Day 39-BA5 takes the lead

I finished “Like a Mother: a Feminist Journey through the Science and Culture of Pregnancy” yesterday…

Like a Mother is a feminist perspective on pregnancy from a marginalized Filipina. When she gets pregnant with her first daughter, the author, Angela Garbes, does a deep dive into pregnancy, reading all of the tomes and gathering as much information as she can. After the first few books, she is struck by the lack of autonomy pregnant woman have over their bodies, an ongoing trend over the last several centuries. Angela is also shocked at the male doctor’s re-appropriation of women’s health care.

For example, hundreds of years ago, midwives delivered babies, told laboring mothers when to push, and tended to mothers and newborns in the days and weeks after their birth. However, with the advent of the Industrial Revolution, a new expert was born. Enter the “white male doctor”, accompanied by warnings that “instinct and maternal love” are not sufficient guides for taking care of baby. Instead, only the “white male asshole” – is the one who knows best; midwives do not have the proper schooling, even though they have more experience than any man.

In the early 1900s, half of all babies in America were delivered by midwives who were mostly working class immigrants and black women. Sensing financial gain as a possibility, gynecological and obstetrical doctors [white males] deemed the practice of midwifery unacceptable and took action to eliminate this segment of the work force, in order to make way for them (white males) and their budding careers.

In 1912, J. Whitridge Williams, a professor and overall jerk, at Johns Hopkins University, set out to promote the skillsets of his educated white male peers over midwives. His study was called “Medical Education and the Midwife Problem in the United States.” Williams surveyed the faculties (only men participated in the suvey) at 120 medical schools offering 4-year courses in obstetrics.  He found that most professors felt unprepared to teach obstetrics, but were doing so anyway, and unqualified to deal with obstetrical emergencies. One man who lectured on the subject confessed that he had never attended a live birth…but I guess because he was formerly education (by other men) he was more competent than a black female midwife who has delivered over a 100 babies. Instead of conceding that doctors could actually learn something from midwives, Williams doubled down on his own agenda, insisting that midwifery be eradicated; he said midwives were dangerous.

As soon as the white patriarchy came to the realization they could personally make money delivering babies, they then tried to re-appropriate it for themselves. The road to re-appropriation is paved with…eliminating the competition, i.e., the doctors had no choice but to get rid of midwives because they offered too much competition. As soon as the practice of midwifery was out of the way, white male doctors could slip into the lucrative positions they created for themselves.  To pave the way for this newly created male industry, states began passing laws banning the practice of midwifery because “it isn’t safe” and requiring [surprise!] that babies be delivered by a licensed medical doctor. During the early 20th century, women were driven out of the health care field and actively excluded from accessing medical education. The intention is clear: let’s eliminate the competition.

Until very recently, govt –funded research has been almost exclusively conducted by, on, and for white men

This is always the way.  Women do the shit work until it becomes profitable, then MEN appropriate it. Look at the culinary industry.  Who has done the majority of the cooking since time immemorial? Women. Because men didn’t want any part of this drudgery…until it started becoming profitable.  Then, men took over. Currently, this field is dominated by male chefs when it is women who have been responsible for maintaining hearth and home for centuries. This pattern also applies to babies, but it doesn’t stop at a midwifery ban.

White male doctors came in and started re-inventing shit that benefitted them. Having women lie on their back to give birth, instead of squatting or kneeling which was done over past generations, was Louis IV’s idea.  Turns out he was a pevert who liked to watch women give birth. The angle was better for HIM, when women delivered on their backs because he could see their ‘vag.’ That’s why this trend started in the 17th century.

What a pig!

The “husband stitch” is an extra stitch sometimes sewn into a woman, via the episiotomy, after her perineum is torn or cut during childbirth. The purpose of the extra stitch is to make the vaginal opening smaller and tighter than it was before the birth to increase a husband’s sexual pleasure. Fuck him!

In 1977, a leading medical journal, the Lancet, published a study speculating that flowers held by menstruating women would wilt from “menotoxin”, an invisibile, nefarious substance secreted through the pores of women who are on their period. Yes, this study was published in a reputable journal…in 1977!!!   Spoiler Alert: There is no such thing as menotoxin or “menstruation poison” and there never was. It’s a complete fabrication.

In 1970 – 1970!!! – a junior high school teacher in Cleveland was placed on mandatory maternity leave during her second trimester because her supervisors were concerned that her “pregnant body would alternately disgust, concern, fascinate, and embarrass her students.” This is in 1970! Are fat, male teachers placed on mandatory leave because they’re disgusting?

In 1977, public health officials said expectant mothers should have no more than two alcoholic drinks per day because of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) yet if you delve deeper into previous studies, we find that FAS only affected infants whose mothers were severe alcoholics. In 1981, the surgeon general issued an official instruction for pregnant women to NOT drink ANY alcoholic beverages. Based on what?! This is 1981!! THEN, taking this a step further, white males decided to add warning labels to all alcoholic beverages, wherever sold, despite the fact that phantom FAS rarely manifests. Instead, drinking alcohol in ANY quantity served to stigmatize pregnant women and  became a marker for maternal misbehavior.

Don’t worry, though. Here comes Emily Oster to the rescue. She makes her living debunking male-centered myths about women.  But, don’t forget…this bitch was heavily funded by charter schools when she published her Covid study, using spurious data, that 3 feet of social distancing was appropriate in schools because she said the virus wasn’t transmissable in schools. Her bogus study was used as justification by education administrators across the globe to open schools and kill teachers as they succumbed to Covid 19 inside their crowded classrooms. I wrote a blog post about all of this.

But, here, in Garbes’ book, she’s baaack. Oster wrote Expecting Better: how to Fight the Pregnancy Establishment where she told mothers a couple of drinks a week in the first trimester and a drink a day in the second and third is no problem.  Women ate [er: drank] this up!! According to Oster, its also okay to “pickle” your fetus in coffee; three to four 8-ounce cups of coffee during pregnancy is okay. 

What about a vat of coffee? My parents had a huge industrial coffeemaker going at all times when my Mom was pregnant and well into my childhood – each probably drank up to 12 cups a day. I’ve had anxiety my entire life; sometimes it can get pretty severe. Is it from my Mom’s massive coffee consumption while I was in utero? Oster says it’s okay.

As we  move through the book, Angela addresses other aspects of pregnancy. Chapter 5 is devoted to the placenta. Toward the end of her pregnancy, Angela hired Sage, a doula, to help her with labor and delivery.  She also authorized the hospital to release her placenta to Sage.

This next part is disgusting:

Sage lined her Dutch oven with fresh ginger, lemons, and sliced jalapenos, steamed Angela’s placenta, then sliced it and dried the pieces in her circular food dehydrator, where they became porous and brittle. Then, Sage put those pieces in a coffee grinder and ground them into a powder. Sage said: “My kitchen smelled like I had been cooking innards or organ meat…” She then put the powder into capsules that Angela took – 8 pills a day for the first couple of weeks before tapering off and finishing the pills.

Another chapter is related to due dates. Angela says due dates are bullshit and that labor ensues when the developing fetus maxes out the nutritional and energetic supply of its mother: “Rather than starve, the baby decides to make a run for it, opting to have its needs met outside the womb.” What this means is that the fetus, NOT the mother, dictates labor. Eating spicy foods, walking up and down stairs, drinking caster oil, having sex, will not jump-start labor as was previously thought; the fetus determines when labor will occur.

Angela’s first child was a difficult birth. Her daughter was in the posterior position, resulting in a C-section after days of labor. Angela’s bladder was also obstructed in two places by the fetus. In contrast, breast feeding was easy and her baby latched immediately. One of the chapters in Angela’s book discusses breast feeding in detail and the power of mother’s milk.

I was put on formula the moment I was born. So was my brother.

Another chapter discusses the importance of the pelvic floor in that it holds up all of our organs: bladder, colon, uterus, etc. Angela writes: “Your pelvic floor is inherently strong and engaged, unconsciously controlled by your nervous system. Without these muscles actively working, your organs would fall out from between your legs. You’d be incontinent.” And yet, one in three mothers sustain pelvic floor injuries while giving birth. These injuries are never discussed writ large.

Angela also debunks Kegel exercises: “Women are often told to do Kegel exercises before and after birth, but that is just one repetitive motion. A single motion cannot solve a range of issues affecting a variety of muscles.” Kegels are the “go-to” for medical assholes [female doctors are included in this category] who want to avoid the time it takes to provide a meaningful diagnosis.  It’s simply easier to dismissively tell women to “do Kegels” when they present with a slightly complex ailment then it is to actually research that ailment.

Several years ago, I had a bout of incontinence that materialized out of nowhere, lasting for 2 weeks. I went to my doctor and was seen by a PA. After taking a history, she asked me, “Why do YOU think you’re incontinent?” Of course, I had no idea and told her so. I wanted HER to tell me why I was incontinent. The PA prescribed…Kegels. That’s it.

I kept a log for the next two weeks, dutifully logging the number of Kegels I performed throughout the day. Yet, the incontinence persisted. I began to doubt myself…was I sabotaging my own progress by not doing enough Kegels? I was doing well over 200 a day and the energy it took to remind myself when I would do my next set of Kegels and how many and if I was doing enough was exhausting. Eventually, my symptoms resolved.

My Mom called our old family doctor and explained the symptoms I was having. Over the phone, he diagnosed me with an inflamed urethra and said it would go away in one to two weeks. When my Mom told “old Doc Smith” that I’d been prescribed Kegels, he started laughing and said they didn’t work.  This is a scam women have endured since Kegels have been invented. My Mom had some old antibiotics lying around so I took those. After 8 days, my incontinence disappeared because the inflamed urethra resolved; my condition had nothing to do with Kegels.

Highly recommend this book!! 

L and I went to Pops Creamery today…

7/30/22. Saturday

9:30-10:00 - I sleep in way too late for a possible bike ride and I’m disappointed in myself. I seemed to stall out because A) my bike bag wasn’t packed, which only takes five min and B) I didn’t know what to wear. (this after all the time and money I’ve invested in the curated closet project). Also I’m exhausted - what a surprise.

10:00-10:30-I take the dog out and grab my coffee, then dust my living room cabinet and sideboard buffet.

11:00-12:00-I color my hair. I weigh 97 pounds today.

12:00-12:40-I leave the color in and read Like A Mother.

12:40-1:30-Shower. I wash the color out. Spa Day.

1:30- 3:00- I braid my hair and read while I’m braiding. I finish Like a Mother and wash my bathroom floor mats. Braiding my hair takes forever; I eat my apple slices and almond butter. I paint my toenails in between and clean my toilet.

3:00-3:45 - I carb load before my workout and eat my leftover Thai glass noodles

3:45-4:30- I do a 30-min Insanity Max - Sweat workout.

4:30-5:30-L. and I have a appointment to complete the FAFSA for Otis. We go my office, I pull out my tax information, and we knock it out.

5:30-6:30-L. and I go to Pops for ice cream. We sit outside and talk about how Tucker, in Membership, at The Club, is trying to steal the Front Desk Manager position from Trish, the current manager, so he can have it for himself. See? More white male appropriation. I buy a scoop of cookies and cream and a scoop of rocky road ice cream.

6:30-7:15- Home and I eat the rest of the calamari rolls and read 13 Ways to talk to a Fat Girl.

7:15-8:30-telephone call with B.

9:00-11:00-I enter my office and go to work.

-I email Renee, from Hiking, and apologize for not checking my email more regularly. I say I would have definitely gone on the supplementary hike if I’d known and subtly throw my number in the email if she wants to text me in the future.

-I go through my top filing drawer [files A-Z] and purge papers I no longer need, refiling them in either my Home Maintenance or Medical binders that I created a few months ago in accordance with The Paper Project.

11:00-1:00-I switch to the second drawer and pull out copies of old job applications I’ve saved over the years. Of interest, is the fact that I’ve applied several places over the last three years. TBH, I never stopped applying for state and adjunct positions during my entire career. In fact, it was only four years ago that I was hired at College No. 2. I guess I forgot that I’ve been constantly trying to improve my situation or at least make more money by securing a 5th or 6th side hustle, forever. But I don’t need copies of redundant job applications with outdated information saying the same thing over and over again so I keep the first couple pages of a few applications for reference and purge EVERYTHING else.

I listen to Radio Rental and two of my favorite Spooked episodes.

1:00-2:00-I make labels for some of my hanging folders, then shred confidential material like old credit reports, live scan applications, etc.

And just like that, I’m done organizing my phisical files. In accordance with The Paper Project by Lisa Woodruff, I’ve purged everything I don’t need. Extraneous information from my A-Z files, Retirement folder, College #1 and #2 folders, extraneous information from my adjunct evals, etc. I’m evaluated every two years at each College, so I need to keep the evals to build on them for subsequent years but there were so many redundant inserts I was able to purge. Gone.

I discarded job applications. I discarded subbing materials because I made the executive decision to never sub again. I threw away my sub bag. I keep three of my favorite French textbooks and donate the rest. I throw away ALL of my French notes because I’m never going to review or use them again. I purged In-Class activity booklets from prior College classes that I taught because I can use the excuse that it’s irresponsible to put my students in groups and work on an In-Class assignment when the most recent variant is floating around. I pulled some old books from my closet library for donation. I’m. Done. I can’t quite believe it. Over the course of several weeks and months, I filled an entire household trash can - one you put by the curb every week - with paper.

2:00-3:00- I move to the digitized files on my computer and re-organize my digital French folder. Then I listen to a Covid news clip and start writing an essay.

3:00-3:30-I make sure everything’s ready for a possible bike ride tomorrow. Kitchen duty and I am sooo hungry. I have a few pieces of dark chocolate infused with raspberry. More Radio Rental.

3:30-4:00-Nighttime routine. Bed