Seasonal periods, brought to you by Big Pharma.

July 27, 2011

6

Seasonique advertisement

Following the trend toward inventing diseases and conditions that can be treated by new drugs on the market, the pharmaceutical world has presented women with a new condition that it can conveniently cure: too many periods. I discovered the condition on the back of the May/June issue of “Nurse Practitioner World News” sticking out of… [Read more…]

Posted in: clinical topics

Response to Amy Tuteur

July 13, 2011

0

A recent blog post of mine titled “’If I were at home, I would have died’ – The trouble with extrapolating hospital birth events to homebirth” received a lot of attention. One blogger, Amy Tuteur, published a scathing response to my piece on her personal blog. I am stunned and saddened by Ms.Tuteur’s hate-filled critique.… [Read more…]

Posted in: midwifery

OMG, you did not just cut off a third of my baby’s blood supply?!

May 30, 2011

15

early cord clamping

Your baby has just been born. Would you let someone draw their blood and remove 30% of their blood volume? It would be senseless and highly dangerous and to remove a third of the baby's blood from their body before they were born, but doing this immediately after birth has become the norm.

Posted in: clinical topics, newborn

So Long, “Nurse” Midwives? Hilary Schlinger CNM, CPM puts ACNM’s proposed name change in 20 years of context

May 1, 2011

41

The American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM)  has a motion on the table to change its name to the American College of Midwives (ACM). There has been talk about this change happening for years, but there may finally be enough support to approve the motion at the upcoming annual meeting in San Antonio. There has been… [Read more…]

“If I were at home, I would have died” — The trouble with extrapolating hospital birth events to homebirth

March 31, 2011

208

pitocin IV

A midwife in North Carolina was recently charged with practicing midwifery without a license because her state does not license Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) and other direct entry midwives.  There was some local news coverage of the arrest and the ongoing efforts of North Carolina families to legalize CPMs. One of the local news stories… [Read more…]

Posted in: homebirth

Curious about infant toilet learning, or EC? Here are some tips to get started…

March 20, 2011

2

EC'ing my seven month old after the long winter inside. Warmer climates are great for EC'ing.

Since I’m neck-deep in the mother-baby cocoon these days I thought I’d share my EC’ing experiences in hopes of helping any curious mamas or papas to give it a try! The process of being attuned to your child’s elimination rhythms is something mothers do everywhere although it is less common in western cultures where disposable… [Read more…]

Posted in: mothering, newborn

You CAN say no to the fetal monitor, but you’ll need to bring your own doppler — and nurse

March 5, 2011

12

Nowhere to run, strapped with the fetal monitor.

Imagine a woman in labor at the hospital. How she is moving? Where is she in the room? What is she doing? Probably you see a woman lying down in the bed, wearing a hospital gown, hooked up to various monitors, straps and tubes. In some high-risk situations these things may truly be helpful for… [Read more…]

Posted in: clinical topics

Moving beyond the ACOG PR faucet

January 23, 2011

8

ACOG

My first response to ACOG’s press release for their newest “Committee Opinion” on homebirth was, like many of you, what’s new? Remember the last opinion statement in 2008, the one that accused women of caring more about their birth experience than the safe arrival of their child, and attacked homebirth as a trendy cause celebre?… [Read more…]

Tagged: ,
Posted in: birth politics

A time for my own joy and healing

January 6, 2011

7

Three months ago I welcomed my baby girl into my arms. I have been deliberating whether or not to post my birth story here on my blog. I decided not to (if you email me, I will send it to you) but I do want to share news of her arrival and what a joyous… [Read more…]

Tagged:
Posted in: homebirth

Ten reasons not to circumcise your baby

September 3, 2010

29

You’ve probably heard that circumcision rates have sharply and steadily fallen in the US, and in 2009 only about a third of baby boys in the US had their penises surgically altered… And you’ve probably heard all the reasons why circumcision is not medically necessary, and why most of the world doesn’t do this to… [Read more…]

Tagged:
Posted in: newborn
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