Pregnancy schools close in NYC

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From the NYTimes.

Signaling the end of an era, NYC Board of Education this week announced that they will be closing the last four high schools specifically for pregnant teens.

From the article it seems that despite the high amount of spending on pupils in these schools, the curricula are anything but academically rigorous, including lessons on things like quilting.

Benita Miller, an awesome advocate for teen mothers with the Brooklyn Childcare Collective (they even have a doula program!), is highlighted in the piece, quoted as saying, “It is a place that they send young women during their pregnancies, and I can’t think of any sound academic reason that they exist.”

These schools really are left over from an older time, when pregnant teens were forced out of traditional high schools, even sometimes sent away to have their children in secret. Integration into the public school system is important, both to reduce stigma against teen mothers and to give them the best opportunity to actually continue with their education and lives. Also, sending the mothers off to special schools leaves out a crucial part of the equation–the baby’s father. If we want men to share responsibility in these situations, sending the girls away is not the answer. Instead, high schools are beginning to have their own day care centers for teen parents.

My favorite quote from the article?

“Your brain does not die when you become pregnant.”

Nancy Goldstein and Wife featured in NYTimes

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In a NYTimes article today, Nancy Goldstein, a reproductive justice rockstar from the National Advocates for Pregnant Women, and her wife are featured for being one of the same sex couples to be recognized by NY State for a marriage ceremony they had in Massachussets in 2004.

Unfortunately they are part of a small number of couples who are being recognized, and only because of a legal technicality. Goldstein and her partner were married before the July 2006 NY Supreme Court decision which came out against same-sex marriage. Only couples married between May 2004 and July 2006 will be recognized by NY State.

Women talk to the G8

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Check out this blog, hosted by openDemocracy, which is giving a forum to women’s opinions and reactions around the G8.

So, this year openDemocracy will be covering the G8 process from a women’s perspective. We have invited some of our authors to lead the debate in an openSummit on key issues such as aid, globalisation, climate change and health. A summary of these voices will be published at the end of the month. With openDemocracy we have the technology to address G8 and challenge their views. We should take full advantage of this. As part of the struggle to reform the world, we can also help to reshape the news.

I have a post about reproductive justice and what I do during my day job.

“Those midwives are a resourceful bunch,” he said.

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Missouri Senator John Loudon of Missouri apparently used “a bit of trickery and an obscure Greek term” to try and pass a measure that would loosen the restrictions on the practice of midwifery. Currently the state only allows certified nurse midwives to practice, but the new bill would widen the scope of midwives who could practice.

The new legislation would significantly reduce the requirements, allowing prospective midwives to get certified by a private entity, even if they lack formal medical or nursing training.

Fellow legislators were outraged by the tactics he used, which included slipping the provision into a 123 page bill about health insurance, without even using the word midwife.

“It shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone that I would use any means possible to get this done,” he said.

He’s definitely not the first Senator to do some serious political manuevering to get something passed, but it makes me wonder where his strong conviction in favor of midwives comes from. He has already been punished for the deception he is accused of using to get this measure through–losing his post as chairman of the Senate Small Business, Insurance and Industrial Relations Committee.

The bill passed both the House and Senate without anyone noticing the midwifery provision–something that has faced significant opposition in the past. Congress leaders are trying to decide if they are willing to veto the bill (which tries to increase incentives for individuals who buy their own health insurance) based on this provision.

25% of women still cut during childbirth

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An interesting article in Women’s Enews today about the persisting prevalence of episiotomies, despite a medical study from two years ago which proves that there is NO MEDICAL BENEFIT.

The article points out that the procedure (which involves making an incision in the perineum, the area between the vagina and the anus, during labor) continues to be employed in one-quarter of births. It was previously thought that making a surgical incision was preferable to the possibility of a natural tear during delivery, and the practice became widely employed by the 1940s with the rational being that subsequent stitching would be easier, as well as avoiding side effects like pelvic floor dysfunctions. It also helps to speed up the pushing phase of labor, by widening the vaginal opening for the baby to exit.

The study cited by this article, which reviewed over 50 years worth of data and research on the use of episiotomy came to these conclusions:

The JAMA researchers found that the benefits traditionally attributed to routine episiotomy do not exist. They also found that episiotomy actually increases the risk of severe tearing, pain with intercourse, incontinence and other pelvic problems following delivery. Based on these findings, the researchers called for an end to the procedure, except when the health of the fetus is at risk.

This is a huge step forward in recognizing something that midwives have known for a long time–this intervention is unnecessary and actually harmful in many cases. I witnessed the detrimental effects of episiotomy firsthand while observing in an Ecuadorian maternity ward. The doctors (actually medical students) there told me that while they knew that it was counter-indicated to perform routine episiotomies, they continued to do it anyway, for ALL women who labored at their maternity. One woman who I accompanied during her labor, whose pushing stage only lasted maybe 30 minutes, then required almost an hour and a half of stitching for the episiotomy she was given.

The article goes on to explain why there hasn’t been a more significant decrease in the use of the procedure in the two years since the study was released–the difficulty of educating older doctors.

A study published last year in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine showed that physicians in practice 15 years or more perform episiotomies 50 percent more often than those in practice less than 15 years. “I can’t wait for the doctors who do routine episiotomies to fall out by attrition,” says Hoskins. “That’s too long to wait.”

This is similar to the reason why in places like Ecuador, they are still employing old standards of episiotomy indications. In many foreign countries, particularly in Latin America, they follow the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology Guidelines. They use the US curriculum for teaching their students, and rely on the research and developments that come out of the practice in the US. The problem is, it can take a significant amount of time for these things to filter down, particularly to the level of public maternity practice in Ecuador. The accountability in those countries is not the same, and there is often times a stark difference between private maternity care and the services offered to low-income people in public hospitals.

Woman catches baby during cesarean section

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This article from the Australian newspaper The Age, tells the story of one mom who had an “assisted cesarean section,” where the mother is conscious and even is the first to touch her child–by helping pull the baby out of the womb.

Called “assisted caesarean”, the procedure allows the mother to be the first to hold her child, with her hands guided into the womb by medical staff. In what is believed to be only the third assisted caesarean in Australia in recent years, Perth mother Naomi Chapman, 38, helped deliver her third baby, Thomas, on April 2.

It’s definitely an interesting concept, which aligns with the desire of midwives to include women in the birth process. With the help of midwives, mothers and fathers have been catching their own babies for years now. But is this just an attempt to make an entirely medicalized process seem more mother-friendly? Luckily both the mother and doctor in this situation don’t want this procedure to encourage c-sections:

But women should not consider assisted caesareans ahead of vaginal birth. “I still think a vaginal birth is the best way to birth your baby,” Ms Chapman says. “I don’t want women to choose to have a caesarean because of this,” [Dr. Gunnell] says. “We need to be very clear that this is not a good alternative to a vaginal birth; the caesarean section rate is very high.”

Transgender people in the media: Anti-trans women bias?

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I haven’t touched much on transgender issues so far in this blog, but recently there have been three interesting pieces.

The first is a story on ABC News, I Want to Be Seen as Male, about a transgender (female to male) teenager, Jeremy and his process and struggles around transitioning. I thought it was a (surprisingly) thoughtful piece.

The second is a short film, Mookey’s Story: A Transgender Journey,  that has been entered into the VC Filmfest in Southern California, also about a transgender (female to male) person and his transition. It’s good to see trans people of color being discussed and highlighted as well.

It’s important to note that these stories–which represent trans people in a mostly positive and humanistic light (yay!)–are both about trans MEN (female to male). Trans activist and writer Julia Serano, author of the upcoming book Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity, has written some really interesting stuff about the representation of trans women (male to female) and I think this is another example of her theories about how most depictions of trans women in the media are negative (like trans women prostitutes) and focus a lot on their appearance (particularly the act of getting dressed or putting on make-up).

A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity

The most recent example of trans women being represented in the media is the NY Times video and article about a shelter for homeless transgender youth in Queens, NY. While not an entirely negative depiction, it does paint these women in a light which emphasizes their difficult pasts: broken homes, sexual abuse and drug problems. A very stark contrast to the seemingly well-adjusted trans men in the first two pieces.  

Is this just another reflection of sexism? There has been some discussion around the idea of trans male privilege (that by living and identifying as men, trans men achieve some level of male privilege), and this seems as if it could be related. I also think that people are more frightened by the idea of men giving up their male privilege to become women than the idea of women wanting to be men, leading to what could be called trans woman phobia. Just some thoughts.

Ultrasounds & Abortions

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There was quite a bit of noise last week around this article written for Slateby William Saletan about his opinion on ultrasounds and abortions. Many awesome bloggers have already responded to it, so I’ll just link you to their own great opinions. They’ve said it all.

A Bird and a Bottle, Feministe, Feministing, Echnide, Lawyers, Guns and Money

One thing that is interesting to add is that ultrasounds have not only changed our opinions about abortion, but also about childbirth. Birth advocates understand that fetal monitoring and other technologies that serve to monitor the fetus independent of the mother can also be blamed for a lot of unnecessary interventions during childbirth. Another piece of proof that technologies that serve to isolate the fetus from the mother–serve also to limit her choices around pregnancy and childbirth.

There is a growing field of natal surgeons and specialists who focus entirely on the unborn fetus, even doing extremely experimental and dangerous surgeries in the womb. I’ve been told they have scary brochures for their practices where the fetus is depicted (usually by ultrasound) completely absent from the mother’s body. As if children are all of a sudden gestated in space. Creepy.

More proof that the Federal Abortion Ban hurts women and families

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Read this testimony by Ilene Jaroslaw about why the Federal Abortion Ban would have prevented her from expanding her family, as well as putting her health at serious risk, in addition to possibly forcing her to carry a not-viable fetus to term.

Professor Maggie Little, abortion and censureship at a Catholic University

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The evening before the decision on the Federal Abortion Ban came down (which is why it has taken me until now to post this) I attended an event hosted by H*yas for Choice, the Pro-Choice student group at Georgetown University. Note the star in their name–it’s the result of Catholic censureship at the university, who refused to allow a pro-choice group to affiliate itself officially. They can’t get money from the University, and they can’t use their mascot–the Hoyas. Nevermind freedom of speech, or preserving an academic environment that fosters dialogue and dissent. This is the same university that won’t stock birth control or condoms on its campus, and that is threatening to pull financial aid from law students affiliated with the law students for choice group. But I digress.

Luckily though the University’s efforts have not stifled pro-choice activism on campus. A really committed group of students continues to try and promote dialogue within an extremely hostile environment. The event I attended was part of a “Choice week” and the students brought together a panel of people to talk about abortion within the broader context of reproductive justice. Speakers included Marissa Valeri from Catholics for a Free Choice, Kierra Johnson from Choice USA, Emily Goodstein from Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice and lastly Professor Maggie Little of the Georgetown Philosophy Department.

It was the arguments of Professor Little, who focuses her research of questions of ethics (particularly within Bioethics), that really resonated with me. Here are a few highlights from her presentation, and her answers to some really irrational and irritating questions from the almost entirely white & male anti-choice students who showed up at the panel.

  • The law has no place in regulating a woman’s continuance of gestation. There is a really strong equality based argument that pregnant woman are being treated unequally by being forced to continue gestating.
  • It is precisely because women take motherhood seriously that they might want to make the decision not to mother.
  • The law shouldn’t oblige me to provide my body for the use of another citizen. No other individual is forced by law to do so (for example in the case of a child who needed his father’s kidney to survive).

She rocks–and in a really radical way. She’s also currently writing a book about abortion, which I am really excited to see, because her arguments really cut through a lot of the emotional and political aura around the abortion issue and talk about the things that are really at stake: ethics, morality and what the government should and shouldn’t be allowed to legislate (particularly when it comes to an ambigious issue like abortion).

You can read more about her work on her website.