Radical Doula Revisited

May 30, 2008

I finally did what I’ve been meaning to do for a long time now, I’ve edited the Radical Doula??? page. I’m going to repost it here, so you can all read my new description of what this blog is all about. Things haven’t changed radically, but I’ve tweaked a few things here and there to reflect the way I talk about what it means to be a radical doula (particularly from a personal perspective). The new page is after the jump!

I’ve also updated and expanded my blog roll. I decided I wanted something more comprehensive and that actually reflects what blogs I am reading on a frequent basis. (Thanks Google Reader!) You can see that I now have broken it up into categories (look to your right!). I will try to keep it updated, but bare with me. Also, if you have a blog you think I would want to read, email it to me or link to it in the comments! I promise I will check it out, and maybe you will even make it to my google reader.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Ensure abortion access in Montana

May 22, 2008

thiscommonsecret.jpg

While many of us spend a lot of time fighting against anti-abortion legislation, crazy lawmakers and their ballot initiatives, there is a whole other group of people pro-actively working to ensure women’s access to abortion–by providing them.

Last week I was at the National Coalition of Abortion Providers Conference (talking about abortion doulas) and Dr. Susan Wicklund spoke about her new book. Dr. Wicklund is an abortion provider living in Montana, and has written a touching memoir of her life as a provider. She lives in Bozeman, MT currently and wants to open up a new clinic (in an area with few options for women) but has run into a lot of hurdles. Building owners who won’t lease to her under pressure from anti-choice people mainly.

So to help Dr. Wicklund some of the attendees of the conference opened a paypal account in her name, to help her open her clinic (possibly by buying a building). Want to chip in? Email supportsuewicklund@gmail.com and ask for information about how to donate!

Cross-posted at Feministing

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Hospitals: not always where you go to get better

May 20, 2008

Hi everyone! I’m on a two week vacation (from my day job at least), in Seattle and San Fransisco. Hopefully it will give me some time to catch up on blogging, and make some much needed changes here at Radical Doula! Stay tuned for an overhaul of my blog roll, as well as my Radical Doula?!?! page revisited.

I’ve had this article in my drafts for a while, and while it’s a piece from last year that ran at Alternet.org I wanted to highlight it anyway.

In The Disturbing Truth About Doctors and Your Medical Safety Atul Gawande discusses the spread of disease in hospitals, partially caused by providers not washing their hands enough.

Each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, two million Americans acquire an infection while they are in the hospital. Ninety thousand die of that infection. The hardest part of the infection-control team’s job, Yokoe says, is not coping with the variety of contagions they encounter or the panic that sometimes occurs among patients and staff. Instead, their greatest difficulty is getting clinicians like me to do the one thing that consistently halts the spread of infections: wash our hands.

Those of you who know anything about the history of obstetrics in the United States are probably familiar with puerperal fever, which was a major cause of death of pregnant women when birth was first brought into the hospital. (Side note: this is a great thing to bring up as a counter to the “but so many women used to die in childbirth before hospitals argument”) Basically, doctors at the time didn’t understand bacteria and how disease was spread. They also believed that hand washing wasn’t necessary for gentlemen. This meant that doctors went from birthing mother to birthing mother without washing their hands or using gloves, and passed infections between them.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Free meeting for expecting parents in NYC

May 16, 2008
MAY MEETING TOPIC: Inspiring Birth Stories

So many horror stories circulate about birth that it can be difficult to believe that labor and birth can be a beneficial experience. One great way to counter the effects of frightening stories is to hear and read empowering ones. These stories may change you because they might tell you something you didn’t know before or they might help you look at things from a different perspective than you ever had before. (Passage adapted from the introduction to the birth stories in Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin.)


DATE: Thursday May 29th 2008, 6:15-8:30PM

LOCATION: Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway (at 95th street), NYC

GUEST SPEAKERS: Four new mothers who will talk about their individual choices and experience with regards to their birth, Kristen M. Leonard, Midwife, Mary Esther Malloy-Hopwood, Childbirth Educator, Doula and Lactation Counselor.

We hope to see you there, and welcome you to invite your friends, family or other expectant families who might be interested.

RSVP is appreciated ( laure@choicesinchildbirth.org)
The flyer can be printed from the following link: http://www.zen63326.zen.co.uk/CIC/

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Upcoming DC Event: Intentional Motherhood

May 13, 2008

I’m excited to announce this upcoming Washington DC event for three reasons. One, I helped to organize it. Two, it brings together two of my favorite topics, birth and abortion. Three, it happens to fall on my birthday! If you are in the DC area, you should come to the event, and wish me a happy birthday.

Intentional Motherhood: Connecting Abortion, Pregnancy, and Birth
Considering the full range of women’s reproductive rights:

The right to affordable birth control.
The right to parent.
The right to choose abortion.
The right to midwifery care.
The right to determine a birth plan.
The right to prenatal care.

Our Bodies Ourselves has provided indispensable information on women’s health and sexuality for more than 40 years. Their newest book, Our Bodies, Ourselves: Pregnancy and Birth addresses the questions and needs of women during pregnancy, childbirth, and the “fourth trimester” of early motherhood.

The DC Abortion Fund is excited to host a a book signing and discussion to explore the many connections between these issues.

Featuring
Judy Norsigian, Executive Director, Our Bodies Ourselves
Alexis Zepeda, Board Member, DC Abortion Fund
Jill Morrison, Senior Counsel, National Women’s Law Center

Wednesday May 28, 6:30 pm
Hawk ‘n’ Dove, 329 Pennsylvania Ave SE
Capital South Metro

Suggested Donation: $20

All Proceeds Benefit the DC Abortion Fund


If you have questions or are interested in co-sponsoring this event, please contact Betsy Illingworth at betsyillingworth@yahoo.com or Dina Morad at dinamorad@gmail.com

I have yet to read the new OBOS book, but so far I have heard good things about it. After reading What to Expect When You’re Expecting during my thesis work in college, I know we are in desperate need of good pregnancy books that don’t scare women. It’s also a good book because its pretty affordable–only $15! We will be raffling off some books at the event, and Judy Norsigian will be there to sign copies.

Hope you can make it!

3 Comments | abortion, activism, birth, books | Permalink
Posted by radicaldoula

Belated Mother’s Day Post

May 12, 2008

I hope all you mother’s out there enjoyed this weekend. I recently joined an anti-shackling coalition spearheaded by the Rebecca Project for Human Rights (shackling of incarcerated women during childbirth, that is). They have been putting out some great materials, including this op-ed, for mother’s day. From the piece:

In most state prisons and jails, restraints are routinely used on pregnant women, including when they are in labor and when they deliver their babies. Only three states — California, Illinois and Vermont — have legislation regulating the use of restraints on pregnant women. In the other 47 states and the District of Columbia, no such laws exist. The use of restraints on pregnant women, particularly on women in labor and giving birth, constitutes a cruel, inhumane and degrading practice that rarely can be justified in terms of security concerns during the delivery process. In the three states that outlawed shackling pregnant inmates, there have been no cases of mothers in labor or delivery escaping or causing harm to themselves, security guards or medical staff.

I’m very excited to be part of this coalition and hope to keep all the RD readers updated on their work.

1 Comment | birth(ing) justice, Shackling | Permalink
Posted by radicaldoula

Another reason why mandatory c-sections don’t make sense

May 7, 2008

Ok, so if you ignore the cheesy uplifting pop music (so you wanna change the world…), in addition to the not-so-great graphics (the entering text made my head hurt after a while) the video has a great point. Multiple births (twins, triplets, etc) shouldn’t have to be c-sections. Women can and do birth multiples naturally (even at home! unassisted! in water!) and this video just reiterates that.

What also struck me about the film is the great providers who must have been behind many of those births. Some people might accuse me of being a doctor-basher generally, but from what i know of hospitals and insurance policies, any doctor who is willing to fight for a woman’s right to deliver twins naturally rocks. Same for the midwives too.

And damn, aren’t some of those bellies huge!

via Bellies and Babies

1 Comment | birth | Permalink
Posted by radicaldoula

Dream reflections

May 6, 2008

So I don’t usually get this personal at Radical Doula, but this dream felt too relevant not to share. On Friday night, in the middle of facilitating a two-day training (my day job) I had a really vivid dream that I was pregnant. So vivid in fact that it stayed with me throughout most of the day on Saturday.

Now a pregnancy dream might not seem that odd, as I am a doula, and spend quite a bit of time thinking and writing about pregnancy and birth. But put me in the position of pregnant woman? That’s just weird. In the dream I was in New York, and knew I was pregnant, but apparently not how far along. I went to a birth center there (of course, even in my dreams I’ve still got my politics) and they informed me I was about to pop. Like any day. Mind you I was not very big in this dream, just a little tummy.

So then my panicked anxious self kicks in, thinking about how my life will change if I have a baby (I’ll have to move out of my group house!) and how I really want an abortion but its too late. The other thing that flashed through my dream-mind was: I have to find a doula!

A friend today informed me that pregnancy dreams mean something big in your life is about to change. That’s a possibility, but if there is one thing I know for sure, I won’t be getting pregnant in real life anytime soon.

2 Comments | pregnancy | Permalink
Posted by radicaldoula

International Worker’s Rights Day

May 1, 2008

It’s May Day. This holiday of sorts has a long history:

At its national convention in Chicago, held in 1884, the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions (which later became the American Federation of Labor), proclaimed that “eight hours shall constitute a legal day’s labor from and after May 1, 1886.” The following year, the FOTLU, backed by many Knights of Labor locals, reiterated their proclamation stating that it would be supported by strikes and demonstrations.

In the past few years, because of the seriously anti-immigrant climate, May 1st has been a day for HUGE immigration rallies and marches. This year these marches are happening again, despite some violence on at a rally last year in Los Angeles.

Many people have been reiterating this for a long time, but in light of recent discussions, I want to make it clear: immigration is a feminist issue. It’s a human rights issue. The abuses that have been going on as of late: immigration raids, jails being used as detention centers, families being separated, they matter a lot to me, as the child of immigrants and as a feminist.

So in honor of May Day and the immigration rights movement here is some suggested reading:

The Unapologetic Mexican
Why Immigration is a Matter of Reproductive Justice
An Anti-Trafficking Activist’s Agenda
ACLU Immigrant rights work
WOC PhD has a good post up with events and a video about immigration myths.

This is by no means comprehensive. Please add your links in the comments.

Cross-posted at Feministing

1 Comment | immigration | Permalink
Posted by radicaldoula

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