Category Archives: Choice

Wax Study Revisited

By The Midwife | Published: October 9, 2011

Imagine the following scenario:  a meta-analysis comparing planned homebirths to planned hospital births is published, but it has so many statistical flaws in it that the journal which originally published it goes on to print several letters to the Editor critiquing the flawed research, in order to give the authors a second chance to explain [...]

Also posted in Complications, Homebirth, Hospitals, Issues, Labor and Birth, Midwifery, Politics, Research | 1 Comment

The Fight for Planned Parenthood

By The Midwife | Published: February 23, 2011

And now, on to the national scene.  As I’m sure everyone knows by now, the House voted last Friday 240 – 185 to defund Planned Parenthood, which has 800 clinics across the nation and provides thousands of women with family planning, birth control, STD treatment, pap smears, and primary gynecological health care annually (and yes, [...]

Also posted in Contraception, Feminism, Fertility and Conception, Politics, Primary Care, Women's Health | Leave a comment

Oh, South Dakota!

By The Midwife | Published: February 22, 2011

The good people of South Dakota had the sense to vote down referendums trying to outlaw abortion in 2006 and 2008.  However, there is a current bill still on the table (unfortunately not yet off the table) called H1171 which is taking the entire fight against abortion to a whole new level.  If abortion itself [...]

Also posted in Feminism, Politics, Women's Health | Leave a comment

Newsworthy 11/11/08

By The Midwife | Published: November 11, 2008

One week after our historic election of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States, here’s a very interesting article on what his presidency might mean for Women’s Health (of the non-”airquotes” variety), namely improved access to birth control and sex education (i.e. the federal government no longer funding abstinence-only programs), a reversal [...]

Also posted in Complications, Contraception, Education, Feminism, Labor and Birth, Politics, Pregnancy, Research, Sex and Sexuality, Women's Health | 4 Comments

New hope for South Dakota

By The Midwife | Published: October 25, 2008

As reported by the Daily Kos, a rigorous new poll shows that Measure 11, South Dakota’s latest attempt to ban abortion, might not pass as easily as everyone originally thought.  South Dakota’s initial attempt to ban abortion in 2006 was defeated by 56% to 44%, mainly because the bill included no exceptions for victims of [...]

Also posted in Feminism, Politics, Women's Health | 3 Comments

ACOG’s Statement on Homebirths

By The Midwife | Published: February 11, 2008

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recently issued a Statement on Homebirth which condemns homebirth and all those who are willing to attend homebirth (aka midwives), concluding that only “…the safest setting for labor, delivery, and the immediate postpartum period is in the hospital, or a birthing center within a hospital complex, that [...]

Also posted in Birth Centers, Homebirth, Hospitals, Labor and Birth, Politics | 2 Comments

Grassroots Birth Survey

By The Midwife | Published: December 5, 2007

The other day I discovered a postcard at my local yoga center urging women to participate in a birth survey, which instantly piqued my interest; apparently this survey has already been going on for some time, although I have only now heard about it. A little research has revealed that the Coalition for Improving Maternity [...]

Also posted in Birth Centers, Homebirth, Hospitals, Midwifery, Politics, Pregnancy, Research | 1 Comment

Female Genital Circumcision revisited

By The Midwife | Published: November 1, 2007

A few weeks ago, Dark Daughta over at One Tenacious Baby Mama asked me for a contribution to her new weekly series entitled Reloaded, which happens every Sunday and features old posts that are worth posting and reading a second time (oldies but goodies, as she calls them). She wanted posts that I was particularly [...]

Also posted in Education, Feminism, Myth, Folklore and Ritual, Politics, Sex and Sexuality, Violence Against Women | Leave a comment

Old and New News Roundup 10/2/07

By The Midwife | Published: October 2, 2007

So, I’m back in the blogosphere again, and realizing that I’ve been missing a lot of important news by taking a vacation for a few months. Here’s a quick overview of some of the stories I’ve found most pressing (and/or impressive) lately, even though some of these stories are old news by blog standards, and [...]

Also posted in Breastfeeding, Education, Feminism, Midwifery, Politics, Women's Health | 2 Comments

UK midwife responds

By The Midwife | Published: April 27, 2007

My post last week on the UK’s new birth agenda Maternity Matters prompted a UK midwife, Anna Skye, to write the following response on her blog Tales of Midwifery—the Truth. Rather a much-needed reality check, I suppose, to someone (yours truly) whose knowledge of the matter was based only on what she was reading in [...]

Also posted in Homebirth, Hospitals, Labor and Birth, Midwifery, Miscellaneous, Politics | Leave a comment