Below is information for a study on placenta encapsulation.  If you have no idea what it is, check it out on our site.  Your help would be invaluable!  The goal is to have more concrete evidence of the benefits of placentophagia…..

Melinda Ferguson and I have just launched a pilot research study on the effect of taking placenta capsules on postpartum mood disorders.  It is a small pilot that we hope will provide enough intriguing results that funders will be interested in supporting a full research study on placenta encapsulation.  If you know of anyone who meets the following criteria and is interested in participating in the study (either taking placenta capsules or not), please have them contact me.

• Pregnant with their first baby
• Pregnant with only one baby
• Due between April 1 and September 1, 2011
• 25-38 years old
• Living with their partner during pregnancy and during the study period
• Planning an out-of-hospital birth
• At-risk for postpartum mood disorders, such as (but not limited to):                                 – History of mental health problems in self or family                                                         -Family history of mood disorders                                                                                     -History of PMS or sensitivity to other hormonal shifts
• Willing to volunteer their time for this study

Here is a copy of an email I received from a colleague.  I believe we must use evidence based care and not just believe what people tell us (yes, even doctors).  She tried to find studies and couldn’t so she is conducting her own.  She is looking for Muslim women who are breastfeeding to help with a study…..if that’s you or someone you know, keep reading:

Anyone interested in joining a study on nursing while fasting please

keep reading….!!!

I saw the topic of fasting while nursing came up and when I was
approaching my first Ramadan as a nursing mommy, I (coming from a
science/medical background) decided to see if there were any research
studies on the topic. I found just one study looking at Muslim women
and it only studied, I think, 12 women. Anyhow, every year the topic
comes up and mommies look to other mommies for advice and it usually
goes both ways….some mommies saying it makes milk supply go down,
others saying they were able to do it just fine. So this year I am
working on studying the topic myself. I am still working out the
details of the study but I just realized how quickly Ramadan is
approaching so I need to get the word out ASAP so that I can get as
many people to participate as possible. The study will be looking at
a number of different factors and try to see which, if any, help to
determine which women will be able to fast while nursing and which
women will have troubles with milk supply or not be able to fast for
other reasons.

At this point, the minimum I need is anyone that is breastfeeding that
is willing to try fasting and do some record-keeping (ie food eaten
each day, # of ounces of fluid taken each day). I may also need a pre
and post-Ramadan baby weight check. So if anyone is interested (and
please please pass this around to all women, all around the world
even) please email me at saadiap@gmail.com

At this point, I would like to exclude women who are also pregnant,
and women who are already experiencing milk supply problems, and
women who are increasingly using formula (since the milk supply may
already be going down due to formula use). Once I get an interest
list, I will email out the specifics.

Please make dua that this is a successful study and helps us to answer
the age old question of whether fasting while nursinng will decrease
milk supply!

And again…please pass this on to every nursing mommy you know!

Jazak’Allahu khayran,

Saadia

SIDS has decreased greatly over the past decade or so because of safetyprecaution awareness, however, for every family effected, statistics don’t matter.  They have lost their baby.  Hannah Kinney, MD, a professor of pathology at Harvard Medical School and a neuropathologist at Children’s Hospital Boston has recently published a study she conducted concerning the cause of SIDS.  We are now a step closer to eliminating this tragic occurence.  Her study narrowed down where the problem may lie.  It may come from the brain stem and could have to do with serotonin levels.  Here is a great article about this study.  Certainly one step closer to overcoming the number one cause of death in children newborn to one year old.  This is such great hope for such an elusive killer!