Who decides?

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Next week is the Anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision which upheld a woman’s right to an abortion. In preparation I’m going to blog about some more reproductive rights centered topics leading up to next week.

First off is a shout-out for the just released NARAL Pro-Choice America report Who Decides? The Status of Women’s Reproductive Rights in the United States. The report gives a state-by-state breakdown of the laws affecting women’s ability to choose abortion, access emergency contraception, get insurance coverage for reproductive health services, among other things. They give each state a grade that corresponds to these issues.

For example, my lovely home state of North Carolina receives a D+ from NARAL for a variety of reasons including that 83% of counties in NC have no abortion provider (which is consistent across the country, by the way). You can see what grade your state gets here.   

They also have some awesome maps that give an overview of certain restrictions across the country, like this scary one about states with almost total abortion bans (even though they are unconstitutional) on the books.

What would be really awesome is if next year, NARAL could add some information about birth–which states allow midwives to practice and which allow home birth. I know a lot of you would agree that how you birth is a fundamental reproductive right as well.

The Business of Being Born

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I finally got to see the movie that has been garnering a lot of attention in these past few months tonight.

I’ve seen my fair share of birth movies, but The Business of Being Born is definitely worth the hype. I highly recommend it. It does an incredible job of summing up a lot of what is wrong with birth today, particularly in regards to hospital-based maternity care. There is also footage from a couple of really beautiful home births (no matter how many births I see, whether in person or on tape, I still tear up every time).

I have to say that even after all this time in the birth activism world, it still gets me so fired up to hear about just how absurd it has all gotten. 70% of births in Europe and Japan are attended by midwives, compared to less than 3% here. Maternal and infant mortality rates are not good compared to other developing countries. Interventionist hospital practices create a domino effect that ends in an “emergency” c-section that is actually a result of the interventions in the first place–for one in three births. I could go on and on. Ricki’s movie does, and everyone should see it.

While it doesn’t say anything new, or anything that hasn’t been said by midwives, doulas or activists in the past, she does have the possibility of reaching a new and broader audience thanks to money and fame. Hopefully more women, men, doctors and medical students will start to see the light on this epidemic.

I’ll leave you with my favorite quote from the movie, from Marsden Wagner, the author of Born in the USA:

The best thing to do if you want a humanized birth is get the hell out of the hospital.

Amen.

Thank you Ricki Lake

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Thank you Ricki Lake for bringing so much attention and media to the homebirth issue. I haven’t yet seen The Business of Being Born (I’m seeing it tomorrow so I will report back) but it certainly has gotten some significant attention in the press.

On Good Morning America they had a segment yesterday on Do-It-Yourself (DIY) births, or unattended homebirths. You can watch here. It’s a really good segment, until the a-hole doctor goes off an a fetal personhood tirade.

“What women need to appreciate is that the few hours of labor are the most dangerous time during the entire lifetime of the soon-to-be-born child,” said Dr. Frank Chervenak, Chairman of Obstetrics and Gynecology at New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell. “Because of this, I would argue … all soon-to-be born children have a right to access immediate Caesarean delivery, and women who are denying this right are irresponsible.”

This kind of thing is EXACTLY why birthing rights activists NEED to work with reproductive rights and abortion rights people. These kinds of arguments, which basically imply that the unborn fetus has rights that trump the needs, desires and even health of the mother. Also framing childbirth as the most dangerous hours of an unborn childs life is problematic to say the least. And this guy isn’t even a pediatrician! He’s an OB-GYN. Oh sorry, I thought their concern was supposed to be the MOTHER. Nevermind how much people think medical interventions are hurting fetuses and mothers.

There was also a review in the NYTimes of the movie, which is super positive and supportive of home birth! That’s exciting. Also here you can see the trailer of another forthcoming film about homebirth in NYC.

Cool event in Boulder, CO: Fertile Grounds

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Check out this awesome event happening in Boulder on February 1st:

Fertile Grounds
an evening of performance and discussion about reproduction
Friday, February 1st at 7:30 pm
Naropa University’s Performing Arts Center
2130 Arapahoe Avenue
Boulder, Colorado

WE ARE LOOKING FOR:

PERFORMERS
Part of this event will include performances of stories about reproduction.  We are looking for performers interested in performing thier own stories and/or the stories of others.  This could be in the form of poetry, spoken word, dance, music, monologue, dialogue, etc. We hope to highlight stories that aren’t often heard, such as the reproductive experiences of:
 
*Immigrants, Teens, People of color, Single parents, Incarcerated women, Women ending their pregnancies, GLBTQ members, Individuals facing mental health issues or drug addictions, Individuals with disabilities, Individuals facing issues of body image, Victims of domestice abuse and/or sexual violence, People living at or near poverty level, Homeless people, People of the Third World, People affected by prostitutions and the sex industry, Health care providers, Children of all of the above

Please let us know ASAP if you are interested in performing!

STORIES
Whether your story is performed at the event (either by you or someone else) or not, we want to incorporate your story into a visual arts installation that will be on display at Naropa University prior to and during the event.

Please send us your stories ASAP!

VOLUNTEERS
Would you like to be involved in other ways?  Please let us know! 

We need folks to help provide child care during the event, provide refreshments, help with publicity, get the word out, assist in fundraising efforts for organizations in need of resources.  Do you have or know someone who has extra basic medical supplies such as dopplers, blood pressure cuffs, childbirth education charts, etc. to donate to International Midwife Asssitance?

There will be a post-performance discussion in which the audience is invited to participate in dialogue about reproductive justice issues.  Are you interested in helping to facilitate that discussion? 

Fertile Grounds seeks to increase awareness around issues of reproductive justice.  Through performance and discussion, we create person-to-person support networks and connect organizations to those in need of resources.  These networks work to demystify and humanize the reproductive experience, cultivating self-determination, education, social equality, and acceptance. 

Really awesome! I wish I could make it out to the event. Check out their myspace page for more info. We need more events and spaces like this! It’s being co-sponsored by some awesome groups including the National Advocates for Pregnant Women, LUZ Think Tank and International Midwife Assistance among others. If someone has the chance to go, I would love to hear about how it went!

New Year’s Baby Madness

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Every year, hospitals and media outlets go crazy about the first baby born in the new year. Apparently parent’s also strive for this honor and maybe even plan their births around the midnight countdown. Some even try to squeeze out the baby just before the ball drops, so they can claim the child on their 2007 taxes.

For babies whose births coincide with the changing of the calendar, there’s a financial interest for parents: Children born before Jan. 1 can be declared as dependents on 2007 tax filings. A nursing staff member at Inova Alexandria Hospital said a mother decided to deliver 15 minutes before midnight to make that deadline. But, she added, the safety of the child is always the primary concern.

Of course of course, the child’s safety! It’s a little absurd what people are willing to plan their births around these days. The mother mentioned above who decided to deliver 15 minutes early must have had a c-section, otherwise she has amazing control of her own body.

Apparently one couple even stole the new years baby title two years in a row.

Want to learn more about the new years babies? Articles from Boston, Washington DC and even a Babies R Us sweepstakes.

Pretty Bird Woman House: Over $80,000… OMG, Thank You and Happy New Year!

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See below for a report back about the Native American women’s shelter I posted about before the holidays. Thanks to anyone who contributed!

In October, Betsy Campisi, a volunteer on the last Pretty Bird Woman House fundraising drive called Georgia Little Shield, the shelter director to check in. After all, after the previous May fundraiser, things looked great – Pretty Bird Woman House had a building, funding from the Netroots until a grant kicked in in… things were going well. But when Betsy spoke to Georgia she heard grim news.

Our shelter was burned down. They stole everything. Then they burnt it down.

Betsy asked; how much to buy a new house with a security system? The answer: $70,000. Worse, all the grants Pretty Bird Woman House depended on required a physical building to use as a shelter. They needed the money FAST. It seemed so unlikely back in October that it could even be done…

Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith and just hope that the net is there to catch you. This time there was no net. But you wonderful people… you wove that net even as everything was falling off the edge. You wove the net out of blog posts and $5 donations, out of human love and compassion.

Continue reading →

Help a Woman’s Shelter Rebuild after Arson

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This 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.

Continue reading →

More evidence against elective cesareans

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I’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.

Pregnant New Mexico Teenager Arrested and Deported

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This 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/.