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Choice and the Myth of the Hysterical Woman

August 7, 2009 By 3 Comments

You may or may not know, dear readers, that the term hysterectomy literally means “to remove hysteria” — it was thought, way back, during the beginning of the development of modern medicine, that girl parts (the uterus, in particular) made women hysterical and by removing them men would be saved from the bane of female insanity.

What, you ask, does this have to do with the NJ woman who, against the advice of her physician, refused to have a c-section and, as a result, lost custody of her child (who, incidentally, was born healthy, despite her insistence on a natural birth)?

The notion behind surgically removing hysteria from women has EVERYTHING to do with the NJ case. The decision to remove VM’s child from her care was made based on her refusal to undergo a c-section and on her “erratic” behavior during the labor process. It also has everything to do with abortion and reproductive choice. I’ll get to that part shortly, I promise.
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Filed Under: Abortion, Pregnancy Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Forced C-Sections–Why Real Choice Matters

July 31, 2009 By 4 Comments

In a recent Huffington Post piece, Louise Marie Roth, PhD., tells the horrifying story of a mother who, during a normal, full-term birth, refused to have a c-section–against medical advice. The mother (V.M.), was accused by hospital staff of being irrational and erratic. Her refusal to have a c-section (an invasive procedure she felt *rightly* was unnecessary) was later used as evidence in a case that resulted in the termination of her parental rights.

There are so many threads to this story (and others like it), I am overwhelmed by the possibilities! It seems that a series is in order. So, for the next few Fridays, I will take up a discussion of Dr. Roth’s post and its implications for choice and for the pro-choice movement. I also have a lot to say about some of the points she doesn’t make. Its a great post, don’t get me wrong. But there is so much going on here that she could not have possibly covered it all. I invite you, dear readers, to join in the discussion! Chime in, let me know what you think! [Read more...]

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Push for C-sections an attack on choice.

July 16, 2009 By 6 Comments

The World Health Organization recommends a Cesarean rate of between 5 and 15 percent, yet in the U.S. the Cesarean rate is at a steady 30 percent, and many estimate that this trend will continue to rise. Although this is an issue being taken into serious examination by birth professionals specifically, it is an issue that has failed to capture the attention of the pro-choice community.

In many, if not most, cases, women are pressured into C-sections by their doctors. As someone with a passion for pregnancy and birth issues and someone who has worked in the industry, I have heard countless reasons doctors have told mothers they “need to” have a C-section. I have heard everything from the baby is past due to the baby is big, to the mother has had a previous C-section (a fact that in no way should prevent a mother from delivering vaginally in the future). On one occasion I even heard a new mother say that her (male) doctor had told her she “had” to have a C-section because her baby moved around in the womb so much! It was just not true.

The agenda of the pro-choice community must be expanded to include pregnant women’s rights, including exposing the abuse of C-sections going on in this country. Women who are unlucky enough to have a medical practitioner who does not have faith in the natural birthing process (there are more out there than you would think) are essentially being stripped of their choices in the birthing process. Pro-choice activists must reclaim pregnancy and birth as a vital women’s health issue and thus help all women to have faith in their ability to birth naturally or at least educated about all their options. [Read more...]

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Feminist for Choice: Ina May Gaskin

July 10, 2009 By 3 Comments

inamae_10Ina May Gaskin is a righteous feminist for choice who has spent her life striving to improve women’s health services. Gaskin has not only made significant and historical contributions to the women’s health field, she continues to be actively engaged in the movement to educate both pregnant women and the general public about pregnancy, safe labor and delivery, and societal misconceptions about the childbirth process.

Gaskin received her start in midwifery in a manner that is heavily romantic to a post-modern hippie such as myself. After a disappointing birth experience with her first child, Gaskin and her then-husband moved to California to join its hippie community. It was there that she met Stephen Gaskin, a popular speaker on topics of interest to the growing hippie community. Gaskin and her then-husband became close friends and eventually joined a 50-bus convoy that traveled the country while Stephen gave presentations arranged by preachers about what being a hippie was all about. The convoy eventually founded the famous commune The Farm, and Gaskin become its lead midwife, although her only training was the hands-on training she had gained delivering babies while the convoy was on the road. Wow!

Gaskin authored Spiritual Midwifery in 1977, largely based on her experience working as a midwife at The Farm. The book provides a comprehensive guide to childbirth and includes empowering birth stories from several of the families who birthed at The Farm with Gaskin. One of my favorite things about the book is that it includes the mother’s partner and community as an integral part of pregnancy and birth. When viewing the black and white photographs of The Farm women and their partners (most often husbands at the time) in “hippie” clothing that I would sell my left arm for, I smile to myself and aspire to have a birth experience that will leave my family and I with similarly contented expressions on our faces.
The book introduced an entire generation to the notion of natural childbirth and continues to be studied by practitioners today. [Read more...]

Filed Under: History, Parenting, Pregnancy Tagged With: , , , , ,

Pregnancy Stories: Why I Chose a Doula

July 3, 2009 By 3 Comments

This story comes from Freddi Jo Bruschke in California. She’s an MIT graduate and bad ass mom and grassroots activist. These are her words. . .

1. Why did you decide to use a doula for your pregnancies?
During my first pregnancy, I initially look for doula because we were unable to get our insurance to pay for a midwife (most won’t). Having a doula seemed to be a way to soften the hospital experience and insure that we would have an advocate. We wanted someone who was experienced with birth and would know what was happening. We wanted a third-party who wouldn’t be emotionally involved in the birth and could remain calm and collected when we weren’t. I had also read the research about improved birth outcomes when doulas were involved. Our doula for Milo’s birth, Kym, was very experienced; I think she had attended over 100 births. We hired a doula for Shea’s birth because of the incredible experience we had with Kym. We also realized the advantages of having another set of helping hands so Jon could have some breaks. And, honestly, taking care of a woman in labor is at least a two-person job. Since we believed that the birth would be routine and we knew what to expect, we hired a beginner doula.

2. What wold you say were the benefits of having a doula?
I think I covered those above. You’ve read the research on decreased incidence of medical interventions and lower rates of complications. I think the best thing about Kym was the way she stood up for us at the hospital. We did not anticipate that we would be intimidated (who would?) as it turned out we were. When the nurses (and later the doctor) pressured us to succumb to their wishes, Kym was assertive enough to argue with them. I don’t think Jon was quite up to it at the time. It was all pretty ridiculous, but these are the important things. One nurse wanted me to have an IV, despite what my doctor had agreed to in our birth plan, and continued to argue that I was going to get dehydrated. So while I was in transition, Kym and the nurse had an argument about whether one could stave off dehydration by drinking water. And the doctor, whom we had never met as it was a weekend, actually picked up scissors to give me an episiotomy before Kym, and I think, Jon stopped him. [Read more...]

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Reproductive Health and Partner Violence

July 3, 2009 By 4 Comments

I recently read “’He Thought a Baby Would Keep Me in His Life Forever: When Partner Abuse Isn’t a Bruise But a Pregnant Belly” by Lynn Harris. The article sheds light on an issue long ignored even by those concerned both with domestic violence and reproductive health or rights: there is a strong, visible, and destructive connection between domestic violence and women’s reproductive health. The article highlights some of the current research being done on the topic and pays special attention to the connection between teen pregnancy and partner violence.

In a culture that glorifies teenage pregnancy and demonizes single mothers and women who chose to terminate their pregnancies, attention to the obvious relationship between such things as unplanned pregnancies and abuse is long overdue.

Harris states that “reproductive control” is a more common facet of partner violence than most have been willing to recognize. More women and experts are citing “boyfriends demanding unprotected sex, lying about “pulling out,” hiding or destroying birth control — flushing pills down the toilet, say — and preventing (or, in some cases, forcing) abortion.” [Read more...]

Filed Under: Abortion, Birth Control, Pregnancy, Safe Sex, Sex Education Tagged With: , , , , , ,

With Woman Cooperative Gives Pregnant Women Options

June 26, 2009 By Leave a Comment

pregnantAlthough I never plan to become pregnant, I have become fascinated with the birthing experience. I recently watched “The Business of Being Born,” and the documentary blew me away. It was astounding to learn that the US has the highest maternal and infant mortality rate in the industrialized world, yet we have the largest number of hospital births. In Europe and Japan, women give birth at home in fairly large percentages. Yet women who choose home births in the US are viewed as crazy, crunchy granola heads who don’t know what’s best for their babies. So, too, are women who opt to utilize a doula or a midwife during the birthing process. Although doulas and midwives were the standard caregivers for pregnant women in the early 1900′s, a doctor is now the default option for most women.

As I started doing research on the birthing industry, I discovered a group called the With Woman Doula Cooperativa in New York. They are a community of doulas who seek to support one another through mentoring and mutual support. I spoke to Natashia Fuksman, the director of the With Woman Doula Cooperativa. Here’s what she had to say:

The Cooperativa was founded in December of 2008. Our creation involved lots of conversation about the need for parents in NYC to have access to doulas of varying experience levels and correlating price ranges that are affiliated with some sort of reputable local group—so rather than finding someone who was less experienced and offering her services at a lower cost, but not knowing anything else about her professional background or colleagues, parents could go to an organization that actively works on professional development and engages doulas in the sisterhood of mentorship. All of our less seasoned doulas work in groups and with one-on-one mentoring with our more seasoned doulas. [Read more...]

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Why teenagers still need good safe sex advice

June 20, 2009 By 2 Comments

During my travels to Imperial Valley I was shocked to hear some of the sex “tactics” young men were using on the young womyn for sex (for the purposes of this post we’ll call them Billy and Janet) . A couple left the party to get it on and before intercourse Janet asked Bill if he had a condom. Bill did not have one but suggested that he pull out. I am happy to report that Janet had enough smarts to say, “Um… no that’s stupid and I never want to hear you tell another womyn that again.” Billy complained and tried to tell Janet it would be fine but she stood by her guns and said, “no.” Thankfully the couple went back the the party where Billy asked a friend for a condom and the couple had safe sex. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Abortion, Activism, Birth Control, Dudes for Choice, Pregnancy, Safe Sex, Sex Education

Watch List: Orgasmic Birth

June 14, 2009 By 1 Comment

orgasmicbirthcoverOrgasmic Birth
Directed by Debra Pascali-Bonaro
Produced by Debra Pascali-Bonaro and Kris Liem

Women of earth, take back your birth!
- Lonnie C. Morris, CNM, ND

As an aspiring doula and having grown up with a mother who was a licensed midwife, I have seen a myriad of birth videos. I would honestly say, however, that Orgasmic Birth is the best and most enjoyable birth video I have ever seen.

The overall purpose of the film is to encourage women to view birth as an organic process in which they are able to exercise complete control. Stories of several couples are presented to provide proof that this is indeed a possibility. Orgasmic Birth does a wonderful job of including stories and labor experiences that are as intriguing as the title. The first couple we meet is having their baby in their backyard. In the post-labor interview the father explains how much he enjoyed telling his friends that his baby was born “On the deck, 3:00 p.m., on a Sunday.”  I was instantly intrigued.

Although the birth scenes in the film were idealized in that they happened in pleasant circumstances (imagine that), I appreciated that the filmmakers did not hide the reality of the process; it can often be long and yes, painful. Despite these dynamics, birth is nothing that every woman is not capable of.
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Filed Under: Film Reviews, Pregnancy Tagged With: , ,

MTV’s New Sex Ed Push

June 10, 2009 By 3 Comments

MTV has been a presence in teens’ lives since it’s creation in 1981. That’s nearly 30 years of influence. Now, in my opinion, MTV used to be much cooler back when Real World was in Seattle and they showed hours of full length music videos (and therefore living up to its name as Music Television). Now, MTV has morphed into some gruesome manifestation that’s focus seems far from music (unless you count the JoBros as music, for me not so much). But, the television station is still trying to have a positive impact on teen lives.

In April this year, which was also STD Awareness month, MTV, in coalition with the Kaiser Family Foundation and Planned Parenthood, launched a campaign called GYT. Any guesses as to what this stands for? It took me a while to figure this out: GYT=Get Yourself Tested. MTV is trying to communicate with the text-savvy teens of today with its campaign using slogans like ILY GYT (I love you, Get yourself tested) WTF GYT (What the f**k, Get yourself tested), and my all time favorite OMG GYT (this one is self-explanatory, I think).

I think this campaign, although a little cheesy, is fantastic. Planned Parenthood is saying that the have already seen some positive results that could be attributed to the campaign. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Birth Control, Pregnancy, Safe Sex, Sex Education Tagged With: , , , , ,
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