Rant, Rant, RANT!
This has nothing to do with the kids, really. I just need to step up on my soapbox, and since my blog has become (blushing with insincere modesty) so popular over the past six months, I figured this is the best forum for it. And also, let me say that I am not categorically against vaccines. I think they are right for many families, and I think that with proper research, quality control, and truth in advertising (rather than coercion via nondisclosure) vaccines could be a really fantastic practice, for most people.
Please boycott American Baby Magazine. It is such a bunch of hooey, and its vaccination articles are such a horrendous disservice to American parents. This month, they’ve featured another fear-mongering article, “Don’t Wait to Vaccinate!” The article is just despicable, both in its faulty sources, and what it neglects to say.
Let me start with the dereliction of duty by neglecting to mention that there ARE certain populations who should NOT be vaccinated. This isn’t even disputed; the AAP recognizes that certain children with certain familial backgrounds (just to give ONE example, children whose parents have a verified autoimmune disease, such as CROHN’s disease) should not be vaccinated. The only vague reference to this fact is “herd immunity…doesn’t take into account that some in the herd may not be adequately protected…because a medical condition prevents them from being vaccinated.” If American Baby is so concerned about America’s Children (and not, say, concerned with placating their advertising sponsors, etc), then why would they not make mention of the fact that most doctors do not bother to ask parents about familial history or previous medical conditions, or even previous vaccine reactions, before pumping a child full of the vaccine? Why would the author of this article not feel the need to inform parents that it is they, not the doctor, who will need to do research and find out if their child is not a good candidate for a particular vaccine?
I won’t even go into all of the extremely faulty assertions made about the “Myths of Vaccination,” aside from saying that mothering.com would be a good starting place to find links to objective studies on the efficacy and dangers of vaccines. I acknowledge that my link to the Think Twice site (at right) is a decidedly one-sided and less-than-objective view, but there ARE plenty of very objective studies (NOT funded by either side of the lobby) that refute every single claim in this article. Start with mothering.com and go from there. And when reviewing the mainstream studies, well, I’m not a scientist, but it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to follow a money trail.
Lastly, why does this article not talk about the acknowledged lack of quality control and resulting fatalities and serious health and developmental ramifications of various vaccines? Why not list the VAERS website? Why not admit that some vaccines WILL ACTUALLY CAUSE THE VIRUS? Why not acknowledge that with today’s hygiene practices, outbreaks could be reduced? Why not mention that with modern medicine, treating the actual diseases, should they occur, could be far less lethal, in some cases, than the effects of the vaccines? It’s laughable that the article mentions pertussis outbreaks. Pertussis is generally only dangerous to infants younger than a year (and even then, almost never lethal). Most adults contract pertussis more than once in their adult lives, and don’t even know it. Or, American Baby Magazine, why don’t we talk about the widespread ramifications of the Varicella Vax? Hm? We’re vaccinating children for a non-lethal disease, using a vaccine whose immunity wanes in less than a decade. If a child contracts the actual disease (chicken pox) during childhood, it confers lifelong immunity in most cases, or reduced susceptibility. But good luck apologizing to all of those future adults who will be wracked with shingles. At least they didn’t have to “suffer” chicken pox, right? Furthermore, why does the article list WHEN children should be vaccinated for Hep B, but fail to inform parents that the disease for which they are vaccinating their newborns is spread almost solely through sexual contact? Why not mention that many of the vaccines that are “routine” in the U.S. are illegal in other countries because of the dangers? Is it okay for American children to be guinea pigs? Is it okay that my son actually contracted a disease from a vaccine that was meant to prevent that very disease? Is poor quality control okay? I guess so. I mean, they’re just kids.
Now, at the risk of coming off as crunchy (but on a totally unrelated subject), I wanted to also share this poem. I am really not a hippy. C'mon, you all know me. I'm don't wear birkenstocks or anything like that, and I really don't consider myself a lactivist. But I AM really proud of my nursing relationship with my Gipper, and I thought this poem was so cute. I wouldn't feel so defensive, I guess, were it not following up a crunchy rant on vaxing. LOL Anyway, enjoy the poem. I don't know who wrote it. I just think it's funny.
Dr. Seuss for Nursing Moms
Would you nurse her in the park?
Would you nurse him in the dark?
Would you nurse him with a Boppy?
And when your boobs are feeling floppy?
I would nurse him in the park,
I would nurse her in the dark.
I’d nurse with or without a Boppy.
Floppy boobs will never stop me.
Can you nurse with your seat belt on?
Can you nurse from dusk till dawn?
Though she may pinch me, bite me, pull,
I will nurse her `till she’s full!
Can you nurse and make some soup?
Can you nurse and feed the group?
It makes her healthy strong and smart,
Mommy’s milk is the best start!
Would you nurse him at the game?
Would you nurse her in the rain?
In front of those who dare complain?
I would nurse him at the game.
I would nurse her in the rain.
As for those who protest lactation,
I have the perfect explanation.
Mommy’s milk is tailor made
It’s the perfect food, you need no aid.
Some may scoff and some may wriggle,
Avert their eyes or even giggle.
To those who can be cruel and rude,
Remind them breast’s the perfect food!
I would never scoff or giggle,
Roll my eyes or even wiggle!
I would not be so crass or crude,
I KNOW that this milk’s the perfect food!
We make the amount we need
The perfect temp for every feed.
There’s no compare to milk from breast-
The perfect food, above the rest.
Those sweet nursing smiles are oh so sweet,
Mommy’s milk is such a treat.
Human milk just can’t be beat.
I will nurse, in any case,
On the street or in your face.
I will not let my baby cry,
I’ll meet her needs, I’ll always try.
It’s not about what’s good for you,
It’s best for babies, through and through.
I will nurse her in my home,
I will nurse her when I roam.
Leave me be lads and ma’am.
I will nurse her, Mom I am.
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