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When people ask me why I have decided to become a midwife, my general response is "oh, long story...art history.. feminist notions..mind body..yoga...etc...etc...etc...intuition". Yes, most importantly intuition. I do feel that helping a woman thought this rite of passage, this liminal event is my calling.
But what really confirmed it for me was becoming a doula. It was in my training workshops, surrounded by brave, compassionate, smart peers, that I felt centered and inspired. And important. I made incredible friends, have a wise community from which to draw and feel like I am serving women in a tangible and significant way.
If you're in New York and would like to become a doula, on of my doula teachers is offering a workshop series in the coming weeks. It will be taught at the Open Center and Celeste is offering a free intro class on this Friday, July 25th.
Please see details here.
Summer, Sex and Spirits at the Museum of Sex on Tuesday, July 29th - a Planned Parenthood event.
You should go! See invite here.
* a personal aside: In college I had a professor that talked about the Museum of Sex, alot. I think it might have had to do with museum theory. Regardless, several friends and I became obsessed with this interactive feature: Mapping Sex in America.
In light of the recent disturbing women's heath news of the past few weeks. I thought I share some positive current event stories:
1) A House subcommittee passes bill to increase funds for international family planning programs and to overturn the 'global gag rule'.
Excerpt from article by the National Partnership for Women & Families:
The House measure, which passed the House-State Foreign Operations Subcommittee, would provide $600 million for foreign family planning programs, a 30% increase from FY 2008, including $60 million for the United Nations Population Fund. The Senate measure, which passed the full Appropriations Committee by a 28-1 vote, would provide $520 million for family planning programs, including $45 million for UNFPA... The Senate measure also would overturn the so-called "Mexico City" policy, also known as the "global gag" rule, while the House measure does not address the issue (CQ Today, 7/17). The policy bars U.S. funding to foreign nongovernmental organizations that, with non-U.S. funds, provide or pay for abortion services or counseling, or engage in advocacy on abortion-related issues.
See RH Reality Check's coverage of this news, too.
2) Jessica Alba touts her natural childbirth experience: "I didn't scream. It was really Zen. I wanted to do it naturally. The labor was more like meditation. I did yoga breathing. I was focused."
Have you heard: birth control= abortionl? Amazing logic...
The Department of Health and Human Services and George Bush want to restrict funding for the provision family planning services. Even more, this proposal enables any health-care worker or institution to easily refuse distribution of birth control. One of the scariest parts about the wording of this rule is their definition of abortion which could be interpreted to include hormonal birth control.
From the proposed HHS rule:
Abortion: An abortion is the termination of a pregnancy. There are two commonly held views on the question of when a pregnancy begins. Some consider a pregnancy to begin at conception (that is, the fertilization of the egg by the sperm), while others consider it to begin with implantation (when the embryo implants in the lining of the uterus).17 A 2001 Zogby International American Values poll revealed that 49% of Americans believe that human life begins at conception. Presumably many who hold this belief think that any action that destroys human life after conception is the termination of a pregnancy, and so would be included in their definition of the term “abortion.” Those who believe pregnancy begins at implantation believe the term “abortion” only includes the destruction of a human being after it has implanted in the lining of the uterus.
“If the Administration goes through with this draft proposal, it will launch a dangerous assault on women’s health." Nancy Pelosi, California Congress Woman
“We worry that under the proposal, contraceptive services would become less available to low-income and uninsured women.” Mary June Gallagher, president of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association
Join the fight. We need your help- any small action of advocacy is powerful and important. Write a few letters (electronic templates provided on the following links):
NARAL
Planned Parenthood
Physicians for Reproductive Health
NFPRHA
For more reading on this topic, please take a look at these resources:
New York Times
Feministing
RH Reality Check
Huffington Post
more from Women's Health News
Just wanted to share two things that made my week. Not babies this time (none came my way).
1) Feist on Sesame Street
2) Encounters at the End of the World
"Solitude, says the moon shell. Center-down say the Quaker saints...Why have we been seduced into abandoning this timeless inner strength of women for the temporal out strength of man..."
Gift from the Sea, Ann Morrow Lindbergh
It seems to be frowned upon in our contemporary Western society: to take a bit of time to day- dream. Almost to the point where we have forgotten how. I find my "yang" energy rises with me to greet my New York City day and urges me on to do and do. But sometimes it feels too hard too keep pushing and taking a firm stance, like I'm not really listening to me. I hear pregnant women complain of their "pregnancy brain". Your baby is softening your thoughts for you-- allowing your body to create and complete its deep internal work. There is little else energy to be spent being totally productive or socially present. Enjoy these fuzzy, dreamy times.
Intention for this weekend, for you and I: to take a few moments alone, to dip down into silence and stillness, to feel open and nurtured in a small and gentle shift of mind.
It is a full moon tonight, too.
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