HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: m13079@mwunix (Mary Anne Walters)
Subject: _The American way of Birth_
Organization: MITRE Corporation, McLean VA
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1992 18:52:10 GMT

I posted recently referencing a book I had read about but had only very
sketchy info.  Well, now I have the full info and a review.  All who follow
the drugs/no drugs, episiotomy or not, cesarean or not, etc. threads will be
interested:

_The American Way of Birth_ by Jessica Mitford
Dutton/Abrahams; $22 (Due in November)

Mitford interviewed obstet., midwives, and antenatal and postnatal mothers
for this journalistic probe of how Americans are born.  In graceful prose
she relates our appalling infant mortality rate to the obstacles poor women
face in finding prenatal care and decent hospital treatment.  After reviewing
the potential hazards of obstetrical forcepts, electronic fetal monitoring
and diagnostic ultrasound, Mitford discusses the complications mothers often
face after having a cesarean section and examines the financial and legal
motives behind doctors' widespread performance of these largely unnecessary
procedures.  She takes readers on a grand tour of the midwifery scene, from
a Bronx center for low-risk women to a California context in which the
medical establishment harasses home birth midwives with police breakins.
In an epilogue Mitford documents hospital routines and deceptive overbilling,
critisizes the AMA's powerful lobby, which squelches healthcare reform, and
reviews efforts to pass a Canadian-style national health insurance bill that
would eliminate the profiteering of US hospitals and doctors.

(This review appeared in Publisher's Weekly, credited to Genevieve Stuttaford)

The review notes, too, that serial rights went to Good Housekeeping, so I
expect we can get a preview of the book prior to publication in one of the
upcoming issues.

Just more grist for the mill :-)
 
--
--Mary Anne  
"What we have once enjoyed and deeply loved we can never lose, for all
that we love deeply becomes a part of us."  Helen Keller
                                                 [for Alexander]
From: neal@hpcndm.CND.HP.COM (Neal Bauer)
Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1992 05:13:55 GMT
Subject: Re: Room Temp for Sleeping Infants
Organization: HP Network and System Management Division
Newsgroups: misc.kids


One of the bad things about having a baby is that what we used to
call FRESH AIR (which was GOOD for you) has been transformed into
DRAFTS (which are BAD for the baby).  So we can't sleep with the
windows open anymore.

Oh, let me rephrase that:  One of the nice things about having a 
baby is that it teaches you to appreciate many things you used
to take for granted -- like uninterrupted sleep, in a completely 
dark room, with the windows open.

So I'd like to know too.  How do you determine the "proper" ambient 
temperature in your house for your baby?  And when it's cold, how do 
you dress your baby to keep her warm?  Do you keep a hat on him inside?  
(I really don't like that but the house sometimes gets chilly, at least
my daughter seems chilly to the touch.)  Is there any way to keep 
those little hands and feet warm?  Are DRAFTS really a bad thing 
for your baby or is that an old myth?
From: hyler@jaana.ast.saic.com (Buffy Hyler)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: Air travel w/2 yr old!
Date: 15 Oct 92 17:10:35 GMT
Reply-To: hyler@jaana.ast.saic.com
Organization: SAIC

In article 6472@elroy.jpl.nasa.gov, lauraf@classy.Jpl.Nasa.Gov (Laura Floom) writes:
>
>The only think I havent figured out is what to do about his ears. He doesnt
>drink from a bottle and he is too young for chewing gum. Those are the two
>standard I have heard to handle the problem. I suppose I can give him juice
>with a straw, but unless he is thirsty he isnt going to drink it. Anyone
>out there have any good ideas that they have used?

Try a Tootsie Pop or Lollipop, something large enough for him to suck
on (that he likes!) but that can't go down his throat accidently (like
small hard candies).  If not that, just give him something to eat that
he likes. Just swallowing can help.  Oh, and crying can help as well,
so if nothing else works, just let him cry.

I became somewhat knowledgable on all the methods because my son seems
to be particularly hard to de-pressurize and it is obviously very
painful to him.  On one trip he was still in pain for about 10 minutes
after we got off and then suddenly with one last cry the problem ear
cleared.  After that incident (he was just about 3 at that time) I
talked to his pediatrician about it.  He recommended a dose of
children's Sudafed for his air trips in the future.  He's been on two
trips since then (he's 5 now) and has had no problem whatsoever while
taking the Sudafed.  I've very rarely had to medicate my son for any
reason, but it was getting to the point where we were wondering if it
was causing any damage and he was quite obviously in a lot of pain,
especially as he got older and could describe it better.  And I'm not
advocating it to everyone, just as something others can talk to their
pediatricians about if they have had some bad times on planes.

Good luck on your trip!


---
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Buffy Hyler (hyler@jaana.ast.saic.com)
SAIC, Campus Point
San Diego, California
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: debra@creatures.cs.vt.edu (Debra Potts)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: Names (don't do this to your kids)
Date: 9 Oct 92 15:21:26 GMT

Just to be added to the file of "unusual" names

My great-grannie was named "Melvin" after her grandfather.  Her parents
said, when this child is born IT will be named after Melvin.  I guess they
were counting on a boy, and since illusion strikes deep in the heartland...

Of course, none of us called her Melvin, or even great grandma.  No,
we called her "Bobby," which was a bastardization of "Big Mama," which
is apparently what a lot of deep south grannies are called!

hummmmmmmmmmmm....

           debbie p.
From: seanna@bnr.ca (Seanna Watson)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: 10-year-old ostracized at school
Date: 16 Oct 92 17:42:04 GMT
Organization: Bell-Northern Research, Ottawa, Canada

In article <1992Oct15.164108.15804@nas.nasa.gov> choi@wk59.nas.nasa.gov (Diana Choi) writes:
>thacher@renbourn.unx.sas.com (Clarke Thacher) writes:
>>
>>She is an only child and very smart, and as a result, she is much better 
>>at interacting with adults than her peers.  < stuff deleted> 
>
>That's interesting ...two other persecuted children that I knew of were
>also only children.  Is Eddie an only a child too?  Is this just a
>coincidence?
>

Well, this just begs for a counter example--I was a social misfit all
through elementary and high school, and I have a younger brother.  My
best friend in high school was also persecuted, and she was one of 4.
(Of course, we were both smarter than average, and liked doing
well in school, and other socially unacceptable things.)

-- 
Seanna Watson   Bell-Northern Research, 
(seanna@bnr.ca) Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Opinions, what opinions?  Oh *these* opinions. | It's hard to seize the
No, they're not BNR's, they're mine.           | day when you must first
I knew I'd left them somewhere.                | grapple with the morning.
Xref: sparky misc.kids:25797 soc.singles:27493
From: nadja@jetsun.weitek.COM (Nadja Adolf)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: Midwife info/Food and Fluids in Labour
Date: 12 Oct 92 23:48:32 GMT
Organization: WEITEK Corporation, Sunnyvale CA

In article <ANNE.92Oct9221335@dolores.Stanford.EDU> anne@dolores.Stanford.EDU (Anne Paulson) writes:
>In article <1992Oct7.182554.828@jetsun.weitek.COM> nadja@jetsun.weitek.COM (Nadja Adolf) writes:
>

>   >In the Netherlands, which has significantly better birth outcomes than the
>   >U.S. or Canada, 40% of all births are handled at HOME, strictly by
>   >midwives. No doctor is ever involved. Many hospital births are handled by
>   >midwives only. The caesarean rate is less than half that in North America,
>   >and the rates of other interventions are also dramatically lower. A strong
>   >midwifery system there is credited for keeping obstetrics "honest" and
>   >restricting the overuse of medical technology by providing an alternative
>   >model that proves aggressive intervention is only necessary in a small
>   >minority of births.

>   Much of the intervention in US practice is caused by our atypical obstetric
>   population. Our profile is much more like that of a third world country.
>   We have far more young mothers (under 18, and even more dangerous, under 
>   15) and grand multiparas than other developed nations.

>   These two groups are the most likely to require drastic intervention.

>These two groups are also the groups that are least likely to
>get the drastic intervention, because young mothers are likely to be
>poor mothers.  It turns out that in the U.S., the pregnant woman's
>chance of having a Caesarean is directly proportional to her family
>income.  Rich women have a considerably larger chance of having a
>Caesarean than poor women!  

Sorry, but read your statistics. You are most likely to have a C-section
if you are under 20, regardless of your income. 

>Also, the U.S. has a similar population to Canada, but dissimilar
>statistics, a Canandian netter reported the last time this argument
>was advanced.

Canada DOES NOT have a 'similar population.' Canadian women usually receive
prenatal care, government subsidized nutrition, and are less likely to
be alcoholics or drug addicts. Canada does not have a large 'medical
underclass', and has considerably fewer teenage mothers as a percentage
of the obstetric population. I refer you to the WHO publications.

>So if you look closely at birth statistics in the U.S. and other
>developed countries, you will find that this "atypical obstetric
>population" argument is not supported by the facts.
>
>-- Anne


-- 
The Earth Pig Bourne....

nadja@node.com (prefered email address)
nadja@weitek.com
From: chirlian@fieser.brynmawr.edu (L.E. Chirlian)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: The new Thermoscan ear thermometer
Date: 8 Oct 1992 09:45:59 -0500
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu


	In article  <23556@hacgate.SCG.HAC.COM>,  root@hacgate.SCG.HAC.COM
writes:

	I just purchased the new Thermoscan ear thermometer at a price
	of $119.95.  I'm not sure how accurate it is though.

	When I take one of my daughter's temperature, I get a slightly
	different reading each time.  Some times it can be as much as
	1 degree.

	When I take my own temperature, it is usually within a couple
	tenths of a degree.

	The instruction book emphasises that you have to place the probe
	in the ear canal and point towards the drum.  I think that I'm
	doing it right.

	Does anyone else have this thermometer?  Are you happy with it?
	[rest of article deleted]

I have this thermometer and have been quite happy with it.  My
experience has been that if I get two readings that are very far apart
it's usually because my daughter moved her head slightly for one.  It
also helps to pull on the ear to straighten out the ear canal as the
instructions describe.  (I've never found that it was necessary to
pull on my own ear but I probably have bigger canals :-).)  I've been
using it since my daugter was very small (~2 weeks) so I was able to
practice my technique before she could move very much!  She's a year
old now and it's somewhat more difficult, but still much easier than
conventional methods.  
	I usually take two readings and if they differ greatly I use a
third as a tie breaker.  I don't generally use it to detect fever (I
use the mom-ometer, feeling her body/head with my cheek to detect
fever), but if she feels warm I use it to find out how high her fever
is.  I've compared it to conventional methods and it's generally been
accurate.
	The instructions give an 800 number to call for assistance,
maybe they could answer your questions more fully.  Also, I believe
that a variation between the right and left ears is normal (but I
don't remember the explanation).
	Hope this helps.  
			Lisa


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Lisa Chirlian                                  chirlian@fieser.brynmawr.edu
 Department of Chemistry, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: pburch@bcm.tmc.edu (Paula Burch)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: HYPOCRISY of Public School Prayer
Date: 14 Oct 92 21:03:33 GMT
Article-I.D.: gazette.1bi1v5INNrnc
Reply-To: pburch@bcm.tmc.edu (Paula Burch)
Distribution: world
Organization: Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Tx
NNTP-Posting-Host: roc.mbcr.bcm.tmc.edu
Originator: pburch@roc.mbcr.bcm.tmc.edu


In article <1992Oct14.184437.2950@relay.nswc.navy.mil>, snorthc@relay.nswc.navy.mil (Stephen Northcutt - K31) writes:
|> 
|> Sigh, those nasty Christians, we keep scrubbing them out....  :-)
|> How does one impose prayer?  More likely the proposal is
|> to allow prayer, we certainly can't have that!   :-0

Well, that's silly. How on earth can anyone prevent another person 
from praying? 

Paula Burch
pburch@bcm.tmc.edu
Newsgroups: misc.kids
From: amym@oakhill.sps.mot.com (Amy Moseley Rupp)
Subject: Re: Midwife info/Food and Fluids in Labour
Organization: Motorola Inc., Austin Tx.
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 01:00:22 GMT

In article <ANNE.92Oct9221335@dolores.Stanford.EDU> anne@dolores.Stanford.EDU (Anne Paulson) writes:
>In article <1992Oct7.182554.828@jetsun.weitek.COM> nadja@jetsun.weitek.COM (Nadja Adolf) writes:
>
>
>   >In the Netherlands, which has significantly better birth outcomes than the
>   >U.S. or Canada, 40% of all births are handled at HOME, strictly by
>   >midwives only. The caesarean rate is less than half that in North America,
>   >and the rates of other interventions are also dramatically lower. A strong
>
>   Much of the intervention in US practice is caused by our atypical obstetric
>   population. Our profile is much more like that of a third world country.
>   We have far more young mothers (under 18, and even more dangerous, under 
>   15) and grand multiparas than other developed nations.

Do you mean grand multiparas to mean many many births, or older women who
have had many children?  What about older women in general, and the fact that
many women are old and NULLIPARAS?  What about all the medical intervention
given that infertility patients often require much intervention given that
they often have had obstretical/gyn problems in the past, and are more
likely to be carrying multiple fetuses?   

>   These two groups are the most likely to require drastic intervention.
>
>These two groups are also the groups that are least likely to
>get the drastic intervention, because young mothers are likely to be
>poor mothers.  It turns out that in the U.S., the pregnant woman's

They need drastic intevention besides Caesarians, because young/poor
mothers tend to be uninsured and lack prenatal care.

>Also, the U.S. has a similar population to Canada, but dissimilar
>statistics, a Canandian netter reported the last time this argument
>was advanced.

Right.  Because the Canadians have universal health insurance.

>So if you look closely at birth statistics in the U.S. and other
>developed countries, you will find that this "atypical obstetric
>population" argument is not supported by the facts.

I disagree, although I think in many cases there is too much intervention.
However, going through a difficult pregnancy, I am more than willing to
'intervene' if it will help my baby make it.  Having insurance makes
these interventions available to me, and very tempting.  I think it
takes a strong doctor to NOT intervene, and a strong and educated mother
to refuse an intervention that is not needed.  The lawyer aspect is the
one thing I would love to change about American medicine.  That and
the 'it's the doctor's fault whenever ANYTHING goes wrong.'  I mean,
get real--people suing over a misprediction of fetal SEX?  

-- 
Amy Moseley Rupp			Needed:  one witty, appropriate,
amym@oakhill.sps.mot.com		businesslike .sig that will perfectly
(512) 329-7117				reflect my philosophy of life and will
7 weeks and counting			fit in four lines or less.
From: pleeper@wtcp.DaytonOH.NCR.COM (Paulette Leeper)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: 3.5 Year Old Night Waking/Fears
Date: 12 Oct 92 14:41:57 GMT
Reply-To: pleeper@wtcp.DaytonOH.NCR.COM (Paulette Leeper)
Distribution: world
Organization: IRP Corporate Data Planning - Dayton, OH

My little girl will be 3 and a half at the end of this month.  For 
a few months now, she wakes up in the middle of the night, runs like
a cheetah down the hall to our room, screaming that she is afraid.
We used to just comfort her, put her to bed, kiss her good night and
that would be it.  Pretty normal stuff considering her age and active
imagination.

Well...now, the situation is totally out of control. She wakes 5-10
times per night, sometimes there's only an hour between her coming
into our room.  At these times she usually says she is afraid, but
now sometimes says that she can't get to sleep (after the last waking).
We are at our witts end with so little sleep, and our interactions 
with her in the middle of the night are turning from comforting to
frustrated exasperation.  

Personally, I think it's a reflection of the amount of focused attention
she gets from Mommy, evidenced by the fact that the problem was 
exacerbated while I was away on a business trip last week.  Unfortunately,
we had a very busy weekend without much opportunity for one-on-one
play with Mommy, but LOTS from Daddy :-) 

Any suggestions on what we can do to avoid reinforcing this behavior in
the middle of the night would be greatly appreciated.  

Sleepy in Cincinnati,
Paulette


-- 
Paulette Leeper                               paulette.leeper@daytonOH.NCR.COM
NCR Corporate Data Planning & Admin              ...!uunet!ncrcom!wtcp!pleeper
++++++++++++++++513-445-6289   VP 622-6289   FAX 513-445-2468+++++++++++++++++
From: eacln@cbnewsg.cb.att.com (carol.l.nolan)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: corr. between overdue/c-sec.
Summary: Anyone have any stories about baby number two ?
Date: 16 Oct 92 20:19:04 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: AT&T

In article <1992Oct16.191957.15826@u.washington.edu>, lcheap@cac.washington.edu (Laurel Cheap ) writes:
> In article <1992Oct15.180534.9861@schbbs.mot.com> EMN002@email.mot.com (Mary Beth Northrup) writes:
> >
> >Does my explanation make sense? How often do post-term pregnancies (meaning
> >1-2 wks post due date) end up with C-sections? If (when) I get pregnant again
> >is it likely for me to be overdue again?
> 
> I don't know any of the statistics, but that's what happened to me.
> -Laurel

Me, too! My daughter was *THREE* weeks late, and my doctor tried an induction
with pitocin.  After two bottles of the stuff, labor was not progressing, so he
unhooked the pitocin and decided to have me spend the night in the hospital 
and try again the next day. While I was wolfing down my lunch (it was 
2pm, and I hadn't had anything to eat or drink all day), the baby went into 
fetal distress. The doctor and nurse wheeled me down the hall at full tilt,
and Katie was born by C-sec 10 minutes later.

I am now 16 weeks pregnant and would like to avoid a repeat of this! 
My OB says he will let me go a week late this time, and then maybe schedule 
a C-section, but we'll talk more as the date approaches.
Does anyone have any stories about 2nd babies after overdue firsts? 

lynn
From: rc@depsych.Gwinnett.COM (Richard Carlson)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: Aggression in boys (Was: Re: BARBIE
Date: 13 Oct 92 14:48:26 GMT
Article-I.D.: depsych.FB9ksB3w165w

lynn@elan.Elan.COM (Lynn Gazis) writes:

> Yes, I am sure my memory is accurate.  More than two heavier
> boys repeatedly hit me during recess, I hit and kicked back
> with the full force that I was able to put behind my blows,
> every single time that I was attacked, and at least some
> of my attackers kept coming back for more.  (I did once managed
> to deter an attack by picking up a rock, but that is the only
> success I remember for fighting back.  The main thing it did
> for me was that I felt better about myself, because I felt,
> at that age, that I was brave enough to fight back against
> people bigger than me, while my attackers were such cowards
> that they had to pick on someone littler.)
> 
> Undoubtedly I did something to make them dislike me.  I had
> skipped into their class after the school year started, I
> was smarter than the rest and, with no friendships to preserve,
> probably had no qualms about flaunting it if I did better than
> someone, and I was determinedly eccentric, playing games
> differently from the rest of the children.  What I didn't do
> was attack anyone.  I was playing peacefully in a corner of
> the playground when people sought me out and attacked me.
> 
> Perhaps there is more variety in patterns of bullying and
> motives for it than you realize.
> 
> Lynn Gazis-Sax

On the contrary, your story is as typical as a story can get.  The
factor of being more intelligent and _showing_ it, being "new" and
lacking established friends that predate the school environment,
and probably even the belief that you had to fight back.  Even the
rock -- most bullied kids recall one incident where they picked up
some kind of a weapon, and if they didn't actually do it they
recall their father telling them to "pick up a stick or pick up a
stone!"

Did you have any extended family, especially cousins, in the
community?  Were you new _in_the_community?  Were you a different
social class or ethnic group form the majority of the other
students?

And why didn't you tell a teacher? or your father talk to the
boys' fathers?

--
Richard Carlson
Internet:              rc@depsych.gwinnett.COM
Bangpath:              {rutgers,ogicse,gatech}!emory!gwinnett!depsych!rc
CompuServe:            76605,470
Voice:                 (404) 881-6877
Newsgroups: misc.kids
From: peac@sybase.com (Jeff Peacock)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: How to get your child take medicine? (babies)
Date: 12 Oct 92 16:01:55 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Sybase, Inc.

Put it in a nipple.  Our daughter will take almost any medicine as long as
she gets to suck it out instead of having it forced down her throat.
From: lm3a+@andrew.cmu.edu (Laura McGinnis)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: When did you feel "grown-up" (was: Re: maternity lingerie)
Date: 9 Oct 92 05:46:50 GMT
Article-I.D.: andrew.oepMp_e00iUx81P98b
	<9430251@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM>
Organization: Administrative Systems, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

On 08-Oct-92 in Re: When did you feel "grow..
user Erik Lode@hpfcso.FC.HP.C writes:
>paula@helix.nih.gov (Paula Moore) writes:
> 
>> Anyone else have these "I guess this means I'm a "grown-up" " experiences?
> 
>  After I bought a house, I was filling in the university change-of-address
>forms yet again, and I suddenly paused when I realized my local and
>permanent addresses were the same.

I refuse to feel grown-up all the time (I'm only 32 :-), but I really
get a kick out of checking the box next to address that says "Own"
instead of "Rent".  We've only been able to do it for 5 years & the bank
really owns most of the house, but I like pretending... :-)

Also, like someone else said, signing as parent or guardian.  We just
got life insurance for our daughter (4 months TODAY - Happy Birthday,
Margee!!) & I had to sign for her where it said "Signature of Insured",
since she only chews on pens right now & doesn't spell too well yet. 
Oh, well.  There's time.

Have a great day, everyone!

Laura