HB2666 for Maternal Mental Health

Wendy Davis from Baby Blues Connection and Postpartum Support International has been keeping us up-to-date on House Bill 2666. I want to pass on the information for those who are interested.

HB2666 is scheduled for a public hearing at the House Human Services Committee in Salem on Monday March 16 at 8:30 am. The house committee will comment on this bill and then send it on with their recommendations. They have given us more time to testify than usual, because they are sointerested in this bill. Come to Salem for the hearing - let's show the committee just how many of us support this measure.

On Thursday, March 5, the Oregon House voted unanimously on HJR15, a resolution that recognizes March 2009 as Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month in Oregon. The sponsor of the bill, Representative Carolyn Tomei (D-Milwaukee) is a great champion for maternal mental health, and in her house remarks she announced the upcoming companion bill, House Bill 2666, which would create a statewide taskforce to study Maternal Mental Health needs and resources in Oregon.

DETAILS: HB 2666 creates a collaborative statewide work group on perinatal mental health disorders within the Department of Human Services that will study the needs, best practices, and funding resources for improved care in Oregon, and report its findings back to the legislature. The bill is written to reflect the importance of including all stakeholders and addressing vulnerable populations across the state. Many public and private partners have already begun working together in Oregon to collaborate on creating better prevention and care systems for childbearing families. This legislation would bring in full support and visibility that will strengthen our work.

Full Text of the Task Force Bill - HR 2666 http://www.leg.state.or.us/09reg/measpdf/hb2600.dir/hb2666.intro.pdf

Wendy Davis, PhD

Oregon Perinatal Legislation Committee Chair

http://www.postpartum.net/

http://www.babybluesconnection.org/

Wild Feminine Reading

Join Tami Kent for a free public reading from her newly released book Wild Feminine at the Hawthorne Powell's store in Portland.

Wild Feminine Reading

Monday, March 9,

7:30pm-8:30pm

Powell's Books on Hawthorne

3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd.

Portland, Oregon

In Wild Feminine: Finding Power, Spirit, & Joy in the Root of the Female Body, I invite every woman to journey deep into the heart of her female body, to her root place, and the root of all womanhood. Through stories, visualizations, and creative exercises, the wisdom arising from the female body has been distilled into this guide for exploring the feminine nature.

Tami Kent, MSPT, is a holistic women's healthcare provider, as well as mother and writer. She guides women in receiving the wisdom of their bodies and reclaiming the wild in themselves. Tami maintains a women's health private practice in southeast Portland.

Screening of the film Pregnant in America

One Night Only in Portland...A Screening of Pregnant In America and discussion with Barbara Harper and Betsy Chasse.

Thursday, March 12

at 6:30pm

The Bagdad Theater

Tickets are $8.00 and a portion of the proceeds benefit Waterbirth International

"Pregnant in America examines the betrayal of humanity's greatest gift--birth--by the greed of U.S. corporations. Hospitals, insurance companies and other members of the healthcare industry have all pushed aside the best care of our infants and mothers to play the power game of raking in huge profits. His wife pregnant, first-time filmmaker Steve Buonaugurio sets out to create a film that will expose the underside of the U.S. childbirth industry and help end its neglectful exploitation of pregnancy and birth. And though he set out to fight the system, Steve finds that he and his wife must depend on it when a hospital struggles to save their newborn daughter's life. Pregnant in America is the controversial story of life's greatest miracle in the hands of a nation's most powerful interests."

A film by Steve Buonagurio Now available on DVD

Website:
http://www.pregnantinamerica.com/

Force of Nature

Vicky York passed the news about this wonderful play...
Actress, storyteller, and postpartum doula, Carole Groobman performs thirteen characters in a play about the social, political and cultural issues of childbirth. Force of Nature, written and performed by Carole Groobman, directed by Kathleen Edwards, will be at Lewis and Clark College, Council Chamber on March 12, 2009 at 1:15 p.m. and includes a post-show panel starting at 2:15 p.m. It is free to the public. For more information: visit www.lclark.edu/dept/gender or call 503-768-7678

Orgasmic Birth will be on 20/20 Tonight

Passed on from the Big Push for Midwives who passed it on from the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS) e-news...pass it on...

Orgasmic Birth will be a featured segment on ABC's 20/20 tonight (Friday, Jan. 2) at 10:00 pm Eastern. Filmmaker and former CIMS Leadership Team member Debra Pascali-Bonaro presents the ultimate challenge to our cultural myths by inviting viewers to see the emotional, spiritual, and physical heights attainable through unmedicated normal birth. In this revolutionary documentary, physiologic childbirth is revealed as an integral part of women's sexuality and a neglected human right. Learn more about the segment on the ABC News Web site.

Carol Gray wrote a blog post about ecstatic/orgasmic birth with a wonderful explanation of physiology-side of all of it.

I haven't seen this movie yet, but I am glad that after many reschedules the 20/20 segment is finally going to air tonight.

Wild Feminine Release Party

You are invited to Tami Kent's book release party...

A celebration for Wild Feminine

THIS FRIDAY, Dec. 12, 8 to 11pm
Soma Space, 4050 NE Broadway, Portland

Stories from Wild Feminine 8:30
Dance & celebrate 9:00
Babes in arms are welcome

Wild Feminine is hot off the press and books will be available for purchase $20(cash/check).

It makes a great gift too!

Can't make it to the party? Order the book from Amazon
More info about the book: www.wildfeminine.com

I have been excitedly awaiting the arrival of Tami's book, Wild Feminine. The description alone of this book sounds beautiful, powerful, and healing as do Tami's work and workshops. Connecting with the wisdom of our bodies, roots, and feminine energy brings forth balance and peace. Hurray for a book that contains so much potential for healing.

Mothers Milk Bank

A group of volunteers have started to create a non-profit milk bank called, Northwest Mothers Milk Bank, based here in Portland. Northwest Mothers Milk Bank is applying for membership with the Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA) and will join eleven other HMBANA member milk banks in north America (milk bank location map). Currently the closest milk bank to Portland is in San Jose, CA.

On their website, the Northwest Mothers Milk Bank describes what a milk bank does:

A milk bank screens, collects, processes and dispenses donated human milk as a community service, providing human milk to babies whose own mothers cannot supply the milk to meet their baby’s needs.

There are several ways you can help Northwest Mothers Milk Bank fulfill their goals:

• Make a financial contribution
• Volunteer as a Board Member or a Medical Advisory Board Member
• Volunteer as a medical advisory board member
• Join a committee: Education/Outreach, Fundraising, or Program Committees
• Share your expertese and volunteer to help with graphic design, fundraising, or grant writing
• Help Northwest Mothers Milk Bank find a home (office space)
• Donate milk- even though Northwest Mothers Milk Bank is not quite ready to start accepting milk donations, you can donate milk to Mothers' Milk Bank of California or Mothers' Milk Bank of Denver
• Use the GoodSearch search engine and select NWMMB

For more information, visit Northwest Mothers Milk Bank's website. They have a link to their first newsletter which includes information about why a local milk bank is important. You can sign-up to receive the newsletter by submitting your e-mail address at the bottom of the website home page. The website also has a donation link.

Story Time

I love stories. I believe we all have stories to tell...stories about our lives and experiences that affect us. Stories connect our hearts to our minds, ourselves to our communities, our generation to past and future generations, and stories can be very healing when shared in a supportive space. When I work with mothers, I am interested in the stories they have to tell about their past and present experiences and their hopes for the future. I am interested in what the stories hold, remind, evoke, and how they evolve over time. I also love illustrated stories...stories illustrated in any medium. Art therapy provides a powerful way to share, externalize, and see your story on a deeper level. Insight can be gained from sharing your story. As wisdom grows, the story evolves and heals. You cannot change your experiences, but your story about your experience can change and heal. You do not have to be a writer or an artist; the power of expressing your story is enough.

If you love to listen to stories too, check out Back Fence PDX on December 10th. Back Fence PDX is:

"...a rambunctious storytelling series dedicated to finding multiple viewpoints on a singular theme. Stories are true, raw, and performed without memorization, or notes and must be no longer than six minutes in length. We seek all manner of people — the very young, the very old, the odd and the passionate, the specialists and the wanderers and the curious — to tell their narratives, keeping the series unconventional and accessible."

girls ROCK!

It is fundraising time of year again, so I wanted to promote a really cool program for girls...

The Rock and Roll Camp for Girls here in Portland, and they are one of the organizations featured in the Willamette Week's 2008 Give Guide. WWeek is giving out fancy prizes to donors and all donations to the Rock Camp are tax deductible. There may also be an additional tax credit benefit if you donate through the Oregon Cultural Trust.

A description of the Rock Camp is here: http://giveguide.oaktree.com/NonProfits.aspx

And the link to donate directly is here: http://giveguide.oaktree.com/Donate.aspx

$500 sends one girl to rock camp and boosts her self-esteem and confidence in an amazing way. $25 buys 3 pairs of drumsticks! The goal of the camp is to never turn away any girl, even if she can't pay for camp herself. The Rock Camp also offers programs for us older ladies too - so, if you ever thought you might like to play an instrument or form a band (even just for a weekend), check them out. The Rock Camp's website is here: http://www.girlsrockcamp.org/main/

October is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month

I have not missed the fact that October is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It is just that this year breast cancer has once again personally touched my life, and I wanted to write a worthy post. It seems that I am running out of time with October coming to a close soon, so here it goes...

A friend of mine was diagnosed with breast cancer this summer. She is in her early 30's. Hearing her news was difficult, to say the least, and watching her go through the surgery and treatments has been heart wrenching despite her inherent integrity and optimistic outlook. I know it sounds cliche, but she is a superhero. She is enduring the miserable treatments, side effects, and emotional adjustments with grace, strength, humor, and honesty. I have always admired this friend, my admiration for her continues to grow with step of this experience.

There has recently been some debate about self-breast exams and whether or not they are cause for unneeded stress or even helpful. I am, personally, all for knowing and being aware of one's body as much as possible. I have found that the more in-tune I am with my body, the better I am able to take care of myself physically and emotionally. It has been challenging to pay attention to my body since I had children. With my friend's breast cancer diagnosis, I am reminded that it is time to reconnect. Self-breast exams, fertility awareness, yoga, massage, meditation, and just being mindful are some ways to learn more about your body and become more aware of your own physical and emotional rhythms.

My friend was not doing regular self-breast exams. In fact, she had just had a clinical breast exam at her last annual appointment six months before she discovered the lump. She found the lump because she was aware of her body and noticed something.

Here is a reminder to be aware, not just about breast cancer, but also of your own body. The Susan G. Komen for the Cure recommends that you, "Know how your breasts look and feel and report changes to your health care provider right away". For tips on how to be breast self-aware, look for the Breast Self-Awareness (BSA) Interactive Tool on the left side bar under "interactive tools".

What about nursing mamas? How do you do a BSE when you are lactating? Breastfeeding 123 has a post with recommendations to wait until seven days after your menstrual period has ended, if you are having menstrual cycles, and doing the exam after nursing when your breasts are less full of milk.

Second Annual Nutrition in the Womb Course

Join OHSU, March of Dimes, and The Barker Foundation for

the Second Annual

Nutrition in the Womb Course

Oct. 30-31, 2008
at the Residence Inn, by Marriott, David Evans Conference Center,
2115 SW River Parkway, Portland, OR 97201.

“The diets of mothers today are determining the health of future generations.”


Nutrition in the Womb is a course that will bring together current knowledge in the exciting new field of developmental origins of health and disease, integrating epidemiology with clinical and basic science. We will discuss the biological mechanisms, critical windows and trade-offs that occur during fetal development. Gender and ethnic specific aspects of development will also be described. We will emphasize the importance of the diets of girls and young women, and examine the current barriers to good food choices. The long-term effects of infant feeding and child growth will be reviewed. Round table discussions with invited experts and course participants will begin to explore the strategies by which the epidemic of chronic disease in the US can be brought to an end.


Please take advantage of this unique opportunity to learn how improving the diets of girls and young women will reduce the burden of chronic disease in the next generation.

The course schedule, registration form and other details can be found at http://www.nutritioninthewomb.org/.

Invited speakers from OHSU include Liz Adams, Maternal and Child Nutritionist; Susan Bagby, Nephrologist; David Barker, Physician and Epidemiologist; Dan Marks, Pediatrician; Robert Mckelvey, Psychiatrist; Sally Segel, Obstetrician; and Kent Thornburg, Physiologist and Director of the Heart Research Center.

Invited speakers will include Sarah Hampson, Psychologist, Oregon Institute; Mel Kohn, State Epidemiologist, Public Health Division, Oregon Department of Human Services; Dan Lackland, Public Health Physician, Medical University of South Carolina; Michelle Lampl, Anthropologist, Emory University, Atlanta; and Barrie Margetts, Professor of Public Health Nutrition, University of Southampton, UK.

If you have any questions about this conference, please call Justin Reeves Burke at 503.473.4794 or visit http://www.barker.org/

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month

This month is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

I was reminded of the importance of increasing awareness about domestic violence after reading this post by Molly at Citizens for Midwifery (CFM). Like Molly, domestic violence was the first social justice cause to which I was, and continue to be, deeply committed. The work I did with women and children who had experienced domestic violence has changed my life in many profound and meaningful ways. Molly's post reminds us that violence against women is found not only within intimate partner relationships, but also within many aspects of women's lives such as medical care, pregnancy care, and birth care.

Domestic violence during pregnancy is a grave concern. For example, did you know...

• According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV), in Oregon, 1 in 10 women reported experiencing intimate partner violence in a 2001-2002 survey.
• An estimated 8% of women are abused during their pregnancies.
• Physical abuse often escalates when an abuser finds out about the pregnancy.
• Homicide is the leading cause of death among pregnant women.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, there is help. No one deserves to be abused.

• Portland Women's Crisis Line (PWCL) 503-235-5333 or toll free 888-235-5333
• for more local resources, visit PWCL's resource list page

Kiss the Earth: Days of the Dead/Samhain Celebration

Kiss the Earth

Days of the Dead

Samhain Celebration

Sunday October 26 FREE

Soup & Cinema limited space rsvp

6pm-9pm, Theme: Home Wakes & Funerals / Days of the Dead

Community Altar rsvp

Bring candle, poem, object or other symbolic memorial of your ancestors and place them on the community altar.

Friday October 31 HALLOWEEN FREE

Family Mask & Lantern Making / Lantern Blessing Procession rsvp

Halloween, October 31, Friday 3pm til dark, procession at dusk

Community Altar building continues (through Sunday evening) no rsvp required

Make and offering out of materials provided and weave it into the community memorial loom.

Saturday November 1

Kiss the Earth Natural Burial Retreat 9am-5pm, $150 pre-registration required

In this workshop we will gather together to consider how we would like to be honored in our (or how we might honor another in their) final passage from earth.

learn more at http://www.generacion.nu/

Sunday November 2

Samhain, 10am-4pm, $50/session or $75/all day pre-registration required

Bread & Winter Gardens: wild sourdough starter, winter saunas and

garden infrastructure in preparation for the deep winter hearth.

Winter Light Beeswax, candles, oil lamps, and lanterns.

Community Altar Closing Ceremony FREE no rsvp necessary, DUSK

Join us in song as we burn our fabric, paper, earth weaving as a symbol of release.

visit: http://www.generacion.nu/

email: info@generacion.nu

call: 503.750.1415

Celebration takes place at:

Generación

857 N. Prescott

on the corner of Mississippi & Prescott

across from the Albina Triangle

Fall Harvest Festival Hoe Down

Join Portland Green Parenting and Friends for a

Fall Harvest Festival and Hoe Down!

Sunday, October 26th

from 1-6 pm

at the Pumpkin Patch

on Sauvie Island

Featuring the toe-tappin', knee slappin' sounds of

listen to them here

with caller Caroline Oakley

listen to her here

in the Big Red Barn from 3-6 pm!

Tickets are $25 per family (2 adults and their own children)

or $12.50 per adult

must be purchased before the event...there will be no tickets sold at the door

The ticket includes admission to the square dance, all you can eat corn, 2 bracelets to the corn maze (kids under 6 are free to the maze, kids over 6 are $4), games, face painting and a costume contest with cool prizes by Klean Kanteen, Oaks Park and more!!

Everyone is welcome to show up as early as they want since there will be lots of other fun things to enjoy at the farm from 9 am until 6 pm:* animal barn FREE* hay pyramid & hay maze FREE* hayrides FREE* cow train for $2.00 per person

Make sure to arrive by 2 pm to get your bracelets for the Corn Maize-- this is about a 45 minute activity from about 2-3 pm, after which we can have some games and face painting. We will roast corn and grill burgers from 3-5:30 pm right outside the barn.

At 6 pm the corn maize turns into a haunted "field of screams" that the older kids might like. We can get a discount to this activity if we have 15 or more people interested. Please e-mail Rebecca rebecca@portlandgreenparenting.com if you want to do the "field of screams" at an additional cost.

Purchase Tickets

Vegan Secret Cafe: Brunch Benefit

Christy of Lily Toad (and Two Little Feet Doula Services...and one of Nurture's Fertility Awareness workshop facilitators...and lots more) and Morgan of Dovetail Bakery are hosting a brunch to benefit the Birth Attendants: Prison Doula Project.

Brunch details:

September 21, 2008

8:30am-12:30pm

9015 N. Clarendon (cross st. Hudson), Portland, OR 97203

Full breakfast including coffee $10
Pastry and coffee $5

(stop by on your way to the Brain, Child reading group!)

For more information call Christy 503-285-5944 or Morgan 503-288-8839

Nest Midwifery Open Nest

Laurie Perron-Mednick, Kimberly Kincade, and Jen Warnock, the lovely midwives at Nest Midwifery, are celebrating their grand opening by welcoming you to their nest on Saturday, September 20th from 4-8pm. The Nest is located at 2225 NE MLK, above Echo Cafe. There will be treats to eat, drink, and see (including some special artwork)...activities for the wee ones...everyone is welcome!

For more information about Nest Midwifery, check out their gestating website at

www.nest-midwifery.com

tiny time based arts festival PICA

PICA's (Portland Institute of Contemporary Arts) annual Time Based Arts Festival (TBA) this week. On Sunday from 11am-2pm, there will be a tiny festival within a festival, or tiny TBA, packed with all ages fun, art, film, music, performance, and dance including Greasy Kids Stuff, Indiekid Films, Hot Little Hands, Anna Oxygen, Elizabeth Mitchel, art with CHAP (the Children's Art Project), and paint chip poetry with PNCA (Pacific Northwest College of Art)...

Tickets are $8 (members) or $10/adult and children get in free with a paying adult. Tickets can be purchased at the door.

For more information check out the tiny TBA webpage.

BIRTH: the Play

The Oregon Midwifery Council presents:

BIRTH a play by Karen Brody from BOLD (Birth on Labor Day)
on September 20, 2008 at 2pm
at the Delores Winningstad Theatre in the Portland Center for the Performing Arts.

All proceeds support the Oregon Midwifery Council.

If you are familiar with The Vagina Monolouges, BIRTH is similar but with a focus on childbirth.

Birth is a play based on over one hundred interviews Karen Brody conducted with mothers across America who gave birth between 2000-2004. It tells the true stories of 8 women painting a portrait of how low-risk, educated women are giving birth in America today.

To learn more about the play, visit BOLD's website. Watch a promotional video.

Tickets are $18 presale and $22 at the door.

Nursing Mothers Counsel of Oregon Announcement

The Nursing Mothers Counsel of Oregon (NMC) is a nonprofit organization that strives to improve health in our communities by advocating a women's right to breastfeed her child. We are developing free breastfeeding classes and other services to provide to our communities.

The Nursing Mothers Counsel of Oregon is actively seeking new volunteers. If you wish to become a phone counselor and have had at least six months of breastfeeding experience, or you do not have the breastfeeding experience and wish to volunteer in other ways, please come to our free training held at Legacy Emmanuel Hospital.

Learn how to counsel women on common breastfeeding issues, train to teach breastfeeding classes, and help improve the rates of breastfeeding in our communities. We are reaching out to diverse populations and really need volunteers that represent these communities. Women of diverse ethnic backgrounds and bilingual women are in very high demand!

For more information, please visit our website at http://www.nursingmotherscounsel.org/ and click on the “Promote” button or call Madia at 503-516-6471. You can also email her at raddoula@yahoo.com

Fall Session
Saturday, October 4th 9:00am-4:30pm
Monday, October 6th 6:30pm-9:30pmMonday,
October 13th 6:30pm-9:30pmMonday,
October 20th 6:30pm-9:30pmMonday,
October 27th 6:30pm-9:30pm

The Birth Survey

For years, consumers have enthusiastically shared online reviews of movies, restaurants, products and services, but readily available information about maternity care services was nearly unattainable—but no longer. The Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS) has developed The Birth Survey, a consumer feedback website where women provide information about the maternity care they received from specific doctors, midwives, hospitals, and birth centers. Families choosing where and with whom to birth can utilize this consumer feedback, along with data on hospital and birth center standard practices and intervention rates, to make more informed health care choices.

The Birth Survey began in New York and is now available in Oregon and nationwide.

Have You Given Birth in the Last Three Years?

If so, take The Birth Survey and provide feedback on your doctor, midwife, birth center or hospital at The Birth Survey.

Help Spread the Word about The Birth Survey!Forward this e-mail and download buttons, banners, and promo cards at http://www.thebirthsurvey.com/. Are you interested in helping to get the word out about The Birth Survey in your community or working to obtain official facility level intervention rates? To get involved, contact us at info@thebirthsurvey.com.

Support this non-profit project by the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS) by donating or becoming a member and sign up for e-cims newsletter.For information visit http://www.thebirthsurvey.com/ or email info@thebirthsurvey.com.