Category: Politics

Left Wing rants, Andrew Wilkie for Bennelong, Down with Dubbya.

Birth Options

There is a review of maternity services in Australia, and soon private indemnity insurance will not be available to homebirth midwives, and the Government has decided not to cover them.

Essentially, this rules out homebirth as an option for Australian women.

Now, you might think, “who would want a homebirth, it’s dangerous!”, but in European countries where homebirth is routine (about 30%), maternal and infant mortality is the same (or lower) than it is here.

I would not have been able to give birth to Inigo at home, and if I ever had another child, I don’t think that homebirth would necessarily be the right choice for that birth, but I definitely want that choice to be available to other women. Birthing in a hospital definitely makes you appreciate “what could have been”.

So if you have a minute, please sign the petition here.

Thanks to Big Green Coat for reminding me to post about this.

I’m not a feminist, but…

I think women should be treated equally.

Another in an appallingly ongoing series, Kelly Clarkson isn’t a feminist.

*Edited to add – I *AM* a feminist, and I am appalled by women who say “I’m not a feminist, but…”, and I think they should be first up against the wall when the revolution comes. Or maybe second, after people who outline their lips in a lipliner that is much darker than their lipstick. And people in 4WD’s that don’t understand the proper use of the indicator. And people who feed babies coca-cola. And – I’d better stop now, I have work to do today!

The Inauguration

I must be the only person in the world who didn’t get up at 3am to watch the palaver, nor did I catch any TV, radio or newspaper reports.

I think that Barack Obama has a lot of promise, and I am truly inspired that Americans have looked beyond the colour of a man’s skin and seen the content of his character – and then voted for him. And I am thrilled that the Bush years are over (please tell me there isn’t a cousin waiting in the wings somewhere!).

But to call him the hope of the world is a tiny bit rich.

What I am really excited about, is Sasha Obama’s outfit.

Call me shallow 😉

Books For Timor Leste

My gorgeous sister in law, Kerry, has been working in Timor for a few months – organising a women’s conference for next year, for the Alola Foundation. While she’s been there, she’s been educating me about the day to day reality of life for women in East Timor.

The Alola Foundation works hard to end domestic violence, to improve maternal and child health, to boost educational outcomes for children, and to educate and support women to support themselves and their families.

East Timor has one of the highest mortality rates for women in childbirth anywhere in the world. Because of Portugese colonisation it’s a predominantly Catholic country, so birth control is practically unavailable. Timorese women have very high fertility, averaging ten pregnancies over a lifetime.

Although Timor has very high rates of breastfeeding, a comparatively low percentage of babies are exclusively breastfed until 6 months of age, and up to 2 years of age as per World Health Organisation Guidelines. Poor feeding practices contribute to high infant mortality.

Children in East Timor speak Tetun, the native language, and usually Bahasa Indonesia. Portuguese is the official national language that they will learn in school, and many also will learn some English. Kerry told me about a pre-school that she visited that has over 80 students in a house about the size of a small car.

If you have kids, and have some old books that they have grown out of, please consider donating them to this little school. Kerry will be in Australia for Christmas, and will be able to take some books back with her in January.

Because English is the 4th language for these kids, picture books with no words, or only a single word are useful. Books in reasonable condition would be appreciated, as they are going to be loved by a great many children. New books would also be appreciated.

And if you can’t send books, please consider making a donation here, to help women you will never meet lead a richer life.

Leave a comment and I will email you details of where to post the books, or I can arrange to collect them from you if you live in Sydney.

Please cross post and spread the word!