Jezebel: fetal positions

Forget Boner-Killing Bloody Vaginas: Childbirth Can Make Men Mentally-Ill

Anna — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 12:30:00 EDT

"Why Men Should NEVER Be At The Birth Of Their Child" blares the headline in today's Daily Mail. But if you assume that the accompanying story immediately launches into an appeal for a return to "modesty" and warnings about how witnessing childbirth can kill a man's libido, you'd be wrong. (That crops up in the third part of the piece!) Nope, Reason No. 1 that men should be banished to birthing ward waiting areas is that their pregnant partners can't multitask. "A labouring woman needs to be protected against any stimulation of the thinking part of her brain - the neocortex - for labour to proceed with any degree of ease," writes Ob/Gyn Michel Odent, who is said to have presided over some 50,000 births. "A woman in labour needs to be in a private world where she doesn't have to think or talk. Yet, motivated by a desire to 'share the experience', the man asks questions and offers words of reassurance and advice." The other bad thing about inviting big boys in the birthing room? Witnessing such a thing can make them mentally-ill.

"In its mild form, men often take to their bed in the week following the birth, complaining of everything from a stomach ache or migraine," claims Dr. Odent. "And in the most graphic example, one perfectly healthy man had his first experience of schizophrenia two days after watching his wife give birth. Was this his way of escaping reality?" Normally, such a statement would have us laughing so hard we'd be curled up into the fetal position but another article — this from the much-respected Guardian — is reporting that male postnatal depression is not only a reality, but a harbinger of future child behavioral problems. Certainly, the story — which comes out of a study at the University of Bristol — makes absolutely no correlation between paternal depression and childbirth, but we have a feeling that Dr. Odent will be taking this latest news and running with it all the way to the NHS maternity wards.

A Top Obstetrician On Why Men Should NEVER Be At The Birth Of Their Child [Daily Mail]
Male Postnatal Depression Affects Child Behaviour, Study Shows [Guardian]

"There can be no female agency in Knocked...

Jessica — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 15:45:00 EST

"There can be no female agency in Knocked Up, Waitress, and Juno — not because they are comedies, but because, in each scenario, unwanted pregnancy is the joke played (by God?) on the female lead. As the most successful of the preg protags, she who is Knocked Up is necessarily the most smacked down — the glass ceiling turns out to be Alison's own uterus. Jenna and Juno are less formidable, but unexpected fertility mocks their dreams of autonomy. All three are taught their place by their own bodies—and what's more, they learn to like it." — Village Voice film critic J. Hoberman on 2007, the year of the "abortion-not" movie. [Village Voice]

Unlike Alveda King, I Am Neither "Reformed" Nor A Murderer

Anna — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 12:00:00 EST

Not only is today Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, tomorrow marks the 35th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision Roe vs. Wade. (Erica Jong weighs in here.) And did you know that one of the most vocal abortion opponents is Martin Luther King Jr.'s niece, self-described "reformed murderer" Alveda King? (King, seen above left, had two abortions when she was younger, and offers up this gem: "We give free sex education, free condoms, free birth control. That's almost like permission to have free sex.") Yup, less than a week after the news broke that the abortion rate in the U.S. is at its lowest in 45 years, the media is coming out with its inevitable "the women behind the abortions" stories, and the (not-so-surprising) news is that the majority of abortions are being performed on women who have already had kids, many of them college-educated. In fact, in the 35 years since Roe vs. Wade, there have been roughly 50 million abortions in the United States, with more than 1/3 of adult women estimated to have had one (a disproportionate number of those women are black or Hispanic). And on this, the eve of the anniversary of Roe V. Wade, I'll say it: I am one of those women.

I had my first abortion at the age of 18, while in the early throes of a love affair that eventually turned emotionally abusive. Fresh off my first year of college, I fell pregnant through a combination of raging hormones, high fertility, and, most notably, sheer recklessness. Four weeks later, hunched over and damp with tears after undergoing a D&C at my local Planned Parenthood, I vowed I'd never behave that stupidly again.

Talk about famous last words: Six years later, I did just that.

I could go on and on about my unwillingness to have a child, about the unsuitability of my romantic partners, or the precariousness of my financial situation as a young women in the big city without a trust-fund or even a savings account. I could talk about the dreams I had for my future, dreams that did not include a changing diapers, nursery school and single motherhood. I could express my belief that the embryos that existed inside me for four weeks were not fully-formed, functioning human beings. And I could converse for hours about my terror at the thought of disappointing my parents, or the long-held conviction (as a young girl I had walked hand-in-hand with my mother at many an abortion-rights march) that it was my right to control over what happened to my body, and that, when push came to shove, if I was going to talk the talk, I was sure as hell going to walk the walk.

But eventually I'd have to come back to the simple fact that, no matter how educated and "aware" I was, when I got pregnant I was young, stupid, and yes, "selfish". (Tracie, who's been through it too, disagrees: "It's not selfish. Having a baby and then not being a good mother would be selfish.") There was nothing comedic, heartwarming or cinematic (a la Juno and Knocked Up) about my getting pregnant (except for the time I was heating up soup in the kitchen and realized I was both barefoot and pregnant), or my choice to end a pregnancy. But most importantly, I was simply not willing or ready to have a child; I was just a baby myself. And although I can't speak of the reasons and realities behind the other third of American women who've undergone abortions over the past three and a half decades, perhaps some of you can?

Who's Getting Abortions? Not Who You'd Think [MSNBC, via AP]
If Men Could Get Pregnant, Abortion Would Be A Sacrament [Huffington Post]
Pregnancy Films Like 'Juno' Skip Message, Go For The Humor [USA Today]

Earlier: Experts Don't Understand Why Fewer American Women Are Getting Abortions
•Do You Care How Dudes Feel About Their Abortions?
•How Much Time Should Women Spend In Prison For Having Abortions?
•How Old Is Too Old To Have An Abortion?

Fox's Abortion Reality Filled With White Christian Women

Jessica — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 17:00:00 EDT

The mouthpiece of your crazy republican grandma, Fox News, debuted a documentary on abortion this past Saturday called Facing Reality: Choice (somehow that sounds like the set up for a joke, but it's for real). Fox purports to show the struggles that "everyday Americans" experience when deciding the fate of their unborn child, except that all three of the women featured are white and decidedly Christian, which I suppose in Fox's world is the only kind of "everyday American" that exists. The clip above shows Jeanne, 30, who is basically Citizen Ruth. She's already given birth to five children by several different fathers — three girls of whom she does not have custody, a boy born drug-addicted because of her coke use who was given up for adoption, and a boy who died of sudden infant death syndrome. The family who adopted her son is paying for her rent and other needs because they expect to adopt the baby she is currently carrying. In the meantime, Jeanne picks up some drug dealer boyfriends along the way. The whole thing is so depressing, and also: an argument for sterilization.

Facing Reality: Choice [Fox News]

Catholic Blowhard Says Women Seeking Or Having Abortions Should Get 15 Years To Life

Tracie — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 18:45:00 EDT

Remember that video that posed the question to pro-lifers: "How much time should women spend in prison for having an abortion were it to be outlawed?" None of people protesting outside of abortion clinics could come up with a suitable answer. (One brainiac even said, "Well, that's between [the woman] and God.") Well, Catholic Online columnist Matt C. Abbott, finally got around to figuring out a suitable sentence for women who seek abortions: 15 years to life. Although Mr. Abbott says that certain things should be taken into consideration when handing down such a hefty sentence:

Many [women] are coerced into procuring an abortion by their boyfriends, husbands, or parents. Certainly these women should be considered victims, not perpetrators.

Yes, because it's not at all possible that us lil' ladies could ever make decisions about our own bodies or future without the input of a man.

However, Abbott does give us "murderers" some credit:

In some cases, the abortion-seeking woman is indeed the perpetrator. She knows very well what she's doing. She's not coerced by anyone. Perhaps she's even going against the wishes of her loved ones. This is the woman who should be treated as a criminal.

Okay, so if we listen to our parents/boyfriends/husbands and get the abortion then we're the victims. But if we don't listen to our parents/boyfriends/husbands and get the abortion then we're the bad guys? Yeah, that logic sounds about right, as far as pro-life jibber-jabber goes. Some of us here were raised Catholic, so we're used to it. In fact, it's so homey and familiar, that at this point, it's tantamount to Nana's Alzheimer ramblings—it's worrisome and sad, but we also can't help but giggle at it.

The Abortion-Seeking Woman: Perpetrator Or Victim? [Catholic Online via Feministing]