Sustainable Mothering » Birth

According to HHS, the Average U.S. Mom is White, White or White

Jake — Thu, 13 May 2010 20:44:28 +0000

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Department on Womens Health, is having a contest to choose the cover photo for an update of its Easy Guide to Breastfeeding. I popped over there when I saw the notice on Twitter and thought the choices weren't very interesting. They are generic photos, none of which [...]

Frontline’s War on Selectively Vaccinating Parents

Jake — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 19:40:53 +0000

A recent episode of the PBS program Frontline was called "The War on Vaccines." The title alone should have been the tip off that the producers' goal was to inflame and incite – to assume this was an entirely adversarial discussion between diametrically opposed viewpoints. But I knew that my colleague Jennifer Margulis, Contributing Editor [...]

Damaged By Accidentally Breastfeeding Someone Else’s Baby? Seriously??

Jake — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 20:51:24 +0000

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Jennifer and Scott Spiegel are suing the hospital in which Ms. Spiegel gave birth because she was accidentally brought the wrong baby to breastfeed. I haven't found a copy of the legal Complaint seeking damages in excess of $30,000 for the couple, but in every interview with the Spiegels I [...]

Not Another Blog Post About Breastfeeding and Weight Loss

Jake — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:16:28 +0000

When I was pregnant with my first son, I gave myself permission to eat as much as I wanted. On some level I decided "you're eating for two now" could reasonably be interpreted as "you're eating for twelve now." Having had a long history of binge eating and binge dieting, being pregnant gave me a [...]

Babies as Commodities: Will the Suleman Octuplets Be the Next Dionnes?

Jake — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 03:21:26 +0000

In a dark chapter of Canadian history, the Dionne quintuplets were a more popular tourist attraction than Niagara Falls. Back in 1934, the first known surviving quintuplets involved no reproductive technology – ethical or unethical. The Dionne girls were the product of one egg, fertilized during sexual intercourse, splitting into five embryos. What happened after [...]

Bringing Baby to Work: Maternity Leave Alternative?

Jake — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 22:34:35 +0000

Most mothers either want or need to both mother their children and work for a wage. It always surprises me that some find that a controversial statement. It is pretty hard (though some try) to dispute the economic necessity of waged labor for mothers in the U.S. (where I live) today. I won't go down [...]