"Henci Goer – Fact Checking the New York Times Home Birth Debate"

A white mama and newborn pair cuddle nude. © HoboMama

There's both an overabundance of data and not enough wholly relevant data when trying to decide where to give birth. Goer has made understanding birth research her life's work.

The one critique I have of her points here is that the Dutch homebirth study she mentions in her second paragraph is less relevant in the US than I'd like it to be. Worldwide, the certification of midwives more closely resembles what we call a nurse midwife than a certified professional midwife or lay midwife. Unfortunately, NMs rarely perform homebirths in this country; they usually remain in hospitals and birth centers, while CPMs and LMs are more likely to practice in homes but their certifications are not sufficient for them to be employed by hospitals or birth centers! One could argue this is purely discrimination against alternative/holistic/feminist practices on the part of hospitals, but there is a difference in the rigor of training required for each designation.

"Henci Goer – Fact Checking the New York Times Home Birth Debate"

My first principle as a doula (and in life) is risk-aware consent: know the numbers and make the best choice for you. How can I help you with that process?

In cahoots,
~Sasha

"Pricing American Women Out Of Abortion, One Restriction At A Time"

a receipt for "the full price of an abortion"

What people don't often realize about restrictions on abortion is that they create real hurdles for people trying to access them. Demanding a pregnant person take 24hrs to "think it over" (as if they haven't thought it over already?!) means two days missing work. Add in the scarcity of clinics in areas that aren't densely populated, and you suddenly have real travel time to worry about...

This article provides a phenomenal survey of the issues involved; I highly encourage a read-through.

A ThinkProgress examination of the potential fees that could be accrued by two archetypal Wisconsin women found that the process of obtaining an abortion could total up to $1,380 for a low-income single mother saddled with charges related to gas, a hotel stay, childcare, and taking time off work. For a middle-income woman living comfortably in a city with no children and public transit options to the clinic, meanwhile, those fees dropped to $593.

"Pricing American Women Out Of Abortion, One Restriction At A Time"

In cahoots,
~Sasha

"Idaho Lawmaker Wonders If Women Could Have A Gyno Exam By Swallowing A Tiny Camera"

A diagram of the female anatomy, side view. Notice the lack of connection
between the reproductive organs and the excretory ones.

I tried to choose a favorite paragraph from this news article to share, but every tidbit is both relevant and horrifying. A summary of salient points:

• This particular politician, Rep. Vito Barbieri, is on the board of a "crisis pregnancy center" and is legislating abortion without a clue how the female body works.
• Telemedicine (practicing medicine by video-chat) is a great invention of the modern age, enabling people who live far from their caregiver to still receive quality treatment. Local research shows this process to be just as safe and effective as in-person treatment, but the GOP is opposed anyway.
• This legislation to ban tele-abortion is on track to pass in Idaho. Ugh.

"Idaho Lawmaker Wonders If Women Could Have A Gyno Exam By Swallowing A Tiny Camera"

In cahoots,
~Sasha

"10 things hospitals won’t tell you"

Many people bustling around a hospital room.

“C-section rates by hospitals vary ten-fold, between 7% and 70% of deliveries in the United States,” says Shah, citing a March 2013 Health Affairs study of nearly 600 hospitals in 2009.

"10 things hospitals won’t tell you"

It's the job of a doula to provide three kinds of support: physical, emotional, and informational. One of the ways I can help you with upcoming decisions is by being your private investigator: what's the cesarean delivery rate at the birthplace you're considering? How about their VBAC rate?

What big questions could I help you figure out?

In cahoots,
~Sasha Sagan

"Post-Pregnancy Photo Series Shows How Mothers' Bodies Look After Giving Birth"

A black-and-white photograph show two elementary-age
white children hugging their mother's beautiful, wrinkled white belly.

Photos of women in the mass media don’t seem to leave much room for women who don’t match its heavily Photoshopped concept of beauty, but photographer Jade Beall provides a healthy counterweight, using her photography to highlight just how beautiful the bodies of mothers truly are.

"Post-Pregnancy Photo Series Shows How Mothers' Bodies Look After Giving Birth"

In cahoots,
~Sasha

"After 'much prayer', doctor refuses to see 6-day-old baby because she has two moms"

parents Jami and Krista Contreras, seated with their baby

What appalls me about this incident, beyond the fact that it happened at all, is that the doctor so rudely waited until the baby was born to refuse care. Why not simply tell the parents no during the prenatal interview, so that they would have enough time to find a doctor who wasn't homophobic?

"After 'much prayer', doctor refuses to see 6-day-old baby because she has two moms"

In cahoots,
~Sasha

"Kate Winslet on NOT Losing the Baby Weight: ‘I Want to Keep My Sanity’"

Kate Winslet on the red carpet in a black dress

“I want to keep my health and my sanity and be well fed and happy,” Winslet said. “My body will never go back to what it was and I wouldn’t expect it to after three babies.”

"Kate Winslet on NOT Losing the Baby Weight: ‘I Want to Keep My Sanity’"

In cahoots,
~Sasha

ImprovingBirth.org: "What is Evidence-based Maternity Care?"

Maternity Practices in the United States:
"Routine" vs. Evidence Based Care

This is the gap between best birth practices and the reality for American parents.

Part of the role of the doula is to support pregnant people as they research their care options, communicate with their providers, and navigate labor.

How could I help you?

"What is Evidence-based Maternity Care?"

In cahoots,
~Sasha

"El Salvador's Las 17: the women jailed for 30 years for losing their babies by miscarriage"

"Demonstrators demand a pardon for 17 women sentenced to 40 years of

imprisonment after after losing their babies in medical emergencies."

In El Salvador, home to the some of the world's strictest abortion laws, women are jailed for murder after losing their babies in medical emergencies. But a historic pardon has given them hope amid growing international condemnation.

"El Salvador's Las 17: the women jailed for 30 years for losing their babies by miscarriage"

In cahoots,
~Sasha