I’ve been looking for the most recent official stats on homebirth and hospital birth mortality in Australia. I can’t find 2007 or 2008 figures, but there are 2006 figures available. Australia’s mothers and babies 2006 The Australian Institute of Health… Read More ›
reproductive justice
The right to an informed choice, free of all and any coercion, in the personal decision of whether a woman will or will not proceed with pregnancy and childbirth.
More outrage over sex ed for youngsters: The Hormone Factory
Ostrich parents in Queensland are said to be up in arms today about a sex education website aimed at Grade 7 students. The site, thehormonefactory.com (warning:website sound), contains a selection of pubertal anatomy and physiology, basic sex information, talk about… Read More ›
Idle musing
For all those pharmacists and nurses and doctors out there who think that they ought to be able to have a conscience clause regarding abortion? To the point of not even referring patients to willing medical practitioners?
What do you think about the idea that a pacifist should be able to join the military and expect to draw a pay check and advance in rank while exercising a conscience clause with respect to weapons that kill people?
WA Milk Bank: 470 premature babies served
I love a story that brings a smile to the face! The West reports that my local breastmilk bank, the Perron Rotary Express Milk Bank, has seen 830 litres of milk go through its doors since it started in August… Read More ›
Alcohol and Breastfeeding: NHMRC buys into abstinence-only messaging
Last month, I started talking a little bit about alcohol, pregnancy, and abstinence-only messages, in a takedown of one particular study which failed to link alcohol and preterm birth, but said it did. “Bad science on booze in pregnancy: Women… Read More ›
Happy dance: Australian “Global Gag Rule” overturned
Under pressure from the Greens and other pro-choice MPs, the Australian Government finally overturned the AusAID restrictions on foreign aid for services that provide abortion information or services! SMH: Govt ends foreign aid ban on abortions The Rudd government could… Read More ›
Medela Bites its Thumb at the WHO Code
I’d like you to watch this ad with a critical eye. [Transcript is appended.] http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=19472558&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=00ADEF&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0 [If you know all about the Code and Innocenti and APMAIF already, skip down to the next iteration of the ad below!] The WHO Code… Read More ›
Some women are afraid of being mummy-tracked; others are afraid of being fired.
One of the ways of starkly illustrating an aspect of the gender divide is DeBecker’s quote: “At core, men are afraid women will laugh at them, while at core, women are afraid men will kill them.” I think there’s a… Read More ›
Quickhit: Maternity Services Review and Homebirth
Further to our thread on the Maternity Services Review, check out ABC Unleashed: Homebirth ban, by Alison Leemen The Maternity Services Review report, released last weekend, was an attempt to delivery continuity of care and midwife-led services to more Australian… Read More ›
Bad science on booze in pregnancy: Women infantilised with absolutist messages
I read this article in The West a little while ago, and it hit my bad-science peeve button. “Half of WA women drink throughout pregnancy“. This beat-up is certainly not alone in drawing conclusions that do not follow from the… Read More ›