Week 6: The Dangers of the HPV vaccine

The vaccine debate! Oh boy... (Warning: please don't read this article looking for a fight. I am neither overly for or against vaccines but just want to share some information about a certain vaccine...)

Yes, this is what we were supposed to have a class about in school but our class was cancelled so we just had to do the readings for it. There are two sides to the vaccine debate and both have very valid points. But I just want to quickly clarify some things:

1) If your child is vaccinated, you do not need to worry about them being infected by unvaccinated kids. If your child had his/her vaccines, he/she theoretically can't catch the diseases he/she's been vaccinated against. So you don't have to worry. According to the CDC, your kid is fine.

2) People who choose not to vaccinate their child are not stupid or selfish. Most of them have educated themselves and are choosing this option because they believe it is the best option. They're not just "thinking of themselves" and ignoring everyone else around them. A lot of these parents are choosing not to vaccinate because they believe vaccines are harmful and so they believe that by not vaccinating their child, they are benefiting their child and society.

Ok, now that we've clarified that a vaccinated child shouldn't catch diseases from the unvaccinated child and that anti-vaxxers aren't selfish and stupid, let's continue...

The vaccine I'm going to write about tonight is the HPV vaccine. It has been hugely promoted recently by the CDC and vaccine companies yet there has been a LOT of controversy over it.

According to the CDC, the HPV vaccines, Gardasil and Cervarix, "Can prevent most cases of cervical cancer in females, if it is given before exposure to the virus. In addition, it can prevent vaginal and vulvar cancer in females, and genital warts and anal cancer in both males and females." (http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/vis/vis-statements/hpv-gardasil.html) Sounds great, right? 

When you look at the side effects that the CDC reports, They write: 

"This HPV vaccine has been used in the U.S. and around the world for about six years and has been very safe.

However, any medicine could possibly cause a serious problem, such as a severe allergic reaction. The risk of any vaccine causing a serious injury, or death, is extremely small.

Life-threatening allergic reactions from vaccines are very rare. If they do occur, it would be within a few minutes to a few hours after the vaccination.

Several mild to moderate problems are known to occur with this HPV vaccine. These do not last long and go away on their own.

• Reactions in the arm where the shot was given:
  • Pain (about 8 people in 10)
  • Redness or swelling (about 1 person in 4)
• Fever:
  • Mild (100° F) (about 1 person in 10)
  • Moderate (102° F) (about 1 person in 65)
• Other problems:
  • Headache (about 1 person in 3)
• Fainting: Brief fainting spells and related symptoms (such as jerking movements) can happen after any medical procedure, including vaccination. Sitting or lying down for about 15 minutes after a vaccination can help prevent fainting and injuries caused by falls. Tell your doctor if the patient feels dizzy or light-headed, or has vision changes or ringing in the ears.
  Like all vaccines, HPV vaccines will continue to be monitored for unusual or severe problems."

(http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/vis/vis-statements/hpv-gardasil.html#risks) 

It's been declared "very safe" worldwide? Then why has Japan banned it because it has hurt so many young girls in their country? Why has it happened that "France banned HPV vaccine ads due to the false claims. Japan has banned the use of the HPV vaccine, Spain has recalled it and Israel is now considering a ban. India banned the HPV vaccine clinical trials in their country." Isn't it a very safe vaccine?! 

It's not.

The HPV vaccine is very dangerous with thousands of normal, healthy girls reporting damaging side effects including constant fatigue, constant pain, frequent seizures, paralysis, and more. These girls were perfectly healthy. Most of them had never had health problems! Then, within 1 month of receiving the Gardasil shots, they started experiencing health problem after health problem. And the health problems have not stopped. They now have chronic fatigue, pain, seizures, paralysis, headaches, etc. And the only thing that could have possibly caused these problems is the HPV vaccine.

I'm all for following the evidence and I'm not against vaccines. But I strongly oppose the HPV vaccine. It has ruined thousands of lives.

Here's some more information about HPV vaccine, compiled by: http://www.ashotoftruth.org/vaccines/hpv-vaccine

1. HPV is not only a sexually transmitted disease. HPV can be transmitted in many different ways: From person to person, mother to child, autoinoculation, and indirect transmission. 
2. If you have HPV and then become vaccinated with the HPV vaccine, according to FDA documents your chances of cervical cancer increases by 44%.
3. Pap smears, not the HPV vaccine, prevent cervical cancer. There is no scientific evidence the HPV vaccine prevents cervical cancer.
4. Your chances of dying from cervical cancer are very low. The American Cancer Society's estimates 4,030 women will die from cervical cancer in 2013.
5. Since August 2013, the CDC is reporting the HPV vaccine has over 30,000 vaccine reaction reports (VAERS) including 140 deaths. Of all the vaccines, HPV vaccine has the most vaccine reactions being reported.
6. According to the American Cancer Society (ACS) there are 150 strains of human papilloma virus (HPV) and 12 of those strains are considered "high risk" for causing cancer.  The ACS indicates 2 other strains are considered "low risk" for causing cancer. Both Merck's Gardasil(tm) and GlaxoSmithKline's Cervarix(tm) have protection from 2 of the 12 "high risk" strains (HPV-16 and HPV-18). Merck's Gardasil(tm) further covers 2 other strains which the ACS classifies as "low risk" for causing cancer.
7. A myth reported consistently by the media is the HPV vaccine is a "cancer prevention vaccine."  There has never been any scientific data to qualify this statement as the vaccine was never studied long enough to show it indeed prevents cancer.  

 I recommend going to the link above and reading their article about the HPV vaccine. It's basically a comprehensive compilation of articles and information about the dangers of the vaccine.

So, folks, please research this vaccine very VERY carefully before allowing your son or daughter to receive the HPV vaccine!

Week 5: Placenta Previa

I'm going to try and make this post short and to-the-point because I have a LOT of school to do...

Last week in class, we learned about placenta previa. It has the potential of being fatal to mom and/or baby and occurs in 1 in 200 term pregnancies.

Placenta previa is classified by painless vaginal bleeding. It is when the placenta covers all or part of the cervix. When the cervix starts to dilate and thin, it breaks the blood vessels in the placenta which causes a hemorrhage. The hemorrhage can sometimes be small and controllable and the pregnancy can be continued under close supervision. However, it can also cause massive hemorrhaging, lack of oxygen to the baby, and death for both mom and/or baby. Usually, it is somewhere in the middle, but if a pregnant woman ever experiences a lot of painless vaginal bleeding (more than just the normal spotting that occurs with labor), she should call her midwife/doctor immediately and be evaluated.

Normally, the placenta is near the top of the uterus. Sometimes, it will implant close to the cervix (called a low-lying placenta) but as the uterus grows throughout pregnancy, the placenta will "migrate" up the side of the uterus.

Placenta previa can either be classified as a low-lying placenta, marginal placenta previa, or complete placenta previa.

Low-lying placenta is exactly as its name implies. It's a placenta that is really low in the uterus and might be partially touching the cervix. It can cause some vaginal bleeding as the cervix stretches and thins, but is usually harmless.

Marginal placenta previa is sometimes manageable too but the edge of the placenta is covering part of the cervix. This usually requires a Cesarean delivery since the baby can't exactly be born when half his exit route is covered...

Complete placenta previa is where the placenta completely covers the cervix. This requires a Cesarean section birth since there is absolutely no way the baby can be born when his exit route is completely covered. Also, the Cesarean is usually planned in advanced and before the mom goes into labor since when the cervix dilates, it breaks the blood vessels to the placenta causing massive hemorrhage and lack of blood going to the baby. Yah, it has the potential to be very bad.

When placenta previa is present, the baby has a fairly high chance of being breech because the placenta blocks his usual head spot. This is illustrated in this picture:

So anyway, that's the down and dirty on placenta previa. :-D

Weeks 2, 3, and 4: Enjoyable but Amazingly Busy...

Yes, yes, I know. I haven't even thought about this blog for the last several weeks. I have had so much readings and assignments to accomplish that by the time I finish them, I just want to fall asleep. And that's what I usually do. lol.

Since I was a midwifery student and doula for five years, I'm very familiar with all that we're learning. Occasionally I learn something new. It's nice to actually know what we're learning, but there's still so many assignments that it's hard to stay on top of.

Clinicals have been the best part. I had my labor and delivery clinicals two weeks ago and got to see a Cesarean section (yay!) which is something I've been desperately wanting to see. I was amazed at how long it takes to get the baby out (since it was a non-emergent Cesarean) and how much tugging, pulling, and force was put into it. A Cesarean section is MAJOR abdominal surgery! And then for the next six weeks, you're not allowed to lift anything heavier than your baby! So the moral of the story is, unless it is a medical necessity, try to avoid a Cesarean at all costs! (Disclaimer: Obviously, there are times where a Cesarean is necessary and needed and it saves lives but it is major surgery). 

Anyway, I just wanted to quickly go over different fetal heart tone patterns with relation to contractions.

When a mom is in labor at the hospital, two transducers are placed on her stomach - one to monitor the baby's heart rate and the other to record contractions. Then, the nurse evaluates the baby's heart rate in relation to the contractions. There is a quick, easy pneumonic we learned to help us remember different heart rate patterns and what they mean:

VEAL CHOP.

The way the pneumonic works, you place the words vertically and compare the letters, like this:

V    C
E    H
A    O
L    P

So the "V" goes with the "C," the "E" goes with the "H," and so on.

V stands for "variability." We want some variability in the baby's heart rate to show that baby is responsive to contractions, but marked variability (where the heart rate varies suddenly by more than 15 beats per minute) is not a good sign. And that's where the "C" comes in. C stands for "cord compression." So when the baby is experiencing marked variability in the heart rate, it is from the cord being compressed. Just in case you're wondering, this is bad. The first thing that needs to be done is have the mom change positions. This should hopefully fix the problem, but if not, an emergency Cesarean section will probably need to be performed.

E stands for "early decelerations." This is where the baby's heart rate decreases at the beginning of the contraction but then is back to baseline by the end of the contraction. This is caused by the H - "head compression." When the baby is entering the birth canal, its head gets pressed and molded which is a lot of pressure. This pressure causes a vagal response which will decrease the baby's heart rate. Despite how horrific this sounds, it's actually normal and considered benign. In fact, I've always viewed it as a somewhat good sign - something's happening and the baby's descending!

A is "accelerations." Accelerations are abrupt increases in the heart rate by at least 15 beats per minute that last for at least 15 seconds. They can indicate fetal stress, pain, activity, annoyance, and more. The "O" they correspond to in VEAL CHOP just means "okay!" In other words, it's not too terrible to see sudden accelerations. In fact, accelerations means the baby is responsive to labor.

The last one is L - late decelerations. Late decelerations can be pretty bad since they mean the placenta isn't oxygenating the baby well. It corresponds to the P, meaning placental insufficiency. However, it can be caused by the mom being in the wrong position (like on her back), having hypotension (which decreases perfusion to the placenta), having strong uterine contractions (which makes the uterus slightly ischemic), etc. When late decelerations are seen, the first action is to change the mom's position in case it's just a positional problem. Then, decrease pitocin (if it's being given) and give oxygen. This will usually fix the problem.

One pattern midwives, doctors, and nurses really don't like to see is this one:

It's a prolonged deceleration. Not only did the baby's heart rate decrease with the contraction, it stayed low for four minutes. A normal baby's heart rate is 110-160 and this baby was happily plugging along at 160 when the contraction came and his heart rate plummeted to the 80s. Not good! The heart rate recovered but then jumped to the 180s for two minutes which is not good either. I took one look at this fetal heart recording and squirmed. This baby is not doing well...

There are many more fetal heart rate variations which make birth health care providers nervous but these are some of the main ones.

....Until next week (if I remember and don't fall asleep...)

(And because I had a very stressful day, I'm going to post funny birth pictures so I can laugh and de-stress)