I am joining the writing community, Five Minute Friday, today. We write for five minutes (or sometimes a little more). The prompt today is: ADAPT It was a decision I came to after much thought, choosing to work with physicians and midwives that attended home birth. I had worked…
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Call the Midwife: the Spiritual Aspect of Childbirth
It is the 7thseason of Call the Midwife, and I make time to watch it. This weeks episode had me in tears. Death is hard, but I am glad that the current series has reflections on faith. When it first aired I wondered how close it was to the book…
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Talking About Sex
On Thursday evenings I look forward to seeing the prompt that Kate Motaung has chosen for Five Minute Friday. I enjoy linking up with this community of writers and seeing where the word takes us. Today’s prompt is: INTENTIONAL I was born in the 1950s, before the b.c. pill became…
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A Thanksgiving Birthday
This year I cooked the turkey on Wednesday, a day before Thanksgiving. I scooped out the stuffing and put it in a casserole dish. I deboned the meat and placed it in a large baking dish. I put the bones in the freezer, planning to make broth sometime in…
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The Midwife’s Story
A number of years ago I read an article about a Finnish midwife. In 1909 she had been at the center of a court case, determining the legality of midwifery in Massachusetts. She had been arrested a number of times (despite the fact that her statistics for live births were…
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When Postpartum Packs a Punch: Book Review
As a former labor/delivery nurse and Lamaze instructor, I am an advocate for prepared childbirth. Women need information and guidance as they make choices about childbirth care. They need to know what to expect. But in the preparation for childbirth, the postpartum time period may be given brief attention. Women…
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The Health Benefits of Dates and a Muffin Recipe
Dates have some surprising health benefits for expectant mothers. Women often receive a prescription for iron during pregnancy. During pregnancy a woman’s blood volume increases by 50% and the red blood cells increase by 30%. Red blood cells contain hemoglobin that carries oxygen; iron is a component of hemoglobin. Iron…
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Viewpoint of Alternative Science: Breast-feeding is Unnatural
Cathy Areu was a guest on Tucker Carlson Friday night. She argued that breastfeeding was not natural because it put too much pressure on a woman to feed her baby. She insisted that it was natural for a dad to feed the infant formula. She referenced a recent “study”. I…
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Women’s Rights & Midwifery
Women today have more rights than our ancestors. As we have made progress it is odd that the loudest voice in the current women’s movement is for abortion. I would rather support the right of women to give birth in the setting that they choose. Across the world there is…
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Making the Transition to Motherhood
It’s Friday and I am joining the community hosted by Kate Motaung. For five minutes we write fast and free. The prompt is: EMBRACE Five minutes ends at this mark: // Last week I was at the zoo with my daughter and granddaughter. At the gorilla house we saw two…