Natural Family News

There are many options available if you want to give “green” gifts. Our sister site, The Delightful Child, offers many gifts for mothers and babies. But if you’re shopping for gifts for those on your list who aren’t mothers or babies, you might want to check out this extensive list of gift ideas. From vegan organic chocolate to earrings made from typewriter keys to solar backpacks, there’s something for everyone on your list.

Who: BOBOBABY, a manufacturer of frozen organic baby food is partnering with Success By 6, an early childhood development initiative dedicated to providing all children with a good start in life.

What: BOBOBABY’s Seasonal Celebration

Where: Studio 103, Shadbolt Centre for Arts, 6450 Deer Lake Avenue, Burnaby BC

When: Tuesday, November 29, 2005, 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Why: BOBOBABY supports organizations that are involved in infant wellbeing. At BOBOBABY’s Seasonal Celebration, guests are asked to bring a developmental toy or book for donation to Success By 6. (BOBOBABY also donates products and a portion of its profits to Success By 6).

BOBOBABY’s frozen organic baby foods are the first such products available anywhere in the world. The leading-edge products contain NO added salt, preservatives, sugar, colour, peanuts, tree nuts, soy, wheat, sesame, dairy, eggs, fish, shellfish, poultry or meat. Nutrition research and pediatricians worldwide advocate the omission of additives and these nine allergens in baby’s first foods.

BOBOBABY products are available at more than 200 locations across Canada!

www.bobobaby.com

If you live in Washington, DC or California, you can actually drive a hydrogen car and fuel up at one of 25 Shell stations that stock they hydrogen fuel. While the Honda FCX doesn’t get much better fuel mileage than many small, fuel-efficient cars, it is pollution free. You can read more about the Honda FCX here.

I have a family history of Type 2 diabetes, and I was really excited to read that all this time spent nursing is decreasing my risks of developing the disease. And now a math question— if nursing two children for a year each reduces your risk of developing type 2 diabetes by a third, how much is your risk reduced by nursing 3 children for at least two years each? Is there ever a point at which you could actually have 0% chance of developing the disease? You can read more about the study here.

The update to the Organic Act of 1990 leaves me feeling a little torn. I’m against anything that weakens the organic standards. At the same time, there are vendors that I like who use some synthetics who might give up using organic, altogether, if it weren’t for these changes. There was a time when I didn’t really worry about reading the ingredients if an item was marked organic. I think those days are coming to an end. You can read an interesting article on recent questioning of the Organic Trade Association about the changes to the law here.

A new study shows that placental problems during pregnancy (including pre-eclampsia, placental abruption, etc.) may be an indication that the mom will develop early cardiac problems. They suspect that being overweight is part of the cause. As a new mom who has had some elevated blood pressures during pregnancy and has a family history of heart problems, this makes me want to get really serious about losing this baby weight and getting in shape. You can read more about the study here.

This article from Arizona discusses the lengths that people are going through to get raw milk in the state, and the obstacles that are being put in their way. The quote that got me was from the chief executive of the United Dairymen of Arizona, who said that “dairy products can be guaranteed to be safe only if they are pasteurized.” Really? Because the last time I checked, there were still plenty of people getting food-borne illnesses from pasteurized dairy products. You can read the article here.

The CDC has released some preliminary data on infant and maternal health from last year, and while I’m saddened to see the numbers, I can’t say I’m surprised. The c-section rate was at an all time high of 29.1%, and VBACs decreased to 9.2%. What is even more telling, though, is that despite all our technological advances and interventions, we’re not getting better results. Preterm births were also at an all time high, and low birth weight is an increasing problem. You can read the whole report from the CDC here.

A recent study showed that women who consumed high amounts of coffee actually had lower levels of long-term blood pressure. Consuming large amounts of soda, on the other hand, showed a significant increase in long-term blood pressure. So, feel free to indulge in Starbucks. I think the study only studied black coffee, not mocha lattes, so keep that in mind when placing your order. Oh, and you might want to skip the Starbucks and find some nice organic, fair trade coffee. You can read the entire article here.

My husband has a blog where he writes about various things that amuse or annoy him. His most recent blog contains both things that amuse and annoy. There’s a long discussion on medical statistics that continue to deny that injuries are caused by vaccines. While this seems like a serious subject, there is some humor. Take for instance this fictitious exchange between a doctor being paid by the auto industry for consulting:

Patient: “Doctor my fo0t really hurts, because that car ran over it a couple of hours ago. Can you tell me what’s wrong with it?”

Doctor: “According to the X-Rays you have three broken toes and some torn ligaments. But I don’t believe it was the car’s fault. I think you must have hurt it some other way.”

Patient: “But doctor the CAR RAN OVER MY FOOT, and right after that my foot was throbbing in pain.”

Doctor: “Yes, but statistically speaking cars don’t cause f0ot injuries. I am pretty sure your fo0t hurts because someone stepped on it or maybe you stepped on an uneven surface after the car ran over your f0ot.”

Patient: “It’s got to be the car, nobody stepped on my f0ot! A CAR RAN OVER IT!”

Doctor: “There’s just no way that a car running over your fo0t could have caused those broken toes. I have never seen that happen before. I am sure it must have been something else. You probably stepped on your own f0ot without realizing it.”

Patient: “Arghhh!”

To read the entire article, visit his blog.

As parents, we are all concerned about what our children are eating and how it affects them. Growing number of parents are turning to organic foods over concerns about pesticide levels in conventionally grown foods. A recent study shows high levels of pesticides in the bloodstream of children fed conventionally grown foods. However, these levels drop very quickly when the children’s diets are switched to organic produce. The government and representatives of the food industry say that it’s nonsense to be worried, that there is no problem with these pesticides, but, come on— how many times have they been wrong before? You can read more about this growing trend here.

This article is about the trend towards patient choice cesarean sections, and it just riles me. The whole concept of making birth “convenient” for the parents is nuts. Babies are not convenient creatures. They want to eat at all sorts of inconvenient times, have messy accidents, and sleep at irregular intervals. If you can’t be bothered by waiting for your body to go into labor, that’s not a good sign that you’re ready to raise a child. The other thing I found particularly interesting about this article is that it mentions the risk of death from a vaginal delivery, but not the risk of death from a cesarean. You can read it for yourself here