By Duke Medicine News and Communications

A new kit-based umbilical cord blood pilot donation program under way at Duke University Medical Center could significantly expand options for mothers who want to donate their baby’s cord blood to a public bank.

“Right now, there are fewer than 200 hospitals in the United States designated as collection sites for mothers who want to donate their baby’s cord blood to a public bank,” says Joanne Kurtzberg, MD, professor of pediatrics at Duke and director of the Carolinas Cord Blood Bank (CCBB), a public bank. “We simply need more. Cord blood cells are increasingly seen as a valuable resource, and we are seeing a pressing need for more cord blood donation, especially among Asian and African-American mothers and those with mixed ethnic backgrounds.”

Umbilical cord blood stem cells, normally discarded after birth, have the ability to grow and develop into various types of cells throughout the body. They can be harvested after birth and stored for future transplantation in patients with many types of cancer and blood disorders, and increasingly, in other diseases as well.

In addition to Duke, two other sites are participating in the program, the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and the Texas Cord Blood Bank in San Antonio. All three sites are members of the National Cord Blood Inventory’s public banking network of the C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program and are coordinating their efforts through the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP).

Donated cord blood will be listed on the NMDP’s Be The Match Registry and will be made available to patients with diseases that can be treated with transplantation.

“Research shows that many more mothers would donate their baby’s cord blood if given the opportunity,” says Michael Boo, chief strategy officer for the NMDP. “This pilot program may uncover a successful way to allow more expecting parents to donate, providing hope to more patients.”

Expectant mothers interested in donating cord blood through the program need to call one of the sites at least six weeks before their baby is due. Eligible donors must be 18 years old or older and be pregnant with a single baby. A coordinator will pre-screen applicants to see if they are eligible to become donors, asking questions about age and any history of HIV, cancer, hepatitis, malaria, organ or tissue transplant, sexually transmitted diseases, and tattoos and body piercing.

There is no charge to the mother for the kit or for donating her cord blood through the kit program.

Participants need to inform their physician or midwife of their intention to donate through the kit program. The physician or midwife must successfully complete an online training and certification in cord blood collection through the NMDP.

Participating moms will be sent a kit prior to their due date and will take the kit to the hospital upon admission for delivery. The doctor or midwife will collect the cord blood after the baby is born. The cord blood must be packed and shipped back to one of the three participating sites and must be received within 40 hours of the infant’s delivery.

The kit itself is specially designed to protect the cord blood in transit. Duke’s bright red box is temperature-controlled and contains an informed consent, a medical history questionnaire, and forms to be filled out at the hospital. It also contains everything needed for the cord blood collection, plus additional vials to store some of the mother’s blood that will be tested for infectious disease.

“We are enthusiastic about this program because if it successful, it could potentially be expanded to additional hospitals nationwide,” says Kurtzberg.

Kurtzberg, who is also director of Duke’s Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Program, is internationally recognized for her trailblazing work in cord blood stem cell therapies.  She provided care for the first person ever to receive a cord blood transplant and was the first in the world to perform an unrelated cord blood transplant.

Mothers interested in donating their baby’s cord blood to a participating public bank may contact the Carolinas Cord Blood Bank Public Kit Collection Program by calling 919-668-2071 (daytime only).

To reach the M.D. Anderson coordinator, call 713-563-8000.

To reach the Texas Cord Blood Bank coordinator, dial 800-292-5534; option 7.

Per our in-house IBCLC, Janet Jones…look out, Austin!  There will be a Keep Austin Breastfeeding Flash Mob in front of Barton Springs Pool on Sunday, August 1st, at 1:00 PM.  Invite everyone you know!

Anyone can be a part of this Flash Mob.  This is about creating community awareness that supports breastfeeding as the norm for infant feeding!

The rehearsals will be:

Thursday the 29th at 7pm @ Galaxy Dance School(1700 S.Lamar)

Saturday the 31st at 10a @Galaxy Dance School(1700 S.Lamar)

There will be a final mandatory rehearsal at 11am before the flash mob @
Zilker Park near the flash mob site.
Just follow the signs that say “Keep Austin Breasttfeeding” and look for the
hot pink balloons. All participants are invited to pick up their
“Breastfeeding is Fresh!” t-shirts at the final rehearsal.

There are several videographers, DJs,choreographers, a rapper, etc coming to
support this fabulous event!. We will be on KEYE television at 4pm on Wed.
telling Austin that something BIG is happening to promote mothers and babies
at Zilker at 1pm on Sunday.

See you there!

I attended a birth last night, and wanted to commend mama for choosing a great comfortable labor option.  Forgoing the standard hospital gown, she labored in a cute maternity nightgown she picked up at Target.  It was short enough where it wasn’t menacing to pull it up to do cervical exams, or for the pushing phase of her pregnancy.  When she implemented different labor positions she never had to worry about a gaping opening and her butt hanging out as she walked down the halls.  When it was time for breastfeeding, she just popped off the straps and had complete skin to skin access for her baby without having to maneuver around any snaps, cords or IV lines.  So do it mamas!  Wouldn’t you rather wear this for comfort and style in your labor:

Than this?

A study in England on 66 post-term women (those who attended a hospital clinic after 40 weeks gestation) showed that women who employed shiatsu techniques were significantly more likely to have spontaneous labor than the non-shiatsu group who more frequently required induced labor.  “The Effects of Shiatsu on Post-Term Pregnancy” evaluated the effects of shiatsu techniques, as taught by hospital midwives, on the progress of post-term labors and deliveries. The study was conducted by staff at St. Michael’s Hospital, Bristol, England, from March to July 2000. The subjects attended a hospital consultant clinic appointment at 40 weeks gestation and were taught the massage techniques by a midwife who had completed a six-day shiatsu course. The control group consisted of 76 women who attended similar clinics but were not taught the shiatsu techniques.Three shiatsu points were taught to the experimental group: Gall Bladder 21 (GB-21), Large Intestine 4 (LI-4) and Spleen 6 (S-6). All points were held with thumb pressure until the woman experienced a reaction. Once a reaction was felt, the woman was instructed to work the point deeply and firmly for as long and as often as was comfortable to her. Exercises and breathing techniques were also taught to the experimental group, and the women were encouraged to use the shiatsu techniques at home.

Outcome information for both groups was audited, including induction, type of delivery, length of labor and analgesia used. The women in the experimental group completed a questionnaire to document their use of shiatsu.  The women who used shiatsu were significantly more likely to labor spontaneously than those who did not (p=0.038). Of those who used shiatsu, 17 percent more went into spontaneous labor than those who were not taught shiatsu. Of those who completed the audit questionnaire, 80 percent found the shiatsu techniques helpful.

At the Get Babied Doula Collective in Austin, TX, massage therapists Steph Scott and Hannah Ford are both trained in Shiatsu.  The two labor induction methods that are most supported by the literature (other than clinical ones) are Breastpumping and Massage/Acupressure.  So if you need an excuse to get a massage, Steph of course still offers her discounted GB rate for pregnant clients ($50); Hannah’s personal massage website is http://www.mintmassage.net/ or just send this article to your preferred LMT and get them to press your buttons. 

Hannah Ford adds these additional words of wisdome:  “I think of the last couple of weeks as 40-42 are the time to start this type of massage.  I always wait til mama asks for it or mentions induction worries, I don’t suggest it otherwise.  I also explain it as an “if your baby and body are ready, this might help move things along” idea, rather than a “natural induction” method.  Acupressure is powerful stuff, but the body is wise, and it’s not some kind of eject button or anything.

Usually I just do a few minutes scattered throughout a full-body session, so she’s relaxed overall.  I think the overall relaxation helps as much with letting labor start as the shiatsu does.  I think at the most I’ve spent maybe 20 minutes total of the session focused on points, and that’s with a mama who’s coming specifically with induction intentions.  To avoid bruising, I make sure to communicate directly and be really conservative about pressure.  It’s more about being in just the right spot and moving the chi in the right direction than using a lot of force, it should be fairly gentle work.  I do some work around the malleoli and some reflex points on the foot too.

Sometimes I show her the points again at the end of the session and get her to press them, show her how to bob/doven for self-treatment, or if there’s a partner handy I’ll get him or her to do some.  GB21 is kind of hard to do on yourself.  It’s a good point for labor too.”

Hannah with her son Sylvan

Room Available in Hip East Central Office
$375/month

The office space across the hall from us is now available. We’d love to have another wellness practitioner or maternity friendly business as a neighbor – please spread the word!

100 square foot office available for $375/month, 6 or 12 month lease.  3823 Airport Blvd, Suite A, 78722 (on the southeast corner of Airport & 38 1/2 St, in the building with the lime green awning). Othertenants whose offices are in the same suite include:

Get Babied! Doula Collective

Mint Massage

Sunflower Chiropractic

Neighborhood Acupuncture Project

Ko-op Radio & City Theatre

The suite has an alarm and shared photocopier, fax, mini fridge, & microwave.

For more info please contact our landlord Greg Brooks at tgregorybrooks@gmail.com or (512) 799-8973, and tell him we sent you!

Check out this video promoting baby wearing! I love how the babies seem to really enjoy dancing.

In doing some research on “Big Babies” since I found an interesting study in AJOG where doctors predicted a large baby (larger than about 9 pounds); and compared these to births with actual 9 pound babies (ones that weren’t given the predicted label of Macrosomia “big butts”).

Inductions in the suspected big baby group were 42.1% vs. 13.6% in the control group.  And C-sections were  57.1% in the suspected group vs. 16.7% in control.  That’s a huge difference.  But what’s even more interesting, when they compare the maternal and neonatal outcomes of all babies – there is absolutely no statistically significant data in health of baby or health of mother between the suspected big babies, and the actual big babies.

Essentially – if you are getting the label of “big baby” you’re more likely to receive an “unecessary” medical intervention.  And even with a big baby, there are better outcomes in having natural spontaneous labor than a medical intervention based on a macrosomia diagnosis alone.  Food for thought.

http://www.ajog.org/article/S0002-9378%2804%2901574-1/fulltext

Join us July 26th at 7:00 pm at our office at 3823A Airport Blvd for our monthly Meet the Doulas Night.

At 7:00 we will kick it off by summarizing an overview of our services, as well as touching on what you might expect at a Get Babied! doula assisted birth.
Stick around for another exciting birth story at 7:15, another sweet baby born with the assistance of Get Babied! Doulas.  Caroline, Leo and newest family member Leif will be by to share their birth story with us.  You can see some videos of Caroline’s labor on our blog, she was kind enough to allow us to post a few clips -http://www.getbabied.com/2010-06-28/what-do-we-actually-do-watch-us

At 7:30 Lisa Young from Austin Prenatal Yoga will be discussing “How prenatal yoga can prepare you for labor & birth”.  Learn more about Lisa’s yoga practice on her website, http://www.austinprenatalyoga.com

At 8:00 we’ll break for some tea and snacks.  This is our opportunity to talk with you one-on-one about your goals for your birth.  We also want to check in with you since last month to see what is happening in your pregnancy.  We consider this more like a free prenatal appointment with snacks and entertainment.  We’d like you to meet and get to know each of us, so be sure to make the rounds to come say hi to all of us.  Finally, you’ll have our ear for any other questions or concerns you might have with your pregnancy, labor, delivery or postpartum care.

We look forward to seeing you there!

In the spirit of Science, I thought I would share our birth stats from May births with our collective.   As you can see the benefits are not just theoretical.

Average durationg of labor: 9.5 hours (national average: 11.4 hours)

Percentage of mamas requesting epidural: 0% (national average:  85%)

Percentage of labors ending in C-section: 0% (Texas average: 20%)

Percentage of labors requiring vaccuum or forcept delivery: 0% (national average: 12%)

Percentage of labors requiring oxytocin/pitocin induction/augmentation: 14% (state average 16%) – *1 mama out of 7 this month required pitocin.

Hi Mamas!  Just wanted to let you know we have a group prenatal appointment session coming up this Sunday July 18 at 2:00 PM.  The Get Babied! prenatal appointment is free for mamas signed up for our Get Babied! or Get Pampered! packages.  For mamas going the Get Doula’d! route, it is available as an a la carte add-on ($50).  This month it will be led by Janet Jones and Amy Nevland.

Feedback from mamas who have done this appointment with us has been very positive.  “Finally someone showed us what to do, not just what to expect!”  That’s our mission with this appointment.  It’s best for couples at or beyond 30 weeks gestation, so if you’d like to join us on Sunday, please let us know, or register online.  This appointment recurs each month, so you’re welcome to join us next month as well.  Here is a little info from our website (and also pasted below): http://www.getbabied.com/classes/group-prenatal-appointments

Get Babied! is excited to be on the forefront of prenatal care advancement.   We will be implementing a centering model for prenatal visits and look forward to providing you with the highest level of quality care.  Register here for your group prenatal appointment.

The appointment begins at 2:00 pm on the third Sunday of each month at our office, 3823A Airport Blvd.   The first hour of the appointment will be a private consult with your Get Babied! doula.  We will review and discuss your needs assessment form, and then will work together to create a birth plan.  The second hour is a group session including a review of breathing techniques, tutorial on positions for labor, a massage, counterpressure and comfort measures demonstration, and a labor rehearsal.  It’s our job to educate you beyond what to expect; we want to show you what to do!  The class time is followed by a circle discussion time and socializing and refreshments. We look forward to seeing you there!

Centering is a model of group health care, which incorporates three major components: assessment, education, and support. Group participants meet with their care provider and other group participants according to a regular schedule for a much longer period of time (usually 90-120 minutes) than a usual check-up visit. Centering promotes individual health empowerment and community-building.  For more information about the centering health care initiative, please visit www.centeringhealthcare.org