I hope everyone is enjoying some time off from their hectic lives to enjoy some time with family and friends. Happy Holidays everyone!
Help a Woman’s Shelter Rebuild after Arson
December 19, 2007This story comes from Andy Ternay, who has been writing and blogging about this situation to help the Pretty Bird Woman House, a woman’s shelter raise enough money to rebuild. The shelter was kept open by donations from the online community last May, and recently it was ravaged by arson and ruined. The shelter is on the Standing Rock reservation, part of the Lakota Native community.
The community and the shelter have a long history that you can read about here, but the bottom line is that they need more money to reach their goal of $70,000 that they need for the house and security system. They are more than half way there, and today Andy and others are pushing for the last portion. See the bottom for how to donate.
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activism | 
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Posted by radicaldoula
More evidence against elective cesareans
December 17, 2007I’m still waiting to see statistics on how common the elective cesarean trend really is, but in the meantime another study to add to the “reasons not to schedule” pile. A Danish study says that the risk of breathing problems is four times as high for babies who are delivered by scheduled c-sections (as compared to vaginal and emergency c-sections).
One explanation is that hormonal and physiological changes associated with labour are necessary for lungs to mature and that these changes may not be present in infants delivered by elective caesarean section. Gestational age at the time of elective caesarean section may also be important.
It makes sense when you think about the inaccuracy of measuring gestational age, and the just the common sense of not beginning a process before the body (and all the delicate physiological systems) have decided its time. Plus the added factor of who knows what really happens during labor and delivery that is good for moms and babies. But maybe by this point I am preaching to the choir.
Leave a Comment » | birth, c-sections | Permalink
Posted by radicaldoula
Pregnant New Mexico Teenager Arrested and Deported
December 13, 2007This is ridiculous and just proof that the administration’s haphazard immigration crackdown is ineffective and completely unjust.
U.S. immigration officials deported a pregnant Roswell High School senior after she was pulled from class Wednesday by a local police officer regarding a traffic ticket issued days before.
She was only 18, and who knows what happened to her when she was sent back to Mexico. Frequently these individuals no longer have ties in their country of origin, and this girl’s mother remains in New Mexico. This kind of thing isn’t going to strengthen “security” or immigration enforcement, and it is a blatant violation of human rights. The detention centers that people are sent to while in the process of being deported are often jails that have been “converted” into detention centers.
These kinds of stories just keep coming, along with ones about women who are separated from their infants, many times who suffer from dehydration and complications from the disruption of breastfeeding.
For more information about the immigration justice movement, http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/.
1 Comment | immigration, pregnancy | Permalink
Posted by radicaldoula
Radical doula job posting
December 12, 2007An awesome Brooklyn organization, the Brooklyn Young Mothers Collective, is hiring someone to coordinate their teen doula project. FYI, in case you know some awesome doulas looking for work.
Teen Doula Project Coordinator
This position involves development of a new program, requiring a capacity to innovate, work collaboratively, develop institutional relationships, function autonomously, and communicate a program vision.
Responsibilities include:
* Recruit, manage, oversee doula staff and will report directly to the Executive Director
* Coordinate recruitment of participating families
* Outreach/linking with collaborating agencies
* Conduct doula trainings
* Oversee data collection and evaluation
* Liaison with Chicago Health Connection
* Deliver 12 births in first half of the year
* Supervise a minimum of four births supported by community-based doulas
Requirements:
Public Health Professional or Social Work experience
Some program management experience
Some supervisory experience, preferably with “reflective supervision” approach
Experience and comfort working with adolescent and young mothers
Experience with community-based programs and knowledge of New York City’s low-income and underserved areas
Basic understanding of the New York City public health programs
Experience working with a diverse work force and diverse clientele
Desirable: maternal-child health clinical experience, preferably labor and delivery
Highly desirable: Fluent in Spanish
Supervision Received: Works under the direction and supervision of the Executive Director. May be assigned by the Executive Director to work with, and be supervised by, other office personnel for specific periods and/or specific tasks.
Work Schedule: Must be able to maintain a flexible part-time schedule during the first year of program.
The Brooklyn Young Mothers’ Collective provides a competitive benefits and compensation package, and is an equal opportunity employer. Women of color, LGBT candidates and low-income women strongly encouraged to apply.
Please submit a cover letter and resume to Benita Miller no later than January 4, 2008.
Email information to benita@bymcinc.org
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Posted by radicaldoula
Fresh Focus: Sex-Ed Digital Video Contest
December 6, 2007 Fresh Focus: Sex-Ed Digital Video Contest:
“In My Eleven Years Of School, I’ve Gotten No Sexual Education!”
Wednesday, December 5, 2007 – Fresh Focus: Sex-Ed Digital Video Contest, is accepting video submissions until midnight on New Years Eve. The contest is sponsored by a group of leading national reproductive health partners including Advocates for Youth, ISIS, Inc., RH Reality Check and SIECUS and asks young people to describe their sex education (or lack thereof) or explain how they would improve it themselves.
Amie Newman, of RH Reality Check, says “It’s time to get together with your friends and be creative! Young people from around the country are picking up their cameras and cell phones, getting together and shooting. It’s easy! We want to hear your thoughts about sexuality education in this country.”
In Angel’s video, she shares, “Basically, I’m in tenth-grade and I don’t recall having a sex-education…ever.”
In another video, a young man in an on-the-street interview says, “I really didn’t learn about sex education. It was word of mouth and just don’t get any of the bad stuff…”
Eliciting videos that, according to Andy Carvin at PBS.org’s Learning Now, are “a collection of frank discussions on teens, sex and health literacy” that “…are funny, outspoken, honest and bold”, Fresh Focus: Sex Ed Digital Video Contest aims to engage young people in their own education by encouraging them to envision a new way to teach sexuality education or to share with other young people how their own sexuality education was helpful or not. Prizes range from a $3500 scholarship or cash equivalent to an iPhone, as well as the opportunity to be featured at the inaugural Sex::Tech Conference: Focus on Youth, January 22-23, 2008 at the Institute for Next Generation Internet in San Francisco.
Entries will be accepted until December 31st, 2007. Voting begins January 4th, 2008. Visit the official contest page today for all the details and official rules.
Details, Rules, and Information on Submissions:
http://www.dogooder.tv/freshfocusvideocontest/
Contact:
amie at rhrealitycheck dot org for more information
deb at isis-inc dot org for press inquiries
andy at isis-inc dot org for contest inquiries
For more information about the sponsoring organizations:
http://www.advocatesforyouth.org
http://www.isis-inc.org
http://nsrc.sfsu.edu
http://www.siecus.org
2 Comments | Blogosphere | Permalink
Posted by radicaldoula
Special Edition News Round-Up: Menopause
December 6, 2007Ever since I posted about Menopause Awareness Month, I’ve noticed a really interesting trend in my blog stats (for those of you who aren’t techies or bloggers, blog stats are a way for you to see the kind of traffic your blog is getting, like how many people visit your site each day and how they get to you (via google searches or links on other sites)). Lately, a good percentage of my daily traffic comes from people searching for the word menopause on the internet.
Maybe it’s not too surprising, considering the number of women entering into menopause or who are in the midst of it, and the lack of attention it gets in comparison to things like childbirth or contraception. So I’m going to try and write more about menopause on my blog, and I’m starting with this special edition news round-up on menopause. Enjoy! And if there are any readers out there with particular questions or interests around menopause, let me know what you what to see written about in the future!
Hormone replacement therapy may prevent Alzheimer’s disease (although it has also been found to increase breast cancer risk).
The North American Menopause Society receives an award for their website, www.menopause.org.
Some tips for menopause treatment.
At St. Paul hospital’s Menopause Center was cut from the budget.
A new “all-natural dietary supplement” for menopause is announced, made from North Carolina muscadine grapes.
More to come!
New study discusses benefits of breastfeeding
December 5, 2007A new report is out about the benefits of breastfeeding in developing countries. From the LA Times article about the report:
This spring, the federal Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research (AHRQ) published a report that evaluated the research on breast-feeding and children’s health. Assembling the data involved a year and a half of combing through more than 9,000 studies and reviews, selecting those that met strict quality criteria.Dr. Ruth Lawrence, who chairs the breast-feeding task force of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), said the result is the “most comprehensive, all-inclusive” document on breast-feeding in developed countries. “It’s an excellent report,” she said.
While it’s difficult to prove cause and effect with these studies, I think there is still something to be said for this kind of evidence, especially considering that the medical community and the formula companies have a lot of damage to undo from the years of formula and bottle feeding promotion. What I’m still waiting for is the research that proves that formula feeding is beneficial and has all these disease prevention possibilities.
With that in mind, the report found that breast-fed babies were:
* 64% less likely to develop gastrointestinal infections
* 72% less likely to be hospitalized for lower respiratory tract disease
* 23% to 50% less likely to develop ear infections
* 4% to 82% less likely to develop necrotizing enterocolitis if premature.
* 36% less likely to die of sudden infant death syndrome
* 42% less likely to develop atopic dermatitis
* 27% to 40% less likely to develop early-childhood asthma
* 15% to 19% less likely to develop childhood leukemia
* 19% to 27% less likely to develop Type 1 diabetes
* 7% to 24% less likely to be obese
* 39% less likely to develop Type 2 diabetes
I do agree with those who say we shouldn’t scare women into breastfeeding and rather encourage and support women.
Dr. Darshak Sanghavi, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, said that the focus should be on helping women who want to breast-feed, rather than “browbeating” those who don’t.
1 Comment | Breastfeeding | Permalink
Posted by radicaldoula
Orgasmic Birth
December 4, 2007 
I have posted about this before, but I want to highlight it again because the project is nearing completion. Debra Pascali-Bonaro (my doula trainer!) and a group of really awesome people have put together a film called Orgasmic Birth. The film is being released in January 2008, and hopefully will start to make its way to US film festivals. About Orgasmic Birth:
Orgasmic Birth is a documentary that examines the sexual and intimate nature of birth and the powerful role it plays in women’s lives when they are permitted to experience it.
You can see Debra talking about the film here.
4 Comments | birth | Permalink
Posted by radicaldoula
Interview on RH Reality Check
December 4, 2007Amanda Marcotte interviewed me for her series RealityCast, on RH Reality Check. You can listen to the interview here (my interview starts around 4 minutes and 20 seconds). Thanks to Amanda for inviting me to be on the series!
Leave a Comment » | Blogosphere | Permalink
Posted by radicaldoula
