Just sent in an application to attend the first Music Therapy Assisted Childbirth workshop in years!

Tumblr, in all its glorious wisdom, won’t let me reblog myself, but please reblog my post, Resources for Decision-Making and Low-Income Parenting! The more people who know about it, the better!

talesfromthebirthassistant:

(via Voting is open – 2012 IAPBP Image of the Year Competition | Birth Photographers)

A diaphragm powered by an ocean wave: how singing through labor made me epic →

jenniferthorsondoula:

“It was like magic. For me, singing during a contraction was like singing with your diaphragm powered by an ocean wave.”

Yes!

47 Questions I Should Have Asked My Midwife →

kikidonahue:

Super thorough list of questions to ask your midwife in a consultation

(Source: katiohead, via jenniferthorsondoula)

thesewatersrundeep:

Survivor Moms: Women’s Stories of Birthing, Mothering and Healing after Sexual Abuse will help you discover how sexual abuse affects women during pregnancy and childbirth. You’ll learn from the experiences of 81 women and find suggestions for working together during maternity care and beyond. The book includes resources and information from current research. Suitable for both caregivers and pregnant survivors, Survivor Moms will help anyone whose life has been touched by sexual abuse. Learn more and order here: http://www.midwiferytoday.com/products/MB02.htm

(via stfuconservatives)

violentchaos:

The beautiful Nerissa giving water birth to her daughter with her doula.

I rarely see POC in birth pictures on Tumblr. Are there blogs out there dedicated to POC and queer birth photos and experiences?

(via birthjunkie)

Doulas as Emotional Birth Companions

myplannedparenthood:

Today’s Feronia author thinks doulas are dynamite. Here’s why.

Post-Labor Day Treat: The Stages of Labor

myplannedparenthood:

Ever wanted a blow-by-blow account of what the body is doing as a baby is delivered? Want no more …

(via rabbleprochoice)

"

Birthing Justice – Saving Our Lives:

Black Women, Pregnancy and Childbirth

Edited by Julia C. Oparah, Shanelle K. Matthews and Alicia D. Bonaparte.

A project of Black Women Birthing Justice

Birthing Justice – Saving Our Lives will be an anthology of critical essays and personal testimonies that explore African American, African, Caribbean and diasporic women’s experiences of childbirth from a radical social justice perspective. We seek writings by midwives, doulas, natural childbirth advocates, reproductive rights activists, moms and moms-to-be, sociologists, feminist and Africana studies scholars, and historians that document state control and medical violence against black pregnant women, revitalize our birthing traditions, and honor and record empowering and sacred birth experiences. We are particularly interested in essays that document activism and resistance.

Women in Africa and the African diaspora have rich traditions of midwifery and “motherwit”, rooted in the Southern states of the U.S., and in Africa and the Caribbean, that have empowered many thousands of women to give birth naturally without control and supervision by (male) medical professionals. Yet almost a century of scapegoating of “granny” and immigrant midwives, and aggressive efforts to control childbirth by the medical industry, has left many black women in the U.S. unaware of these traditions and unable to access alternatives to a medicalized and often disempowering birth experience.

Far from improving maternal and infant health, the massive expansion of physician-supervised hospital births has arguably resulted in extremely poor maternal outcomes in the U.S., when compared to other industrialized nations. Black women in particular have maternal mortality rates 3 to 4 times that of white women. In Africa and the Caribbean, the adoption of a colonial obstetric model has also undermined women’s indigenous birthing knowledge. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest infant and maternal mortality rates in the world due to a complex mix of factors, however development approaches to this problem frequently involve training of midwives/sage-femmes in contested Western medical practices.

Black women’s experience of the medicalization and regulation of childbirth is unique, because it has been characterized by both malign neglect and by overt state coercion. Exclusion and control have not been met passively, but have spurred both grassroots activism and covert resistance within communities in Africa and the diaspora.

Topics may include, but are not limited to:

Granny midwives and black immigrant midwives stories
Indigenous midwifery knowledge in Africa and the Caribbean
Childbirth and midwifery knowledge in immigrant communities
The eradication of lay midwifery and granny midwives
Founding of Black women’s birthing centers
Doulas’ journeys
Black women and the homebirth movement
Black women and the natural childbirth movement
Black women’s political/legislative activism
Medical violence
Strategies for addressing maternal mortality in the U.S., Africa and the Caribbean
Personal testimonies of empowering and traumatic birth experiences
Medical homophobia and black LGBT experiences
Reproductive technology, surrogacy and the role of science in reconfiguring birth
Transmen’s pregnancy and birth journeys
Ableism and birth experiences of black women with disabilities
Teenage and older women’s birth stories
Birth mother and adoption “triad” birth stories
Health insurance/Health care activism and maternal health
Racism and classism in hospitals and the medical profession
Capitalism and the medical industrial complex
Globalization, poverty and maternal outcomes
Birth experiences of women in prison
Shackling of pregnant women
Grassroots organizing strategies, challenges and successes

Please send a short description of your essay (250 words) and biographical statement (150 words) by September 1, 2012. All submissions should be submitted to julia@bwbj.org.

"

Call for Submissions | BLACK WOMEN BIRTHING JUSTICE (via guerrillamamamedicine)

(via guerrillamamamedicine)

Resources for Decision-Making and Low-Income Parenting

Health Care:

• 211.org can connect you to help with food, housing, employment, health care, counseling and more
• Scarleteen’s Find-A-Doc lets you search for doctors, counselors, shelters/centers, doulas, and other sexual/reproductive health services. You can also add or read reviews.
• Look over your insurance options at Healthcare.gov
• Your state’s Medicaid program
• The Affordable Care Act expands insurance and health care options for pregnant people and children, including the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). You can find local health care centers, services, and information on their page.
• Many Planned Parenthood locations provide general health care at little to no cost, depending on your income
• Nurse-Family Partnership offers free at-home (or another safe place) pregnancy and childcare assistance until your child turns two.
• NeedyMeds is a directory of programs that offer assistance to people who can’t afford their medications or health care.
• Free Dental Care can help you find low-cost or free clinics
• Look for dental and dental hygiene schools if you are comfortable with closely-supervised students
• Your state’s United Way program may sponsor or help you connect with low-cost or free dental care
• You can straight up ask for a discount at your doctor’s office. The Billfold’s How to Get Health Care While Uninsured has more on the topic.

• Women, Infants and Children (WIC) for food and health care services
• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
• Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP)
• If you’re a Native American living on or near a reservation, apply for Food Distribution on Indian Reservations (FDPIR)
• Find your local food bank

• Backline can connect you to parenting resources
• Your state’s Department of Human Services may have a program to provide low-income, working parents with access to quality, affordable child care
• The US Department of Health and Human Services sponsors the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) to both states and Native tribes
• eHow has a step-by-step guide to finding child care assistance through Child Care Aware
• Detroit’s Sew Up the Safety Net for Women and Children is a free program connecting women ages 18-34 to parenting support, counseling, baby health and care information, and other services and education
• You may be able to find parenting and home ec. classes, baby materials, social support, child care, and other resources through your place of worship
• Many diaper and formula companies offer free samples and opportunities to win packages or cash

Help for low-income parents?

I know of a lot of resources to help people access safe, legal abortion, but I’d like to find more for low-income parents or soon-to-be parents. One of the most commonly listed reasons for getting an abortion is financial strain. Someone who truly wants to be a parent deserves all the help they need. If anyone has any information on the following, whether it’s national, state, or local, and especially if it’s trans* friendly, please reblog or message me!

Financial assistance/providers for:

• Prenatal and postnatal care (including ultrasounds)
• Birth and alternative birthing options (homebirth, birthing centers, midwives, doulas, etc.)
• Infant care
• Baby items
• Child care for working/student parents
• Food
• Rent/utilities

Other:

• Parenting advice and support groups
• Home ec. and other practical classes (online or not)
• Resources for people in domestic violence situations
• Counseling and support for victims of abuse (pregnancy and birth can be triggers)
• Crisis pregnancy centers/pregnancy resource centers that provide nonjudgmental, no-strings-attached services
• Any other needs I’ve forgotten

I’m trying to join a doula circle.

ladiespugsandperiods:

I’ve been emailing with the president of the group for a couple of months now. She finally got around to “interviewing” me through an email and tomorrow she wants to talk on the phone. Here are her questions:

        I noticed that your doula training wasn’t with DONA or CAPPA…we are attempting to be the only DONA certified group (100%) in Jacksonville…would you be opposed to becoming certified? :)

·         How many births have you attended thus far?

·         What is your personal doula philosophy?

·         Are you interested in working with a doula group?

Here is my response:

Personally, I do not wish to be certified through DONA. 

I am opposed to receiving an evaluation from my client’s doctor(s)/care providers to receive doula certification. I believe as a doula, the mother’s opinion of how well I support her emotionally and physically is the only valid critique. 

I strive to work with the care providers and nurses to bring forward the best support team possible for the mother. I understand that my role as a doula is not medical and because of that, I do not understand DONA’s need for care providers and nurses to evaluate my compassion for the mother’s emotional well-being. This also goes with CAPPA. 

Also, I do not approve of DONA’s request for attending only 1 caesarian birth out out of the 3 required for their certification process. Though it may not be what DONA intends to mean, by asking to include just 1 caesarian birth, it seems invalidate the learning experience the doula may have had with her client(s) prior to the birth and post-partum.

All of this being said, I wish to say that this does not mean I do not respect my doula sisters who are DONA or CAPPA certified. I admire the dedication of every woman who realizes her calling to be a doula. 

I am proud of my training through Natural Resources. I chose Natural Resources because it is a local gem for mothers, families, and aspiring doulas/midwives like myself. They provide workshops for breast-feeding and first aid, along with support for new moms. Natural Resources also provides parents with doula meet-and-greets which bring the community to meet the area’s doulas. 

The training I recieved at Natural Resources to become a birth doula was 27 hours long in all + a 6-hour course on Hypnobirthing provided by a Hypnobirth educator + a 5.5 hour course on labor massage. DONA’s requirements are a 16-hour birth doula course, plus a 12-hour course childbirth education series that can be subsituted for a 7-hour course. 

I have attended 4 births while volunteering at SF General. Shifts for each volunteer happen once a month and are 12 hours long. 

My doula philosophy is that every labor will end in a birth; that meaning, no matter what plans go astray or what special circumstances arise, a beautiful new person is coming into this world and that should be celebrated in the way the family wants with an amazing support team. 

Since becoming a doula, I have wanted to work with a group of doulas. I would love to have a team of friends that can support and be proud of the service I am providing the community, while understanding the compassion. 

I understand that when being a doula, we ourselves can become vulnerable to what we hear and see, whether it be joyous or anguish. To have a circle of wonderful ladies as yourselves to comfort and celebrate with me, would be a dream come true. 

And I also understand that you serve the whole community, which is why I contacted you. In San Francisco, I reside in one of the most diverse neighborhoods the Bay Area has to offer. 80% of the women who go to SF General are Spanish-speaking, so I have attended births where there is a language barrier. I have also seen doulas attend mothers who were homeless and couldn’t be allowed to keep their children. 

I appreciate that all the women I work with and will work with come from all walks of life. It keeps my line our line of work, a learning experience. :)

I work tomorrow at my coffee shop from 7AM - 3PM, making the time I would be able to call you around 3:30PM/ 6:30PM EST time? Would be this OK or is this too late? 

Also please give me any feedback on the above. It is great to speak with you and hear your opinions as the starter of a doula group. Also it is an honor for you to provide this opportunity, even if it has just been a couple of emails back and forth!

Thank you so much!

Sarah Hawkins

I am hoping this will suffice for why I don’t want to be certified by DONA or CAPPA. I want her to see how passionate I am about this. And how badly I want to be apart of her circle without judging me on why I don’t want to be certified through these organizations.

This is a beautiful letter, and you have had amazing experience in training and volunteering. Any doula circle should be happy to have you!

(via rootsgrowup-deactivated20120729)

"Choice Should Include Birth" →

keepyourboehneroutofmyuterus:

From my other blog…

My friend is pretty far into her first pregnancy at this point and wrote me this message:

Also this: on reproductive rights. I want to give birth in a freestanding birth center. I am moving to the only state that has outlawed them (and one of over a dozen states that has made it illegal for cpm’s [Certified Professional Midwives] to attend homebirths … And so, made homebirth less safe). I have always been pro-choice regarding prevention and termination of pregnancy, but never have I felt personally victimized (having never had an unwanted pregnancy … Or the need to terminate a unwanted one) … Until now. Choice should include birth. Contemplating childbirth is a scary thing and I can’t even begin to explain how the fear is compounded by my anger that I can’t give birth where (and, consequently, how (want a waterbirth, no IV, and very minimal monitoring and cervical checks, etc. etc.) I feel the most safe! 

There’s more at the link.

By making CPMs illegal, you prevent access not only by people who could afford them out-of-pocket or through insurance, but by people who could otherwise access their services through state programs - people who can’t afford time off work, expensive birthing tubs and other equipment, and a large, handpicked birthing team of diverse specialties, people whose homes may not be safe to give birth in but whose insurance (if it exists) won’t cover [enough of] their birth in a birth center or other setting, and people who didn’t even know alternatives existed. These people, if they aren’t fortunate enough to have personal relationships with experts, will likely get the lowest quality of care, the least education on, and the least control over their pregnancy and birth experience. That’s no choice.

(Source: keepyourbsoutofmyuterus)

New Trans Families →

transreprojustice:

About:

It’s tough being the only woman in the deposit line at the sperm bank. What’s worse is feeling like you’re the only person in the world who’s been there.

New Trans Families is a site for transgender/transsexual people and their partners to share helpful information and advice about starting families and raising kids.

We made this site because couldn’t find any good information on these topics for trans people and our partners. A lot of LGBT resources are written by and for non-trans people, and don’t include anything about the particular issues trans people face or the questions we have.

How do you explain the “facts of life” to your child in age-appropriate ways? How do you raise a kid to be proud of her family, and still have her understand why it’s not a good idea to “out” her trans mom to her whole first-grade class? How do you deal when that happens anyway? Many two-mom families find ways not to answer the awful “whose baby is it?” question, but what do you say to lesbian friends who are trying to conceive and want to talk shop, but don’t know about your history?

So many questions! This site is for helping each other figure out the answers, and for sharing trans-specific information on:

• Banking genetic material
• Fertility and conception
• Pregnancy and birth
• Adoption
• Surrogacy
• Babies!!!
• Raising kids
• Explaining trans stuff to your child
• Dealing with teachers and school
• Legal issues
• And a whole lot of stuff we haven’t even realized we have to figure out yet.

xox,

Sarah & Amy

Write for New Trans Families:

We’re looking for:

• Personal experience stories that focus on how you solved a problem or made an important decision.
• Reviews of queer pregnancy, parenting, and children’s books that are especially good or bad on trans issues.
• First-hand recommendations and tips on how to find trans-sensitive doctors, midwives, doulas, cryobanks, endocrinologists, and other service providers.
• “What to expect” stories and tips for getting through uncomfortable situations, to help others be more prepared and less afraid than we were.
• Videos of babies and kitties playing or snuggling together (we may not post it, but we will love it).
• Suggestions for new categories not listed above.

To submit something, just email write@newtransfamilies.com. It’s fine if you don’t want to use your real name. If you’re not sure if something would work on the site, just ask. If you have a lot of things you want to share and need help breaking them down into useful posts, we can help with that too.

(via outlawmidwives)