controversy - vaccines

I just found a poll on another parenting blog that I read that was asking if, in light of the recent sling recalls due to infant deaths you would stop using a sling and/or babywearing. To me, the whole thing seems unheard of. first of all, i find it hard to believe that someone properly wearing their child would not notice the child was havingtrouble or not breathing (but how awful to have that happen!). second of all, the slings recalled look like nothing i have ever seen nor would ever wear. so no, i would not stop babywearing. what is unfortunate is from this, likely a lot of new moms won't even try slings or wraps. especially considering the stigma attached to babywearing as a crunchy/hippy practice (because a giant stroller that weighs a ton that can cut off a child's fingers makes much more sense). people don't stop using cribs altogether after the recalls! i guess what it comes down to is that accidents can happen anywhere at anytime for almost any reason.

i also recently read a great article on vaccinations that was forwarded from the doula that runs our home birthing group (read: a lot of these women do not vaccinate). i've been having a lot of disscusions recently about vaccinating/not vaccinating with a couple of mamas i know, as one of them does not vaccinate her child. read the article for yourself, but it makes a couple of great points that 1) those who do not vaccincate make a decision that does not only affect themselves but people around them - so no, it is not just a personal decision. if it was personal it would affect only that person and 2) people that don't vaccinate are often around others who don't vaccinate and that is where previously unheard of diseases can reemerge as they infect all of those that are not vaccinated. people don't think about mumps or rubella. but one person catches it and it can spread like wildfire - especially to these unprotected babies with little by way of  natural immunities. vaccinations have to be looked at from a public health standpoint, not just a personal health standpoint. To me, I'd rather expose my child to the smallest risk (and as of yet, not proven scientifically) of exposure to something in a vaccine that may or may not create a trigger for autism, than a larger risk to be unprotected against a number of diseases that are easily preventable and could cause serious harm or death if infected by. Unfortunately, I feel as though the growing trend of parents that choose not to vaccinate (and even those that do) are doing so because they feel as though they are doing so from an educated standpoint. but reading only articles that talk about how harmful vaccines are (or how great they are) is not fully educating oneself and  therefore making an ultimately uniformed decision.
i'm impressed that therese sent out this article and i wonder what kind of response she got back? this group is made up of outspoken women who firmly believe in how they raise their children and often don't like to see the other side of the story. i've already been astounded by the number of moms who don't want to allow their child the "heel stick"/PKU genetic screening test. they would rather not expose their child to the "trauma" of being cut on the heel when they are a day or two old than possibly prevent serious neurologic problems resulting from the myriad of disorders that can be diagsnosed from that one test. again, I feel as though some of these women are not completely educating themslelves and are therefore putting their child's life at more risk than they are preventing. I know moms only want the best for their babies, but experts are experts for a reason and moms should refer to them when questions of health come up.