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PREGNANCY + POSTPARTUM
A New Model for Postpartum Care
What: There’s been plenty of coverage of luxury postpartum recoveries, but NPR explores a business model I haven’t seen before. At Fourth Tri Sanctuary in Detroit, new moms get 18 weeks of support “from certified postpartum doulas and health professionals in an environment designed for healing, education and bonding.” Members can drop in to the space as needed and do everything from shower while a doula watches their baby to get a little work done.
Why it matters: “The model of Fourth Tri Sanctuary creates a shared environment where mothers who are in the same stage of life can build community rather than just offering brief, isolated or expensive care. Is Fourth Tri Sanctuary a glimpse into the future of postpartum care in America? And if so, how can we ensure it is accessible to everyone?”
Source: NPR
The Pregnancy Comedy Lineage
What: Pregnancy and birth has come a long way from the days of Hollywood depicting a magical, one-push transition from labor to a beautiful, clean baby wrapped in a blanket and an equally beautiful, clean mom. The New Yorker’s Carrie Battan looks at the “lineage of pregnancy comedies” over the past decade or so.
Why it matters: “It’s a tough task, it turns out, trying to say anything new or interesting about such a universal experience. And pregnancy is a tricky experience to render onscreen: It is long, often dull, and full of private discomforts and epiphanies. ‘The days ticked inexorably past,’ the novelist Anne Enright wrote in “Making Babies,” her memoir about motherhood. ‘I did not feel like an animal, I felt like a clock, one made of blood and bone, that you could neither hurry nor delay.’”
Source: New Yorker
BIRTH CONTROL
How Birth Control Could Get Banned
What: Jill Filipovic takes a deep dive into how contraception access is at risk, especially if Donald Trump wins the White House. She reports that the “strategy seems to be a fairly straightforward one. If the most common and effective forms of contraception (the IUD is more than 99% effective) are redefined as abortion, then there’s no need for separate measures banning contraception; existing abortion bans may be enough to restrict access.”
Why it matters: “This redefinition of contraception as abortion could come into full force if Donald Trump wins the 2024 presidential election. Conservative groups have set out a detailed policy plan for his presidency, and part of that agenda is decreasing contraception access and encouraging methods like fertility awareness (24% failure rate).”
Source: Time
Supposedly Moderate Republican Governor Vetoes Birth Control Bill
What: Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed a bill that would’ve made access to contraception a right for Virginia citizens. That could be important after Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas signaled past decisions—like the one that provided contraception access nationally–could be revisited.
Why it matters: Contraception isn’t at risk in Virginia yet, but the fact that a supposedly moderate Republican governor in a trending-Blue state felt he had to veto this bill is a sign of how politically potent birth control is to the right.
Source: Virginia Mercury
ABORTION ACCESS
Polls Show Major Support for Abortion Amendments
What: Polls from Arizona and Florida show what we already knew – abortion access is supported by a large majority of Americans. Both states have abortion access directly on the ballot this November, and according to a CBS poll, 65 percent of Arizonans and 60 percent of Floridians support amendments guaranteeing abortion access, compared to 21 percent and 20 percent against, respectively.
Why it matters: “The newest polling shows not only that voters overwhelmingly favor the amendments, but even Republicans lean in favor of them — 43-38 in Arizona and 43-34 in Florida.”
Source: Washington Post
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