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My name is Dayna and this is my story about my wonderful family's painful journey.  My beautiful adorable son Michelangelo "Mikey"  celebrated his 4th Birthday March 7 and I would have loved to give him the beautiful gift of love and healing.  I am sharing our painful story on this blog and I am including a link to our gofundme campaign, should you feel inspired and touched to donate and help our son receive the urgent holistic healthcare he needs.  It was very painful to write, I cried a lot, but it's very important to me that I share our story to raise awareness about the painful health issue of toxic synthetic fragrance exposure.  There are studies that give credence to the possibility of a connection with autism and this is why my dear husband and I suspect connection with autism.  I'm having difficulty with the wix blog and I wasn't able to write and edit our story very well so please read our painful story below this paragraph on this same page. >> Also, you can click this link right here to read about our gofundme campaign.  Thank you.  https://t.co/6212MPeUAX

My Painful Traumatic Birth Experience Due To Chemical Fragrance Exposure.

By Dayna Colvin   10-13-2014

To Whom It May Concern:

  I gave birth to my son almost 3 years ago at Lovelace Woman's Hospital in their "natural birthing center" in Albuquerque, NM, I elected for a natural drug-free childbirth and what should have been a relatively pain free experience was anything but thanks to toxic fragrance exposure.  During my excruciating labor and birth, my room was filled with several nurses and midwife who were covered in toxic synthetic fragrance.  It made my labor and birth far more painful and difficult and while I was straining to push, I wheezed and struggled severely to breathe.  Very soon after the birth, I suffered at least 2 or 3 painful dizzying migraine headaches from all the overpowering fragrance in the air.  Before, during, and after the birth, I pleaded with everyone to leave the room because they were making me severely ill with their fragrance.  I'm quite certain that prior to my giving birth, I completed a pre-admission form stating very clearly that I was severely chemically sensitive and I did not wish to have any fragrance in the birthing center for which I was to give birth.  I also verbally advised the birthing center coordinator, as well as several hospital staff, including my hospital midwife.
    One of the nursing staff who was there throughout the whole labor ordeal, who was monitoring my babies fetal heart rate while I was laboring in water, a very sweet gentle understanding nurse whispered in my ear, “I'm so sorry you have to suffer like this and endure this fragrance exposure.  Why can't the nurses see that you are feeling sick and you can't breathe? If I could, I would tell them to leave you alone and leave the room, but I don't think they will listen to me.” I cried and we both closed our eyes and she hugged me and comforted me. My doula understood what was happening but felt intimidated and helpless. My husband at the time who was assisting me during labor was also affected and did not know what to do. While I labored in the tub of water, both midwife and her assistant were both killing me and neither could not understand why I couldn't breath and why my blood pressure had gone up.  The midwife rolled her eyes at me and the nurse who was the midwife's assistance was very harsh, as was her scent, and she said to me very strongly, “do you want to get your baby out and get done with your labor or not?” with no acknowledgement that she was causing the problem and she and the midwife both ignored my pleas and my obvious physical discomfort and emotional anguish.  

    One night, while I was trying to get some rest, the head nurse of the floor came to visit us to check how we were feeling and I told her how sick I felt after being exposed to the horrible synthetic fragrance and she understood and apologized and said that “the hospital has a written policy that all hospital staff should not wear any fragrance products on their person, but while it is written it is not enforced and it is left to the discretion of the individual.” Given the fact that fragrances are potentially addictive, that's like saying, leaving the use of prescription drugs to the discretion of the patient.  That would never happen.  The midwife had casually mentioned right after I gave birth that the cord was wrapped around my baby's neck. While this most likely is not the cause for his disability it needs to be made aware of.  We recently discovered that he has developmental delays and has a mental disability after he was evaluated by a state early intervention program and our son has been found to have developmental delays with as much 2 standard deviations or more including speech and cognitive skills, according to the recent E.I. Evaluation report done.

Thank you for taking the time to read my personal account and this very important information.  Also, I'm including a link to my NotPerfume Organic Beauty Blog, where I share helpful tips to help you green your life and wear organic or wear nothing. http://www.notperfume.com and you can order and read my organic beauty book that teaches men and women from all walks of life how to enjoy healthy nontoxic organic beauty.


 

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