The more I read about Miranda Kerr, the more I like her.
Last year, the 29 year old supermodel from Australia who is married to actor Orlando Bloom refused to cave in to pressure from the anti-saturated fat lobby by publicly professing her love of coconut oil with the following statement:
“I will not go a day without coconut oil. I personally take four tablespoons per day, either on my salads, in my cooking or in my cups of green tea.”
Mmmmm, let’s see. Shall we listen to fat, unhealthy looking doctors with expensive vacation homes and yacht payments telling us to avoid coconut oil because it will give us a heart attack who are incidentally getting kickbacks or special perks from drug companies on the amount of cholesterol lowering prescriptions they write, or …
Shall we listen to a woman who is sharing her secret for shiny hair, trim figure, and clear skin which has been used by attractive, healthy Polynesians for centuries who suffered virtually no heart disease whatsoever?
Kerr: Epidurals Result in Drugged Babies
Now, Ms. Kerr has once again stirred up a hornet’s nest with her comments about the dangers of epidurals published as part of her interview in the August 2012 issue of Harper’s Bazaar UK.
Miranda states that she decided to forgo an epidural with the recent birth of her son after observing in baby bonding videos that babies born to mothers who had epidurals did not instinctively go for the breast and appeared out of it and “drugged” unlike babies born to mothers who had not submitted to pain medication who went straight for the breast and were alert and looking around:
“The baby was a little bit drugged up, and I was like, ‘Well I don’t want that.’ I wanted to give him the best possible start in life I could.”
Dr. Deborah Stein, who practices obstetric anethesiology at St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital in New York, fired back by insisting that there “is no concern of epidural anesthesia on a newborn baby.”
Yeah right, doc. A little concerned about those yacht payments are we?
Mother and parenting forums also blasted Kerr saying that she should more carefully choose her words. Mary Fischer who writes for TheStir said that “women just need to respect each other.”
Give me a break. Isn’t the health of babies a lot more important than, sniff, mommy’s feelings (does anyone have a hankie?).
The reality of the situation is that epidural babies are drugged and if a woman can possibly avoid these medications (of course, sometimes she cannot), it is indeed giving her baby a better start in life. At the very least, a natural birth gives baby and Mom a better shot at a successful breastfeeding relationship with a normal latch and suckle more likely from the start.
Good for you, Miranda, for sticking to your guns and showing once again that a supermodel isn’t necessarily just a pretty face and can be a force to be reckoned with in this age of false and misleading health propaganda from those who are supposed to “know” the most!
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Source: Miranda Kerr’s Anti-Epidural Comments Incite Backlash
When our daughter was born, her birth other had an epodural for her birth…then when they called the doctor to deliver, he was in is car to ANOTHER hospital for a different birth. He told the L &D nurses to give her ANOTHER epidural while the baby was crowning until he showed up.
I of course didn’t know any of this until after she was born. If I had known, I would have tried to get the L&D nurse to deliver (we all know they can).
This doctor complicated an otherwise uncomplicated delivery…and as a result, my daughter slept for two weeks after birth. I had to wake her every two hours and force her to eat.
There is a time an a place for epidurals for sure, but doctors are only thinking of themselves (and their yacht payments) if they insist on giving them….
I had an epidural & my son was born incredibly healthy & amazingly alert without any breastfeeding issues…I think women should be made aware of the possibilities & potential dangers of ANY medical procedure, but should not be made to feel guilty because they chose an epidural & in some opinions weren’t giving their babies “the best possible start in life “. Of course Kerr can speak her mind & good for her & the decisions she has made, but I can also speak my mind & I feel she comes off as a bit self righteous.
It’s interesting to me that people become defensive when someone speaks their own truth. It doesn’t sound as though Ms. Kerr is condemning anyone, only stating her truth. Epidural babies are drugged and slower to bond. It’s a fact and a choice some people choose. Personally, I agree with all of her views in this piece. Seems crazy that people get so bent out of shape.
Bravo for women speaking the truth about birth! It is such a shame that our medical system and culture fail couples by not telling them the truth about what normal birth really is. To be fair, most obs (surgeons) are not taught normal birth. So many women do not know that they have choices in childbirth. As we share these truths, hopefully more and more couples will begin to research their options, take a great childbirth education class and become truly educated on normal birth. Then they can make the best, informed choices for their family.
I’m about to move to Warsaw, Poland next month and did some research on the birthing practices there. Elective epidurals are illegal, all normal births are attended by well-trained midwives and wouldn’t you know, their csection rate is 16%. About half of the united states. I was blown away.
That’s pretty awesome! Didn’t know that 🙂
I recently had someone tell me they are reading a book that connects Austism to epidurals. Not sure if this is junk science, but worth looking into.
i have three girls, all were induced, all had complications during pregnancy, no 1 and 3 were bombarded with MANY ultrasounds. dd1 and 3 are ASD, the 2nd has CAPD (considered in some circles to be on the spectrum as well). considering one of the suspected causes of autism is brain damage at the cellular level, i totally believe epidurals contribute.
So glad to see a supermodel promote coconut oil. Go Miranda! Btw, I have been reading your blog periodically for the past three months Sarah and I wish I found it sooner.
Meant to say good for her!
Good for her?…although pre-learning about how epidurals and pitocin were bad.. I had both used for the birth of my son…he was really alert when born and never had issues with breastfeeding and I do not feel there was any lack of bonding and he has had almost impeccable health…
I’ll definately avoid an epidural for my next pregnancy after reading this! It hadn’t occurred to me that the drugs would get to my baby (then again I wasn’t a WAPF or THHE follower back then and just towed the party line, so to speak). I’m fortunate in that my little man came out fully alert. Maybe his size helped, but he was alert, scored top marks in his apgar and lifted his head as soon as he was put on my chest – I was a bit taken aback by that! 🙂 I’ll definately use my TENS machine and birthing pool for number two (unfortunately I have to have a hospital birth as I had an emergency c-section as I couldn’t get the little dude out – and I tried for a loooooong time to avoid a c-section). At least I’ll be armed with lots of knowledge this time round 🙂