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	news bulletins march 2006

• Playful Activities Partnered with Great Childrena^?(TM)s Books
• Upcoming Conference to Develop State of the Science Statement on Elective C-Section
• Thimerosal Update: The CDCa^?(TM)s Scarlet Letter
• Celebrating 15 Years of the Innocenti Declaration

Looking for a fun, child-friendly way to support a child's love of books? Check out Literary Child, a unique reading club and innovative literary activity magazine for children. Monthly issues packed with word puzzles, games, activities, crafts, recipes and more are designed to accompany diverse book selections, culled from classics as well as the best of contemporary childrena^?(TM)s literature. Literary Child is fun for children of all ages, with many activities geared for families to enjoy together. The magazine is offered exclusively in electronic format, reducing waste and saving paper. Also, subscribers can download and save the issues to use as they wish, printing the pages they want for in any quantity desired (an efficient boon for families with multiple children). Literary Child is available for purchase by single copy or by subscription. For more information, or to join in on the current reading selection, visit Literary Child today at http://literarychild.com.

Despite the Healthy People 2010 goal of reducing rates of cesarean delivery to 15%, the procedure continues to grow in popularity: nearly thirty percent of US births are now by c-section. The rate of cesarean delivery among US women with uncomplicated pregnancies and no medical reason for a surgical delivery increased 67% between 1991 and 2001, according to a study published in the November 20 issue of the British Medical Journal. Mothers are receiving unnecessary c-sections at an unprecedented and rapidly increasing rate. The term elective c-section and references to the procedure being performed upon maternal request imply that consumers are behind the burgeoning numbers and that physicians are merely obliging, giving women what they want. However, new data complied by Childbirth Connection finds that only one woman (0.08%) of more than 1300 surveyed who might have chosen an initial cesarean without medical reason actually did so. In addition, nearly 10 percent of survey respondents reported feeling pressure from a health professional to have a cesarean delivery. The proliferation of so-called elective c-sections has eclipsed ethical and practical guidelines surrounding the procedure, and women are not receiving adequate information regarding risks of surgical birth in comparison to normal, vaginal birth. To help foster truly informed birth choices, the American College of Nurse Midwives (ACNM) has released a new brief: Risks Of Cesarean Delivery Are Underreported, Benefits Overstated.

In an attempt to come up to speed with the issues surrounding elective c-section, the National Institute of Health (NIH) Conference on Cesarean Delivery on Maternal Request is being held March 27-29 in Bethesda, Maryland. Facilitated by the NIH Consensus Development Program (CDP), the purpose of the conference is to evaluate the available scientific information, to advance understanding of the issue, and to produce a State-of-the-Science Statement that will be useful to health professionals and the public. According to the CDP, a broad-based, non-Department of Health and Human Services, nonadvocacy, independent panel is convened to draft the statement. CDP states that panel members have appropriate expertise and are carefully screened to exclude anyone with known scientific or financial conflicts of interest. The panel considers the scientific data presented by invited experts and comments from the general public, in creating the statement.

Mothering encourages birth advocates to attend this free conference. Upon reviewing the preliminary agenda and available conference materials, we are concerned by the CDPa^?(TM)s failure to include midwives, birth experts, and national birth organizations such as International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN), Coalition to Improve Maternity Services (CIMS), American College of Nurse Midwives (ACNM) and Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA) on the panel. These perspectives, along with that of the consumer, are vital to a comprehensive discussion of the topic. It is noted that the first day and a half of the conference will consist of presentations by expert researchers and practitioners, as well as open public discussions. If you would like to attend the conference, register here by March 24th. If you are unable to attend but wish to comment, you can do so before the conference, here. For more information, check out the ACNMa^?(TM)s Research and Education to Decrease Unnecessary Cesarean Sections (REDUCE) Campaign. Mothering plans to send a reporter and photographer to the conference, so stay tuned for an update.

March is roaring in like a lion for the Center for Disease Control (CDC) as the controversy surrounding the autism thimerosal debate is capturing the attention of the media in a flurry of news stories:

On March 1, a new peer-reviewed study published by Association of American Physicians and Surgeons found autism rates declining following the removal from thimerosal (mercury) from childhood vaccines. The study was widely reported and was even picked up and reported by radio commentator icon, Paul Harvey, a^?oethe link between mercury & autism has been confirmed."

Prepublication copy of the article is posted at www.JPandS.org which includes links to the VAERS and CDDS databases.

Also on March 1, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. jumped back into the thimerosal controversy with an article disclosing newly obtained letters written in 1999 between vaccine manufacturer SmithKline Beecham (SKB) and CDC Director Jeffrey Kaplan. In the documents SKB offers to supply mercury-free DtaP vaccines for the entire U.S. pediatric population through 2000. In response, Director Kaplan does not accept the manufacturers offer and states, the CDC will a^?oecontinue to provide States with a choice among currently licensed brands of DtaP vaccinea^??. Basically saying, thanks but no thanks.

Recognizing the failure of the CDC to make child safety a priority, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. joined with parent advocacy organization, A-CHAMP (Advocates for Childrena^?(TM)s Health affected by Mercury Poisoning) in calling for a senate hearing to investigate CDCa^?(TM)s failure to remove mercury from vaccines when they had the opportunity and responsibility to do so. Kennedya^?(TM)s article, the documents and A-CHAMP joint press release are available at http://www.a-champ.org/cdcmercuryremoval.html In a press release, the National Autism Association (NAA) called for an investigation of the CDC's ability to access confidential data pertaining to children diagnosed with autism. Public perception of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is at odds with what is happening in a CDC study which apparently allows unfettered access to confidential school and medical records of autistic children. NAA reported, "A former employee of the Arkansas school district informed the childa^?(TM)s family of the secret gathering of information after the fact, indicating that school personnel had been expressly forbidden to inform parents of the study, or that confidential records had been accessed and re-typed." For more information, go to www.nationalautism.org

The CDCa^?(TM)s reputation took another hit with back-to-back articles challenging CDC credibility.

Following up on a series of stories on autism, reporter Jon Brodkin, disclosed in a front page article that in the early 1990a^?(TM)s, long before thimerosal was on anyonea^?(TM)s radar, before parents were questioning thimerosala^?(TM)s safety, before there were any law suits filed, public health officials were already seeing reports of autism following vaccination in the government owned Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS).

In an article posted on the Huffington blog, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took issue with the CDCa^?(TM)s flu vaccination recommendation that would include children from 2 to 5 years old. Kennedya^?(TM)s article points out there are not enough mercury-free vaccines to cover the 17 million children that fall into this recommendation and that CDC is not asking companies to provide more mercury-free flu vaccines even though they have the ability to do so. Kennedy states, a^?oeSanofi has said that the company was prepared to double production of thimerosal-free children's flu vaccine, but that there were no requests from CDC or the State Health Departments that it do so.a^?? The Kennedy article highlighted a reverse in policy to limit the amount of mercury given to infants and children.

All of these news reports come on the heels of an organized campaign by public health agencies aimed at stopping the legislative efforts to ban thimeroal at the state level. In Colorado, Maryland, Ohio and Washington opponents to the thimerosal legislation mounted aggressive campaigns to influence state legislators against the bills. Among those actively working to defeat the thimerosal bills are the States Department of Health, American Academy of Pediatrics, physician groups and CDC officials. Parents and concerned citizens have been critical of the fact that these same agencies advocated for the removal of thimerosal in 1999, but are now mounting a vigorous defense for its continued use. The Colorado Health Committee killed the legislation with a 6-1 vote. Maryland and Ohio are still pending. Washingtona^?(TM)s legislation just passed and it now awaits the Governora^?(TM)s signature.

In conjunction with the Defeat Autism Now! Conference, parents and activists will hold a rally/ protest on Capital Hill on Thursday, April 6th. Details for The Mercury Generation March are available at www.themercurygenerationmarch.org

The Innocenti Declaration was created 15 years ago to promote global breastfeeding. Core partners in the movement to actualize the targets of the Declaration met in November, 2005, in Florence, Italy. Members of the World Breastfeeding Alliance (WABA), International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN), International Lactation Consultants Association (ILCA), La Leche League International (LLLI), LINKAGES, Wellstart International, Academy for Breastfeeding Medicine (ABM), UNICEF and the World Health Organization gathered to highlight achievements and progress including:

• A 15% increase in rates of exclusive breastfeeding in the developingA^  world in the first 10 years alone. Some countries doubled, tripledA^ and even quadrupled their rates.
• More than 50 countries have established some form of national breastfeeding authority.
• More than 19,000 maternity facilities in 150 countries have been designated baby friendly.
• Sixty-four countries have laws or regulations implementing the CodeA^ and ita^?(TM)s subsequent resolutions,A^ compared to only 9 countries in 1990.
• Fifty-nine countries have ratified at least one of the three International Labor Organization (ILO) Maternity Protection Conventions, while maternity leave has beenA^ extended from 12 to 14 weeks in the new Convention 183.

While significant progress has been made, the need to promote and support breastfeeding on a global level continues, necessitating the adoption of an updated Declaration. The Innocenti + 15 Declaration is currently being finalized; for more information please visit http://innocenti15.net