"Happy Survival Day" To Indigneous Australia

Suggested Reading on So-Called "Australia" Day:


Indigenous Australia

Aboriginal Australia Map

Aboriginal Tent Embassy

Stolen Generations Alliance

Kooriweb

Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies

National Sorry Day Committee

Sorry Day and The Stolen Generations

"Detour-Spotting For White Anti-Racists

Racism No Way

On Privilege and What We Can Do About It

Blue Singlet Patriotism Gets A Little Off-Colour

Australia Day: No Time For Celebration

Apparently I'm "Un-Australian"

Australia Day Corso Racist Displays

Australian Linguistocide, and Antipodeal Approaches To Aboriginal Education

Thanks to Melanie Schell-Rees for giving me permission to share the above work of art here. To see more of Melly's work click here.

Protesting Continues For Australian Homebirthers

Today over 100 parents (and their children) gathered at the Victorian office of the Australian Medical Association to protest the associations latest attack on homebirth. The rally comes after the head of the AMA wrote an editorial about a new study of homebirth conducted over 16 years. Dr Pesce misrepresented the study's findings claiming that death is "seven times" more likely during a homebirth than a hospital birth (see here). In fact the results of the study showed homebirth to be a very safe option for Australian women (for more see here).

Melissa McFarlane of Maternity Coalition as MC

Children playing in an inflated birth pool


Richard Di Natale speaking in support of homebirthers

Highlights from the protest included two stories of postpartum hemorrhage from the same woman, one in hospital and one at home where the hemorrhage was detected earlier and healed faster! And learning that the AMA provide Australia's current political party in power (The Australian Labor Party) with $27 000 annually (approx). While 27K is not exactly big money when it comes to the rich power-holders in Australian politics, it's nothing to be sneezed at. Afterall, no consumer advocacy group can afford to be so generous...perhaps if we could our birth rights would not presently be under attack!

For More About The Study:
Planned Home and Hospital Births in South Australia, 1991-2006
The AMA Trots Out Another Media Bonanza Piece Of Crap

That Homebirth Study - Hoyden About Town
Don't Believe The Home Birth Horror Headlines
More Critique of the Homebirth Study and its reporting in the media
Beyond The Abstract of The New South Australian Home Birth Study

1 Good Reason I'm Reluctant To Support Hospital Run Homebirth Programs

Last week a homebirthing couple expecting their newborn any day received a knock at the door only to discover police officers who were sent to their home by their local hospital (see here).

Allegedly the mother was "12 days overdue". Given mainstream Australia's tendency to pin-point the arbitrary 40 week mark as when the baby should be born it is most likely that this mother was at an estimated 41 weeks and 5 days pregnant (which cannot be proven and thus we refer to these things as ESTIMATED due dates). Even still, full-term pregnancy ranges anywhere from 37 to 42 weeks, meaning she could not be "12 days overdue" until she was 43 weeks and 5 days pregnant. (It's worth noting that even these "overdue" mothers can go on to have healthy homebirths see here).

Bathurst Hospital informed the mother that they wanted to induce her at her next appointment. Having suffered a traumatic induced hospital birth in the past she opted not to attend the appointment after consulting her primary care provider: her independent midwife. According to the mother and the midwife, an induction was not medically indicated. (even when the mother asked the hospital to provide evidence attesting to their claim she required an induction they could not). The hospital's response was to bring in The State to try and scare the mother into submitting to an unnecessary procedure against her will!

While the hospital gave the couple an apology for their behaviour this hardly undoes the unnecessary harm caused by their actions. The end of a pregnancy is a sacred time for a family, a time when peace and quiet is of the utmost importance, the last thing a heavily pregnant mother needs is the stress of the state interfearing in her birth space.

This is just one home grown story that gives me all the reason I need to be reluctant to support hospital run homebirth programs. When hospitals get a whiff of even a slight variation on a textbook pregnancy or birth they swoop in to label the mother "high risk" and take away her right to homebirth. My prediction is that an increase in hospital run homebirth programs will result in a decreased number of babies born at home or an increase in last-minute freebirths (where mothers are left to "choose" between giving birth in hospital or going it alone at home). This is why it is so important that independent midwives are able to practice autonomously, not just when Obstetricians or The State give them their blessing.

Slightly Related Blog Posts
Me: Homebirth Makes It To Question Time
Gloria Lemay: Lisencing, Registering and Certifying Midwives - At What Cost?
Janet Fraser: Consumers Are Not Stakeholders It Would Seem, When Birth Is Discussed

Kicking Off the New Year With a Blog Award

Thanks to Shae at Yay For Home! For the Honest Scrap award.

The rules are to share 10 honest facts about myself then give the award to 7 other bloggers who inspire me.

1. I greatly enjoy killing virtual zombies and other monsters. I miss the days of Doom and Doom II and to a much lesser extent Blake Stone.
   
2. I was born on my mother's birthday.
   
3. When I was born my mother did not recognise me as her own because she was so high on pethidine she didn't know what was going on.
   
4. I'd really like to have at least 5 children and I'm not opposed to them all being girls.
   
5. I was breastfed for four months. I believe this is because my mother and I had attachment problems that went unrecognised.
   
6. I fear possums.
   
7. I feel a special connection to the Greek Goddess Athena/Roman Goddess Minerva.
   
8. One reason for fact 7 is that my father suggested naming me Athena when my mother was pregnant.
9. My mother named me Sarah and had always intended for her first daughter to be named Sarah after reading a novel in which there was a character named Sarah (who was a psychopathic murderess). She gave me the book for my 20th birthday, I haven't read it yet and to be honest that's because it looks kind of trashy LOL.
   
10. I am going to get pregnant this year!
    

I'm passing the award along to:

1. Nat @ Bustin' Out Babies (Nat is a dear friend who I met when pregnant, her mix of faith and personal experiences makes her blog an old favourite and her survival of birth trauma to have a normal homebirth is the epitome of inspiring).
   
2. Kint @ Domestic Delusions (Ask her to share her breastfeeding story on there, it's a story of triumph after a lot of adversity and it has drug use in it ;), a real page-turner!).
3. Jill @ The Unnecesarean (Jill's blog is one of the highest quality birth blogs around).
   
4. Redmegarea (This is a preeminent Australia radical feminist blog).
   
5. Wendy @ Boutique Babe (She's my Aunty, but that's not why she gets this award. I'm constantly inspired by her beautiful craft work).
   
6. Ayla @ Primal Home (I greatly admire Ayla as she is busy creating her alternative utopia and blogging about it).
   
7. Carly @ Soul Blossoming (This Mama is living every Mamas nightmare, living after her child died. That she gets out of bed in the morning and that she blogs inspires me greatly and also makes me pause to appreciate how fortunate I am).

Thank-you to those seven bloggers for enriching my life every time they hit "post".