope and trust) find their way to this new blog of mine. </span></div><div style="color: #073763; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: #073763; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This blog will explore the quirky, the weird, the wonderful and the fun elements of being a faithful papist in a lifestyle shared by many of a generally pagan bent. </span></div><div style="color: #073763; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: #073763; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Stay tuned for posts on fertility tracking (fertility awareness, natural family planning,) natural childbirth (including home birth,) breastfeeding and attachment parenting. </span></div><div style="color: #073763; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Stay also tuned for rants of a more overtly religious nature, often pertaining to health, but I won't limit myself to that if I feel the urge to proclaim my thoughts on, say, liturgy or the latest episode of House. (Oh, Gregory.) </span></span>Viatrixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16957538638338118450noreply@blogger.com1