Breastfeeding Ads Attacked in September 2006 SELF
In response:
SELF, September 2006 page 148
An article about how horrible the HHS Breastfeeding ads are. You can respond to: http://www.self.com/contact/emailUs
As a new mom and health educator, I was following your orders (pg 148, September 06) and taking a few minutes for myself to avoid stress while reading your magazine in my bathtub. I had already spent 20 minutes reading about the dangers of obesity to my health and the health of my family, including the fact that it may be genetic (pg 144). I was planning on getting up earlier ( pg 28 ) for my new running work out (pg 116), like Shaun Robinson, when I stumbled upon your article on the horrors of the new breastfeeding ads by the HHS.
The true horror here is not that the HHS finally had the ovaries to put breastfeeding into the same context that every other parenting threat, oops, I mean “advice” goes into – the truth about what happens if you don’t do it. I mean seriously, didn’t you tell me on pg 129 about the horrors of breast cancer? I should eat more flavonoids (p 144) to prevent ovarian cancer. You also made references too numerous to count on the dangers of obesity for my family and me. How can you overlook the benefits of breastfeeding on all of these accounts?
Why is it acceptable to tell me my baby will die if I don’t use a car seat every time I get in the car, oh and I that I have to use it correctly unlike 90% of other mothers, and I need to use it according to state law which is at least four years (more in my state) or I’m a bad mom. Gee, and the American Academy of Pediatrics only wants me to do what my body was designed to do and breastfeed my baby exclusively for 6 months. (And let’s not even go into the dangers of not using vaccines – I’m sure you’ve saved that for another issue.)
All of this joy in an issue where you praise Brooke Shields for her unpopular stance on accepting postpartum depression (pg 52)…
Just like it’s difficult to get up to run or walk every morning, just as I struggle to cook healthy foods in an ever increasing sea of fast, easy and less expensive unhealthy food – all of which I do because it’s good for me and my family. I will put forth the same effort to breastfeed. I intend to do my damnedest to overcome any problems I have with nursing and seek professional help if I have problems from a International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC). My baby and I will be healthier for it and maybe I’m stemming the obesity epidemic from this side of the nipple.
Birth On Labor Day (BOLD)
OK, all you birth activists out there–what are you doing Labor Day weekend? Support local birth organizations (doula groups, birth networks, etc.) by attending a performance of BIRTH. The play will be performed in 20 cities worldwide to promote education, truth and action towards mother-friend maternity care. Here’s how to find a performance near you. http://www.birththeplay.com/theplay/whatisbold2006.html. You are all welcome to come to Rochester, NY on September 2, 2006, 2:00 PM and 7:30 PM! Our production will support The Doula Cooperative, www.doulacooperative.org.
Ultrasound Causes Brain Problems
A new study has been done in mice that shows that brain cells failed to grow into their proper place. This was speculated to lead to anything from autism to mental retardation. Doctors encourage women to only use ultrasound for medical use and not for entertainment purposes. This backs up what the FDA recommends.
Help for Brazil
Dear friends from CIMS all over the world:
My name is Ricardo Jones, and I am an obstetrician from Brazil.
Some of you already know me from the previous CIMS meetings and the International Forum.
This message is just a break from the important discussion about VBACs.
By the way, I do agree with Helene, Henci and Jan…
But the issue I am trying to bring up is also important for us, in South America and Brazil… and it has to do with…. soap operas.
Yes… In Brasil, soap operas have the same cultural effect that the “sit coms” have in the United States.
Normally, the 9:00 OM soap opera – the mot important of all (we have about six during the day) – brings to debate an important social problem. Last one talked about the blind and handicapped individuals. Some other shows brought the issue of homosexuality (male and female), abortion, legal adoption, euthanasia, etc.
At this new one – PAGINAS DA VIDA – which began about one month ago, (they normally last 5 months) the issue discussed is … HUMANIZATION OF CHILDBIRTH.
The main female character is an obstetrician, named Helena, and from the first chapter (they are daily) she talks to other doctors, nurses and friends about the cesarean epidemic, and the necessity to stop the overuse of technology. So… she’s a humanistic doctor, trying to fight the system.
When things became clear to us we wrote a letter on behalf of ReHuNa (Humanization of Childbirth Network), giving congratulations to the author, director and all the actors by choosing this important matter to be broadcasted to millions of people in Brasil and, further, to other countries. (It is estimated that more than 60 million people watch every daily episode of the soap opera).
Yesterday, “Olivia”, the most important female character in the story, announced that, after “reading some articles”, she is thinking about having a homebirth.
The “most important woman in Brasil” decided to have a homebirth !!!! (just to give you an idea, after the name of the character is chosen by the authors, thousand of children are registered with this name in the register offices thruought the country)
Soap operas in Brazil are built while they are performed. The authors write a draft and collect opinions during the time the show is running. People write to “Globo” (the third greatest Broadcasting Company in the world, after the three americans NBC – CBS and ABC) saying that “The good guy must marry the blonde woman, cause they are both honest an cute”, or that “The gay guys in the show shouldn’t kiss publicly”, and so on…
The idea is to make pressure for the authors and director to show a good and empowering home birth, and an open discussion about it’s advantages, when performed with the help of a skilled professional.
Isn’t that what we are fighting for?
That’s why I am asking your help.
Hundreds of humanistic activists from Brazil are writing e-mails to the “GOBSAT” of Globo to make them aware of our ideas. I, myself, sent dozens of slideshows of homebirths we assisted with the help of a doula, a doctor and a nurse midwife, so that the actors can know what is a birth outside the hospital.
Try to imagine if someone gives us the information that Elaine, in Seinfeld, was going to have a natural and home birth as a part o the show…
Or one of the girls from “Sex and The City”, or even “Friends”… a special episode about “home birth”…
Humm? How about that?
Wouldn’t it be great if the characters show to the public (millions all around the globe) a good vision of our ideas?
My idea is that, if the authoritative guys at Globo receive mails from other countries about home birth, they will understand that we are NOT a group of “granola doctors and nurses” and we are an international group of people, with modern ideas about “autonomy, protagonism, women’s rights and birth safety”, and that we have our opinions based in the best scientific evidences.
The place to give an opinion is http://paginasdavida.globo.com/
In the bottom of the page, at the left, there’s the face of a guy (the director, Jayme Monjardim) and “FALE COM O DIRETOR” (Talk to the director)
Click on that image you’ll go to another page…
The fiels are simple: Nome (Name); Cidade (City) Estado (State) E-mail (oh, give me a break!) País (Country) Idade (Age) and Mensagem (Message)
Say something simple, like: “we, in (USA, France, Canada, Portugal, Mexico, Netherlands, etc…) know you are about to broadcast a home birth. Congratulations !! This is something very important: the debate of out of hospital births, and all the other issues concerning humanization of childbirth…. Signed: Robbie, or Debra, or Helene, pr Jan, or Elena, or Moon Tip, or Mary Zwart, etc… If you can write in Spanish, it would be better, but English is ok too (Remember, we speak Portuguese in Brazil, but almost everyone understands Spanish). The idea is to show them that the eyes of the GLOBAL COMMUNITY OF CHILDBIRTH ACTIVISTS is watching their work.
I think this can become a fantastic step to humanization of chidbirth in Brasil.
More than 60 million people are going to see our ideas on TV, and what is going to be broadcasted will depend on us…
Thank you very much for your attention.
Ric Jones – ReHuNa – Brasil
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