What I read today Feb 28

• WATCH: Care of a Woman with an Epidural - 5 Rules for Good Support
  1. keep them moving - from side to side, kneeling over a birth ball
  2. keep them cool - turn on fan, mop brow, ice back - keep parts cool that aren’t numb
  3. keep them company - even if asleep, don’t leave
  4. keep them from pushing too early - wait until feels something, called “laboring down”
  5. skin to skin after birth

• WATCH: Scene From Penny Simkin's Comfort Measures - "The 3 Rs" & Slow Breathing
  3 characteristics in those who cope well: Relaxation: at least between contractions if not during Rhythm: breathing, moaning, swaying, stroking Ritual: repetition of same 1 activity 1 contraction to the other Slow Breathing: take long breath and hold it.
  
  Out breath is your relaxing breath. Release tension on every out breath. Sighing way through contraction – sigh of relief. Partner can count breaths for a minute (avg contraction; those in early labor will be shorter, those in late labor longer) to see how many breaths take when nice and relaxed. 9 breaths – half of avg breathing rate. Partner can mention to relax shoulders, jaw, forehead etc. Start using breathing when you can’t talk through contraction – when labor stops you in your tracks.

• Planned Parenthood to Lose Millions in Funding Under New Federal 'Gag Rule', Colorlines

• Trump Administration Blocks Funds for Planned Parenthood and Others Over Abortion Referrals, NY Times

• Illinois to Pass Laws to Give Women Better Access to Abortions, Colorlines

• She Was a Bag Lady to Most, until She Became the City’s Most Collected Artist, Messy nessy Chic

• Will Christians Get Over Their Opposition to Universal Child Care?, Sojourners

• The Biblical Values of Ocasio-Cortez's Democratic Socialism, Sojourners

• Finding Community During Pregnancy As A Black Non-Binary Femme, The Establishment

• 1,300 works of art create apartment masterpiece, University of Chicago News

• The Crime of Parenting While Poor, The New Republic

• The Democrats Stole the Green Party’s Best Idea, The New Republic

• “FAST FASHION” FURNITURE HAS GIVEN US A WORLD OF CRAPPY COUCHES , The Outline

• By Reconnecting With Soil, We Heal the Planet and Ourselves, Yes! Magazine

• The Dangerous Rise of the IUD as Poverty Cure, NY Times

• 2,000-year-old tattoo needle identified by archaeologists, Nat Geo