Toxic Bath Video (Oh, give a mama a camera and a cause and look out!)

Check out this hysterical video from the Green and Clean Mom, Sommer, who motivated us green moms to post our emergency Green Moms carnival, featuring the Johnson and Johnson media campaign and the news of their use of two cancer causing chemicals in their products. Once you are done laughing, see the action steps on the video, or read yesterday's post for ideas about how to help keep toxic chemicals out of products for children.

Johnson and Johnson: Take Back the Toxic Soap (us Green Parents are Not Happy)

Oh, things are cooking in the blogosphere. I am part of Green Moms Carnival and there are some amazing and inspiring moms writing about important issues everyday. Remember when I recently reported about the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics' recent Toxic Tub report? Where they shared that mainstream baby soap and shampoo contains cancer causing ingredients formaldehyde and 1,4 dioxane at low levels?

In response to this news, parents and governments across the world are outraged and are taking action. Many retailers in China, Taiwan, and Vietnam have pulled Johnson and Johnson Baby Shampoo from their selves. Where is the U.S. outrage? Isn't it a tad ironic that in China they are pulling this from the shelves, while we sit idly by?

Jennifer at the Smart Mama wrote this powerful post sharing about a new campaign, also ironic, from Johnson and Johnson to promote their bath products. They've got bloggers, video, contests, you name it. Maryanne also wrote about this campaign over at Eco-Child's Play, and it's odd timing with the Toxic Tub report. I find myself scratching my head. A report comes out telling parents that Johnson and Johnson's baby products have 1,4 dioxane and formaldehyde, and we know they have phthalates, and millions of parents will now see commercials, blog posts, and ads promoting the stuff (not to mention a media star, "green mom" even, Angie Harmon, to be a spokesperson).

Well, the Green Moms Carnival have a hold of this and look out. We know that the amounts of these chemicals is small. But that isn't the point. The point is that they shouldn't be in there at all. Parents should be demanding that Johnson and Johnson reformulate to remove 1,4 dioxan, formaldehyde, and phthalates. It's also a two timing move to talk about how green they are but then continue to look the other way while these toxic ingredients are in there very own products.

According to the Safe Cosmetics Report,

"Contrary to industry statements, the U.S. has no safety standards for formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane in personal care products, nor does it limit the amount of these chemicals in products or require that they be listed on labels. The European Union has banned 1,4-dioxane from personal care products and has recalled products found to contain the chemical. Formaldehyde is banned from personal care products in Japan and Sweden, and restricted in the EU and Canada.

'Once again, the U.S. is lagging when it comes to protecting children’s health,' said Lisa Archer of the Breast Cancer Fund and coordinator of the Campaign. 'The lack of safety standards in the U.S. is disadvantaging American companies. We need updated laws to ensure that American products meet the highest bar of safety and are free of toxic chemicals.'"

It's time for some outrage, parents. Stay tuned for more ways to get involved. See my earlier post about the Toxic Tub report for way to can take action and keep your kids safe. It really shouldn't have to be this hard, and parents across the country are talking about it. Johnson and Johnson needs to provide America with what they seek to perpetuate: a safe product for our kids, be a company that is transparent, and as green as possible. To do any less would be hypocritical and disrespectful. The Green Moms are angry, well-researched, and will be heard. Check out what they have to say on April 1st, at the Green and Clean Mom (thanks to Sommer for hosting and alerting us to the Johnson and Johnson campaign)!

Non-Toxic Kids Pregnancy Series: Hospitals Limit Choices for Moms Hoping for VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean)

When my sister in law told me that her hospital in rural Vermont didn't perform VBACS, I was surprised. After all, they seemed to have a progressive birthing unit with midwives and nurses that support and encourage natural birth. Essentially, they eliminated that option for my sister in law. She's have to drive an hour north or south to deliver her baby in a hospital that supported VBACs. Not an easy thing to do in the typically snow heavy early spring when she was due.

So then I pick up Time magazine, and see this article, entitled, The Trouble with Repeat Cesareans. I guess my sister in law is not alone. Time cited a study where 49% of hospitals either don't allow VBACs, or don't have anyone willing to perform them. Almost half. The choices of moms in rural areas are completely limited by this fact.

The article goes on to explain what made hospital so gun shy. "In 1999, after several high-profile cases in which women undergoing VBAC ruptured their uterus, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) changed its guidelines from stipulating that surgeons and anesthesiologists should be "readily available" during a VBAC to "immediately available." "Our goal wasn't to narrow the scope of patients who would be eligible, but to make it safe," says Dr. Carolyn Zelop, co-author of ACOG's most recent VBAC guidelines."

This sort of staffing is difficult in rural hospitals. And it also has to do with insurance. According to one doctor from the article, "You don't get sued for doing a C section. You get sued for not doing one."

The risk of a VBAC is significant, but small, with the risk of uterine rupture at .7 percent of cases, according to the article. But the real eye opener for me was the risk of second C-sections. I gulped when I read this, as my sister in law was about to go in for her second C-section.

"Of course, the alternative to a VBAC isn't risk-free either. With each repeat cesarean, a mother's risk of heavy bleeding, infection and infertility, among other complications, goes up. Perhaps most alarming, repeat C-sections increase a woman's chances of developing life-threatening placental abnormalities that can cause hemorrhaging during childbirth. The rate of placenta accreta--in which the placenta attaches abnormally to the uterine wall--has increased thirtyfold in the past 30 years. "The problem is only beginning to mushroom," says ACOG's Zelop."

Many hospitals are limiting a mother's choice of how to try and birth her baby. Maybe we should look at the data, and the mother's choice before the staffing and insurance challenges at hospitals. My sister in law delivered a healthy, beautiful baby girl via C-section just a few days ago, and I breathed a deep sigh of relief.

What about you, readers? Did you have an opportunity to have a VBAC? Were your choices limited? Did you have a repeat C-section because you wanted to, or because you had no other choice?

Better World Books: An Online Bookseller You Can Feel Really Good About

I about fell out of my chair when I heard about Better World Books. I like to shop for books at my local independent bookstores, but unfortunately sometimes that just doesn't happen. I'm either too busy to go downtown, or I find something online (you know where) and buy it. Many Americans, too, only have access to great big mega-corporate box book stores. We don't know much about how these companies support literacy world wide, or promote re-use, or save millions of books from the landfill.

In steps Better World Books.

They deem themselves "online book sellers with a soul," and I couldn't agree more. They are three recent graduates from college who started re-selling text books and that idea morphed into a business idea with the very foundation of promoting literacy worldwide. They believe that education and access to books are basic human rights (how righteous!), and so every purchase helps fund high impact literacy programs around the world. So far, according to the ticker on their website, they have raised over 6 million dollars for these programs: Books for Africa, Room to Read, Worldfund, the National Center for Family Literacy, and Invisible Children.

Worried about the environmental implications of shipping? So are they. Every every order is shipped carbon neutral with offsets from Carbonfund.org, and the shipping is free (just like that other online book seller). And the books are up to 80 percent cheaper than new ones (who doesn't love that?).

Better World Books partners with libraries, community groups, and college campuses to collect and divert books from the landfill. So far, they've saved over 22 million books from a slow decomposition in landfills. They believe they can find better homes for these books.

You can help by buying your books from Better World Books, or by sending any used books from your collection to them for free. They pick up the shipping cost, and distribute the books to those in need. Thanks, Better World Books for your work to support global literacy, environmental responsibility, and ethical business practices.