Last month we saw the pre-release of a homebirth meta-analysis piece that claimed worse outcomes for babies born at home than in the hospital. I wrote about it and the ensuing Lancet insult to women’s rights here. Decades of well-conducted research does in fact support the safety of planned homebirth for women and babies, although … Continue reading »
Is politically invented “risk” in homebirth defining the rights of childbearing women? (Part 1)
I’ve held off commenting on the now notorious, and as of yet unpublished, Wax homebirth meta-analysis and the ensuing hullabaloo because I had wanted to keep negative birth politics to a minimum here on my blog. Then, the viscerally disturbing Lancet editorial came out a few weeks ago and WHOA. We’re starting to see some … Continue reading »
Women feeling “safe” in a hospital birth
Since recreating my website last month I have found myself stumbling around online, way too late at night, checking out birth blogs and advocacy sites, and loving all this birth change energy! I notice the recurring theme of feeling “safe” in birth. Folks in the birth change movement — midwives, doulas, CBEs, advocates — often … Continue reading »
Birth belongs to women, babies, and families
For the vast majority of our history as a species, pregnancy and birth have been the domain of women. Not women physicians, surgeons, or even midwives — just women! We know, in our collective consciousness, that birth will always belong to women. The trade union representing obstetricians in the US, ACOG, continues its smear against … Continue reading »
Birth plan backlash
There’s been a lot of talk lately about physicians responding to their ‘patients’ birth plans by providing a copy of their own written birth plans of what they will or will not do, allow, accommodate, or condone during a woman’s labor and birth. The Feminist Breeder and Stand and Deliver have written recently about the … Continue reading »
In case we needed more evidence that bodies are connected to emotions
Are you more likely to lapse into sweet, cozy sleep resting under a warm blanket or a sheet of galvanized tin? Is it a big surprise that our sense of touch directly communicates with our body-mind of emotions and thoughts? Here in the west our allopathic medical system’s understanding of the relationship between thoughts, feelings, … Continue reading »
It’s 2010, let’s STOP pitting feminism against breastfeeding!
Here are two excellent pieces exploring the social and personal dynamics among breastfeeding, feminism, and class: “What does feminism have to do with breastfeeding?” from the Breastfeeding Medicine blog: “After all, the conventional wisdom is that breastfeeding is a maternal duty that forces women to eschew their career aspirations to fulfill some ideal of motherhood, while … Continue reading »
Our stories: one woman’s VBAC Homebirth! (short)
This woman’s story could be told by tens of thousands of American women, but it is her story, her triumph as an individual woman that will inspire others. Like this warrior mama, too many women are coerced or led into cesareans for “failed inductions” and/or babies that “cannot fit” through their pelvises. Many of these … Continue reading »
Flashmob: pregnant women breakdancing in London
Raising awareness for the tragic, often preventable deaths of pregnant and birthing women worldwide for whom basic healthcare and maternity care is unavailable, unobtainable or unaffordable. 1400 women die every day during pregnancy and birth.
Delayed cord-clamping should happen ON the mother’s abdomen
I recently attended a planned hospital birth of a client who transferred out of my care shortly before her birth. We transferred her care to our small, local, natural birth-friendly hospital. A gracious family practice physician took over her care. Two of my client’s main hopes for her birth were delayed cord clamping (of at … Continue reading »
