Funding for FEMALE ERASURE ANTHOLOGY!

I am very excited to announce my contribution to the upcoming anthology FEMALE ERASURE: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GENDER POLITICS' WAR ON WOMEN, THE FEMALE SEX AND HUMAN RIGHTS! I just donated to the IndieGoGo campaign and I hope you will, too!

FEMINIST ABORTION COUNSELING AND ABORTION DOULAS

By Carol Downer

The current radical doula movement is a breath of fresh air!  It’s bringing the skills of the birth doula to the abortion situation.  Forty years later and millions of abortions later, we still have not broken the shame barrier that keeps us from sharing our abortion experience with our family, or friends or our associates.  The information sharing of an abortion doula and her presence at the woman’s side may be the most powerful way we have to banish that feeling that many women experience even when they get their abortion in a well-equipped, competent clinic that either provides little if any informational and emotional support or goes overboard and “psychologizes” each woman who comes in.

Whether this movement realizes it or not, their revolutionary vision of providing this support to women of all colors and classes has very deep roots.  The women who started over 30 abortion clinics after Roe v. Wade pioneered the non-judgmental, informational counseling.  We took these ideas to the meetings of the National Abortion Federation (NAF); we held workshops, we held symposia.  Most powerfully, we incorporated these concepts into the very warp and woof of our clinics, and although only a handful of women-controlled clinics still survive 40 years of ruthless competition and harassment from anti-choice state agencies, we still provide this every clinic-day to every woman who walks in the door.

"Speculum of Power" by Suzann Gage

First and foremost, women are given straightforward, complete information from the first phone contact by “phone counselors” through the process of filling out forms, getting blood work done, to the procedure itself and the recovery period.  We find that women can be very nervous and “forget” the information; therefore specially trained counselors are there to answer any questions and reassure them.  Additionally, the clinic “traffic flow” is arranged so that women have ample opportunity to chat with each other, and very importantly, to see women walk out to leave who are being released to go home--healthy and able to give a cheerful wave to the woman that’s still in the process.

But, the work of the health worker who’s trained to know good procedure doesn’t end with comforting the woman getting the procedure.  She monitors the doctor, who is a contract worker who gets paid per procedure.  She makes sure he or she is respectful and skilled. We don’t have to worry that the doctor will use a cannula (the tube that suctions out the embryonic material) that is unnecessarily large, because we set up the tray and we only put cannulas out that are appropriate to the length of the gestation.

Abortion clinics keep informal statistics about the rate of women who come in for a post-abortion check-up.  It’s considered that a woman who’s had a positive experience will be most likely to come back in for the check-up.  (Unless she lives far away or has some other barrier).  Our clinics have a high rate of women coming for that check-up.  They also refer to us; they volunteer as escorts; and sometimes they even go on to become health providers themselves and become allies in the community.

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. 

BIRTH - HELP GET THIS DOCUMENTARY ON PBS!

TO DONATE: http://www.indiegogo.com/birth?c=home

BIRTH Trailer

BIRTH is a brand new documentary feature film by award-winning filmmaker Christopher Carson and best-selling childbirth author/teacher Suzanne Arms. This film is narrated by actress Carrie-Anne Moss, the mother of three children.

BIRTH features interviews with some of the most notable and leading edge practitioners, researchers and educators in the fields of pregnancy, childbirth, maternal-newborn care, women's health, breastfeeding, birth trauma, brain science and obstetric and neonatal practices.

BIRTH examines the midwifery model of childbirth and the medical obstetrical model of childbirth and compares the two models for levels of safety, cost, quality of care as well as immediate and long-term effects on our children and our families.

BIRTH features interviews and footage of mothers who have had a wide variety of birth experiences in hospitals, in birth centers, and their homes.  It also includes births in water, birth in the squatting position and even a birth in the ocean.

Suzanne Arms: "...Whatever amount you give makes you part of this ground-breaking hard-hitting show to transform how we bring babies into the world and care for each birthing woman."