Category Archives: Embryology

Embryology

BizCap Structures and Delivers Financing for Bay Area Medical Clinic – News – ABL Advisor

Business Capital structured and delivered approximately $6MM in senior secured loans for NOVA IVF, a clinic established in 1987, providing in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments with a consistent success rate well above average nationwide. With an experienced team of embryology doctors and among the highest percentage success rate, NOVA is reputed as one of the most desired treatment centers of its type, as evidenced by its one-year waiting list. The company is also a leader in egg-freezing technologies, a service which is increasingly in demand. This financing facility will allow the clinic to hire new physicians, take on additional clients waiting for treatment, and increase revenues.

Westhook Capital (Westhook), a Los Angeles-based private equity firm, today announced it has made an investment in Santa Rita Landscaping (Santa Rita), a leading provider of commercial landscaping services in Tucson, Arizona. The Company will continue to be led by Tanner Spross and Kathi Roche, who will remain in their positions as CEO and CFO, respectively. Santa Rita ranks #114 in Landscape Managements Top 150. Its services include the design, installation and maintenance of commercial landscape.

Brian Ham, co-founder of Santa Rita, said, We are very proud of our team and what we have built at Santa Rita. We are excited about Westhooks partnership-driven approach and weve been impressed by their deep expertise in the Green Industry.

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BizCap Structures and Delivers Financing for Bay Area Medical Clinic - News - ABL Advisor

Embryology

Why Women Grieve After Miscarrying And How Their Loss Is Changing The Misconceptions Of Miscarriage – YourTango

The grief of miscarriage is a modern phenomenon.

By Lizzy Francis

When Dr. Lara Freidenfelds, a historian of health, parenting, and reproduction,suffered a miscarriage17 years ago, she was shocked and distressed. But what shocked her the most, as a PhD candidate in the History of Science writing her dissertation on the modern period and menstruation in 20th century America, was just howcommon miscarriages were. (Around 20 percent of confirmed pregnanciesmiscarry.)

Even more surprising to her: if you take a pregnancy test as early as you can, about six days before your expected period, theres almost a one in three chance that you are going to lose that pregnancy.

This got her thinking, Why was the information that was out there when I was trying to get pregnant so obscure? she said. Why didnt I know that just getting a positive test didnt really tell me, yet, that I was successfully pregnant?

RELATED:7 Ways To Help Your Relationship After A Miscarriage

Pulling at these threads,Dr. Freidenfeldsdove into the history of miscarriages and came out with a brand new understanding of modern pregnancy and how market forces, medical advancements, pregnancy apps, and birth control have given expecting parents a sense of control and surety over their pregnancy that they just dont have in the first place.

Her new book,The Myth of the Perfect Pregnancy: A History of Miscarriage in America, is a deeply researched and thoughtful exploration of the history of miscarriages that serves to teach parents about the history of pregnancy, but also lift the shame over it.

Fatherlyspoke to Freidenfelds about the history of miscarriages, how birth control created unrealistic expectations for familys abilities to get pregnant, and how mens roles in pregnancy and miscarriage have shifted right alongside their partners.

What compelled you to write about the history of miscarriages?

I started researching this book, now, about 17 years ago when I had themiscarriage. Itreally made me feel better to start thinking through this. I know, as a historian, that before the 20th century, women didnt think about early pregnancy in the same way they do now. They thought of it as a suspicion, that you could be pregnant, but not being certain about it, looking for symptoms.

But then, if you had a late menstrual period, and even if it was a crampy, heavy one, if you didnt see the form of a child in it, then women would attribute it to either sickness or just a late period or a pregnancy that had sort of begun, that the materials had never really come together into a child.

I thought,why cant I think about my pregnancies that way, too? In some ways, we know a lot now. We know a lot about embryology. But weve lost a lot of really important knowledge about how often embryos dont actually succeed and arent actually viable.

And then, I wanted to know, how did we come to such a different understanding? And how did we, in the process of learning so much science and medicine, actually lose a key piece of knowledge about how uncertain early pregnancy is?

So, how did we lose that key piece of knowledge?

I think that theres some really large and important cultural forces at work. Theyve reshaped modern life in some really positive ways.

Around the time of the American revolution, women and men began to want to have control over their reproduction. At least by 1960,with the birth control pill, we succeeded. Were successful at preventing pregnancies when we dont want them, so now, we feel like when we do decide to be pregnant, that it should be successful.

What do you mean?

Modern birth control is a wonderful thing, but it has given us a misleading intuition about how secure pregnancies are. Secondly, our vision of parenting has shifted in some really important ways.

In colonial America, sure, you would like a child to love, but, parenting happens just because you got married. It was up to God and fate how many children you had, and children were for helping with household work, and working on the farm, and supporting you in your old age, and respecting God.

All of those reasons for being a parent over the last few centuries have dropped away. Today, our parenting is really focused, almost exclusively, on forming a loving bond with a child. That idea ofwhen that bond is supposed to start has moved earlier and earlierinto pregnancy and in recent decades, into even the first weeks of pregnancy.

So, while I think that its wonderful that we focus on having a loving bond with our children now, I do think theres been some really emotionally traumatic side effects with starting to think that way at the very beginning of pregnancy. And then, marketers have gotten in the mix and are important pieces of this.

RELATED:4 Common Relationship Problems That Happen After You Have A Miscarriage

When did this begin?

Some of this begins with the 1920s advertisements for special Sears catalogs the baby edition. But it really gets going in the 1960s, when marketers became a lot more sophisticated about reaching specific segments, and realizethat pregnant women are a really valuable group of consumers, because theyre about to make a bunch of brand choices.

Over the decades, since then, the market has gotten more and more aggressive about reaching women as early as possible in their pregnancy. A lot of pregnancy advice on websites and on apps is actually driven by marketing and advertising.

A responsible pregnancy manual author would never tell you to start browsing baby names at five weeks pregnant. But your app? Or your pregnancy website? It might very well do that, because they have every incentive to feed your excitement and your emotional attachment to your pregnancy.

It has gotten out of control.

Really out of control. So, as nice as it is that we have these wonderful baby products, the consumer culture has really gone in a direction that has not served peoples emotional well-being when it comes to early pregnancy.

And then we have these great medical technologies! Weve made new rituals aroundultrasounds, and home pregnancy testing, that have also contributed to making us feel like its a real baby at a time when, in fact it may not be secure yet.

So, 150 years ago was there not a lot of grief, or even a culture of silence around miscarriage?

Nineteenth century women werent talking about miscarriages in letters or diaries a lot. Part of whats complicated about this is, before people had good control of their fertility, they already had begun wishing for smaller families, and doing what they could to have smaller families.

So, 19th century women were commonly using douching and withdrawal and folk methods, like heavy work or going on a bumpy carriage ride to try to bring on the menses, to try to not have a pregnancy this month.

So, if thats how youre thinking about early pregnancy as something that youre largely trying to avoid youre not that often in the situation of feeling distress about an early pregnancy loss. It took having a certain amount of control over fertility before early losses could seem like something that was clearly undesirable. So thats part of it.

The idea that having a choice in being able to limit pregnancy makesthe loss of wanted pregnancy more jarring.

Part of it also is that when women wrote aboutsecond trimester losses, they were scary medical situations. They were relieved at not dying from them.

So, the loss of the child was secondary to being relieved to have survived the process. Pregnancy and birth has become so much safer that we can focus on the expected child, and not on surviving the birth or miscarriage.

We see how womens attitudes towards miscarriages have changed over the last 150 years or so. Is there a sense that mens attitudes have changed alongside this shift?

Historically, when women had pregnancy losses that they were confident were pregnancy losses, so, later in pregnancy, husbands were part of it in the same way they were part of birth, which is that they were responsible for calling an assistant, or a medical practitioner, to come in and assist and make sure their wife survived.

Men were highly invested, and very concerned, because they had the same concerns that their spouse could lose her life. They werent necessarily expected to be thinking about pregnancy as an already existing baby.

What has changed today as far as mens relationship to miscarriage?

I think that, in many positive ways, the expectations about husbands and male partners being part of pregnancy is a new thing. Thats great for many couples.

In some ways, some of these rituals weve developed around our medicine the ultrasound, going in for the ultrasound to see the baby is partly about helping the father feel involved, because he cant feel the pregnancy. But this way, he has a window into whats going on. Its also not literally the seeing of it. Its having a ritual format where you go in and start imagining yourself as parents, together.

And thats something that fathers can participate in. Thats very nice. But its just really hard on people when you find a miscarriage, instead of seeing the heartbeat.

RELATED:9 Perfectly-Worded Greeting Cards For When Your Friend Loses A Baby

Yes, incredibly.

So, fathers, I think, are experiencing the losses more directly now because of that. And the same thing withhome pregnancy tests, especially with websites suggesting many exciting and sentimental ways for women to share their positive home pregnancy test with their spouse or other relatives.

It can be a really nice way for fathers to be involved in their future parenting right from the same time as their partners. On the other hand, that means that theyre going to face the loss as well.

When parents suffer a miscarriage, its often an incredibly sad time for them. The grief is real.

People grieve in different ways. Part of whats so complicated about the situation, in terms of people giving appropriate emotional support, is that you dont know if your friend or relative who miscarried felt like they lost a child, and are grieving a death in the family, or, if they are very disappointed, but are ready to try again next month and youre going to make it harder for them if you say, Im so sorry your baby died.

Yes, and its hard to know, as a friend or family member, how to discuss it. Or if its appropriate to bring it up. So, its often not addressed.

I think that people are looking for certain kinds of support, because we dont talk about it. And people dont talk about it, partly because they are protecting themselves from the burden of what people might put on them having heard of their miscarriage.

We dont have a standard ritual for handling miscarriage. We often dont know how to feel about it, which is sort of a strange thing.

It is strange.

Thenarratives that tend to get offered are trying to support women who are grieving their miscarriage. I think grievers do need a lot of support. But, its not true that the only way to think about a miscarriage is as the death of a child.

If you tell people that that is the way youre supposed to think about it, its going to hurt people at the same time it helps others. I would like to see more discussion in our popular support literature about the variety of ways people might think about a miscarriage and also, that how you think about your miscarriage might change over the course of your life. Its not something that happens once, you experience it, and its permanently that way.

No life experience is. But this one, more than others, can change in its meaning and how you think about it in the context of your journey to parenthood, depending on how that goes.

So, what do you think is the correct course of action?

We need to have this discussion enough so that people know it might happen ahead of time so that they can go into childbearing with the information that they may get pregnant next month and have a baby in nine months.

They may take six months to get pregnant. They may have a successful pregnancy the first time around or the first one may not stick and it may take another try.

All of those are normal, healthy ways that people have their children and if we can go in knowing that that might be the case, we might be able to handle early pregnancy a little bit differently so that when they dont work out, its not as distressing.

RELATED:The Devastation Of Having A Miscarriage While Your Friend Has A Baby

Lizzy Francis is a writer who focuses on family, parenting, and health and wellness. For more of her family content, visit her author profile on Fatherly.

This article was originally published at Fatherly. Reprinted with permission from the author.

Originally posted here:
Why Women Grieve After Miscarrying And How Their Loss Is Changing The Misconceptions Of Miscarriage - YourTango

Embryology

Government considers storage limit extension for frozen eggs, sperm and embryos – The Argus

The limit on how long frozen eggs, sperm and embryos can be stored may be extended amid concerns women are being disproportionately affected, the Government has announced.

Currently, the storage period is a maximum of 10 years, after which families must decide whether to undergo fertility treatment or have their eggs, sperm and embryos destroyed.

The Department of Health and Social Care is asking people whether they feel this should be changed amid fears that the 10 year limit disproportionately affects women who want to freeze their eggs.

The number of women freezing their eggs has soared by 257% since 2012, with 1,462 egg freezing cycles in 2017 compared to 410 in 2012, while freezing technologies have become more advanced.

Only those stored for medical reasons, such as cancer treatment, and premature infertility can be preserved for longer up to 55 years in total.

Both men and women may freeze their sperm and/or eggs for non-medical reasons, such as wanting to have children in future but not having a partner.

The Government is launching a public consultation into whether the limit should be changed.

Minister for Care Caroline Dinenage said: Every person should be given the best possible opportunity to start a family, which is why it is so important that our laws reflect the latest in technological advancements.

Although this could affect any one of us, I am particularly concerned by the impact of the current law on womens reproductive choices.

A time limit can often mean women are faced with the heart-breaking decision to destroy their frozen eggs, or feel pressured to have a child before they are ready.

As the number of people seeking this storage rises, we want to hear from the public about whether the law is fair and proportionate, and ensure everyone is empowered to choose when they become parents.

A woman has a better chance of a healthy pregnancy if she freezes her eggs in her 20s when her fertility is at its peak.

However, the current 10-year limit would then expire in her 30s, which may be too early for some women to start a family.

The most common age for women to freeze their eggs is currently 38.

The Government will also consider issues of safety and quality, and additional demand for storage facilities, should the limit be extended.

Sally Cheshire, chairwoman of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, said: As the fertility regulator we have heard the voices of patients and clinicians calling for a review and extension of the current time limit for egg, embryo and sperm storage.

While any change to the 10-year storage limit would be a matter for Parliament as it requires a change in law, we believe the time is right to consider what a more appropriate storage limit could be that recognises both changes in science and in the way women are considering their fertility.

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Government considers storage limit extension for frozen eggs, sperm and embryos - The Argus

Embryology

Digital revolution: Embryonic horses briefly have five toes – Horsetalk

(a) Illustration of arrangement and relative sizes of pre-cartilaginous condensations in developing Equus forelimb and hindlimb digits based on reconstructions of histological sections of 3035 dpc embryos from this study.(b) Fossil transition series of adult horse FL digits (isometrically scaled) showing the sequence of reduction of anterior and posterior digits and increasing dominance of central digit III. (i) Phenacodus, (ii) Hyracotherium, (iii) Mesohippus, (iv) Hypohippus, (v) Hipparion, (vi) Dinohippus. Illustration from Solounias et al.

For a few short days in the womb, horses have five tiny toes, research reveals.

Horses are born with feet that are effectively a single digit, with two flanking remnants identified as digits 2 and 4.

Now, Kathryn Kavanagh, a biologist at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, and her colleagues have shown that early horse embryos go through a stage with five-digit condensations.

These effectively condense during fetal development into the foot structure familiar to all horse owners.

Surprised by their discovery, the researchers re-examined the initial stages of digit condensation of all digit-reduced four-limbed animals where suitable information was available.

They found that, in all cases, early embryos have five or four digits, with the first digit missing in the case of the latter.

The persistent five-digit initiation in the horse and other digit-reduced modern animals underscores a durable developmental stability at the initiation of digits.

Kavanagh launched into the research after sorting through preserved horse embryos. She noticed that, in early gestation, there were unmistakeably five clusters of developing cells in the area where the foot goes on to develop.

As Kavanagh and her colleagues noted in their paper in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the evolution of the modern horse limb is one of the most iconic evolutionary transitional stories documented in the fossil record, in particular the reduction of the number of toes during the evolution of the horse lineage.

Recent work has concurred with older hypotheses that modern horses arose from a five-toed ancestor with intermediate descendants that have reduced numbers of digits.

Modern horses are called single-toed because they possess an enlarged central digit 3 with a thick metapodial called the cannon bone and three smaller distal phalanges that complete the main digit in both their front and bag legs.

Alongside this large third digit lie two very small splint metapodials, identified as remnants of digits.

Research has shown that just a month or so after the formation of the embryo, the central digit of the modern horse is already relatively large and the two digits that will become the remnants are being reduced.

The limited data on horse embryology suggested that horses only ever formed three digit remnants during their development and it became an important cornerstone of the general view of the evolutionary developmental biology of digits.

By contrast, a recent palaeontology paper proposed a novel hypothesis, based on bone articulations and ridges in fossil horses and vasculature in late foetal horses, that the identities of all five ancestral digits might be preserved in the metacarpal anatomy of the modern horse adult, but direct evidence was lacking.

This same study also proposed that the frog in the hoof is a remnant of all five digit condensations, although embryological evidence was again lacking.

For their study, Kavanagh and fellow researchers Scott Bailey and Karen Sears assessed early digit development by studying embryonic limbs from horses aged 29 to 35 days after the stallion was mated to the mare.

They found evidence of five digits in the embryonic horse, but this formation lasted only a couple of days. Their subsequent reduction follows a striking parallel with evolution in the famous fossil transition series in the horse lineage, they reported.

Looking at the data on a wider array of four-legged animals, it appears there is both a developmentally favoured maximum of five and a developmentally favoured minimum of four for early digit condensations, with digit 1 missing.

Careful scrutiny is warranted to determine whether digit 1 initiation is truly missing in species in which only four digit condensations are thus far reported.

Kavanagh Kathryn D., Bailey C. Scott and Sears Karen E. Evidence of five digits in embryonic horses and developmental stabilization of tetrapod digit number.287 Proc. R. Soc. B http://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.2756

The study can be read here.

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Digital revolution: Embryonic horses briefly have five toes - Horsetalk

Embryology

GE Healthcare joins CMRI to optimize gene therapy manufacturing – BSA bureau

The collaboration with Childrens Medical Research Institute will boost the efficiency of AAV purification, leading to increased access to the viral vectors needed to manufacture gene therapies.

GE Healthcare Life SciencesandChildrens Medical Research Institutewill jointly drive the development of new affinity ligands for the purification of adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors used in gene therapies. The focus of the collaboration is to bring to market-specific ligands for multiple AAV types, enhancing the chromatographic separation of AAV-based vectors. This will improve the manufacturing efficiency and scalability of gene therapies, enabling the availability of viral vectors on a global scale.

With more than 800 gene therapies currently in clinical trials, there is an increasing demand for the raw materials needed in the manufacturing process of viral vectors. AAVs are viral vectors used in more than 70% of the in vivo gene therapy clinical trials. According to GlobalData, the 2025 gene therapy in vivo therapeutic market is expected to reach USD 32 billion with an estimated CAGR of 105% between 2019-2025.

The collaboration combines the expertise from the latest available research on AAVs with application testing, advancing a comprehensive understanding of the clinical functionality and the commercial opportunities of AAV-based gene therapies. Childrens Medical Research Institute will share with GE Healthcare Life Sciences AAV capsid variants targeting different tissues. GE Healthcare Life Sciences will then design and test ligand prototypes, which Childrens Medical Research Institute will assess. Based on the performance results, GE Healthcare Life Sciences will manufacture and commercialize novel improved AAV affinity ligands.

Dr Leszek Lisowski, the lead gene therapy scientist at Childrens Medical Research Institute, says: Bringing the fruits of our work to the patients requires a joint effort between academia and the industry. The collaboration with GE Healthcare Life Sciences will allow us to expedite the development of novel clinical options at a lower cost.

Olivier Loeillot, General Manager, Bioprocess at GE Healthcare Life Sciences, says: The industry needs better and more personalized technologies to speed biopharmaceuticals through clinical trials and bring them to market. Our long biomanufacturing expertise combined with Childrens Medical Research Institutes pioneering research will lead to purification technologies that will streamline the production of gene therapies.

Catarina Flyborg, General Manager, Cell and Gene Therapy at GE Healthcare Life Sciences, says: Collaborations with organizations such as Childrens Medical Research Institute are critical to developing the technologies needed to move the industry forward. By working directly with world-class researchers, GE Healthcare Life Sciences can develop the purification technologies that will contribute to increasing the availability of viral vectors globally.

Childrens Medical Research Institute in Australia is globally recognized for its work on microsurgery, cancer research, neurobiology, embryology and gene therapy. The AAV affinity ligands resulting from this collaboration will be compatible with GE Healthcare Life Sciences resin-based chromatography portfolio used in the purification of most FDA-approved biopharmaceuticals.

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GE Healthcare joins CMRI to optimize gene therapy manufacturing - BSA bureau

Embryology

The case for Catholicism a response to Oliver Kamm – TheArticle

First things first Im one of those pesky Catholics. I believe that the teachings of the Catholic Church, which affirm a reverence for life at every moment, from conception to natural death, are a profound humanitarian teaching.

These teachings have far-reaching applications for a civilised society, from the rejection of war in global governance and, also, capital punishment to domestic and international outreach to the marginalised and deprived. The point is that the dignity of every human life, little and big born and unborn from the delivery room to death row, is seamless.

That said, the weakness of Oliver Kamms argument is twofold. It fails to make the case that Rebecca Long-Bailey was not discriminated against because of her Catholic beliefs on abortion. Second, his argument points to an anti-liberal mind-set far more effectively than any statement made by the MP for Salford. Consider the pejorative language Mr Kamn used to caricature the position of those who take a different view to himdespotic, moral authoritarians asserting inhumane and reactionary doctrine born of religious obscurantism.

Come, come, Mr Kamm these are intelligent and decent people, informed by medical as well as moral sensibilites, and every bit as familiar as yourself with the principles of representative democracy. Indignation at those whose views differ from yours is no substitute for respectful and reasoned debate. Reference to Jefferson and the Enlightenment doesnt give legitimacy.

Indeed, evoking the Enlightenment in an era where ideological colonisation has led to an anti-scientific and truly oppressive political environment is not without irony.

Nonetheless, the debate that it evokes is important precisely because it is happening against the backdrop of a fight for the heart and soul of a Labour Party thats bruised by electoral defeat and allegations of discrimination.

I lived in the UK when the Abortion Act 1967 was enacted. It envisaged a (very) limited application of the Act, with extensive protocols and procedures. The provisions which Mr Kamm cites no longer apply. The numbers themselves some 200,000 abortions annually demonstrate this reality. Contrary to the intent and expectations of the liberals who were behind the Act, it now amounts to abortion on demand. This raises serious social and healthcare issues that cannot be commandeered by the Labour Party or any political party as ano go domain for reflective analysis.

In his criticism of the Catholic perspective on non-medical abortion which explicitly encompasses Catholic politicians Mr Kamm fails to mention, even in passing, advances in embryology and imaging which allow MPs to see what was simply not possible back in 1967: the nature and scale of the assault on life and the impact on the infant in the womb.

Surely it is a sound and sensible proposition to review and reflect on any piece of legislation in the light of advances in science.Mr Kamm would have it otherwise. But that simply wont do it is not a defensible position.

This takes us to what appears to be the core of his argument. Religious and moral sensibilities should have, it seems, zero place in politics. Really? Does that include the likes of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks? Is it defensible to insist that all his wisdom be left in the cloakrooms of the House of Lords. The early writings ofSt Thomas More especially Utopia and the accounts of his trial for not bending the knee to the self-serving assertions of Henry VIII show how much politics is in need of normative values and moral courage.

To adapt Mores Defense as he faced execution: The Kings or the Labour Party Excutives good servant: but Gods first. Mr Kamm cites, and rightly so, appalling institutional and human failings in the Church in recent times, but makes no reference whatever to the incalculable good which individual men and womenhavedone for the distressed and marginalised over the centuries, precisely because they were inspired by Gospel values.This lack of balance undermines his case.

But what does the real damage is the implication, at least as I read it, that Ms Long-Bailey, or any Catholic who takes their religious convictions regarding the unique and unrepeatable value of human life seriously, are by definitionilliberal and disqualified from public office. Why stop there? In such a secularist paradigm, why allow Catholics to vote at all dont dismiss the thought. We in Ireland were impacted by such thinking and, in historical terms, not so very long ago either.

Catholics should have the same right as secularists to a place in the public square. They should be allowed to argue their case in a Parliamentary democracy and to affirm their convictions regarding that most basic of all rights the right to life. That right is not, and cannot be, sequestered by a flawed definition of what it means to be liberal.

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The case for Catholicism a response to Oliver Kamm - TheArticle

Embryology

The Grief of Miscarriage Is a Modern Phenomenon – Fatherly

When Dr. Lara Freidenfelds, a historian of health, parenting, and reproduction,suffered a miscarriage 17 years ago, she was shocked and distressed. But what shocked her the most, as a PhD candidate in the History of Science writing her dissertation on the modern period and menstruation in 20th century America, was just how common miscarriages were. (Around 20 percent of confirmed pregnancies miscarry) Even more surprising to her: if you take a pregnancy test as early as you can, about six days before your expected period, theres almost a one in three chance that you are going to lose that pregnancy.

This got her Why was the information that was out there when I was trying to get pregnant so obscure?, she said Why didnt I know that just getting a positive test didnt really tell me, yet, that I was successfully pregnant?

Pulling at these threads, Dr. Freidenfelds dove into the history of miscarriages and came out with a brand new understanding of modern pregnancy and how market forces, medical advancements, pregnancy apps, and birth control have given expecting parents a sense of control and surety over their pregnancy that they just dont have in the first place. This makes miscarriages more difficult and painful than they often need to be. Her new book, The Myth of the Perfect Pregnancy: A History of Miscarriage in America, is a deeply researched and thoughtful exploration of the history of miscarriages that serves to teach parents about the history of pregnancy but also lift the shame over it.

Fatherly spoke to Freidenfelds about the history of miscarriages, how birth control created unrealistic expectations for familys abilities to get pregnant, and how mens roles in pregnancy and miscarriage have shifted right alongside their partners.

What compelled you to write about the history of miscarriages?

I started researching this book, now, about 17 years ago when I had the miscarriage.It really made me feel better to start thinking through this. I know, as a historian, that before the 20th century, women didnt think about early pregnancy in the same way they do now. They thought of it as a suspicion, that you could be pregnant, but not being certain about it. Looking for symptoms. But then, if you had a late menstrual period, and even if it was a crampy, heavy one, if you didnt see the form of a child in it, then women would attribute it to either sickness or just a late period or a pregnancy that had sort of begun. That the materials had never really come together into a child.

I thought, why cant I think about my pregnancies that way, too? In some ways, we know a lot now. We know a lot about embryology. But weve lost a lot of really important knowledge about how often embryos dont actually succeed and arent actually viable.

And then, I wanted to know, how did we come to such a different understanding? And how did we, in the process of learning so much science and medicine, actually lose a key piece of knowledge about how uncertain early pregnancy is?

So how did we lose that key piece of knowledge?

I think that theres some really large and important cultural forces at work. Theyve reshaped modern life in some really positive ways. Around the time of the American revolution, women and men began to want to have control over their reproduction. At least by 1960, with the birth control pill, we succeeded. Were successful at preventing pregnancies when we dont want them, so now, we feel like when we do decide to be pregnant, that it should be successful.

What do you mean?

Modern birth control is a wonderful thing, but it has given us a misleading intuition about how secure pregnancies are. Secondly, our vision of parenting has shifted in some really important ways. In colonial America, sure, you would like a child to love, but, parenting happens just because you got married. It was up to God and fate how many children you had, and children were for helping with household work, and working on the farm, and supporting you in your old age, and respecting God.

All of those reasons for being a parent over the last few centuries have dropped away. Today, our parenting is really focused, almost exclusively, on forming a loving bond with a child. That idea of when that bond is supposed to start has moved earlier and earlier into pregnancy and in recent decades into even the first weeks of pregnancy.

So, while I think that its wonderful that we focus on having a loving bond with our children now, I do think theres been some really emotionally traumatic side effects with starting to think that way at the very beginning of pregnancy. And then, marketers have gotten in the mix and are important pieces of this.

When did this begin?

Some of this begins with the 1920s advertisements for special Sears catalogs the baby edition. But it really gets going in the 1960s, when marketers become a lot more sophisticated about reaching specific segments, and realize that pregnant women are a really valuable group of consumers, because theyre about to make a bunch of brand choices.

Over the decades, since then, the market has gotten more and more aggressive about reaching women as early as possible in their pregnancy. A lot of pregnancy advice on websites and on apps is actually driven by marketing and advertising.

A responsible pregnancy manual author would never tell you to start browsing baby names at five weeks pregnant. But your app? Or your pregnancy website? It might very well do that, because they have every incentive to feed your excitement and your emotional attachment to your pregnancy.

It has gotten out of control.

Really out of control. So, as nice as it is that we have these wonderful baby products, the consumer culture has really gone in a direction that has not served peoples emotional wellbeing when it comes to early pregnancy.

And then we have these great medical technologies! Weve made new rituals around ultrasounds, and home pregnancy testing, that have also contributed to making us feel like its a real baby at a time when in fact it may not be secure yet.

So, 150 years ago was there not a lot of grief, or even a culture of silence around miscarriage?

Nineteenth century women werent talking about miscarriages in letters or diaries a lot. Part of whats complicated about this is, before people had good control of their fertility, they already had begun wishing for smaller families, and doing what they could to have smaller families. So 19th century women were commonly using douching and withdrawal and folk methods like heavy work or going on a bumpy carriage ride to try to bring on the menses, to try to not have a pregnancy this month.

So, if thats how youre thinking about early pregnancy as something that youre largely trying to avoid youre not that often in the situation of feeling distress about an early pregnancy loss. It took having a certain amount of control over fertility before early losses could seem like something that was clearly undesirable. So thats part of it.

The idea that having a choice in being able to limit pregnancy makes the loss of wanted pregnancy more jarring.

Part of it also is that when women wrote about second trimester losses, they were scary medical situations. They were relieved at not dying from them. So, the loss of the child was secondary to being relieved to have survived the process. Pregnancy and birth has become so much safer that we can focus on the expected child, and not on surviving the birth or miscarriage.

We see how womens attitudes towards miscarriages have changed over the last 150 years or so. Is there a sense that mens attitudes have changed alongside this shift?

Historically, when women had pregnancy losses that they were confident were pregnancy losses, so later in pregnancy, husbands were part of it in the same way they were part of birth. Which is that they were responsible for calling an assistant, or a medical practitioner, to come in and assist and make sure their wife survived. Men were highly invested, and very concerned, because they had the same concerns that their spouse could lose her life. They werent necessarily expected to be thinking about pregnancy as an already existing baby.

What has changed today as far as mens relationship to miscarriage?

I think that in many positive ways, the expectations about husbands and male partners being part of pregnancy is a new thing. Thats great for many couples. In some ways, some of these rituals weve developed around our medicine the ultrasound, going in for the ultrasound to see the baby is partly about helping the father feel involved, because he cant feel the pregnancy. But this way, he has a window into whats going on. Its also not literally the seeing of it. Its having a ritual format where you go in and start imagining yourself as parents, together.

And thats something that fathers can participate in. Thats very nice. But its just really hard on people when you find a miscarriage, instead of seeing the heartbeat.

Yes, incredibly.

So, fathers, I think, are experiencing the losses more directly now because of that. And the same thing with home pregnancy tests, especially with websites suggesting many exciting and sentimental ways for women to share their positive home pregnancy test with their spouse or other relatives. It can be a really nice way for fathers to be involved in their future parenting right from the same time as their partners. On the other hand, that means that theyre going to face the loss as well.

When parents suffer a miscarriage, its often an incredibly sad time for them. The grief is real.

People grieve in different ways. Part of whats so complicated about the situation, in terms of people giving appropriate emotional support, is that you dont know if your friend or relative who miscarried felt like they lost a child, and are grieving a death in the family, or, if they are very disappointed, but are ready to try again next month and youre going to make it harder for them if you say, Im so sorry your baby died.

Yes, and its hard to know, as a friend or family member, how to discuss it. Or if its appropriate to bring it up. So its often not addressed.

I think that people are looking for certain kinds of support, because we dont talk about it. And people dont talk about it partly because they are protecting themselves from the burden of what people might put on them having heard of their miscarriage. We dont have a standard ritual for handling miscarriage. We often dont know how to feel about it, which is sort of a strange thing.

It is strange.

Thee narratives that tend to get offered are trying to support women who are grieving their miscarriage. I think grievers do need a lot of support. But, its not true that the only way to think about a miscarriage is as the death of a child. If you tell people that that is the way youre supposed to think about it, its going to hurt people at the same time it helps others. I would like to see more discussion in our popular support literature about the variety of ways people might think about a miscarriage and also, that how you think about your miscarriage might change over the course of your life. Its not something that happens once, you experience it, and its permanently that way.

No life experience is. But this one, more than others, can change in its meaning and how you think about it in the context of your journey to parenthood, depending on how that goes.

So what do you think is the correct course of action?

We need to have this discussion enough so that people know it might happen ahead of time so that they can go into childbearing with the information that they may get pregnant next month and have a baby in nine months. They may take six months to get pregnant. They may have a successful pregnancy the first time around or the first one may not stick and it may take another try. All of those are normal, healthy ways that people have their children and if we can go in knowing that that might be the case, we might be able to handle early pregnancy a little bit differently so that when they dont work out, its not as distressing.

Link:
The Grief of Miscarriage Is a Modern Phenomenon - Fatherly

Embryology

More Proof That Single Moms Are The Real MVPs (And The Kids Are Just Fine) – Yahoo Lifestyle

I was raised by a strong, badass single mom. She raised my sister and me on her own while maintaining a stressful job as a special education teacher. Things were not easy for us growing up. We struggled with money. Our house wasnt always neat. My mom was often stressed and exhaustedI remember her collapsing on the couch each afternoon when we came home from work.

But my sister and I always had what we needed. And despite a sometimes strained relationship with our dad, and a court custody battle that was traumatic for all involved, our mom was our rock. Her love was unconditional, she was steady and reliable, and she would do anything she could to provide the kind of life me and my sister needed.

My sister and I are both fully grown, have undergrad and graduate degrees, and are kicking ass at our careers. That strength my mother modeled definitely rubbed off on us.

I have many friends who are single moms. I see them for the incredible, strong AF warrior women they are. But sometimes they dont see themselves that way. They wonder if they are enough for their children. They worry that they dont have enough time and energy to spend on their kids. They worry about money and providing all the opportunities that two-parent homes seem to.

The thing is that yes, the struggle is real when you are a single mom. But the truth isand I hope all my single mama friends are listeningbeing a single mom isnt going to screw up your kids in some way. Two-parent households arent the only way to raise amazing children. And even roadblocks such as financial struggles dont matter as much as you might think they do.

Showing up, providing unconditional love, being emotionally available and stablethose are what matter most to kids, and single moms are as capable of providing those things as anyone else.

Its not just me who thinks so either: there is research to back up the notion that kids raised by single moms fare just as well as kids raised in two-parent homes. Awesome, right?

For example, a 2017 study conducted by the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology found no difference in terms of the parent-child relationship and child development in single-parent vs. two-parent homes.

This study looked at single-mother-by-choice households, meaning mothers who had made a conscious decision to raise their children on their own, often using sperm donors or other fertility treatments. Fifty-nine single-mothers-by-choice households were compared to 59 heterosexual two-parent homes.

Several very promising conclusions were found. There were no major differences in parental emotional involvement or stress between the two types of households. There were also no discernible differences in their childrens behavior.

Children in both family types are doing well in terms of their well-being, Mathilde Brewaeys one of the presenters of the study, told Science Daily.

Brewaeys also shot down the outdated (but still very prevalent) notion that you must have a man involved in the family unit for optimal child development.

The assumption that growing up in a family without a father is not good for the child is based mainly on research into children whose parents are divorced and who thus have experienced parental conflict, said Brewaeys. However, it seems likely that any negative influence on child development depends more on a troubled parent-child relationship and not on the absence of a father.

So, this is all pretty encouraging. But what about single moms who dont come to the whole thing by choiceand what about kids who come from divorced homes rife with parental conflict? These sorts of situations are all too common. Thankfully, though, theres research pointing to the fact that single mamas of all types are capable of raising wonderful, well-adjusted children.

A 2004 study from Cornell University looked at some longer-term effects of single motherhood. The article was specifically examining the academic performance and behavior of tweens and teens raised by single moms. These kids, aged 12 and 13, had been raised by a single mom for several years, and came from various ethnic backgrounds. The study researchers looked at families from white, black, and Hispanic homes.

Their findings were extremely positive and encouraging for single moms everywhere.

Overall, we find little or no evidence of systematic negative effects of single parenthood on children, regardless of how long they have lived with a single parent during the previous six years, said Henry Ricciuti, professor of human development at Cornell, in a press release.

The researchers did zero in on a few aspects that increased the likelihood of raising a well-adjusted and academically proficient child as a single mom.

The findings suggest that in the presence of favorable maternal characteristics, such as education and positive child expectations, along with social resources supportive of parenting, single parenthood in and of itself need not to be a risk factor for a childs performance in mathematics, reading or vocabulary or for behavior problems, Ricciuti says.

The researchers from the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology also emphasized the importance of social networks for single moms and stressed that single moms should not hesitate to reach out for help and assistance.

A strong social network is of crucial importance, Brewaeys remarked. So I would recommend that all women considering single motherhood by choice make sure of a strong social network brothers, sisters, parents, friends of neighbours. And to never be afraid to ask for help.

I would venture to say that single moms are not only capable of raising kids who turn out just fine, but kids who thrive and get shit done. I know that I personally was inspired by my mothers example of getting up every single day to go to work and take care of usdespite how hard it was and how completely exhausted she was.

She didnt always see her strength then, but I did. I am grateful to her everyday, and am in awe of all the invincible, hardworking, loving single moms out there. You are doing amazing and your kids are going to be just fine.

See the original article on ScaryMommy.com

See more here:
More Proof That Single Moms Are The Real MVPs (And The Kids Are Just Fine) - Yahoo Lifestyle

Embryology

What is 4-H? and other questions – Burlington Times News

Even though it has been around for over 100 years, many people are new to 4-H and do not realize what it is, what it has to offer, or how to become involved.

Randolph County 4-H reached over 21,000 youth in 2019. 4-H provides youth with a wealth of opportunities, hands on experiences and learning how to be a well-rounded citizen. With the start of a new year, now is the perfect time to get involved with 4-H!

Q: What is 4-H?

A: 4-H is the youth development program of Cooperative Extension for youth ages 5 to 18 that helps develop leadership, citizenship, and life skills. It aims to assist youth in becoming competent, contributing citizens.

Q: I dont live on a farm, how can I join 4-H?

A: All 4-H programs are open to any youth, regardless of membership in the 4-H program. Joining 4-H is as simple as enrolling in 4-H online by completing the online form. 4-H has deep roots in agriculture, as it began with corn and tomato clubs in the early 1900s. Today in addition to agriculture, 4-H involves Science/STEM, public speaking/communication, life skills, sewing, community service projects and much more.

Q: Isnt 4-H just about cows and cooking?

A: While 4-H addresses these programs, the entire program is more diverse. Nationally, 4-H has three mission mandates: citizenship (civic engagement, service, civic education, and leadership); healthy living (nutrition, fitness, and social-emotional health); and science (animal science and agriculture, consumer science, engineering, environmental science and natural resources, life science, and technology).

Q: What is the cost to join 4-H?

A: There is no fee to join 4-H. Some workshops and activities will have fees associated with them to help cover the cost of materials. 4-H is also a United Way Agency which helps allow us an opportunity to provide scholarships.

Q: When does 4-H meet?

A: 4-H is active year round. Typically, 4-H clubs have monthly meetings. In addition, there are county, district, and state level 4-H events, activities and competitions throughout the year.

Q: What is a 4-H club?

A: A 4-H club is an organized group of youth, supported by screened, adult volunteers. Randolph County 4-H has many different clubs that cover everything from livestock (chickens, beef cattle, goats, and dairy cattle), horses, sewing, community service, Cloverbuds (ages 5-7), shooting sports and more.

Q: What age can my child join 4-H?

A: Youth can join 4-H at age 5. A youths age for 4-H is determined by his or her age on Jan. 1 of the current year. You may continue to be a member of 4-H through age 18. Youth, ages 5 to 7 years old, are referred to as Cloverbuds, are non-competitive and receive participation ribbons in any activity they participate in.

Q: What does 4-H stand for?

A: Head, Heart, Hands, and Health. Originally, there were only three Hs Head, Heart, and Hands. A fourth H, Hustle, was added in 1908. Hustle was changed to Health in 1911.

Q: What are the 4-H delivery modes?

A: 4-H has four main delivery modes: Community Clubs, School Enrichment, Summer Programs and Special Interest Programs. We currently have nine active 4-H Clubs. School Enrichment programs can be done in any grade level. Our curriculum comes from university-based research that has been piloted and tested thoroughly and aligns with the NC Standard Course of Study.

Some examples of our school enrichment program offerings are embryology, farm to table, Junior Master Gardener, anti-bullying, bike safety, robotics, character education, public speaking and communication, and presentations.

Randolph County 4-H also offers a summer program called Randolph County 4-H Agriventures and More. The summer program is offered for ages 5-7 and then 8 and Up. The 5-7 year old program meets at our office while the 8 and up program includes trips to farms, local businesses and other outings.

The summer program offerings are released in May and registration is online or by stopping in our office. The last delivery mode is special interest projects which might be a Quiz Bowl or Judging team for a 4-H competition.

Q: As an adult, how can I become involved with 4-H?

A: 4-H is always looking for adult volunteers! Depending on the amount of time you would like to donate you can volunteer at a single event or teach a workshop. If you want a deeper level of involvement, you can become a 4-H club leader, which is a one year, renewable commitment.

Allison Walker is the 4-H Youth Development Extension Agent. Contact her at 336-467-2927 or allison_walker@ncsu.edu. For more information about 4-H or NC Cooperative Extension, contact the Randolph County Extension Office at 336-318-6000 or visit http://randolph.ces.ncsu.edu.

See the article here:
What is 4-H? and other questions - Burlington Times News

Embryology

Simply Fertility Hornchurch IVF clinic ‘thrilled’ to be ranked in top three clinics in the UK | Health – Romford Recorder

PUBLISHED: 12:00 31 January 2020

April Roach

Simply Fertility's clinic in Westland Avenue, Hornchurch. Picture: Sarah Glew

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A Hornchurch IVF clinic has been named as the number one performing clinic across the south of England.

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The Simply Fertility clinic has a satellite branch in Westland Avenue, Hornchurch, has achieved a 40 per cent live birth success rate putting it in the top three clinics in the UK.

The UK's fertility watchdog, The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) recently published its first set of independent figures for Simply Fertility.

According to the fertility watchdog, Simply Fertility's 40pc success in live birth rate per embryo transferred for people under 30, is higher than the national average of 29pc.

Since opening its first clinic in 2017, Simply Fertility has been reporting each patient's outcome to the HFEA.

Sarah Walt, embryologist and centre manager at Simply Fertility, said: "The wait to independently confirm our success rates was tense - but the results have been worth it.

"We're thrilled to hear that our results rank us so highly.

"There is no greater joy or privilege for us than helping people to fulfil their dreams."

Simply Fertility aims to bring together an experienced team to use world-class techniques to give its patients the best possible chance of success.

All clinics must have a licence to operate and the HFEA inspectors visit the clinic to check the laboratory and equipment, the clinic's procedures and they ask patients for their views.

Following an inspection at Simply Fertility, the HFEA gave the clinic a five star rating in its report.

Inspectors stated in the report: "Fifty-two patients have provided feedback in the last 12 months, giving an average of a five star rating to the clinic.

"Several patients provided individual comments to the HFEA complimenting staff for being supportive, understanding and compassionate and praising the quality of the premises and treatment facilities at the centre."

The HFEA also regulates all fertility clinics in the UK and records all treatments and births.

It particularly looks at the number of births per embryo transferred.

This is important as part of its promotion of practices that minimise the chances of multiple births, which carry health risks for mothers and babies.

Originally posted here:
Simply Fertility Hornchurch IVF clinic 'thrilled' to be ranked in top three clinics in the UK | Health - Romford Recorder