A compendium of recent articles and blog posts

Lately I've gotten into the habit of passing on numerous articles via Facebook and Twitter that I've found or had passed on to me, mainly because I didn't want to clutter up my blog with a ton of small posts.  Instead, I think I'll start doing a regular (weekly? bi-weekly? monthly?) large post of links with comments on various subjects for the sake of convenience for myself, and everyone else.

Birth

•  April is Cesarean Awareness Month.  Visit the International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN) for more information. My comments:  "Cesarean section is a wonderful, useful surgical tool that can save both the lives of mother and child when it's needed. However, it has become a catch-all litigation avoidance mechanism in our country. Approximately 32% of women give birth by section in the United States, by FAR the highest rate in the industrialized... world and 2-3 times the rate recommended by the WHO, with a VBAC rate of <8%. Sometimes c-section is necessary. Too often it is not. April is Cesarean Awareness Month. For more information, resources, and education, go to www.ican-online.org"

Breastfeeding

• Two articles relating to the same study: One shorter and one longer.  $15 million per year is a tiny, tiny amount compared to what formula companies can lob at us in that amount of time, but if it goes through, it's a start.  Women need Education, Resources, and Support on personal, familial, and community levels.  Breastfeeding, public and private, needs to be 100% legal (with government, businesses, and society), 100% recognized as normal, 100% supported, and practiced in as close to 100% of mothers as possible.  $13 BILLION ANNUALLY.  Just to exclusively breastfeed for six months.  Imagine the added impact of extended breastfeeding to two years and beyond (as recommended by the WHO) in health and savings.   And to complement this, I have...
• This: "On Being a Wetnurse".  "It sounds so "Jane Austen" or "Charles Dickens" to us now, doesn't it? But you know, considering the last two articles I posted, this ain't half a bad idea for getting that 90(or 100!) percent breastfeeding rate. Definitely something to think about."

Raising children

• April 1-7 is Autism Awareness Week.  From a Note I wrote on Facebook:
  Autism is not a disease, it is a different way of being in and interacting with the world. But it is also epidemic. I admit, I do not know very much about autism except the way my family has had to work with it and the controversy about whether it's caused by vaccines and/or vaccine overload from the sheer load given to very young children very quickly. I know it needs more research. I know people who have it need love, understanding, and kindness, just like every other human being. People with autism are amazing, even if they seem a little quirky. (Heck, I seem a little quirky, too!)
  
  Don't tease. Learn. Don't ignore. Engage as much as possible. Don't tolerate others who, through ignorance or mean spiritedness, devalue those with autism. We are all children of God, and we deserve better.
  
  Love you, Brandon.
  
  Your proud Auntie,
  Jena
• The Dark Secret of an "Un-Schooling" Family.  (Unschooling?  What's that??)  Read and learn more!  I have to say, I'm intrigued by the concept of un-schooling.

I hope you learned something new today.  Take care of yourself and those around you.  (And support Breastfeeding!)