More on Green Family Planning
April 18, 2008 at 3:44 pm (Humor/Wit, NFP Friends)
Tags: Cartoons, Family, Family Planning, Humor, Natural Family Planning, Organic
The Business of Being Born
April 16, 2008 at 3:54 pm (Breastfeeding)
Tags: Abby Epstein, Childbirth, fertility, Health, Home Birth, Midwifery, Movies, Ricki Lake, Theology of the Body
“MATERNITY CARE IN THE UNITED STATES IS IN CRISIS.”
“I saw that nowhere does the tension between technology and nature play out more dramatically than birth.”
This excerpt from director Abby Epstein’s statement on the official movie web site of “The Business of Being Born”, and I think it’s a tremendous understatement. This film doesn’t just tackle the tension between technology and nature; it shines an interrogation lamp on the corporate and political tug of war that takes place in hospital board rooms and plays out on the fertile field of maternity wards.
I wouldn’t have thought twice about having a “traditional” hospital birth when I have my first child, but I found out that choosing a “traditional” hospital birth now means probably a nice volley of Pitosin and epidural that results in a 43% chance of C-Section–which is major surgery! My favorite part–which is also in the trailer–is when Ricki asks some OB nurses how often they see a natural childbirth (i.e., sans drugs), the question is met with an awkward silence and questioning faces rapidly searching their memories. After the…yes…..pregnant pause, the nurses answer with, right–you got it–”Rarely” and “Almost never.”
By the way, this film isn’t styled as perfect-pitch journalistic piece, so don’t expect the most balanced account ever. This is a film, and it’s meant to question, to prod, to provoke and instigate a conversation about birthing that hasn’t been taking place.
This vignette is honest, raw and authentic. It made me cry because more than anything I’ve seen about birth–even in the Natural Family Planning World–showed maternity is such a visually visceral way. It showed life as it IS–painful, wry, witty, wonderful, passion-filled, surprising, sexual, gorgeous and embracing. It portrayed midwives as compassionate trained medical professionals, rather than backwoodsy grannys armed only with hot water, a towel and ignorance. Seeing what midwives go through to get trained (I have a friend studying midwifery right now actually), and seeing their level of preparation and experience, this is something I would be prepared to seriously consider and do when it comes to be my time, God willing.
The only creative smudge on the film was a character flaw of the nurse wife Cara. While I totally respect her profession, her credentials, and her passion, I didn’t dig what seemed to be her primary motivation for being a midwife. She spoke from a fundamentally flawed radical feminist perspective. What I perceived from her is that woman needs to “take back” her uterus and all its associative powers, including childbirth, from men and the Man. There seemed to be a dissonant dialectic between the sexes, rather than an equal and complimentary relationship, as taught in the more authentic feminism of Theology of the Body. Despite the proclivity to proletariat maternity politics, Cara was a very real person, and I liked that about the whole film. It just seemed elegantly real. May I strive to be that–elegantly real–in my daily life, and when it comes to my time for welcoming my first child into the world, may I be as natural and authentic as the women in this film.
For Earth Day: Try Green Family Planning
April 12, 2008 at 8:52 pm (Non-Trad NFP fans)
Tags: Earth Day, Environment, Family, Family Planning, Health, Nature, NFP, Water Pollution
Here’s a way to celebrate Earth day that isn’t getting much press: learning Natural Family Planning.
A good friend of mine has this brochure on NFP called, “Go Organic,” which totally plugs my blog–thank you, and it suggests that learning the world’s most underrated method of family planning *might* actually be a super-green thing to do. Here’s an excerpt:
Close your eyes and imagine what makes you feel most in love and the most intimate. If you could step into any love story, any romantic landscape, what would you find yourself surrounded by and who would be there? Ask a hundred women that same question, and the answer would be strikingly similar.
No one ever says “I’d like to be alone,” “I like being an object instead of a person,” or “I’d like to be
depressed, gain weight, more irritable and increase my risk for cancer.” No. They imagine being
with someone, feeling loved and being healthy. They imagine candles, lovely music, genuine embraces, honest words and laughter. The love and need for intimacy without barriers is deeply rooted
in us all.
Our bodies are made beautifully. We are living masterpieces, kaleidoscopic perpetual miracles on our own, without anything extra. That’s the way we were made to live and to love—without barriers, without chemicals, or additives. Imagine a wide open landscape of love. Imagine holding nothing back. Natural Family Planning (NFP) is 100% organic, based in fertility awareness and appreciation. Your fertility is a gift, not a disease, and NFP is the all natural way to embrace it. Best of all, NFP is cooperative. Women don’t bear the burden and the side effects alone. No, the only side effects are increased communication, greater mutual self-knowledge and respect, self resolve and poise, healthy body, more romance and greater intimacy. Welcome to NFP.
Doesn’t it seem interesting that we’ll go to great lengths to ensure our meat, dairy and other grocery products are “all natural” and hormone free, but then we’ll turn around and ingest, poke or patch our bodies with all sorts of synthetic hormones, the ramifications of which we’re still discovering?
Check out these articles, both secular and religious, which talk about the grave effects we’re seeing in the environment because of the residual effects of drugs–particularly chemical contraceptives. Now, if the human side effects don’t trip you out, perhaps libidoless intersex fish will grab your attention. No more fish frys, you Midwesterners! Colorado biologist John Woodling, speaking to the Denver Post in 2005 said, It’s “the first thing that I’ve seen as a scientist that really scared me.” We’re not talking one freak fish here; it’s a significant problem, a problem so significant that in a couple months, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the American Pharmacists Association will begin a major public-awareness campaign regarding contamination that’s resulting from soaps and pharmaceuticals, including birth control. (Reference NC Register article above.)
Am I giving a clarion call to mob the pharmaceutical companies? No, but at least when people jump on the Green Trend Train (and even for those pre-trend greenies), they should consider Natural Family Planning as a way to reduce their environmental impact and increase the intimacy. Give it a try!
Scholarships for Health Professions
April 10, 2008 at 4:45 pm (Health)
Tags: Health, Medical School, NFP, Nursing, Scholarships
Numbers of those in the helping professions and vocations (nursing, teaching, law enforcement, priesthood, missionary work, etc.) has been plummeting for years. Recently, though, some companies, like Johnson & Johnson and Tylenol*, are helping to revitalize some these sacrificial career fields by offering scholarships and programs to encourage, promote and support those wanting to enter the health field.
SO WHY IS THIS ON THE NFP BLOG?
Great question. Well, the good news is that we are experiencing an increase in interest in NFP from Catholics and Non-Catholics alike, but the bad news is that we don’t have enough teachers. The good news is that we’ve had some people (though not quite enough) express interest in teaching, but the bad news is that sometimes we can’t cover the costs of training, particularly for the medical methods of NFP (Marquette & Creighton).
So, are you or somebody you know thinking about teaching NFP but cost is a barrier? Check out the above links, or keep me posted on more opportunities like this.
* (This post in no way is represents or supports the public or private ventures of Tylenol and Johnson & Johnson corporations. We are grateful for their philanthropy, though.)
