Radical Feminist Mom

As if you needed another reason to breastfeed...

2006-07-19T05:39:00.000-07:00

The BBC is reporting a review of research done in Toronto which found that breastfeeding newborns helps relieve pain from a needle prick used to screen their blood for disease. Breastfed babies appeared to experience less pain than those who were swaddled, given a pacifier or a placebo.

I'm tellin ya, that mama-juice is miraculous stuff!

Let's Hear it for the Brits!

2006-07-18T05:53:00.000-07:00

Good article on the BBC website about Mums demanding more support in breastfeeding.

Oh The Times, They Are a Changin...

2006-07-12T10:14:00.000-07:00

Or at least, one might hope.

But, when the Wall Street Journal reports on such mundance concerns as childbirth, pregnancy and delivery, folks take notice. Kaiser Permanente did a nice summary.

As a result, hospital groups are limiting the use of the hormone oxytocin, which often is used to induce labor or increase the frequency of contractions, because it can cause uterine ruptures, fetal distress and infant death when used in excessive doses. In addition, many hospital groups are adopting policies that restrict the use of forceps and vacuums, which can help move infants through the birth canal but also can lead to injuries, such as bone fractures and nerve damage. The new policies are "already changing the experience" of delivery in many hospitals, making it more difficult to schedule deliveries "on a convenient day" for the ob-gyn or pregnant woman and preventing the administration of oxytocin to speed up a long and potentially painful labor, the Journal reports.

Very interesting.

Morning Sickness is Nature's Way?

2006-07-12T05:24:00.000-07:00

The BBC has done an article on the University of Liverpool analysis of 56 previous studies in 21 countries on morning sickness, which appears in the Royal Society's Biological Journal.

Family Resists C-section

2006-07-12T05:22:00.000-07:00

Fascinating story - check it out!

Inductions have a tendency to fail...

2006-07-11T11:34:00.000-07:00

From the Sacramento Bee, which has a seriously annoying registration process.

Dr. Bruce Flamm, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Kaiser Permanente in Riverside, said while Main's study doesn't settle the debate over C-section rates, it does offer guidance on how to reduce the number of unnecessary ones.
"Be cautious with inductions, because they have a tendency to fail," Flamm said. "And we ought to be careful about admitting patients to labor and delivery if they are not really in labor."

Emphasis mine.

"Failure" probably means a c-section.

VBAC is ok

2006-07-11T11:27:00.000-07:00

Well, if ACOG says it's ok, then it's gotta be true!

They're so behind the times...

Midwives Have Had it Rough...

2006-07-11T06:46:00.000-07:00

Midwives have had it rough in the past... Being accused of witchcraft and all sorts of heinousness.

Oh where, oh where have the midwives gone?

2006-07-10T10:24:00.000-07:00

Oh where, oh where can they be?

Here's a nicely written, only slightly snide article by a chiropractor from California. Reminds me to call my chiropractor and make an appointment.

Enjoy!

Breastfeed or Else

2006-06-13T05:26:00.000-07:00

How's that for an article title in the New York Times? That's pretty bold... Check it out!

Forever Pregnant

2006-05-17T10:47:00.000-07:00

The Forever Pregnant article on the Washington Post sure has freaked out the feminist community.

I can see why.

New federal guidelines ask all females capable of conceiving a baby to treat themselves -- and to be treated by the health care system -- as pre-pregnant, regardless of whether they plan to get pregnant anytime soon.

Pre-pregnant, huh? Don't get me wrong, I'm all about making sure that you're doing the prenatal vitamins and all that once you've decided that you're going to try and conceive a baby. The establishment's counterargument to that is "because about half of pregnancies are unplanned and so much damage can be done to a fetus between conception and the time the pregnancy is confirmed."

So, for crying out loud, why aren't we working to get better access to contraception that does work to people instead of making sure that we're all on prenatal vitamins!?!?!

UK Government Will PUSH Homebirth

2006-05-15T08:37:00.000-07:00

How's that for a wild turn of events?

Not Like We Don't Already Know This...

2006-05-15T08:31:00.000-07:00

This is for the mothers who have sat up all night with sick toddlers in their arms, wiping up barf laced with Oscar Mayer wieners and cherry Kool-Aid saying, "It's okay honey, Mommy's here"

Who have sat in rocking chairs for hours on end soothing crying babies who can't be comforted.

This is for all the mothers who show up at work with spit-up in their hair and milk stains on their blouses and diapers in their purse.

For all the mothers who run carpools and make cookies and sew Halloween costumes.

And all the mothers who DON'T.

This is for the mothers who gave birth to babies they'll never see.

And the mothers who took those babies and gave them homes.

This is for the mothers whose priceless art collections are hanging on their refrigerator doors.

And for all the mothers who froze their buns on metal bleachers at football or soccer games instead of watching from the warmth of their cars, so that when their kids asked, "Did you see me, Mom?" they could say, "Of course, I wouldn't have missed it for the world," and mean it.

This is for all the mothers who yell at their kids in the grocery store and swat them in despair when they stomp their feet and scream for ice cream before dinner.

And for all the mothers who count to ten instead, but realize how child abuse happens.

This is for all the mothers who sat down with their children and explained all about making babies.

And for all the (grand) mothers who wanted to, but just couldn't find the words.

This is for all the mothers who go hungry, so their children can eat.

For all the mothers who read "Goodnight, Moon" twice a night for a year. And then read it again. "Just one more time."

This is for all the mothers who taught their children to tie their shoelaces before they started school.

And for all the mothers who opted for Velcro instead.

This is for all the mothers who teach their sons to cook and their daughters to sink a jump shot.

This is for every mother whose head turns automatically when a little voice calls "Mom?" in a crowd, even though they know their own offspring are at home -- or even away at college.

This is for all the mothers who sent their kids to school with stomach aches, assuring them they'd be just FINE once they got there, only to get calls from the school nurse an hour later asking them to please pick them up. Right away.

This is for mothers whose children have gone astray, who can't find the words to reach them.

For all the mothers who bite their lips until they bleed when their 14 year olds dye their hair green.

For all the mothers of the victims of recent school shootings, and the mothers of those who did the shooting.

For the mothers of the survivors, and the mothers who sat in front of their TVs in horror, hugging their child who just came home from school, safely.

This is for all the mothers who taught their children to be peaceful, and now pray they come home safely from a war.

What makes a good Mother anyway?

Is it patience? Compassion? Broad hips? The ability to nurse a baby, cook dinner, and sew a button on a shirt, all at the same time? Or is it in her heart? Is it the ache you feel when you watch your son or daughter disappear down the street, walking to school alone for the very first time? The jolt that takes you from sleep to dread, from bed to crib at 2 A.M. to put your hand on the back of a sleeping baby? The panic, years later, that comes again at 2 A.M. when you just want to hear their key in the door and know they are safe again in your home? Or the need to flee from wherever you are and hug your child when you hear news of a fire, a car accident, a child dying?

The emotions of motherhood are universal and so our thoughts are for young mothers stumbling through diaper changes and sleep deprivation... And mature mothers learning to let go.

For working mothers and stay-at-home mothers.

Single mothers and married mothers..

Mothers with money, mothers without.

This is for you all. For all of us

Hang in there.

In the end we can only do the best we can.

Tell them every day that we love them.

And pray.

Something Inherently Racist

2006-05-09T12:51:00.000-07:00

According to a new report released by Save the Children on Monday, the US infant mortality rate ranks the lowest (except for Latvia) of the 33 industrialized powers.

Get this: part of what's driving our poor performance is:

by racial and income health care disparities. Among U.S. blacks, there are 9 deaths per 1,000 live births, closer to rates in developing nations than to those in the industrialized world.

The United States is tied with Hungary, Malta, Poland and Slovakia with a death rate of nearly 5 per 1,000 babies, but the rate among African-Americans is 9? Nearly twice the nationalized rate?

Blogging for Radical Fun

2006-05-05T05:56:00.000-07:00

What brings me fun? Joy? Delight?

Quilting.

I am a serious fabric-o-holic. I have a fabric stash the size of 3 closets and think that I might just have enough. Who am I kidding? I'll never have enough, even though I just bought an entire freaking bolt of the stuff.

Right now I'm working on a Baltimore Album Quilt - a quilt the very Victorian style developed by the good ladies of Baltimore in the 1840s and 1850s. There's something thrilling about taking large pieces of fabric, cutting them into smaller pieces and sewing them back together again. It just gives me shivers of joy.

Corresponding to the Joy of Quilting is the Joy of Fabric Shopping. Right now my favorite store is the Seminole Sampler. Fabulous collection of batik fabric. I'm a Batik Freak. I'm Weak for Batik.

Among quilters, fabric shopping is called SEX. Stash Enhancement eXperience. I love SEX.

When you go fabric shopping with your quilter buddies, it's group SEX.
When you buy something online, it's called cyber SEX.
When you do mail order, it's called phone SEX (because you have to call to place the order.)
When you sit at home by yourself and fondle your fabric, it's called, well, er, umm, never mind.
When you go to a 4 day quilt show with your closest girlfriends, stay in a hotel, drink lots of wine, complain about your spouses and children (who are not allowed to attend), buy lots of fabric and look at amazing, beautiful wonderful quilts, it's called therapy.

Another Midwifery Practice Closes

2006-05-04T07:20:00.000-07:00

Who will care for my daughters? From the Cincinnati Enquirer:

International Midwives Day on May 5 should be an official day of mourning in Cincinnati this year. The April 30 closure of the Midwives Care practice here after 20 years deserves at least that recognition. I'm grateful for the chance to have had one more appointment before the elimination of this vital option in women's health care.

It's so painful to contemplate not returning to the yellow Victorian house in Northside for gynecological care. Hard to imagine not being greeted by midwife Jackie Gruer in the sunny, high-ceilinged foyer before she talks me through the clinical part of the visit.

It feels like a punch in the gut. A lifeline has been cut. An oasis has gone dry. And it's not just here; midwifery practices around the country are closing. It's a clear wake-up call to the harsh realities of health care economics and childbirth in this country.
Skyrocketing malpractice insurance costs were a key factor in the demise of Midwives Care. From 2004 to 2006, their premiums more than tripled. They pursued every possible avenue to survive, from converting to nonprofit status to holding fundraisers. Liability costs hit nurse-midwives like Gruer doubly hard, because they must practice with a collaborating physician who incurs additional liability by entering into such an arrangement. But without the physician, nurse-midwives cannot legally practice.
Midwives long have been heralded for providing lower-cost maternity care, with fewer surgical deliveries and other interventions. But in the current environment, these strengths evidently are detriments, since hospitals receive significantly less revenue for a vaginal birth than a Caesarean section. It's only logical that hospitals would act to ensure their own survival, though at the expense of woman-centered care.

Our culture's fundamental distrust of childbirth only exacerbates liability and other financial issues, and it's difficult to say whether this distrust is a cause or a result. We are losing sight of birth as a normal life event. Though birth usually occurs within the medical system, it is not pathological. Perhaps if attitudes about birth itself could be changed, the other aspects would fall into place. Jackie Gruer, in her inimitable way, hopes to make that happen by evolving Midwives Care into an education and advocacy organization. If anybody can do it, she can. I wish her my heartfelt best.

Peg Conway and her husband, Joe, are the parents of three children, all born with midwives. They live in Amberley Village.

Colic and Postpartum Depression

2006-05-02T12:11:00.000-07:00

According to a new study, there is a compelling link between colicky babies and postpartum depression.

Researchers say the study sends a clear message to pediatricians: If you are treating a colicky baby, check on the moms, too. Ask them how they are feeling and if they have support from family and friends. When appropriate, refer women to mental health providers.

Wow - compelling evidence that support for mothers with new babies is extremely extremely important. So, bake them casseroles, offer to clean house, run errands or just watch the baby so she can take a shower.

I just love it when common wisdom is confirmed by science. Who knew that making slumgullion could be a feminist act?

C-sections

2006-04-28T12:09:00.000-07:00

I have to do some more work on this, and I'm going to say it very poorly, but the fact that African American women are disproportionally likely to have unnecessary c-sections makes me think that there's more going on than just medical convenience. Tulane University researchers published a study in the April issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

MotheringDotCommune community participants tell tale after tale of how incredibly empowering natural child birth is for the women who do it.

Ok, this is a wild and crazy question, but by robbing women of the empowering experience of deliverying her own baby(ies), are we contributing to the continuing of racism, sexism, classism, et al?

I have a lot more cogitating to do... What do you think?

Busy Week

2006-04-28T11:28:00.000-07:00

'Nuff said.

Interesting work being done on the the rise of the number of premature babies, including the blame being partially apportioned to elective deliveries. Bad health implications for the babies themselves.

Equally interesting reading on the risks associated with the gaps between babies. Too long a gap or too short a gap between babies is associated with higher health problems for baby 2. (The Deuce, as I like to call him/her.)

I'm thinking that pointing out that extended breastfeeding does a marvelous job of encouraging spacing between children (as does regular birth control). That lactational amenorrhea just rocks. And to think, Mother Nature (or evolution or whatever, not going into that debate!) designed us just perfectly to enable that spacing!

Making Me Rethink My Thoughts

2006-04-20T08:27:00.000-07:00

A big thank you to the 13th Carnival of Feminists, especially Women'sSpace, for making me really think about my knee jerk reactions to the Britney Spears birth statue. Goddesses on Parade should be required reading. Did I react to her statue because it was pornographic? Did I react because she has celebrity? Did I react because the statue showed birth as oversexualized? What is oversexualized anyway? What makes porn porn? My reaction was "Barf." Not my most eloquent, and I apologize.

I am dismayed at my own knee jerking. I'm also still dismayed at the statue. Art doesn't necessarily have to reflect reality, but Britney did have an elective cesarean. I don't know if she actually labored or not (not that it's any of my business, for that matter!) I'm dismayed at the message that the pro life community has been trying to make out of that statue: hurrah for young women who have babies early and stay home to take care of them instead of working.

Is the pro choice movement going to foster a statue of Katie Holmes screaming her head off? I have my doubts. Is some other movement going to make a statue of Angelina Jolie giving birth in Manhattan, when she's clearly planning to do it in Africa? Again, call me Thomas.

FDA provides LMS clearance for standalone offering of CALM Curve

2006-04-18T11:02:00.000-07:00

Now we have computerized modeling of labor providing "consistent and objective evaluation of labor progress."

I think I'm completely creeped out.

You're going to hook me up to god knows how many machines, feed vital statistics into a software model and predict exactly how it is that I'm going to labor and progress. Note please that this company is trying to appeal to both sides of the argument:

In some cases, it can therefore be used to confirm the need for a cesarean for women demonstrating symptoms of dystocia (slow labour). In other cases, as concluded in cross border clinical studies involving some 11,000 first time mothers, the use of CALM Curve, when introduced, contributed to a safe fall in cesarean rates from 19.54% to 16.62% at 12 months (P equals 0.00006). CALM Curve can provide meaningful assistance to U.S. clinical teams where cesarean section rates exceeded 29% in 2005.

Like I said, I think I'm completely creeped out. What happened to mothers helping each other with birth? I know, it's a very emotional question, and maternity outcomes have improved since we began introducing some medical advances to the process of labor and delivery. But, the decline in maternal mortality in the United States has leveled off since 1982. We've thrown some awesome technology at the problem, and serious dollars too, but we have not improved outcomes for mothers since 1982.

The best "new advance" we've introduced lately is the doula.

In the late 1970s, when Drs. John Kennell and Marshall Klaus investigated ways to enhance maternal-infant bonding they found, almost accidentally, that introducing a doula into the labor room not only improved the bond between mother and infant, but also seemed to decrease the incidence of complications.(6,7) Since their original studies, published in 1980 and 1986, numerous scientific trials have been conducted in many countries, comparing usual care with usual care plus a doula.

Women cared for during labor by a birth doula, compared to those receiving “usual care” were

26% less likely to give birth by cesarean section
41% less likely to give birth with a vacuum extractor of forceps
28% less likely to use any analgesia or anesthesia
33% less likely to be dissatisfied or negatively rate their birth experience

Off Topic, But I Can't Help Myself

2006-04-18T08:57:00.000-07:00

When I grow up, I want to be The Decider, too.

Eloquent

2006-04-12T07:38:00.000-07:00

It's not too hard to be more eloquent than I can be:

"The medical profession has done a disservice to women. They’ve turned pregnancy into a disease and childbirth into a procedure,”
~Marsden Wagner, a Swedish World Health Organization health specialist.

But wait! There's more!

This widespread inability to know what normal, humanized birth is has been summarized by the World Health Organization:

“By medicalizing birth, i.e. separating a woman from her own environment and surrounding her with strange people using strange machines to do strange things to her in an effort to assist her, the woman’s state of mind and body is so altered that her way of carrying through this intimate act must also be altered and the state of the baby born must equally be altered. The result it that it is no longer possible to know what births would have been like before these manipulations. Most health care providers no longer know what “non-medicalized birth is. The entire modern obstetric and neonatological literature is essentially based on observations of “medicalized” birth."

Delay Cutting the Umbilical Cord

2006-04-12T05:24:00.000-07:00

Here's one for the good guys - delays in cutting umbilical cords are shown to be extremely beneficial to preemie newborns.

The birth activist community recommends delaying cutting the umbilical cord until it stops pulsing. Perhaps that pulsing indicates that it's still doing some of its important work and ought to be left alone to do so. Hmmmmm?

Hooray for New Zealand

2006-04-11T07:10:00.000-07:00

They're increasing the rates of breastfeeding! Woo hoo! It can be done, it can be done! All it takes is paid parental leave and the baby friendly hospital initiative (BFHI).

How much does anyone want to bet me that the incredibly family friendly Republican party puts the BFHI on their party platform in the 2008 Presidential election? What about paid parental leave?

I hear the screaming of laughter across the nation.

Breastfeeding Mom Asked to Leave Club

2006-04-11T05:13:00.000-07:00

From the lovely Lactivist: Breastfeeding mom asked to leave club.

There was a nurse-in at a Starbucks here in Maryland this past summer. While I wasn't part of the group, I would have loved to have been. There's a whole campaign aimed at getting the coffee chain to write formal policies about breastfeeding in their stores. One of their links is to the La Leche League webpage on which state laws say what in these United States. Perhaps some of our English sisters will get fired up and do something about the right to nurse in public.

Real Breasts

2006-04-07T12:21:00.000-07:00

Awesome read about breasts at Womens Space.

Three cheers for women who are brave enough to nurse in public!

Honored

2006-04-07T11:20:00.000-07:00

I'm honored to be part of the Twelfth Carnival of Feminists.

Fascinating reading - an amazing collection of thoughts.

Response to Brittany's Birth Statue

2006-04-03T08:11:00.000-07:00

Here's an interesting commentary on the Spears statue...

Preggos Getting HIV Drugs

2006-03-28T11:25:00.000-08:00

Apparently not.

NIH Conference on C-Section on Demand

2006-03-27T14:08:00.000-08:00

http://videocast.nih.gov/

Watch the videocast. Some of the questions are fantastic. Some of the doctors are scary, scary, scary...

Cultural Reversal

2006-03-24T11:25:00.000-08:00

This topic, from the Twelfth Carnival of Feminists, really got my mind a thinking. We're losing birth.

Giving birth is the absolute most powerful thing a woman can do. It's the unspoken driver behind the whole pagan/witchy Goddess thing. It's so powerful that we used to be worshipped for being able to do it, goes the common wisdom.

Now, in the name of choice, we're being anesthetized, strapped down and sliced open. Not very empowered, my sisters. Who is making this choice anyway? The latest information from the Listening to Mothers survey done by Childbirth Connections says that it sure as heck isn't us moms. They report that 9% of all women having primary (first time) c-sections report pressure from a medical provider to do so. Only 0.08% of mothers who hadn't previously had a c-section asked for one on their own with no medical reason for doing so. 98% of all mothers with primary cesarean identified medical reasons, especially concerns about fetal distress, position of baby, size of baby, prolonged labor.

81% of us mothers believe that, prior to consenting to a c-section, we should know every possible complication. Would someone please explain to me how, in the course of labor, you expect me to make a decision of that magnitude? Looking back at my 33 hour labor, I can tell you that Mother Nature has kindly blurred my memories of the strength of my contractions. She’s also blurred my memories of yelling at my care providers during contractions and then apologizing afterwards, although my doula, husband and other labor attendants swear that it’s true. I probably would have consented to any number of whacko things during labor and have no recollection of it now. During labor is not the time to try and come up with informed consent for a major abdominal surgery. So, that means beforehand, during your prenatal visit with your midwife. (Note that when I say midwife, I intend to include doctors, but I’m pushing my own agenda here, and want more people to visit midwives for their care.)

Don’t even get me started about Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC). According to this same survey, 45% of women with previous c-sections were interested in VBAC, but hospitals and providers deny this option. Excuse me? How come a hospital policy board is making a decision denying me the option of avoiding repeat abdominal surgery?

Here’s the sad, nasty truth, my friends: liability insurance companies have decided that, because of lawsuits, VBAC is a risky event, fraught with possibilities, and some of them don’t cover midwives or other providers who do it. Too dangerous. Check out the list of risks for c-sections! So, it’s ok for the medical/liability insurance community to transfer the risks of birth from themselves (lawsuits) to me. Is that what the upshot is here?

It’s time for some cultural reversal, here, ladies and gentlemen. Here’s my dream new paradigm:

The vast majorities of births are done naturally, vaginally and our cultural expectations are that doing so is correct, important and valued.
Women who do have c-sections for legitimate (not convenience of the doctor!) medical reasons are encouraged to VBAC in the future and are not vilified as failures.
Hospitals are no longer where birth takes place. Rather, highly sophisticated and comfortable birth centers are prevalent all over the country.
Workplaces value the creation of the next generation and adopt family-friendly policies to encourage their workers.
Breastfeeding is acknowledged and accepted and enabled as much as possible. Formula makers all follow the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes.
Mothers and babies are encouraged to breastfeed until the baby weans.

There. We’ve reversed the culture.

Bandwagon

2006-03-24T08:37:00.000-08:00

Ok, I admit it, I'm jumping on the badwagon.

Have you seen the Britney Spears birthing statue? Plus, she had an elective c-section!! Barf.

My thoughts:

When I was in labor, that hands and knees position felt good, although I'm not sure that I stuck my rear end up so far in the air.
I didn't have such a blank look on my face, more like a grimace or a moan.
I sure as heck didn't have the presence of mind to caress anything but my own belly.

Birth is a Feminist Issue

2006-03-23T06:57:00.000-08:00

My dear sisters,

We have the choice of how to birth. We can do c-sections or vaginal birth.

Consider:

C-sections have risks that we're not being told about.
A great many women don't want to have c-sections anyway.
Vaginal birth is good for mom and baby. (I'll find links for that later, but consider, Mother Nature's a pretty smart chick, and She designed birth that way.)

Why in the world is the c-section in the USA so very high? Why can't I find anyone who'll consider supporting me through VBAC if/when I get pregnant again?