franky in a publication!

wise traditions a quarterly publication put out by the weston a. price foundation has published my letter to the editor. spring 2009 volume 10 number 1 on pages 9 and 10.
i took a scan of it. i'm silly and proud..hee hee.











here's the letter. i just copied and pasted from word.

Dear Wise Traditions,
When my recent pregnancy began I knew I wanted two things. I knew I wanted a VBAC (Vaginal birth after cesarean) and I wanted it free of antibiotics. I began educating myself on both fronts. With my 5th Child I had a C-section for placenta previa- a problem in pregnancy where, in layman’s terms the placenta blocks the exit. There is no safe delivery for mother or baby that doesn’t involve a surgeon and a knife. Well for my 6th child I learned all there was to know about the VBACing. I joined ICAN(international cesarean awareness network) and met many many moms who share a similar scar. My road to VBAC began. Something that concerned me with a VBAC was Group B Strep. I had tested positive for GBS in the past and learned that I was very likely to test positive in subsequent pregnancies. The hospital protocol for GBS patients, suggested by the CDC is antibiotics administered four hours apart until delivery. If a GBS+ mom does not get at least 2 doses the baby is given antibiotics and closely monitored for 24-48 hours. I wanted to avoid this routine exposure to antibiotics.
I set about living life WAPF style. It was pretty loose as we weren’t buying raw milk yet, but we were living on simple whole foods, coconut oil, and traditional food preparation. I learned that a heightened immune system increases your chances of being GBS negative. I also learned that GBS is a gut bug. It lives and proliferates in the gut. I figured having good gut flora was the best way to kick GBS. I gave up sugar- even honey until I worked that back in. I cultured yogurt from non homogenized low heat pasteurized milk. I drank plain kefir. I brewed my own Kombucha and drank 6-8 oz daily. I asked my midwife if all of this would help. She said, “maybe, strengthening your immune system won’t be such a bad thing, right?”
So at 36 weeks I was tested for GBS. I got the results on a Monday morning. I was GBS negative. That Friday at 36 weeks and 5 days my water broke. I waited a little more than 24 hours before going into the hospital for a soft induction. Soft induction being very gradual administration of Pitocin (a synthetic hormone to bring on contractions). The pitocin took forever to work. The baby was born 15 minutes into the following Monday- almost 56 hours after my water broke. The midwife and I noticed that the baby was bone dry. I would most certainly have been scared into a repeat C-section had I been GBS+. With ruptured membranes on a GBS+ mom, the risk of baby contracting GBS greatly increases with each hour.
Following Weston Price’s teachings I not only achieved my VBAC, but have a healthy baby because of it. I attribute her lack of colic to having a strong digestive system and feeding on my nutrient dense breast milk- all due to a good WAPF lifestyle. So, I’d like to thank all you folks at WAPF for helping me achieve my dream of a healthy me, a healthy baby girl, and a healthy VBAC.