Follow up to yesterday's blog post on anti-depressant use during pregnancy!
Yesterday I blogged about the debate and high levels of anxiety that accompany the use of psychotropic medications during pregnancy and often during breastfeeding as well. A colleague of mine referred me to a TED Talk on the increase in birth defects all over the world that seems to be related to the relatively new chemical compounds used in agriculture, and used to produce other common household products. According to the scientist in this presentation (who studies frogs!), the human placenta cannot evolve fast enough to deal with these new chemicals which then go on to impact the human fetus. Though none of this may sound like good news, the more aware we are of the myriad factors that can impact pregnancy and also the quality of breast milk, and the more we can understand about the nature of scientific research, the more we can move away from cause and effect thinking and begin making decisions for ourselves and our families that come from our principles and values rather than the latest headlines and our anxiety.
If you are interested in viewing the TED talk click here: http://www.ted.com/talks/tyrone_hayes_penelope_jagessar_chaffer_the_toxic_baby.html#.TzlbNombyw1.email
Fore more information on the speaker’s (Penelope Jagessar Chaffer) film “Toxic Baby” click here: http://www.toxicbaby.com/
Thanks for reading!