The C-Word

Cancer. What is it? Why are we so scared of it? And what can we do about it?

Cancer is basically the mutation of cells. Cells that divide beyond the normal growth rate for their type and that invade and kill neighbouring cells are loosely defined as cancerous, sometimes they also travel around the body via blood or lymph.

We hear alarming figures thrown around such as 1 in 3 women will contract a female cancer in their lifetime and that almost all of us can say that they have been in some way affected by cancer, either themselves directly or a loved one. It's no wonder that we are so scared of this disease. But is this accurate?

According to Cancer Research UK, there are now over 2 million cancer survivors in the UK, approximately 3.3% of the population and around 10% of those over 65 are cancer survivors. The number of diagnoses per year keeps increasing, but the so does the survival rate. The most common cancer is breast cancer, with about 550,000 current survivors in the UK today. In 2008 the mortality rate was 0.176% of the UK population. That doesn't sound so scary.

Why might cells mutate? 90-95% of cancers are caused by environmental or lifestyle factors, only 5-10% are genetic. Tobacco is the big one, we all know that, smoking is the cause of nearly 30% of all cancer deaths, 83-90% of lung cancer deaths and is also linked to cancers of the oesophagus, larynx, pharynx, oral cavity, pancreas, bladder, nasal cavity and sinuses, stomach, liver, kidney, cervix and myeloid leukaemia.

Other environmental factors that can increase the risk of cancer are UV exposure, weight, diet and infection.

But the one I really want to talk about is hormones, particularly female hormones and the "female" cancers; breast, cervical, uterine and ovarian.

Certain lifestyle choices are known to impact on our chances of contracting a female cancer. The combination oral contraceptive pill slightly increases the risk of breast and cervical cancer whilst taking the pill, but once no longer taking it the risk decreases again. However, there is a significant reduction in the risk of ovarian cancer for women who take the pill for five years, lasting for more than 20 years. And when I say significant, I really mean it: 50%. There is also a 40-60% reduction in instances of endometrial cancer (uterine cancer) for women who take the pill.

Having 7 or more children and having a first child before the age of 17 are known to double the risk of cervical cancer

The oestrogen only Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) has been shown to increase the risk of breast, uterine and ovarian cancers.

And last but by no means least, women are at 4% less risk of breast cancer for each year that they breastfeed and women who do not breastfeed at all are twice as likely to contract endometrial cancer and two thirds more likely to get ovarian cancer.

While all these figures are interesting, what I am most interested in is why. What no one seems to be saying is that cancer is thought to occur in cells that are over-stimulated, that's why the pill is so protective, it prevents ovulation and therefore gives the ovaries and uterus a rest from menstruation. Just like pregnancy and breastfeeding does. The pill basically replicates the consequences of reproduction, but in a more thorough and predictable way. It is my belief that the cells in any given part of the body are programmed to behave a certain way, according to their function and if they are not given the opportunity to perform their function as they expect then they are more likely to mutate and turn cancerous.

The ovaries expect to ovulate regularly until conception and then take a break of an average of 22 months (9 of pregnancy and 13 of breastfeeding, this is the average return of menstruation for women who breastfeed their children on demand). The breasts prepare themselves during pregnancy for lactation, regardless of the mother's intentions, the breast tissue fundamentally alters. What happens then if the mother does not breastfeed? Likewise, the cervix prepares itself for birthing a baby during late pregnancy and labour. So what are the implications for those who do not labour or who have a surgical delivery? I didn't find any statistics on that, but I'd love to know if caesarian sections carry an increased risk of cervical cancer. It certainly wasn't a risk listed on my consent form. Does some research need to be done on this?

Could we go back to a time before cancer became the single biggest health scare simply by living as our bodies expect us to?

Informed Consent

Every day for the last two years I have encountered either directly or recounted through someone else, at least one woman who genuinely believes that because she is pregnant she has sacrificed her most fundamental human rights. The vast majority of women become submissive to the will of their care providers and the NHS does nothing to correct this misconception, in fact, it perpetuates it. Women are regularly told by their midwives and doctors that they are "not allowed x", or they "must have y". I myself, while in labour, was told by a midwife that I had to have an internal examination every 4 hours. No consent was sought, it was presented to me as non-negotiable and this happens routinely, probably with the most regularity in relation to induction.

Women are told that their baby is due on a specific date, the Estimated Due Date (EDD), with the emphasis on "due" rather than "estimated". Women fall for this almost every time, if they go just one day past their EDD then their baby is "late". Midwives seem to not point out the fact that babies can and do arrive whenever they are ready and that the World Health Organisation (WHO) defines normal pregnancy as lasting anywhere from 37 to 42 weeks. Once a woman passes 40 weeks, which about 50% of women do, they are told that they are now on a clock and must go into labour quickly otherwise they will "have to be induced".

The exact date at which hospitals routinely induce women with no clinical need, varies from one area to another, but what doesn't seem to vary is the lack of informed consent. Women and their families are not given the facts that enable them to make a decision for themselves, they are routinely led to believe that they have no decision to make, they will be induced, this is non-negotiable. They are not told the risks of the induction process, they are however given exaggerated and out of date "advice" about the risks of remaining pregnant for longer than 41 weeks.

If a woman's waters break she is put on a clock and if labour does not start spontaneously within 24 hours she is told that she must be induced. I've known women be told this and given no reason, at best they are told that it is because of the risk of infection. What they are not told is that the risk of infection only increases significantly after 96 hours and that it is a significantly higher risk in hospital than at home. Premature rupture of membranes (PROM) occurs in about 6-19% of pregnancies, 86% of women will go into spontaneous labour within 24 hours and 94% within 95 hours. Statistically, a baby born in hospital is 4 times more likely to acquire an infection than a baby born at home and around 9% of women birthing in hospital will acquire an infection, the highest risks being those who have a catheter and especially those undergoing a caesarian section, both of which are higher risks for those undergoing an induction.

It saddens me to hear women talking about their births as though they have no choices, no input to how and where it happens and what makes it worse is when people like myself try to inform them we are accused of being bullies! It is my sincere hope that the tide begins to turn soon and that women are given full, accurate information and are empowered to make their own choices for their births. It is one of Airedale Mums' primary goals, though it is not clear yet how we go about achieving it.

Autumn

We are rapidly approaching my favourite time of year. I felt it today for the first time. All of my immediate family have summer birthdays, my mum is the last on 31st August (happy birthday Mum!) and once this date passes it's like autumn suddenly rushes up to meet me. The days are growing shorter, the evenings are still warm but there is a crispness to the air. It's about now that the memories of some of the best times of my life start to kick in and the anticipation of the forthcoming holidays and festivals starts to set my pulse racing. I always seem to reconnect with music at this time of year too. I listen to music all year around, but it seems to be a background thing most of the time these days, unlike pre-Jack when live music and clubbing were a big part of my life, but around this time of year I start really listening again and listening to different bands and artists, more rock and less of the pop and dance that I tend to go for in the summer months.

We're only 3 weeks from Mabon and I find myself feeling a little sad that we won't be at Avebury this year, which had become a little tradition when we lived in Bristol. I don't recall missing it last year, but we were busy with Jack hitting the six month mark and all of the challenges that came with that. Mabon is not my favourite Sabbat, but it is the one that I always get a little more excited about, perhaps because it marks entry into the festive season, where the next two Sabbats, Samhain and Yule, seem to come in such quick succession and everyone else gets excited about their secular or Christian counterparts.

I love the way we all get swept along with the season, like the golden leaves dusting the ground and the build up to its inevitable conclusion - winter. Don't get me wrong, the ridiculously long and drawn out build up to Christmas annoys the hell out of me. "Festive" goods and songs in shops from September is ludicrous, decorations and lights going up in October completely misses the point of the holiday to me. But what I do like are the simple things, the human aspect. I love the way people start grinning and wanting to talk about the holiday and I love the weather turning cool and crisp, the frost and even the first snow (when we get some before new year that is). But long before that, just the little buzz in the air, the sense that the seasons are changing, I love it and I felt it today.

Free stuff for Home Educators

One of my HE contacts has a fab blog here and is giving away free stuff in celebration of HE kids NOT going back to school! So just check out her blog and leave a comment about why you love HE and get yourself an entry into the prize draw :)

French Police Brutality

Captured on film in July, French police have shown themselves to be a disgrace to the law enforcement profession. African immigrants were forced to leave their council housing earlier in the month and had set up camp on the streets in the area. Women and children were the main occupants of the Parisian streets, with no where else to go, they stayed close to their friends and families. Many of the immigrants were there perfectly legally and had been living in France for more than a decade. Police arrived to move the campers along and the video, published on YouTube by French news site Mediapart, depicts the African families sitting peacefully on the pavement, arms linked together, being assaulted by the authorities.

Women were dragged away from their friends and families, babies ripped from their mothers' arms and wraps. One woman was pulled from the group by her legs, dragged over the ground on her back, where her baby was wrapped, she was pulled across her child, apparently squashing him into the ground. A pregnant woman is shown lying on the ground, her head perilously close to a concrete bollard. It is unclear whether she was injured or "playing dead" to make it more difficult to be moved, but the police were making a good go of shifting her.

I have never seen anything quite like this in my life. The brutality involved is shocking. To manhandle people in this fashion is bad enough but when you consider that it was women and children, who had done nothing more than attempt to sit it out when being forced to leave their homes, this is troubling indeed. I don't know if it is even worse to know that this did not take place in some obscure dictatorship, but right here in Europe, in Paris no less.

We live in troubling times indeed.

Here is the video, please be warned, this clip depicts police brutality upon women and children and viewers may find it distressing:

That Article

It has been covered extensively on the internet, so I won't write an essay, but I couldn't let it go by without some sort of comment....

The article in Mother & Baby Magazine that has caused such a riot among both formula feeders and breastfeeders. You can read the article here. Kathryn Blundell has caused much offence with her inappropriate remarks, calling breastfeeding "creepy" and referring to her breasts as "fun bags". Breastfeeders are incensed with her attitude and formula feeders frustrated that this article will now lead other women to assume they share Ms Blundell's views.

My favourite blog about it is this one which describes the financial incentives for such an article to appear in the magazine during National Breastfeeding Awareness Week.

My own opinion? Ms Blundell is a clever business woman when it comes to advertising for her magazine (she is the deputy editor), but with very little regard for the wellbeing of her readers or their babies. Mother & Baby Magazine have proven themselves to be 100% enthralled to their advertisers and not a respectable publication committed to printing facts and responsible journalistic opinion pieces.

Lactivism

I was recently having a conversation with a friend about breastfeeding and how to be a champion without alienating people by making them feel bad for their choices. It's a fine line. As a lactivist I want to tell people about the risks of formula feeding and I want to provide support for women who want to breastfeed, but I know that I have at times caused offence when discussing this topic.

I think that some women may be quite defensive about their decision to formula feed, despite vocalising their pride at this choice perhaps a part of them doesn't feel good about it and so they feel the need to justify it and defend it when they feel their choice is being criticised.

There are things I would like to say on the subject but don't feel that I can for fear of being judged to be judgemental - haha.

I am trying to change my approach into a positive one. There are people you will never reach, so it is best not to come at lactivism from that perspective, rather to simply be approachable to those seeking information and support. So I am undertaking leadership training with La Leche League so that I can be a peer supporter. I'm also going to plug other Lactivists blogs, websites and online stores ;)

First on the list is Lactivist itself. The website is a fantastic hub of information and support, not to mention their fantastic breastfeeding t-shirts! They are currently running a competition to win £40 of Butterfly Babies vouchers. See here for more.