Drugs and Pregnancy

My main focus is on spreading the understanding of the consicousness behind these kinds of legislation. Not only do they pander to the big pharmaceutical companies, they completely allow big brother to control and manipulate our lives further. Is there no sanctity in having one's own life any more?

Wholistically speaking, pregnancy is the act of creation...is it not? With so little research behind these drugs and their uses during pregnancy, what kind of fools would legislate these things for a natural process of life? Just like every other health situation, all indiviudals are unique, you allow each person to decide for themselves, not force it on them. Give information, not mandates.

I haven't checked to see what happened with this legislation, there are links to do so in the articles.

Below, two articles have mostly been cut out to meet Hubpages rules. To read the articles click on provided links. To read some of the research provided through these articles click on links. I am leaving up bits of the articles until I find out if I need to take them down too.

BRANDING PREGNANCY AS MENTAL ILLNESS

By Byron J. Richards, CCN

March 13, 2008

NewsWithViews.com

The Mothers Act is pending legislation that will indoctrinate hundreds of thousands of mothers into taking dangerous psych drugs. It is a great example of how the Big Pharma lobby controls Congress to the detriment of health, as well as needlessly and dramatically inflating the costs of our health care system for everyone.

The Mothers Act (S. 1375: Mom's Opportunity to Access Health, Education, Research, and Support for Postpartum Depression Act) has the net affect of reclassifying the natural process of pregnancy and birth as a mental disorder that requires the use of unproven and extremely dangerous psychotropic medications (which can also easily harm the child). Urgent consumer action (see below) is needed to stop this atrocity, as the Senate could now vote any day.

The Mothers Act proposes sweeping and dramatic changes in the delivery of pregnancy care by all health professionals. It demands that health professionals indoctrinate pregnant women into mental health treatment options for mild depression-like symptoms experienced during or following pregnancy, including moderate symptoms they call “baby blues” which they say affects 80% of pregnant women. In other words, this is a massive federate health mandate to get the majority of pregnant and nursing mothers on psych drugs – a new target market for Big Pharma.

The bill was obviously written by the Big Pharma lobby and its passage into law would be considered laughable except that it is actually happening.

The bill goes on to set up a system of taxpayer-funded grants to pay for the treatments.

Yes, and once you have paid a fortune to develop these biological gene-altering agents then you will pay the drug companies price so that they can be freely dispensed to hundreds of thousands of pregnant and nursing mothers. Taxpayers will be on the hook for tens of billions of wasted dollars.

Immediate Consumer Action is Needed

Immediate consumer action is needed to stop the Big Pharma-crafted Mothers Act. Here are the two action steps you can take right now to help make a difference:

Sign this petition, which is being used to pressure Senators on the HELP committee.

As natural health care professionals my wife Mary and I have helped many women with pregnancy and postpartum health issues. We have plenty of experience in natural options that work and four grown children of our own. To read more about natural solutions I have used for years click here. To read more about Mary’s tips on successful pregnancy, her view on the Mothers Act, and to post your own comments on the issue, click here.

THE MOTHERS ACT MUST BE STOPPED – YOUR HELP IS URGENTLY NEEDED.

© 2008 Truth in Wellness, LLC - All Rights Reserve

DANGERS OF PSYCH DRUGS IN PREGNANCY

By Byron J. Richards, CCN

March 21, 2008

NewsWithViews.com

The Senate is about to approve legislation (Mothers Act – S.1375) which mandates the indoctrination of pregnant and nursing mothers into the use of extremely dangerous psychiatric medication. We already know this class of medication poses serious health risks to both mother and baby. Consequences to the baby are now proven to cause nerve-related changes that can adversely affect health for a lifetime.

This Big Pharma legislation was innocuously crafted under the pretense of helping pregnant mothers deal with stress and mood. On the surface it is made to look like a helpful public policy that any Senator would want to support. The reality is that pregnant and nursing mothers have become a Big Pharma target market and this legislation locks in taxpayer funds to dispense psych drugs to pregnant and nursing mothers – guaranteeing that Big Pharma will get billions for poisoning the most vulnerable members in our society.

Scientific Evidence of Psych-Drug Damage Relating to Pregnancy

The dangers of psych drugs during pregnancy and lactation have been reported for a number of years. However, within the past six months a stunning amount of new data has become available which I will now summarize for you.

It is a well known scientific fact that psych drugs readily cross the placenta and expose the fetus to pharmacologically active levels of these drugs. It is also known that nursing mothers have pharmacologically active levels of these drugs in their breast milk.

A meta-analysis published in May of 2007 showed that women taking antidepressants in the first trimester of pregnancy had a 72% increased risk for a child with cardiac malformation (birth defect). A study published in Dec of 2006 reviewed earlier studies showing that the use of antidepressants during any phase of pregnancy carried serious risks for birth defects, especially cardiovascular.

A Dec of 2007 Dutch study reports on the broad array of side effects in babies whose mothers took antidepressants during pregnancy.

A Dec of 2007 Swedish study confirms much of this information, again pointing out the high rates of respiratory distress, convulsions, hypoglycemia, and overall poor health (low Apgar scores).

An Oct of 2006 study explains that 30% of babies born to mothers who used antidepressants have significant inability to adapt (adjusting to being born and then thriving).

Indeed, data published in Oct of 2006 showed mothers who took antidepressants are much more likely to have premature deliveries and low birth weight babies – indicative of general malnutrition induced by antidepressant medication.

An Oct of 2007 U.S. study reviewed the animal data that shows exposure to antidepressants causes life long abnormalities in behavior and stress tolerance.

A Feb of 2005 study demonstrated that 2 month old infants already had a depressed and inappropriate response to pain – a key factor indicating disturbed development of the nervous system. T

The bottom line of all of this information about psych drug use during pregnancy is that it is one huge experiment with many unknown and likely adverse health consequences. Once again we see the failure of the FDA to protect the public, as the FDA does not demand Big Pharma do studies to prove these drugs are safe for pregnant women.

© 2008 Truth in Wellness, LLC - All Rights Reserve

Byron J. Richards, Founder/Director of Wellness Resources, is a Board-Certified Clinical Nutritionist and nationally-renowned health expert, radio personality, and educator. He is the author of Mastering Leptin, The Leptin Diet, and Fight for Your Health: Exposing the FDA's Betrayal of America.

Richards encourages individuals to take charge of their health, stand up for their health rights, and not blindly succumb to propaganda from the vested-interests who profit from keeping Americans sick. As founder of Wellness Resources, Inc. of Minneapolis, MN, an independently-owned fine-quality dietary supplement company since 1985, he has personally developed 75 unique nutraceutical-grade nutritional formulas. www.wellnessresources.com

FREE Subscription to Byron's Health Newsletter, click here.

E-mail: byron@truthinwellness.com

In conclusion, I would like to say that I am very grateful for all that some aspects of modern medicine has to offer, but in most cases pregnancy is a natural process and needs to be left alone. Each person should be left alone to decide for themselves what they want to do, but that everyone needs information from natural/wholistic sources and mainstream medicine.