Women these days are taking longer to give birth than in the 1960s. According to recent research, one of the main reasons is greater levels of medical intervention, specifically the use of epidural anaesthesia. The research is based on the childbirth experiences of women in the United States. I can remember watching an episode of ...
You have to hand it to Beyoncé and Jay-Z for entering the parenthood phase of their lives with style and grace. Instead of making millions off of Blue Ivy’s first moments, essentially turning their newborn into a cash cow, they post the intimate pictures on Tumblr to share their little babe with the world on ...
Childbirth. Despite having what a shop assistant once described as “splendid childbearing hips,” I don’t know much about it. Even with my lack of maternal knowledge, there were a few things I took as fact. –It takes about nine months to grow a baby. –There is a lot of kicking from within the bump. –There’s ...
Promoting midwives could help us solve many of the world’s health and child care issues, according to a report compiled by over 30 health organizations and presented to the U.N. today. The report surveyed 58 countries that represent under 60 percent of all births worldwide but 91 percent of all maternal deaths. Two-thirds are ...
We shouldn’t need an official report to enlighten us about the situation of mothers around the world. We should already know. It’s all well and good for Save the Children to give us a yearly report of what mothers are facing from the top of Mommyville (Norway) to the pits of it (Afghanistan). People need ...
World leaders are getting together next week to discuss global poverty, education, and health. The United Nations Millennium Development Goals are eight international development goals agreed upon by UN members. The one farthest from its target is number five: to reduce the number of women who die in pregnancy and childbirth and increase access to ...
Another medical group has said that women should not have the right to home birth in certain circumstances. There is so much condescension among doctors towards pregnant women I have to wonder where it will all end. Will they be caged like animals and monitored by nicotine and alcohol bracelets like criminals? The Lancet, a ...
The current trend of women delaying childbirth until their 30s and even 40s on a regular basis has impacts for society as a whole. One of these may be that we will evolve to have children naturally at a later age. Personally, I’m skeptical. Researchers at the University of Sheffield studied marriage and birth trends since the ...
Choosing to give birth at home is often considered dangerous because of the problems that might arise. But many women want to avoid unnecessary medical interventions and be in an environment where they feel they have control. But do they really have control? And is it really a safe option? There have been few studies into ...
The World Health Organization has withdrawn its recommendation that no more than 10 to 15 per cent of babies be born by Caesarean section. Is this a silent acknowledgment that c-sections are a legitimate alternative to a natural birth? I certainly hope not. The number of Caesarean sections in the world is climbing, and in ...
The latest film in the American Pie series, American Reunion, contains a shocking scene – male full-frontal nudity including...
Dear Madame X, I have just started seeing this girl. She seems great, but she recently told me she...
Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved arrived in my hands via a public library, when I was a broke teenager with...
My attention was drawn this week to an article about the reaction at a Canadian university to proposals to...
Airport security. Bloody nuisance. Also a conspiracy designed to subjugate women. Allow me to elaborate. Despite flying quite a...
The Cannes film festival has kicked off this week with controversy over the lack of films made by women...
Dear Madame X, I seem to be only attracted to men who are macho assholes. I like them at...
When A Clockwork Orange was published in 1962, the term sexualized violence wasn’t in use. The distinction between sexualized...
