CENSORED at La Leche League Conference

By Carol Downer
www.womenshealthinwomenshands.org

[Note: Carol Downer attended "LA LECHE LEAGUE OF SO. CA/NV Supporting a Breastfeeding Culture, A Parenting & Healthcare Professional Conference”, May 24-26, 2013 at the Marriott Newport Beach (CA) Hotel & Spa]

SUMMARY: We were censored!  Although we had cleared all our materials in advance, we were informed at the last minute that we would not be able to display any literature or items that dealt with birth control or abortion.  I stayed despite these limitations and talked to many wonderful women, and spread the word about Self-Help, our women’s clinics and the Pro-Woman Agenda.  I found new friends and allies, resources and gave away over 20 speculums!

ATTENDEES: Based on the high number of small children at the conference, many in the care of their fathers, I concluded that most of the attendees are breastfeeders, and that they were either LLL “leaders” (they volunteer and facilitate the monthly meetings of breastfeeding moms).  There were also a number of midwives, doulas, lactation consultants, childbirth educators, nurses.   

CENSORSHIP
I put out a call for support to come with me to set up my table, but unfortunately it was too late to get anything more than moral support.  Fortunately, the moral support that results from a women’s health movement from the last 40 years and the work that we have collectively done to fight for women’s rights to birth control and abortion strengthened me to walk into a environment hostile to women’s rights to birth control and abortion that WHWH stands for and achieve a amicable resolution with the conference organizers.  I removed from the table about one-half the items with “birth control” or “abortion” on them (including A New View of a Woman’s Body and the Del’em and pictures of the female condom) and in their place, I posted signs saying “CENSORED”.   The organizers told me that U.N. regulations prohibits La Leche League from mentioning birth control or abortion.  Other than this limitation, they were quite cordial and helpful.

SPECULUM GIVE-AWAY
Many women, especially those who appeared past childbearing years, turned down the offer of the speculum with “I don’t need that”.  Some said that they already had a speculum (usually midwives) or that they already used one.  A few women didn’t know what the speculum was.  The 20 women that took away speculums were delighted.

GUESTBOOK & VISITOR RESPONSE
Only 9 women signed the guestbook.  It seems that people are trying to keep the number of incoming e-mails down (I know that I’ve become reluctant to be on someone’s e-mailing list).  One of them, Mary Strack, is a founder of La Leche League, and very kindly offered to keep in touch with me and share what she has learned about the international breastfeeding situation; she is LLL’s international representative.  Likewise, Betty Crase, who wrote The Motherly Art of Breastfeeding” also agreed with the key words on the display [FULL SPECTRUM = PRO-WOMAN AGENDA].

After giving the visitor a copy of my card with the website info, I summed up our message, “We believe it’s important for the women’s health movement to work together on all the interrelated issues concerning women’s sexuality and reproductive rights”.  Many expressed wholehearted agreement.

Our 3 leaflets, “What to expect When You Go To The Hospital fora Natural Childbirth” by Molly Remer, “Shodhini” announcement and Cedar RiverClinics’s “Fertility Awareness for Birth Control” (Yes, they did allow that one) were popular.  The Shodhini leaflet caught the interest of a substantial number of women.  I found it very interesting that of these women, many were Latina.  Although I don’t know all the social forces that are at play, in Southern California at least, there is a upsurge of interest in learning more about our bodies and networking with other women among Latinas.  I predict that Shodhini will be getting calls.

EXHIBITORS
In addition to booths with literature from organizations that promote breastfeeding, or offered products to facilitate breastfeeding, there were several homeschooling booths, health and beauty products, and toys.  I was especially interested in one booth, “The Daily Grind”, run by two sisters who are trapeze artistes who were with Le Cirque du Soleil.  They have devised stretches and exercises to be done during the daily routine. I’m going to try to get together a group to put our money together to bring them from Mar Vista to Eagle Rock to demonstrate these to us and to help us to learn how to do them properly.

For “CONTACTS AND ALLIES” and “FOLLOW-UP” please email: whwh@womenshealthinwomenshands.org

Women's History Month: Feminist Website, Women's Retreat, and ALOUD Audio

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Women's Health in Women's Hands

March Newsletter
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Women’s Health in Women’s Hands is a website by Carol Downer.  It features DIY Gynecology, with lots of woman-to-woman information about our reproductive and sexual anatomy, safe and effective birth control, abortion, menstruation, menopause, and menstrual extraction—told frankly from an independent woman’s point of view.

View the latest email - http://eepurl.com/whwhX

To subscribe - email whwh@womenshealthinwomenshands.org

Shodhini Institute, "Birthing Our Babies", and "The Feminine Mystique"

Women's Health in Women's Hands
February Newsletter

http://eepurl.com/uMpiT

Women’s Health in Women’s Hands is a website by Carol Downer.  It features DIY Gynecology, with lots of woman-to-woman information about our reproductive and sexual anatomy, safe and effective birth control, abortion, menstruation, menopause, and menstrual extraction—told frankly from an independent woman’s point of view.

 View the latest email - http://eepurl.com/uMpiT

To subscribe - email whwh@womenshealthinwomenshands.org

40th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade

WHWH latest email:
http://eepurl.com/tPUMX

January 22, 2013 marks the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade the U.S. Supreme Court decision which legalized abortion.  As it stands now, women seeking abortion care must walk through crowds of protestors; abortion providers fear for their safety; states are passing laws to make women seeking abortions go through waiting periods, obtain parental or judicial permission, or view photos of aborted fetuses; politicians vote against women's reproductive rights. 

For a list of Roe v Wade events in the U.S. see Women's Health in Women's Hands latest email.  Please let us know any and all plans to commemorate this anniversary - we will include your event in this blog. Send an email - whwh@womenshealthinwomenshands.org - with the location, time, place, event, sponsor and a separate link.  Info will be added as time allows.

"Roe v. Wade Anniversary, Birth Story Film, and Volunteer Midwife in Senegal" 

http://eepurl.com/tPUMX

Volunteer Midwife in Senegal

Steph Mosscrop 

Crowdfunding

 

Steph Mosscrop is a student midwife in Maine. Steph is planning a volunteer trip to Senegal, West Africa. Steph tells us: "...this is a midwifery exchange program where students are taught, get to travel and is not a philanthropic trip. I am going there to learn from a group of midwives in an established clinic. While my tuition does help keep the clinic running and buy some medical supplies, it is a business model and is a source of income for the clinic. I will be paying the teaching midwives the same stipend that would be owed in any other setting..."

Staph is asking for your financial contribution. Steph will spend one month, February 15th through March 15th, volunteering at a Birth Clinic.

To Donate: gofundme.com/1oqwvk

Film Screening of Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin & The Farm followed by Q&A w/Shodhini Doulas

Film Screening of "Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin & The Farm" followed by Q&A w/Shodhini Doulas

Sunday, January 20, 2013
The Sacred Arts Center

5222 Hollywood Blvd, LA, CA 90027
$10-$15 (sliding scale)

This film tells the story of counterculture heroine Ina May Gaskin and her spirited friends, who began delivering each other's babies in 1970, on a caravan of hippie school buses, headed to a patch of rural Tennessee land. With Ina May as their leader, the women taught themselves midwifery from the ground up, and, with their families, founded an entirely communal, agricultural society called The Farm. They grew their own food, built their own houses, published their own books, and, as word of their social experiment spread, created a model of care for women and babies that changed a generation's approach to childbirth.

In the same spirit of women's self empowerment and self care the Shodhini Institute was created and has been working hard to spread their powerful message. The Shodhini Institute is a growing network of healers, bodyworkers, transmen, masculine of center womyn, doulas, midwives, nutritionists, yoginis, scholars and sheroes out to revolutionize the face of Western medicine regarding women's bodies, minds, and spirits.

Stay after the film screening to meet some of Shodhini's trained and experienced doulas. We will be hosting an open Q&A about birth work and their role as doulas. Spread the word!

Donations go to support The Shodhini Institute & The Sacred Arts Center

For more information:

Facebook Event 

shodhini.blogspot.com

www.shamansvision.org

The Shodhini Institute: RADICAL DOULA GUIDE RELEASE PARTY

The Shodhini Institute: RADICAL DOULA GUIDE RELEASE PARTY: Shodhini Institute's First Benefit Event! We are honored to be welcoming Miriam Z. Perez aka Radical Doula to Los Angeles for their Radic...

Woman-Centered Pregnancy and Birth - Chapter 2

Excerpt from Chapter 2 of Woman-Centered Pregnancy and Birth by Ginny Cassidy-Brinn, R.N., Francie Hornstein, and Carol Downer
Federation of Feminist Women's Health Centers
Illustrations by Suzann Gage

Full Book AVAILABLE online for FREE

PDF of Chapter 2: Available ONLINE for FREE

Chapter 2: First, You Have To Get Pregnant

 

SIGNS OF PREGNANCY

Subjective Signs

Many women experience

• Breast tenderness
• Nausea
• Fatigue or sleepiness

Some women experience

• Breast enlargement
• More frequent urination
• Weight gain
• Sensitivity to certain tastes or odors
• Cravings for or ability to eat only certain foods
• Changes in the appetite

Uterine Signs

• Missed menstrual period (for most women)
• Softer uterus
• Enlargement of the uterus

7 weeks of pregnancy - the size of a lemon

9 weeks of pregnancy - the size of an orange

12 weeks of pregnancy - the size of a grapefruit

Cervical Signs

• Change of color to a deeper red or bluish-purplish
• Softer cervix
• The os is more open than usual

 

Cervical Examination

    Looking at the cervix provides valuable information in pregnancy detection and is usually included as part of an examination by a physician or health worker.  It is even more useful for a woman to look at her own cervix if she has done self-examination before and is familiar with the appearance of her cervix when she is not pregnant.  Many women notice changes in their cervices by comparing what they see to the way it usually looks.  A darkening in color to a deeper red or bluish-purplish color is characteristic of pregnancy.  This is caused by the increased blood supply to the cervix and uterus.  This color change can occur within days after conception or, in some women, it doesn't become apparent until she is several months pregnant.  When a woman is several weeks pregnant, the cervix is softer and the os is more open than usual. 

Uterine Size Check

    Feeling an increase in the size of the uterus can be another indicator of pregnancy.  Since it is very difficult for a woman to feel her own uterus, this examination is usually done by a friend in a Self-Help group, a health worker or a physician.  A uterine size check or pelvic examination provides more specific information about the length of a pregnancy than looking at the cervix or a chemical pregnancy test does.  And experienced examiner will be able to tell with reasonable accuracy (within one to two weeks), how many weeks pregnant a woman is by the size of her uterus.  For example, the uterus is about the size of a large, unshelled walnut or a plum if a woman is not pregnant.  The uterus of a woman who is about seven weeks pregnant is about the size of a lemon; nine weeks, the size of an orange; and 12 weeks about the size of a grapefruit. Making the comparison of uterine size to fruit sizes is helpful for training women in Self-Help Clinics, health workers and physicians.  It is also valuable for graphically explaining to women about the increase in uterine size in early pregnancy. 

    If a woman has participated in a Self-Help group together to feel the size of her uterus and report if it feels softer or larger than it previously did.

    The length of time since the union of sperm and egg is usually measured from the first day of a woman's last menstrual period.  This is done for uniformity since many women do not know exactly when they became pregnant.  In fact, even when women know the exact date that they became pregnant, physicians still measure Gestation from the first day of the last normal menstrual period (LNPM).  The actual size of a woman's uterus is used less often by physicians.

    Any one subjective sign or observable characteristic of a woman's cervix and uterus is usually not enough for her to conclude that she is pregnant.  More often, it is a combination of these factors together with the knowledge that she was exposed to sperm at a time in her cycle when it was likely that she had ovulated.  However, some women have such regular menstrual periods that a matter of a few days of delay of their periods signals a sure sign of pregnancy to them.

    There are situations in which women find it difficult to determine whether or not they are pregnant.  Women who have irregular periods, who are under great stress, women who are nearing menopause, women who have recently stopped taking the Pill, or women who have signs of pregnancy often have difficulty in determining pregnancy without the help of a chemical test.  Occasionally, a woman has some bleeding around the time of her expected period when she is actually in the early part of her pregnancy.  Many a woman mistakes this for her regular period, especially if she has no other indication that she is pregnant.  Usually, this bleeding is different from a normal period; sometimes there is a lighter flow or the flow does not last as long as a regular period.  Also, having these episodes of bleeding can cause women or their physicians to think they have not been pregnant as long as they have been.  In these instances, having a uterine size check is particularly important. 

ABORTION DINNER by Shodhini Institute - DONATE!

Shodhini Institute is honored to HOST
The 1st Annual
ABORTION DINNER
Friday, December 7, 2012

Will you SPONSOR a seat for this HISTORIC ABORTION DINNER?

THIS ABORTION DINNER will HONOR 30 plus WOMYN who have experienced ABORTION.  It will be a space for WOMYN to share their stories and FREE OURSELVES from the encounter of shame and stigma and allowing each other and ourselves to FULLY EXPRESS our own complex and unique experiences in order to facilitate healing.

As it stands now, women seeking abortion care must walk through crowds of protestors; abortion providers fear for their safety; states are passing laws to make women seeking abortions go through waiting periods, obtain parental or judicial permission, or view photos of aborted fetuses; politicians vote against women's reproductive rights. 

We can turn this situation around if we talk to each other, privately and publicly about our experience with abortion. 

At THIS ABORTION DINNER we are gathering to share OUR ABORTION STORIES over a lovely meal.  It's about time we get together, speak our truths and support each other.  We are reclaiming our bodies and our right to be free of shame and guilt!...And replacing it with sisterhood and collective action.  Shodhini Institute wants this ABORTION DINNER to be the beginning of a national campaign.

WILL YOU SPONSOR A SEAT FOR THIS HISTORIC ABORTION DINNER?   

Our estimates are $30* per attendee.  But, whatever amount you contribute will make YOU a part of this HISTORIC ABORTION DINNER.

Donate* HERE or HERE

* THANK YOU gifts for $30 donation: A HEATHER AULT (print) greeting card and an "Abortion Speak Out Kit"

If you are unable to contribute, here are some quick actions to take online

• Post on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and any other social-networking site(s).
• Post on your BLOG: Tumblr, WordPress, Blogger, Weebly, etc.
• Post on your Website 
  
  
  "When hundreds of thousands of us start sharing our stories with friends and relatives, the cumulative effect of our honesty will be like the sun coming out from the clouds."

-Carol Downer

www.womenshealthinwomenshands.org

We are The Shodhini Institute that empowers and educates feminist women, Masculine of Center womyn, transmen, and gender non-conforming individuals about radical health and sex education with a holistic self-help foundation. shodhiniinstitute.tumblr.com