TuscMoms.com

Experts are saying what we eat and whether we have a C-section can influence whether our child has asthma and allergies...

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/AllergiesNews/story?id=4896102&page=1

It's nice to see the "experts" hard at work blaming mothers for everything wrong with the child. Geez. As if mothers aren't stressed and worried enough, now every time Jr. sneezes we'll think its our fault. There are so many variable factors that come into play. I know some genetic tendencies are passed on from both parents, allergies and risk for asthma being among those. But we have to consider that there are far more enviromental pollutants than ever before which could help account for an increase in asthma/allergies. Oh don't get me started.
I will step of the soap box now. I just have to speak out when I see the "experts" downing mothers and blaming them for everything. I am especially surprised they didn't throw in a statement about not breastfeeding.

Oh, I have to disagree with you Pookiepie. While the title of the article is unfortunate, using the word "blame," I don't think that it is really about blaming anyone. Women need to know that their actions can an do have an impact on their unborn children, and if anything, our society has become more self-centered and the process of child carrying and delivery more and more detached as we make more medical advances. For example, the fact that a C-Section increases the risk of asthma and allergies is very significant. The rate of C-Sections in the U.S. has skyrocketed and is much higher than what ACOG (the OB/GYN academy of doctors) recommends. Elective C-Sections are especially on the rise, and there are serious ethical questions raised by that increase, which are only highlighted by this new information.
As far as the message that not breastfeeding can have profound consequences on your child, even into adulthood, that is the truth. It is a truth that many doctors still do not tell their patients (the whole, "formula is all right too, whatever works for you" approach). I am not talking about women who truly cannot breastfeed because of a serious medical condition or other rare instances, obviously, but the common approach by healthcare providers is that it is a personal choice that has minimal impact on the longterm well-being of the child, and that is simply false. It certainly is a choice, and blaming anyone for anything is not useful - I agree with you there. What we need, along with all these studies, is better education and especially better support for women so that they can make fully informed choices while pregnant and post-partum and then have the resources and assistance they need to follow through with the choices they have made.

There is no debate about the benefits of natural birth or breast feeding or eating right while pregnant or not taking drugs/certain medications while pregnant. What concerns me most is how the material is often presented and the contradictions made sometimes. For example, how many times have we all read and the pediatrician tell you (I know mine did) that having pets in the home will increase likelyhood of the child having allergies. But reading an article a few weeks ago, it stated having pets in the home lessened the chance of the child having allergies. If pregnant women swore by every single thing they read about what to eat/not eat they'd be whittled down to crackers and water only. And as for c-sections and breastfeeding, I believe most women are well aware of the benefits of both. But the way society has brow-beaten the subject it has pushed those women who did have a c/s or didn't breastfeed into shame and feeling less than. The article may not intend to blame anyone, but by saying your actions created this reaction in your child can be a blow.

I can totally understand how reading something like that could make a woman feel guilt or a sense of failure or other negative feelings. I guess what I would hope for is twofold:
(1) that our society could stop blaming or judging women and start educating and supporting them (because I don't agree that everyone knows the risks of c-section, the benefits of breastfeeding and conversely the risks of not breastfeeding, etc.) and
(2) that women would educate themselves fully and take responsibility for what is within their control. Yes, conventional wisdom and current research change all the time, but that's why it's important to stay informed and make conscious choices while understanding the true consequences of our choices.