Did you know that the United States has the highest first-day infant death rate in the industrialized world?
That’s 50% more first-day deaths than all other industrialized countries combined.
We can do better.
If I was a female, this post would just be the best.
I can’t breathe
I’m a dude and this belongs on my tumblr haha
I still can’t get over this.
This thing is the best thing; all other things are inferior to this thing.
(Source: amazing-phandom-isnoton-fire, via thisinsatiableshadow)
![thesewatersrundeep:
“African American Midwife Maude Callen Delivering a Baby” by W. Eugene Smith, 1951
One remarkable moment in the public depiction of the midwife occurred in December 1951, when in a photo-essay for Life magazine, W. Eugene Smith introduced Mrs. Maude Callen, a nurse midwife practicing in rural South Carolina.
Callen traveled 36,000 miles a year over back roads to administer the only medical care many poor [B]lacks were likely to receive.
Maude Callen persuaded [the Division of Maternal and Child Health assistant director] to secure Penn Center, originally a school for newly freed slaves, as a site for the [midwifery] institutes because of its symbolic value in the Lowcountry communities served disproportionally by midwives. Training took place in the historic school buildings beneath moss-draped live oaks on a barrier island claimed by [B]lack farm families after the Civil War. Participants frequently described the experience as “inspirational.”
Working in the rural South in the 1950s, in “an area of some 400 square miles veined with muddy roads,” as LIFE put it, Callen served as “doctor, dietician, psychologist, bail-goer and friend” to thousands of poor (most of them desperately poor) patients…After the piece was published, LIFE subscribers from all over the country sent donations, large and small, to help Mrs. Callen in what one reader called “her magnificent endeavor”…
Maude Callen died in 1990 at the age of 91 in Pineville, South Carolina, where she had lived, and served, for seven decades.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/e15820bfbe30d106c738c2e12a7c5b4f/tumblr_mke26mWQEI1qjeot1o1_500.jpg)
“African American Midwife Maude Callen Delivering a Baby” by W. Eugene Smith, 1951
Maude Callen persuaded [the Division of Maternal and Child Health assistant director] to secure Penn Center, originally a school for newly freed slaves, as a site for the [midwifery] institutes because of its symbolic value in the Lowcountry communities served disproportionally by midwives. Training took place in the historic school buildings beneath moss-draped live oaks on a barrier island claimed by [B]lack farm families after the Civil War. Participants frequently described the experience as “inspirational.”
Working in the rural South in the 1950s, in “an area of some 400 square miles veined with muddy roads,” as LIFE put it, Callen served as “doctor, dietician, psychologist, bail-goer and friend” to thousands of poor (most of them desperately poor) patients…After the piece was published, LIFE subscribers from all over the country sent donations, large and small, to help Mrs. Callen in what one reader called “her magnificent endeavor”…
Maude Callen died in 1990 at the age of 91 in Pineville, South Carolina, where she had lived, and served, for seven decades.
(Source: afrodiaspores, via educationforliberation)
“All My Babies: A Midwife’s Own Story Synopsis” This beautiful film is the story of “Miss Mary” Coley an African-American midwife more than half a century ago in rural Georgia. Conceived as a demonstration film for “granny” midwives its production sponsored by the Georgia Department of Public Health All My Babies quickly transcended its initial purpose. It was used around the world by UNESCO and has become an enduring classic of non-fiction film.
(Source: douladivinity)
“We at the National Aboriginal Council of Midwives (NACM) have been deeply moved and inspired by the vision, commitment, and endurance of the Nishiyuu Walkers who set out from the community of Whapmagoostui located in northern Cree territory on an important and urgent mission. These young men, who have since been joined by dozens of other young men and women, set out in frigid sub-zero weather two months ago to snowshoe and eventually walk their way down from the northern Hudson Bay coast all the way to Ottawa on a mission for their people and for all Indigenous peoples of this land. They will cover over 1,500 km during their journey. They seek unity between First Nations in support of each other and in defence of the sovereignty of our Nations, as well as to protect this beautiful land and water that we live upon and beside. They call attention to the fact that we depend upon this land and water for our very lives and it is gravely threatened. They call for a new and better relationship between Indigenous peoples and the government of Canada. This journey is an extraordinary and courageous act. In the words of journalist Cathryn Atkinson, “these are ordinary young people who are also extraordinary young people. They deserve our respect.” — Press Release: NACM supports the Nishiyuu Walkers | National Aboriginal Council Of Midwives (NACM)
The Alliance Of African Midwives -
great resources available from the perspective of african midwives…
It’s INCREDIBLY hard for me to stomach the disrespect I see from Black men to Black women when last night I saw a Black woman LITERALLY have her body cut into to deliver her Black male child and within 30 mins of that, had him suckling at her breasts. All while smiling and happy and calling him a King.
I just…seriously. I can’t take it.
(via karnythia)
Stats on maternal death from unsafe abortions.
forwomenseyesonly | Smile! You’re at a woman friendly site. -
questioning the necessity of pelvic exams.
Going It Alone: Survey Says Black Mothers Get Little Help, Services & Support While Giving Birth -
(Source: thesewatersrundeep, via ynannarising)