news

Lesbian parents just as good as straight ones!

MZP2 Comments

Interesting article in Bay Window’s, a New England LGBT newspaper, about new research about gay and lesbian parenting. Turns out not only are we not worse, we might actually be better!

…Representatives from the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the National Association of Social Workers, and the American Counseling Association to set the record straight with regard to the research on LGBT parenting. Each of the representatives affirmed that the body of credible research on LGBT parenting shows that children raised by two committed LGBT parents develop just as well as their peers raised by married heterosexual parents.

Much of it has been done in response to a campaign by Focus on the Family, who has been taking other researcher’s studies and distorting their findings as proof that children do better when raised by heterosexual parents.

You can check out this website: www.respectmyresearch.org for more information.

In the News: Midwife ban leaves family scrambling

MZP2 Comments

Check out this interesting article about midwifery in Missouri. It explains that MO is one of ELEVEN states where midwifery is illegal–and considered equivalent to practicing medicine without a license (a felony). Columbia physician Elizabeth Allemann, states “People have told me it would probably be easier to do a drug deal in Missouri than to find a midwife.” Now THAT makes a lot of sense.

What’s most interesting about this is the logic used by Senator Chuck Graham, an opponent of the legalization of midwives, who has in the past filibustered a law that would allow midwives to practice who had been certified by the North American Registry of Midwives (NARM). So rather than allow the Congress in his state to even vote on a bill possibly legalizing the practice, he has taken it upon himself to decide that “There are so many things that can go wrong with the birthing process.” Why do politicians like to pretend they are scientists and doctors when it comes to women’s reproductive health?

(I mis-posted this last week, erroneously stating the Senator Louden, who is actually sponsoring the bill, was the Senator in opposition. That is actually Senator Chuck Graham. I apologize for the mistake.)

“High on doulas”: News story highlights Pittsburgh doulas

MZP1 Comment

This story just came out in the Post-Gazette, about how awesome doulas in Pittsburgh are. Here are a few highlights:

Mothering the mother: Doulas help women with childbirth

Wednesday, February 28, 2007
By Tina Calabro 

Over the past two decades, an increasing number of mothers-to-be have arranged for a doula to be present during labor and delivery. The centuries-old role of doula — a knowledgeable, older woman who tends to a mother during childbirth — has become a contemporary sight in hospital obstetric units. Recent national surveys report that doulas participate in about five out of every hundred births, and that number is growing.
…
It’s well documented that doula-assisted births often result in shorter labors, fewer C-sections and forceps deliveries, and less medication. Those who track community doulas are discovering additional benefits, such as fewer premature births, greater commitment to breastfeeding, and healthier pregnancy behaviors.
… 
“We’re high on doulas,” says David Brewton, associate executive director of East Liberty Family Health Care Center.
… 
The realization among social service providers that community doulas could positively impact the health of the baby was a collective “aha” moment, says Hope Ruedy, director of Erie Homes for Children and Adults in Erie. The agency has run a doula program for women with mental health and other types of disabilities since 2000.

Full story here

I love the good publicity.