Microbirth movie was brilliant and I learnt so so much I want to share…
Did you know: 90% of every human is bacterial – our microbiome – 90%!! And because of our recent history of “clean” water, antibiotics, etc we have already lost approximately 1/3 of the diversity of the ecosystem that lives on and within us. Any ecosystem that loses over 30% of it’s diversity (and still counting) is headed for disaster…
Interventions during birth (particularly caesarians) cause the gut to be colonised with the wrong bacteria. It causes genes that need to be turned off left on and vice versa. Yes, it impacts gene expression. I’ll say it again – it changes your GENE expression. This increases the risks of just about every modern (western) health issue. I am not saying there is no need for intervention. It can save lives. I am saying that the medical system has the wrong threshold for when it is needed. Did you know that private hospitals in Brisbane have a caesarian rate of 75-85% (some countries as much as 90%). Did you also know that, public or private, EVERY intervention has a financial benefit to the hospital? We thought it was safer, that’s what we were told. We weren’t told about the kickbacks. We weren’t to know. But now we do. We know it also has long-term health outcomes for our kids and it’s time to pay attention to that fact. It’s time to pay attention because at this rate non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, asthma, obesity (that are increased by interventions) will cost the global health system $47 TRILLION dollars by 2030. That is a global economic crisis. That is a global health crisis. We are seriously about to hit the wall in a big, big way.
It doesn’t stop there though. Why can noone find a single cause for cancer, asthma, diabetes? There isn’t one, instead we are creating a whole environment and culture of disease. We inheret gut flora from our mother – any insult to their natural flora is inhereted. Then we might have caesarian births, formula feed, give vaccines from birth (irrespective of your view on vaccines, it is another toxic insult to a vulnerable system). The kids are now constantly sick so the doctor prescribes antibiotics and may help short-term, but in the end exacerbate the problem, killing whatever good gut flora might have been left. And still it doesn’t end. Western foods nourish the bad bacteria and yeast – sugary, processed, grain-based, chemically loaded, artificially enhanced…how do we even stand half a chance really?
Healthy gut flora hasn’t just been associated with the obvious gut issues like Crohn’s or coeliac, it has been linked with depression, schizophrenia, autism, eczema, asthma, allergies and so it goes on. 80% of your immunity is in your gut. I think we have underestimated the importance of something so simple as a healthy gut, a healthy microbiome, until now.
It’s not about guilt or judgment, it is about learning, sharing, educating so we can make different choices next time. We can help colonise the emergency c-sec babies with the right bacteria. We can support – REALLY support women with as much help as they need to breastfeed wherever possible, for as long as possible. We can help the next generation make different choices. We need to empower women to see birth and breastfeeding as natural, normal, possible, beautiful. We all have a role to play in realigning our belief system around natural birth, long-term breastfeeding, antibiotics as a last resort and good diet as a first step. The evidence is already there, the writing on the wall. For the sakes of our kids and grandkids we need to do better wherever we can, because it is they that are inhereting the snowball affect of generations of disfunctional gut and all the disease that promotes. We are already too late in so many ways, but know better do better. The time to start is now.