For the Week Ending November 14, 2021.
COVID-19 Vaccines International Pregnancy Exposure Registry (C-VIPER)
More than 8,000 pregnant vaccinated women are already participating in our survey.
Help us understand the impact of COVID-19 vaccines on pregnancy and babies. Be a part of it!
Click here to Register.
Pro-choice scientists
Over 800 American scientists have avowed that abortions are a vital part of maternal and natal health care. Hopefully SCOTUS will heed them. Read this dire piece here.
This is important for you because despite what former conservative Supreme Court justice Anthony Kennedy thinks, “receiving an abortion didn’t harm women’s mental or physical health, but being denied an abortion resulted in some negative financial and health outcomes.”
Carbon neutral cow’s milk
Cows belch out a lot of methane, a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. But the startup company Neutral works to reduce emissions on dairy farms “by changing the way feed is grown and the way cows eat, by managing manure and fertilizer differently, and through practices to improve soil, like reducing tillage and planting cover crops.” That still isn’t enough, though; they also need to offset the carbon they are still emitting. Read more here.
This is important for you because this is a step in the right direction – but a baby step. Look for Neutral Milk in Whole Foods, but be prepared to pay up.
Anti-mom lit
In Claire Vaye Watkins’ new book, I Love You but I’ve Chosen Darkness, the narrator has just given birth to a baby girl. Who she promptly abandons. Read more here.
This is important for you because motherhood is emotionally really complicated. Everyone deals with it differently, and however they can.
Chinese philosophy’s guide to parenting
Erin Cline, professor of ancient Chinese philosophy at Georgetown and mother of three, suggests that we redefine what it would mean for our kids to be “successful;” rather than hoping for academic or athletic glory and eventual earning power, Confucianism and Daoism posit that we should focus on making sure kids can be fulfilled, with a strong identity and healthy relationships. However they choose to get there. Read this fascinating and important piece here.
This is important for you because her book, Little Sprouts and the Dao of Parenting: Ancient Chinese Philosophy and the Art of Raising Mindful, Resilient, and Compassionate Kids, offers detailed chapters on what Chinese philosophical texts have to say in relation to a wide range of issues facing today’s parents.
The most popular article on The Pulse this week was Making Breastfeeding Manageable. Read it here.
