Link Round Up to Hold You Over

You would think with graduation behind me I'd have a lot more free time to blog, but the opposite has been true!

I've got 3 part time jobs plus doula work while I apply for full-time jobs. I'm actually quite happy with this situation, as it keeps me on my toes and I can do some of it from home! And it is all related to my future career, so I still feel on-track. Furthermore, I've agreed to some other things, lately, that have been using up my free time - mainly spending time with my fiance, as I promised him I'd use all my free no-homework evenings with him (and wedding planning)! But don't worry, I've got several blog post ideas started in draft form that I plan to get to, eventually.

I missed posting anything for Mother's Day because I was with my mama, but HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY EVERYONE! Also, this past week was National Women's Health Week, and the month of May is International Doula Month.

I've been trying to still keep up with reading, tweeting, and posting on Facebook  though! So if you haven't been able to follow along over there, I'd thought I'd provide you with a link round-up to satisfy your love for all things birthy during my hiatus:

• The big news recently is the Listening to Mothers III survey results! The previous survey reports have been my go-to for so much information on maternity care in the U.S. over the past couple of years, and I am so nerdily excited for these new reports. I sat in on a live teleconference/webcast with Maureen Corry (Childbirth Connections), Eugene Declerq (Epidemiologist), several others who were involved with the survey, and a lot of other maternity care junkies like me :) Childbirth Connection has made the results really accessible - you don't have to read the whole report if you don't want to, they have several briefs and major survey findings documents. I tweeted a lot of the findings during the webcast, so you're welcome to go back to my #LTM3 tweets and skim through those! 
• What does this survey cover, you ask? Things like: maternal satisfaction with care; # who used doulas, midwives, OBs, other providers; # who did childbirth education; breastfeeding care received; disparities by ethnicity or health insurance; what interventions women received; treatment received and attitudes; and more! 

• A recent study in Pediatrics reported that early limited formula supplementation increased exclusive breastfeeding at 3 months. I've spoken about this study with an IBCLC who is a friend of mine and read through a lot of the analyses. This study is a great reminder to always be a critical reader! There are some flaws to this study, and the post from Best for Babes goes through almost all of them, and this post from Breastfeeding Medicine adds some more great points. Mainly, there could have been some errors and bias in the study that need to be understood before everyone jumps to the extreme that many of the news outlets have: How Formula Could Increase Breastfeeding Rates (TIME)

• This story is still going around - Disney made Merida from Brave "sexier" so that she could join the Disney Princess line of merchandise, and everyone flipped out. Several thousands signed a petition that included this great quote: "The redesign of Merida in advance of her official induction to the Disney Princess collection does a tremendous disservice to the millions of children for whom Merida is an empowering role model who speaks to girls' capacity to be change agents in the world rather than just trophies to be admired. Moreover, by making her skinnier, sexier and more mature in appearance, you are sending a message to girls that the original, realistic, teenage-appearing version of Merida is inferior; that for girls and women to have value — to be recognized as true princesses — they must conform to a narrow definition of beauty." 
• Disney said they are pulling back, and everyone rejoiced, and then they indicated that they were still going to sell the merchandise that they already made with sexy Merida on it. Most recent update is here.

• Another big story that went around was an ACOG Study on the adverse effects of Pitocin augmentation on full-term newborns. They found that Pitocin was an independent risk factor for NICU admission and low APGAR scores. 
• (Also, I found out that ACOG has a pretty good source for women's health news - "Today's Headlines)

• If you're into Science and want more Pregnancy and Childbirth news outlets, I read Science Daily's posts on those topics. If you're into social and political updates on Health issues in the U.S., check out Think Progress' health feed. 

• Currently Reading: The Business of Baby: What Doctors Don't Tell You, What Corporations Try to Sell You, and How to Put Your Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Baby Before Their Bottom Line. Stay tuned for a review!