Silly stuff

Because I now spend an inordinate amount of time online every day reading other people's blogs (basically ostriching) and the SANDS message boards (getting grief support), I'm really starting to get into the blogging/ posting thing in a BIG way.

Just how big? Well, so big I've actually signed up to a website that tells me how many people visit this blog, and ranks my blog. Sad, but true! What's even sadder though, is that I'm really excited to report that my ranking has improved dramatically.

Yes, when I signed up at Amatomu, this blog was #263. This morning it is #103! I've had 102 people visit my blog in about 10 days. Frankly, I find that rather incredible - that there are that number of people who actually want to read my ramblings! Especially given that I don't comment on world events (except occasionally) and that my ramblings are all focussed on people they've never met. Bizarre!

But then, I enjoy reading my favourite blogs - and I've never met some of these people either. I've mostly stumbled onto their blogs because we have something in common, but not always. So maybe I shouldn't be so surprised.

The other news of the morning is that there's a report on the news regarding the latest stats on stillbirth. Apparently, in England, Scotland and Wales, the stillbirth rate is now 1 in 200, of which half are unexplained. I couldn't tell from the news report though whether that stat includes miscarriages and neonatal deaths, or if it's just perinatal deaths like ours - which might explain why it look better than the stats I've previously reported. Then again, I think the stats I reported (which do include neonatals and miscarriages I think) are for the whole of the UK.... That's the problem with stats - they are SO easy to misrepresent and can be so misleading unless you have all the facts to hand (which you seldom do because the papers seldom report all the 'boring' details that really help you to interpret them... Anyway, 1 in 200 is still pretty high.

The amount of information given to pregnant women about the possibility of: miscarriage AFTER 12 weeks/ stillbirth/ neonatal death is WOEFULLY inadequate. The good news to report though is that Miriam Stoppard (author of an excellent pregnancy book called 'Conception, Pregnancy and Birth'!) has agreed to re-write her section on stillbirths for the next edition of her book. This after one of the mums on the SANDS forum wrote to her expressing the view that so many of us have about the lack of information. Good for both of these amazing women - the first for actually getting off her butt and trying to make a difference for other women (unlike me who just complains about it all the time), the second for being brave enough to listen and change her book. Makes me proud to be a woman and a mother!