check this out from Midwifery Today online:
(i've seen a velamentous cord this year too - and they are supposed to be incredibly rare - exp. midwife at birth had never seen one - cord came right off the placenta)
Q: I am writing from Indonesia, the country that got GMO soy first, to share what I am seeing, and to ask if you too are seeing the same. In 2008 Bumi Sehat Bali received 573 babies. We saw an increase in retained placentas. I also am seeing an increase in velamentous cord insertion. In 2008 and so far in 2009 we have seen many too many "sticky" placentas; two even had to be transported (we do manual removal on site when absolutely necessary) one for a hysterectomy and one with one liter of blood loss. In the last six weeks of 2008 I had to go after four placentas! It was not pretty, and I do not take it lightly (usually never more than one per year).
Also most shocking is the empirical experience (I have no research to prove it) of an increase of velamentous umbilical cord insertion and short cords. I also am seeing a decrease in Wharton's jelly among all our babies. Cords are also shorter. We don't cut them for a minimum of three hours at Bumi Sehat and many families choose lotus birth. Last week our midwife Ayu had to cut a cord after birth of the head, as the body would not follow, it was that short a nuchal cord—she had never had to do this before in her life as a midwife.
What are you midwives seeing?
The study I read concerning M16 genetically modified corn showed that when fed to pregnant mice, ALL OF THE OFFSPRING, in one generation, had alterations of ALL the cells in ALL their organs! Can you see why I am worried about our precious placentas? I did not make this connection, until I began to see an increase in abnormalities and pathology due to placenta and cord troubles. The fact that so many Indonesian women depend upon genetically modified soy products (tempeh and tofu) for their day-to-day protein, and the early introduction of GMO soy here got me wondering.
— Ibu Robin Lim
Bali, Indonesia
A: I am not practicing these days and hardly have time to read MT, but I think this is really important and I hope you don't let go of it.
I am a farmer and these days the only babies I watch over are my calves—the moms handle everything just fine on their own, no birthing problems. This is considered unusual for cows. If you read about calving a lot, you will learn that people are always pulling the calves out. I am aware of food issues in a way many people are not.
I sincerely hope you can help Robin Lim find a way to a) survey the women's diets (all women who come to the clinic); b) see if there is a correlation in the data; and c) design and implement a control where non GMO soy is made available to see if there is a difference. How do these numbers compare to surrounding regions? Is there a change in the environment? Exposure to different gases in the home from different cooking fuels? What is new in these women's lives?
There is so much concern in the world regarding the safety of GMOs, and if any risk at all can be shown by doing a survey, it will be a red flag to all the nations and groups that oppose GMO foods. We are taking huge risks in the environment as well. Monsanto, a chemical company, is buying up all large seed companies and trying to make the varieties resistant to their chemicals and genetically altered to resist pests, diseases and even reproduction of the plant. They are attempting to pass laws making seed-saving illegal—even if there is genetic drift from another farm they will own the rights to your crops and even push for criminal charges. This is a large scale threat and a global environmental threat. It is very well funded. Is anyone in the area using GMO seed and is it drifting to even small gardens?
I strongly urge you to contact some scientists and concerned, informed people who will know what to look for and design a study (with a control) and make non-GMO foods available to all of the women who visit the clinic. If this threat is already out in the environment it is much harder to pinpoint as it may be caused by genetic drift and/or pesticides/herbicides and not by eating the GMO soy directly; or perhaps it is linked. Someone needs to follow this up—there is no population of women unimportant enough to let us pass this by and wait for another warning signal. Please don't let go of this.
Thanks and I hope to read soon about how it is being followed up. Maybe a pilot project could be linked to it—a community farm where soy is grown and processed into healthy foods. I think the hands-on approach I learned from midwives is best—take some steps to empower people and feed them, and do the science and show everyone else what is going on.
You might like reading
www.fedcoseeds.com for info on safe seed, groups that support and work for biosafe foods (like the Union of Concerned Scientists) and more about Monsanto, as well as lots of amusing anecdotes on growing safe food in a time of increasing pressure on small farmers to give up. "Climate ready" genes anyone? Roundup ready, terminator genes, lawsuits, drift—all point to securing our food safety ourselves.
I hope it all works out for you and will keep you in my thoughts and send light.
— Birgit Johanson
Mountain Blue Farm
Jaffrey, New Hampshire
and Brandon,13 
