Maire Hewitt
Born in Northern Ireland and trained as a RN in Belfast. I then travelled and eventually settled in USA in 1974. I am now retired after 50 years of Working as a nurse and raising 2 children.
Location Maryland USA ( just outside Washington DC)
Activity
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
An area of British history I know very little about
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I have worked a lot with new mothers. If one looks at what is given to,new mothers in various cultures food is important for the recovery of the mother and the establishment of lactation. Yeast is high in Vit B thus porridge in the northern countries. In S America lots of soups/stews which are meat based thus protein. In the Phillipines there is a specific...
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
Chicken soup for the common cold, usually followed by hot whiskey and lemon before bed. The chicken soup does help with congestion. Likewise the lemon and honey.
Ginger as an aid for digestion. The use of yoghurt after antibiotics to restore normal flora in the gut -
Maire Hewitt made a comment
Living in the USA and the regulatory board is the FDA- food and Drug administration. There has been ongoing discussion about the food pyramid and as to drugs there is always discussion. It seems difficult to get drugs which have been tested and proven safe in Europe on to the registry here. Shades of Thalidomide, which now is good for Leprosy but I think is...
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
Enjoying the course and information on medications etc. need more information on how to achieve that healthy diet. The film Fixing Dad is a real plus for the course.
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
At this point in my life (69) I hope I am beyond peer pressure. I know my weaknesses as regards diet so only I am responsible in that area and as I do the cooking then the majority of the time it is good food and minimL sugar or bad fTs
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Maire Hewitt replied to Alan Pickup
Agree with all of the above. But on occasion I do treat myself to butter with good bread, otherwise I use safflower or olive oil
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
I use a Fitbit but have discovered that it does not pick up on the steps when pushing a stroller. (I babysit my grand daughter and try to walk several miles a day) I use the Fitbit as an incentive to get that 10,000 steps a day
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
I don't like the use of artificial sweeteners. Surely we should minimise them as much as possible, preferably avoiding diet drinks.. And there appeared to be very little emphasis on green vegetables such as spinach kale etc.
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
What did the Finns do to counteract diabetes. I know that that area has had a huge increase of rate of diagnoses in Type 1 and I have read about the comparison with rates in Estonia (same genetic type different standards of health). Type of birth, type of feeding? Both as factors?
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
Fast food, too much food. Meals eaten on the go as opposed to sitting down to have a meal. Skipping meals and then eating "health food" loaded with sugar to replace the fat.
Better education as to meal components. Getting back to eating smaller portions of real food and bLanced meals of fat, carb and natural occurring sugars -
Maire Hewitt made a comment
I am a retired nurse but continue to be interested in medicine. The ongoing epidemic of diabetes is worrisome and I wish to know more. Used to work in dialysis and then maternity, both areas where diabetes is an ongoing problem
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
Fascinating course. I am a retired RN who has worked in Obstectrics/NICU for the last 25 years so this was very applicable to my professional life. While I am nolongerworking I feel the more people who have access to solid information on these subjects the better the conversation can be.
This course should be part of medical personnel education. -
Maire Hewitt made a comment
It is a Pandora's box but there is no going back. There was no going back on the Atom bomb but treaties etc. are in place to safeguard that technology(tenuous safeguards!). So let us learn from that and do the research and put in place regulations to control the technology. Gene editing raises huge ethical issues but I think gene therapy could be extremely...
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
I agree with professor Perry. It sounds as though The UK is really trying to get to grips with the issues and providing regulations. I worry about other ares who may not be as well regulated. Here in the USA we are either hampered by a government who just say no to the whole thing but at the same time there is a private sector who are working around that and...
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
I think this work (gene therapy) is very exciting for the future of medicine but strenuous efforts must be in place to monitor the progress. We have seen huge advances in medicine with new and improved antibiotics and we are now reaping the results of overuse and abuse of antibiotics. Gene editing is also exciting if used judiciously to eradicate life...
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
We can already achieve "balanced " families with IV F so we do have to be careful with the use of gene editing. Designer babies seems somewhat of a Hollywood idea but in the wrong hands people could try to achieve that designer baby. I do think this is a facile title not unlike the three parent baby.
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I agree with what you are saying. When insulin was first used did anyone know the long term consequences. Yet now it it is readily available. I think all medical interventions have the potential to change,and hopefully for the better, future generations. Maybe not as drastically as CRISPR but this is,new technology. The main issue which I see is controlling...
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
Two questions first. To get the donor mitochondria does the donor mother have to be stimulated to produce eggs in the same way as an egg donor. Secondly at what point is rshe deemed to have the "good" DNA..Is this assessed after donation or prior to donation.
I do not like the term 3 parent. Why not just say pregnancy with corrected DNA -
Maire Hewitt made a comment
I would do as Rachel did. Given that there is the potential for even more cancers with that gene it seems a great advantage to be able to use PGD.
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I think there is a big difference in getting such a diagnosis during a pregnancy and being able to diagnose with PGD. I have worked with families who brought to term an unviable baby and their humanity and loving was an inspiration for all their medical team.
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
I appreciate where science has progressed to as regards testing but I feel we really need to have strong safeguards on the process. There does seem to be a significant chance for this to used for non beneficial (evil?) results
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
One advantage of screening when there is a dire diagnosis is it does give the parents a time to prepare for the child if abortion is not something that they would choose. I have seen this with Down's syndrome and with babies whose condition is not compatible with life. And those parents having been counseled and made their decision have had inspiring births...
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
Disabilities can't be 100% prevented ( e.g. Amniotic bands some CP, strokes in utero) but while one cam admire the coping skills of those who are disabled why would one want to bring a child into this world knowing how that child will have to struggle. I am not in favour of engineering the perfect baby but I think one should be rational in aiming for the...
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Maire Hewitt replied to Kristina Free
I think the pressure remains. We continue to hear "over 35 is high risk, elderly primip etc. There does not appear to be enough info in non medical press to counter that opinion. Especially here in USA
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
How many days "old" is the embryo at time of implantation. Is the mother being hormone balanced for the transfer. My very limited understanding of embryo development is that it is a doubling of cells so what happens when you take that one for anyalsis
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
We seem to be discussing the minutia of surrogacy while avoiding the primary issue in my opinion, of the morality/ethics of surfogacy. I do think these areas need to be regulated and monitored as there is such potential for harm and wrong doing.
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
Great web site. Will Brexit have any effect on their work and collaboration with the rest of Europe?
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
So expensive in the US it's hard to think it would be a center for importing. But given U S laws if you are born in the U S you get citizenship in the US. And that might be an attraction. There is. Significant problem with people coming to the US just to deliver and get thT bonus.
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
It really is a glorified adoption-you have to,get awarded parental,rights. Presumably you can then tell,the child how much they were wanted just as you would an adoptive child.the only difference is that in this case the parents initiated the process. And yes we ought to,have strict guidelines and enforceable internationally
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
I like the definitions of harm vs wrong. It is interesting that so much falls to the women. The male donor gets to say he is doing this to help infertile women and then walks. I hear very little in these discussions that the woman is doing this to help the infertile couple. Instead she is partaking in a business arrangement admittedly to her financial gain,...
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
The assumption here is that surrogacy is ethical. All we are discussing is which form, domestic or international, is the better. From what I have learned so far it appears thT international could be "a pig in a poke" hard to figure out when the surrogate or her family is well looked after. Have we identifies w ho uses international. Howmany, if any, have been...
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
Wow. I did not know about the host mothers contribution. Would this also cover diseases such as MS which tend to be diagnosed in the pp period
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It's a dreadful conundrum. Having worked in NICU I know the problems of multiples and the more babies the shorter the pregnancy and the greater the issues for the babies-----.
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
Comparing manual labour to pregnancy is a bit of a stretch. The manual laborer is doing the job for a finite number of hours and then resting. Yes it involves use of thebody and muscles but that is normal life.Hiring people to provide care is a business and not necessarily exploitive if the pay,and conditions are fair. So I can't agree with the professors...
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Or as a current case in the US where the pregnancy is triplets. The parents to be wants the pregnancy reduced to twins and the surrogate is refusing. A boatload of ethical and legal issues!
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
As far as I can discover there are about 3-4 major sperm banks ( Callifornia, Seattle Cryogenic and possibly Fairfax) none of their web sites appear to discuss although one does offer donor photo.s up to adulthood
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Maire Hewitt replied to Laura Upstone
At least knowledge of genetic parent. I am not sure that it would always be good to have contact unless that contact is totally supportive of the parenting being provided
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Maire Hewitt replied to Maire Hewitt
In the 1990s many quads about 4-5 a year then we had triplets approx same rate and once into thrv20.s mainly twins. I do know that some of these pregnancies had been reduced to twins. The US has been late to limiting eggs transferred and having seen so many premies from ART it can be hard to stay neutral or non judge mental. These parents had a very rough...
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
So far we have read about the issues of donation but I would be interested to learn more of the outcomes such as data on the health of the children, the mothers, female donors and if there are any statistics on the mental health of the donor parents. Also are the outcomes for these partnerships/marriages any different from the population as a whole.
I still... -
Maire Hewitt made a comment
One of the joys of family are family stories. When my children were little they loved the story of their birth ( no gory details) and certainly there were no questions about conception. At the right time introduction of the donor name can only add to those stories and generate a sense of belonging and continuity. So would I want to know if I was a product of a...
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
I really like this perspective. Secrets cause problems and limit trust. Once two people know something there is always the question of when that information will be shared or revealed. Why is there so much secrecy around conception? I think we continue despite everything to be fairly puritanical in certain aspects of life.
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
How would one enforce the mandatory disclosure? So no it should come from the parents as the child matures. I think all children start asking fairly early in life where did I come from and that is probably the best time to start the conversation and give age appropriate information just as would be done for natural conception. And then be prepared for the...
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
I would like to add to my comment. Secrecy leads to a sense of wrongness in the action of using a donor. Again I think it is a case sense of shame and as always one doesn't talk about sex! That attitude does still unfortunately still exist
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
I think the editorial in the Journal of Reproduction sums up a lot of the issues. I think the. Child should be allowed to,know and as stated earlier counseling about how to tell is very very important. In cultures where donor gamete is not acceptable then those cultures or the people in those cultures may need to find a way around the issue. Is the...
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Maire Hewitt replied to Nnenna Okoro
Pregnancy and delivery certainly deliver the,hormones to promote bonding and therefore nurturing
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
I agree about parenthood being " valorised" when a young woman gets married the question always is when are the babies coming even if not asked directly to,the potential,mother it is definitely the question at the grandmother level.
I worked for,many years in Obstectrics/NICU and met many mothers who,had conceived by artificial.means. In this area of the US... -
Maire Hewitt made a comment
Culture has to,have a huge impact as seen in the e ample about Muslin issues. I believe IVF is not approved by the Catholic Church. I do,not know the opinion of the. fundamentalist religions. On an individual basis I would think the parents consider primarily their own needs.
Two issues. I think awareness of the donor is essential for health history and it's... -
Maire Hewitt made a comment
We all have a basic need to know ourselves. As parents we tell stories about family as a way of showing the child their importance in that family. To not know a chunk of that information is a hardship (and unfair) and would lead to feelings of isolation in the family. Not knowing seems it would be a major blow to self esteem identity etc. so I think the child...
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
I can understand her frustration. This must be much more so for the child of donor egg donor sperm. In the above case Lynn does have a biological connection to her maternal family but the child sigh no bio. Connection is almost like an adopted child
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
If a donor is assured annonominity it seems rough to reverse that although I can see the need for the child to have access to medical history etc. It seems more clarity is needed at time of donation and more screening as to how the donor will be expected to respond, hopefully positively, to the child when information is revealed.
I do have some problems... -
The 1995 version )Colin Firth) is probably the best interpretation. I disliked the father in the Kiera Knightly version and Kiera Knightly was too modern. The house was fine but the surroundings and running barefoot with the geese seemed a stretch. As to Sense and Sensibility which I recently rematched I thought Emma Thompson was too old for the part. The...
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Maire Hewitt replied to Dorothy Hyde
Other than growing in the lab the scenario,you describe occurs quite frequently in USA
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
I think the employer should not be involved. If their insurance covers the procedure well and good but there should be no ability to exert any ( no matter how subtle) pressure on the mother to store, retrieve, time of retrieval etc. this should be between the woman and her doctor.
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
Option 3
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
If it is offered as a perk to the women then shouldn't he men get the same perk for freezing their sperm. We do know now that as men age the likelihood of problems with sperm quality. Is higher
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
Lieberman makes some very good points.
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
I agree an d like the reference to infertility being a disease but that would then exclude the harvesting of eggs for future use when it suits the client. If kidneys fail you don't put dialysis or transplant on hold to suit the patients lifestyle
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
Whatpercentage of births will be " engineered" in to the total rate of pregnancy. I presume we are discussing a relatively small portion of women overall who will socially manipulate their pregnancy
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
Given the progress in freezing what do you expect/how do you counsel when dealing with a women whose eggs were frozen 10 years ago
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
The "older" mother faces certain issues with pregnancy such as higher risk for BP problems early delivery smaller babies etc. this is a step which really requires much thought. I feel it is somewhat unfair topresent egg freezing as an easy alternative to making those career life choices in the early twenties. Admittedly the ideal is career and partner can all...
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
In the USA approx. $10,000 for egg retrieval and storage. In some instances insurance will cover some of that but it will depend on the individual insurance plan. Plus you can go,to something call EggBanxx and have an egg saving party!!!!.
Interesting in that there is very little information about the stimulation of the ovaries for egg retrieval and the... -
Maire Hewitt made a comment
Fascinating. Feel I am "batting above my level" but it is very stimulating
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Happy to see that I am not the only one disturbed by the the incorrect use of relative pronouns. My father was a teacher so grammar had to be correct. Looks like this issue has come full circle
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Can the mother not take him to court and sue for support. He can be identified by dna . Not that I am advocating such measures but in the U S it is not unheard of for this to happen
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
I was unaware of the extent of unregulated donation such as co parenting and the proliferation of " services" which are unregulated. I have worked quite a bit with donor parents as a RN in postpartum units so my attitude is probably more tilted to regulations. Nurse tend to be more law and order people!
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There can be significant repercussions to the egg donation process.hyper stimulation of the ovaries is not something to be taken lightly and it can be very uncomfortable for the woman. Here in the USA there have been lots of stories of payment to highly attractive ( high I Q physical fitness etc) women for donation and these women using the money for Uni. fees...
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
I am also having some difficulty understanding the motives of sperm donors. It seems a little egotistical to choose to father multiple children and have essentially no responsibility for these children
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
There are many comments about the child's welfare in this issue. Are there any ongoing studies to follow these children as they mature and I realize that in the unregulated area that would involve self reporting but surely there must be a way to get and verify the number of unregulated donor pregnancies
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
Donor egg donor sperm-- what are the legal issues for that child. The mother is a version if surregacy.
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Oh so true. And then there is the question of the number of eggs transferred. The USA is way behind on these regulations. ( I have worked for 25 years as a nurse in obstetrics and neonatal units)
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Asking about Ashgenazi Jewish is relevant as this group carry a high risk for Tay Sachs disease. This is a normal question in regular ob. practice and one that should be asked. Just as we now make sure young women get folic acid pre nat ally to limit neural maldevelopment such as hydrocephalus
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
I think if you need fertility assistance then it be hooves everyone to do their utmost to get a healthy outcome. And if in a clinic then yes do all the testing. Outside a clinic i.e. private self selected donor then the risk is in the information you don't have. Again not much different from young committed couple deciding to have a baby and then having a baby...
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
Where in this discussion does the medical profession come into play. Are there restrictions on the infertility personnel to assess any important information ( in donor sperm injection to the female) or are all these people just managing the issue outside of a clinic area.? In which case other than the multiple donations it doesn't seem much fife rent from a...
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Maire Hewitt replied to Lindy Croker
But she did do her research and get to know him. I am not sure what legal responsibilities there would be if he decided or she decided the compare ting was t working. And that is an issue I would try to talk to Lorna about.
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
What exactly is meant by the child's perspective. Is the child now an adult in which case is his/her perspective that hugely different from the adopted child? How the child was parented and how he or she learns of the biological donor would also be very important.
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
Are traveling payers any different from touring groups of today? People would not necessarily have found it easy to get to London and a troupe of actors would have been the means of bringing new ideas, new information etc to different parts of the country
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Did Rosencrantz not arrange for the players to. One go Hamlet
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
Am now aware of my lack of history so this course is both challenging and enjoyable
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
A very clever turning of the table on the rich man. The new owner is portrayed as clever and honorable and presents the reasoning for his decision in a manner that is almost impossible to contest. The potential buyer with his expensive horse and gifts is in contrast to the humble gifts of the farmer
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
Sounds like today's developments with destruction of small villages etc to build shopping malls and housing. Money wins over the working man or farmer in Mores case
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I find myself focused on the last lines and while Newcastle will offer his fortune and his life for the king there is a foreboding of the ultimate cost ---namely his life.
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But is there regret at the level of expense and questioning as to the loyalty given (or not given) to the auther
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
One of my favourite homes is Chartwell mainly because it feels like a home. I have visited many houses in England and Ireland and a few in USA. The latter are not so grand as the English probably because they are bases on English style whereas the English were "creating" their own style
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
Excellent course, very well presented and it has answered many questions but I feel I still have many more questions. Thank you.
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
In all this talk of who might leave and who might stay, what happens to pensions etc to the areas (Scotland or NI) who would leave the UK. As always you need to follow the money or the potential money
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
What bargaining "big sticks" can the UK bring to,the bargaining table . I presume it is not everyone against the one (UK). And cecondly if,three is a 2 year timeline will it be completed in that time and if not what happens next.
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
How unbiased/ even will the negotiations be for the Uk. And what happens if they are not completed within the two years
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Not many Catholics may have voted but they did have the vote.
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We have to rely on BBC America, but then we have to rely on BBC America for any decent world news
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I think she was trying to be neutral. Migration does not have the negative connotation of immigration. I know that is simply playing with words but words are emotive
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If you don't vote you can't complain!
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
In the various referendums is the vote is from all parts of the U.K. and NI. I think the last one in Scotland was just Scots residents in Scotland.
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Would like to add-- tremendous course, totally fascinating and stimulting
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I don't think it will settle the debate. The ripples will be ever widening. Nee leader for the Conservatives and then either dealing with the concessions or how to leave. Plus I think how Scotland votes will be relevant followed by Wales and NI.so if the vote is to remain there will be frequent reassessments of the issues. If leave then how will the different...
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Fascinating article and conversation thread. A lot of statistics but it is interesting how they fall. Poland and Hungary being the most in favour of the EU and in the UK and Ireland a huge number of Polish migrants. I presume the benefits are greater for them than for the British or Irish in going to Poland etc.
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Maire Hewitt made a comment
I don't feel that I have a good enough grasp on all the issue yet which is why I am doing the course. I am definitely learning more and remember the discussions and vote in the sixties and early 1970.s I am currently in the USA where the coverage is somewhat limited.
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I doubt that that would happen. My understanding is that it will be close in NI and will divide on the usual political lines. ( as I am resident in the USA I am a little bit less in touch with my N I roots)
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Maire Hewitt replied to [Learner left FutureLearn]
To me the video seems to make more of an argument for leaving--- awkward partner opt outs etc which especially as regards the Euro have been beneficial to the UK
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Maire Hewitt replied to charlie ward
How do those laws get applied in trade with countries not in the EU such as USA or Australia or South America etc.
