Short Link Roundup

A News story illustrates how Patriarchy works in Subtle ways
Florida Man Accused of Fraud After Adopting His Wife's Last Name 
"The man says he followed the same process that a woman would follow to change her last name after she got married, but was later told that that process is "only for women" and that he has to go through a much more time-consuming and expensive process if he wants to legally change his name."
The blogger says only nine states have gender-neutral marriage name change laws.


How "Personhood" Strips Mothers of their Fundamental Rights
I really liked this series on Spirt of Ilithyia blog about how "personhood" (the idea that the fetus holds equal or sometimes greater rights than the woman carrying it) issues affect birthing women's rights (not just women who want abortions).
"Stories ranged from forced c-sections to prosecution for homicide for actions a pregnant woman took during her pregnancy to murder charges for miscarriage."


There is a new study out with data on Birth Center births!
Because I'm in public health, I'm really into the data, and what it means for maternity care. 

94% of these women ended up with vaginal births (this c-section rate of 6% compares favorably to the national rate of 27% for low-risk women), and 84% of the total sample gave birth at the birth center. Of the 16% that did not, some were referred to the hospital prior to labor, some during, and some after birth. 

Less than one percent of the study sample transferred to the hospital during labor for emergency reasons. There were no maternal deaths. Rates for infants (0.047% stillbirth and 0.04% death within the first 28 days of birth) are consistent with the results of several previous studies of low-risk women that included births at hospitals, birth centers, and home. 

The “bottom line” is that birth centers offer “high-quality, family-centered care with a Cesarean rate of approximately 6%” and a lower than 2% urgent transfer rate (for either mother or baby).

Rebecca Dekker wrote an 8-pg analysis of the study, and here is some additional information I find interesting: 

• About 75% of the women were white 
• Women were cared for by certified nurse-midwives (80%), certified professional midwives and licensed midwives (14%), or teams made up of all three types of midwives (6%)
• 85% were between 18 and 34 years of age
• The researchers estimated that, in this study, more than $30 million was saved because of the 15,574 women who chose to give birth in birth centers.

What this means is that birth centers provide low-risk pregnant women with safe care at a fraction of the  cost of the hospital, with a C-section rate that is 4 times lower in the same population. 


Shakira had a baby!
I admit, I love Shakira. Various news stories have said that she had a C-section and she is breastfeeding.


In personal news, I turned in my first draft of my thesis, I graduate in 3 months, I'm interviewing with some doula clients and I'm looking for jobs!