November 5, 2008
Power to the people - God bless the Mormons in California! Prop 8 controversy
One little glimmer of light over the fruited plain
LOS ANGELES (AP) -
In an election otherwise full of liberal triumphs, the gay rights movement suffered a stunning defeat as California voters approved a ban on same-sex marriages that overrides a recent court decision legalizing them.
The constitutional amendment—widely seen as the most momentous of the nation's 153 ballot measures—will limit marriage to heterosexual couples, the first time such a vote has taken place in a state where gay unions are legal.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Of which I am a faithful member) has issued this statement about the passage of Proposition 8 in California:
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SALT LAKE CITY 5 November 2008 COMMENTARY
Since Proposition 8 was placed on the ballot in June of this year, the citizens of California have considered the arguments for and against same-sex marriage. After extensive debate between those of different persuasions, voters have chosen to amend the California State Constitution to state that marriage should be between a man and a woman.
Voters in Arizona and Florida took the same course and amended their constitutions to establish that marriage will continue to be between a man and a woman.
Such an emotionally charged issue concerning the most personal and cherished aspects of life — family, identity, intimacy and equality — stirs fervent and deep feelings.
Most likely, the election results for these constitutional amendments will not mean an end to the debate over same-sex marriage in this country.
We hope that now and in the future all parties involved in this issue will be well informed and act in a spirit of mutual respect and civility toward those with a different position. No one on any side of the question should be vilified, intimidated, harassed or subject to erroneous information.
It is important to understand that this issue for the Church has always been about the sacred and divine institution of marriage — a union between a man and a woman.
Allegations of bigotry or persecution made against the Church were and are simply wrong. The Church’s opposition to same-sex marriage neither constitutes nor condones any kind of hostility toward gays and lesbians. Even more, the Church does not object to rights for same-sex couples regarding hospitalization and medical care, fair housing and employment rights, or probate rights, so long as these do not infringe on the integrity of the traditional family or the constitutional rights of churches.
Some, however, have mistakenly asserted that churches should not ever be involved in politics when moral issues are involved. In fact, churches and religious organizations are well within their constitutional rights to speak out and be engaged in the many moral and ethical problems facing society. While the Church does not endorse candidates or platforms, it does reserve the right to speak out on important issues.
Before it accepted the invitation to join broad-based coalitions for the amendments, the Church knew that some of its members would choose not to support its position. Voting choices by Latter-day Saints, like all other people, are influenced by their own unique experiences and circumstances. As we move forward from the election, Church members need to be understanding and accepting of each other and work together for a better society.
Even though the democratic process can be demanding and difficult, Latter-day Saints are profoundly grateful for and respect the ideals of a true democracy.
The Church expresses deep appreciation for the hard work and dedication of the many Latter-day Saints and others who supported the coalitions in efforts regarding these amendments.
Here is a round up of excellent articles written by thinking Mormons to help educate my readers on this issue.
Will Gay Rights Trample Religious Freedom? Marc D. Stern
Same-Sex Marriage Is About More Than “I Do” Lowell Brown
Church Readies Members on Proposition 8
The Negative Impact of Same-Sex Marriage
How Same Sex Marriage Affects all of us
Standing Up for Prop 8: “I Hope You Know We're Not Haters” Michelle Worley
Californias Proposition 8: Open Season on Mormons? Lowell C. Brown
Proposition 8 and Californias School children: A Primer on Falsehoods Lowell C. Brown
Amidst the media campaign against Prop 8 a particularly bigoted attack against mormons came out in the form of this television ad:
More Articles about Prop 8 written by Mormons:
The Perils of raising the Title of Liberty: Maurine Jensen Proctor
Quote from Maurines Article:
Two Hard Realities
"During this campaign, two hard political realities have been driven vividly home to those working in the trenches for marriage, children, and religious freedom. Defending family and any remnant of morality in this nation will demand courage and clarity-and it will not be just a single skirmish after which we can all put our signs down and go home with some relief.
This struggle for the heart of our nation does not allow for extended summer vacations or long-term retirement in an easy chair. We are not born into a time for easy chairs-and it is because as citizens we have been dozing for too long that our nation has arrived at this point of moral blight on every side where defending the right of a child to deserve a mother and a father is considered hate speech."
Testimonials from LDS Street Activists
"These pictures were taken minutes before a car sped by and someone threw a handful of coins at this cherub, my grandson, giving him a huge goose egg on his head. We were so grateful it wasn't anything larger, or more dangerous, and yet WE're the HATERS. It's been challenging and yet rewarding as ward, stake and community members UNITED in a common goal, and an opportunity to support President Monson as our Prophet, by more then lip service.
We ended sacrament meeting Sunday by standing and all singing, or trying to sing, "Who's on the Lord's Side, Who?"
Thank you for a great way to receive true, timely and useful news. We love Meridian.
Sue Williams"
Posted by Jenny Hatch at 7:36 AM
June 22, 2008
Jenny Hatch, My thoughts on Homebirth and the American Medical Associations "Model Legislation", which as far as I'm concerned they can write up, propose to congress, and then shove that legislation where the sun don't shine.
UPDATE:
Good Morning America posted the video and story that ran on sunday morning on their web site. Go check out this link to see the story. And the Comments.
Here is the comment I left on the site:
"PS: I don't have time to respond to any more comments by Dr. Tuteur."
It is my humble opinion that party pooper Dr. Amy Tutor, the bloggin' doc with a personality disorder and ax to grind against home birth, is a paid hack for pharmacuetical companies. As a blogging doctor she advocates a 39 week c-section as the best birth choice for babes and mothers. Anyone with half a brain knows that major surgery is far more risky for mom and babe than a natural vaginal birth.
And hey, she has the Big Pharma funded study to back up her claim - so you nasty, wasty home birthers just shut up, because nothing you will ever say will ever ever ever change her mind or get her to accept that family centered birth has anything at all, ever, to offer to a husband and wife relationship or help bond the family with the new child.
Only thing to do with someone like her is to blow her a big fat raspberry as you orgasmically push your baby out into his/her fathers hands. She is the killjoy of the homebirth movement. I debated her all last summer. But Dr. Crappen pulled the debate hosted on his blog.
The Salon debate was fun and my personal favorite, the unassisted childbirth debate hosted at the Washington Post.
What rockin good times we had last summer! She just magically appears any time someone mentions home birth on the internet.....What a busy beaver!
Check out this thread to see more about Dr. Amy!
Posted by:
JennyMHatch 8:25 PM
Lately Ben and I have been playing alot of Monopoly. He loves it and we have both enjoyed the leisure hours spent playing this fun Capitalistic board game.
These past few days I have been pondering the recent document TMZ published from the American Medical Association.
The OB's currently enjoy a near monopoly with birth in America. And the usual suspects are claiming that AMA resolution 205 on Home Deliveries statement is NOT a step towards criminalizing home birth. It says:
"RESOLVED, That our AMA develop model legislation in support of the concept that the safest setting for labor, delivery, and the immediate post-partum period is in the hospital, or a birthing center within a hospital complex, that meets standards jointly outlined by the AAP and ACOG, or in a freestanding birthing center that meets the standards of the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care, The Joint Commission, or the American Association of Birth Centers."
Now, I don't know what all of you think "model legislation" implys, but to me it leans towards outlawing or banning/criminalizing homebirth and homebirthing mothers.
Or making the rules of engagement so tightly conformed that only a woman between the ages of 34 and 35 who has already sucessfully given birth to four children vaginally in the hospital, who only gains 23 pounds during her pregnancy, who has an ambulance waiting in the driveway, who goes into labor at midnight at week 39 of gestation, and lives within four minutes of a NICU (with pre paid doctor standing by), and who pays out of pocket four thousand dollars to the MEDwife who has been trained, credentialed, and sanitized by the AMA, will be allowed to give birth at home.
So for the twelve women in America who meet the criteria outlined.....You Go GIRLS!!! Have your babies at home. The American Medical Association says you can if, and only IF you meet their "model legislation" rules of engagement.
The rest of us, who have previous c-section scars, who have bled out after a birth, who have been troubled with post partum emotional illness, and/or who dare to go past our due dates with a ten month gestator well, sorry Mama, you are NOT WORTHY to give birth at home, because we have RISKED YOU OUT!! Too bad...so sad. Now conform to our rules or we will take your baby away, lock you up in jail, and rip your family apart...because hey, we are the Gods of Modern Medicine and we know what is best for you and your family!!!
Barf!! Gag, Gag...
More bloggers weigh in on this topic:
Hatch Family one week after Benjamins Home Birth!
Jenny and Ben three hours after our Home Birth. I felt GREAT!!!
Posted by Jenny Hatch at 6:05 AM
June 7, 2008
Fox News: Greta Van Susteren interviews Jenny McCarthy "On the Record" on her sons Autism
I thought this interview was the best one Jenny has done so far. Thanks Fox and Greta for taking the time to do such a great interview.
PS Who does not bother to be "fair and balanced" on this blog, and thus will NOT share the recent letter from the American Academy of Pediatrics on Autism and the Green our Vaccines Rally.
My blog Mission Statement is "Healthy Families Make A Healthy World". Vaccines are being used by Globalist Elitists to implement a Population Reduction Agenda in our society. Because of that fact, I do not, nor will I ever trust a Big Pharma Vaccine for me or my children and will go to jail rather than allow my little ones to be poisoned.
Here are three documentary movies that will help educate you about these statements of fact:
David Ayoub, M.D. goes through the relations of Mercury to Autism as well its connections to “National Security Study Memorandum 200”; for population control. Showing its shocking connections to today’s G.A.V.I. Are powerful forces really trying to help the poor people or could it be for another agenda; the sterilization of the poor?
This is an upsetting video, so brace yourself.
Endgame by Alex Jones
We Become Silent
These are my three favorite videos that expose the frauds of the Pharmaceutical Companies.
Take the time to give them a look. Then the Vaccine Story will make sense to you as a consumer of health care. These movies and the types of information they contain explain WHY I call the Medical Profession, and the Pharmaceutical companies that give them their marching orders, the Whore of Babylon as described in the Book of Revelations in the Bible.
Posted by Jenny Hatch at 6:59 AM
May 5, 2008
Even more thoughts from my dearest friend Susana
Another really great post by Sus, and with thoughts by Melissa that are proof positive she should be writing her own blog...
"Most of us who have overcome fear and pain during birth, and experienced joy instead of sorrow, want to share this Good News with other pregnant women. However, this is not always easy. Most of the women I have tried to reach out to IRL, at church especially (and most frustratingly) have responded, "No, I am not interested in natural childbirth, I just want an epidural."
This topic came up on a list I am on. We were asked to offer advice on what books to share with a friend who has somewhat of an interest in homebirth. One woman named Melissa gave a response that I think needs to be shared here for the benefit of those who have a desire to share the Good News with those that they meet. This is it:
I know that this is going to sound snarky, and I really don't mean for it to, but I have heavily invested in other people's decisions and had them crash and burn andI took a level of responsibility for it and I don't like the flavor of that meal.
I tend not to invest myself very heavily in spoon-feeding people anymore. Too much wasted time, wasted effort, and wasted emotion too many times. If a pregnant woman really wants the information, and really wants to have a homebirth (or natural birth,) then she will.
I guess I look on it as the same way with a woman who really wants to Breastfeed. She will do it to the point of nursing through a tongue-tie, or with one breast or, having other moms donate milk and using a SNS or having a friend wet nurse. (It's about desire and determination.)
There are plenty of books and Internet sites and e-mail lists to get on. I mean it's not 1997 anymore, like when I was searching desperately for information and did not even know what search terms to use for my web-crawler search on dial-up. Does this woman want it to be different this time, or is this just wishful thinking and hero worship? How much responsibility do you have for her and how will it affect the relationship if she crashes and burns? How hard is she going to fight for what she wants? What is the birth climate in the hospital there? What are the options for homebirth? Does she have a doula on board?
Henci Goer's books are good in dealing with intervention research etc, but they are getting aged. As far as researched based evidence, they do not give rationale for alternatives, only that intervention usually cascades and is a set up in danger land. My biggest concerns with a decision for unmedicated hospital birth would be getting a birth plan together, developing labor coping skills, and evaluation of the care provider for a potential need to switch. (Those concerns would change with home birth and UC.)
Pregnancy, childbirth and the Newborn by Penny Simpkin et al is good for a hospital birth plan. She needs to get people around her who are going to support her and not be mentally disastrous for her preparations. (That would ax most LDS women.)
As far as the typical view of childbirth being terrifying: Childbirth is scary and unsafe when you play the part of the good patient, take no thought for your responsibility..., ride the razor edge of intervened labor, feel great getting off with only a 2 day NICU stay and praise the Lord that you either missed the C-section by a hair's breath, or got that "Necessary emergency c-section" and were in the blessed hands of the glorious Priest of Modern medicine, and then stand up in sacrament meeting praising the Lord that Man has saved you and yours. (Heard that 2 times in one Sacrament meeting last month.) Then because of the PPD, (and the only thing that matters is that you have a "Healthy" baby,) you go on Zoloft or Prozac or some other SSRI to combat the pain and grief (that you know as an LDS woman nurturing children [who are the Heritage of the Lord] you should not have.)
Is it any wonder why the rising generation is terrified of birth and the whoreship of the God of Medicine is rife in our culture?
Wow. Melissa never has minced words. She speaks from the heart and is a straight shooter. Here her words testify of the frustration that we often feel toward women who we believe are just following erroneous traditions instead of seeking gospel truths and applying their faith to the trial of birth, as they do with other trials.
We may want to help others find the joy that we have found, but as with sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the ground needs to be fertile for the seed to take root.
Amen sisters....
Posted by Jenny Hatch at 4:29 AM
May 1, 2008
Spirit led Birth: Thoughts on Motherhood
A nice Post from Susana:
Posted by Jenny Hatch at 6:17 PM
March 29, 2008
Freebirth: A Message to Obstetricians from Jenny Hatch, "Physician Heal THYSELF!!"
This video is hosted on My Share Page at One True Media
In the past few months four obstetrics societies have made public statements about Unassisted Childbirth.
The Canadian Doctors (SOGC):
The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC)
The Australian and New Zealand Doctors:
The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
The Royal College (RCOG) in the UK:
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG)
And in a recent article in the Denver Westword Newspaper (I was interviewed for this story)
A Spokesperson for ACOG (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) claimed freebirth was "dangerous".
Childbirth goes solo.
By Jared Jacang Maher
Published: May 10, 2007
"According to the guidelines of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the organization "strongly opposes" any birth not performed inside a hospital. A spokesman for the ACOG has a one-word assessment of freebirth: "dangerous."
I have just one message for these doctors, and it is this:
"The moral of the proverb is counsel to prove your trustworthiness with your own affairs before attempting to tell others what they should do."
Break out of the Matrix!
When the various obstetrics societies PROVE that they have the will to reform themselves internally by setting up standards of care that are more about the mother and the baby than they are about the doctor and staff at the hospital, then I will feel more open about listening to any edicts they have about my lifestyle.
Hey Doctors: why don't you set some goals....
1. No inductions before 41 weeks
2. 10% C-section rate
3. No elective C-sections
4. Full acceptance of Lay and Nurse Midwifery both in the home and at the hospital
5. A Complete and total acceptance of VBAC (Vaginal Birth after Cesarean)
6. A willingness to embrace proper prenatal nutrition as the foundation for a healthy pregnancy as outlined by the Brewer Pregnancy Diet
When society stops locking up our midwives for bogus reasons, embrace and promote natural mothering as the IDEAL for a new baby (Natural Childbirth, Attachment Parenting, and Long Term Ecological Breastfeeding), then I will believe you have found your soul as doctors.
Until then? Well, I am going to continue promoting freebirth and encouraging families to break away from your way of giving birth, because frankly, the way you do it stinks.
Lamaze International has a white paper on Elective cesarean Vs. Vaginal Birth (PDF)
American College of Nurse Midwives:
RISKS OF CESAREAN DELIVERY ARE UNDERREPORTED,
BENEFITS OVERSTATED
Media Briefing Highlights Concerns In Advance of NIH Conference
QUOTE:
"Only women themselves can tell us if they are actually demanding cesarean section surgery. With what we are learning from Childbirth Connection today, we now know that women VERY rarely schedule first cesareans by choice without a medical reason," says Susan Hodges, president of Citizens for Midwifery. "Only women can tell us what kind of informed consent process was provided to them. Citizens for Midwifery believes that women are not being given adequate and unbiased information about all the risks and benefits of cesarean sections. Research is needed to understand who and what are now influencing decisions to perform major abdominal surgery 'for no medical reason' despite substantial evidence that all cesareans increase harmful risks for mothers and babies."
Free yourself from the Matrix~!
Posted by Jenny Hatch at 2:35 PM
February 22, 2008
Daring Young Mom: Hillarious Pictures- sometimes he cries
I love this blog written by a young LDS Mommy. Her writing style is really fun.
Go check out her blog.
Jenny Hatch
Posted by Jenny Hatch at 8:50 AM
February 21, 2008
Joprah Blog says - Wonder Pets not that bad
This stay at home Father has a scale of the annoyance factor for kids television.
It was a fun read, simply because his tastes exactly mirrored my own. I have been struggling with my health these past two years and unfortunately have turned to daytime programming more than at any time previously for keeping my pre schooler occupied. Many times we have watched these shows together, and I confess a real love for Little Bear, the music alone makes it fun to watch. (However any episode featuring Duck or a drum parade is about as annoying as the worst kid programming).
So, we have gotten aquainted with all the Noggin and Nick Jr Shows the past year or two.
Paul said early this year we should get rid of satellite and I told him I would be OK with that choice if Ben had a little brother or sister to play with. But since he is alone most days while our four older children are at school and work, a show here and there helps keep him happy. Don't get me wrong, we still spend hours every day baking, doing school, music, and he loves to help me with chores and walking the dog. I think of the television as a tool.
Ben simply loves Little Bear, Franklin, Wonder Pets, and recently Max and Ruby is the fav at our house.
It is nice to have this excellent programming instead of just the politically correct pap on PBS Kids.
Posted by Jenny Hatch at 7:20 PM
January 12, 2008
Hawthor The Cow Goddess - Article attacking Co-Sleeping
Hawthor has a great post on the politics of the Family Bed.
We used a crib for our first daughter, until she was two and then the fighting began over the family bed. (Fights between my husband and I about how to handle nightime parenting) By the time I had our third we just pushed two large queen size beds together in one bedroom and tried to get as much sleep as we could. As our children have grown and matured, they have moved into their own rooms and beds and at five, Ben, our youngest, usually starts out in our bed and then we move him into the boys room when he falls asleep.
I remember thinking that I would never get these children out of our room at night, but each child has gradually matured to where they feel comfortable alone at night. We got rid of the crib 15 years ago and I only use a cradle for our newborns, right next to my bed. I think the biggest thing that has changed for Paul and I over the years is the understanding of how quickly the time passes with our babes and toddlers. When our oldest children were little, it felt like they would never mature, but now that life is speeding up, we find ourselves grasping for those sacred moments of connection with our youngest son; nursing, rocking, singing, and soothing to sleep. We both understand that sooner than later it will all be over and he won't need us as much, as he follows in his siblings footsteps and grows up.
I love the book Nightime Parenting by Dr. Sears. It really made sense to me when I read it.
Hawthor also has a funny comic attached to this story. Go Here to see it.
From Hawthors Blog Post:
"The Chicago Infant Mortality Study reveals that Breastfeeding Infants have 1/5th the Rate of SIDS. They report a nearly doubled SIDS rate for cosleeping, but this study does not remove the powerful effect of smoking parents from their statistic. When other studies remove this behavior, they find the remaining infants enjoy a greatly lower rate of SIDS for cosleeping versus isolated crib sleeping.There are two kinds of cosleeping, that conscious decision made by highly attentive parents, and that coming from factors such as fatigue from partying or drinking. When sofa sleeping and wedging dangers are also removed, the family bed shines as safest.
Number of U.S. births year 2000: 4,058,814
Total infant deaths year 2000: 28,411
Age birth to 1 year. (6.9 per thousand)
Number SIDS deaths year 2000: 2,523
Mostly in cribs.
Defined as death with unexplained cause, birth to 1 year.
Total suffocation deaths year 2000: 1,000
Number of crib-related “accidents”/yr: 50
Number of playpen-related deaths/yr: 16
Number deaths/yr attributed to overlying: 19 Most are only “suspected.”
Number of babies (0-2) dying in night fires/yr: 230 Many of which may have been retrievable if next to parent, not in another room of home. This is true for abductions and other night dangers as well.
Number of deaths/yr in adult beds reported as entrapment/suffocation between bed and wall, headboard, or other furniture, on waterbed, in headboard railings, or tangled in bedding: 18 With side-rail: 1 That’s 19 of the 60.
Number of deaths/yr reported as suffocation of unknown cause in adult bed: 13 These would be SIDS if in a crib. Remember, these do not necessarily involve cosleeping.
Number of deaths/yr in adult beds from prone sleeping: 5 Again, these are considered SIDS in cribs, and they are preventable in adult beds, as in cribs.
4/yr died not from falling out of adult bed, but from suffocating (pile of clothes, plastic bag) or other danger (such as drowning) after falling out.
13% of U.S. infants are routinely cosleeping with nearly 50% sharing bed for part of the nights. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development 2000 Survey,
Number of U.S. infant lives that could be saved per year by exclusive/extended breastfeeding: 9,000 Exclusive/extended breastfeeding cuts SIDS risk and cuts overall infant death risk in half.
Why does our nation rank only 42nd in infant survival?* in the industrialized world (some non-reporting nations are thought to rank better than us as well)? Our difference from the best-ranking nations is a high predominance of formula feeding, isolated sleep, and medical intervention. The highest cosleeping/ breastfeeding nations rank with half our overall infant death rate (and negligable SIDS rates). Remember we rank #1 in medical intervention."
Posted by Jenny Hatch at 6:21 AM
January 11, 2008
Susans Homespun Life
Blogger Susana Baig has discovered a brilliant way of converting thrift store clothing into gorgeous quilts for her family and friends!
Check out her Homespun Life Blog here.
Susans other Blog Spirit led Birth: Go Here.
Posted by Jenny Hatch at 4:16 AM
January 8, 2008
Good Morning America Story on Unassisted Childbirth
I've missed blogging too much these past three months, so have decided to come back, well rested and ready to participate in the various discussions around my favorite topics.
Good Morning America has prepared an excellent print article for their web site. The comment section is roaring, and tomorow they plan to play this video during the second hour of the morning broadcast during the turning point section of the show.
I thought it was interesting that we are called a "New Movement", when if you really think about the six thousand year history of the world, it is the drugs and surgery during birth that is the innovation here, not the historical reality of couples birthing alone. Think about Adam and Eve, did Heavenly Father send down a medical birth team to help while they birthed Cain and Able?
Did they need nurses, doctors, drugs, electronic fetal monitors, knives, forceps, and the host of medical tools and tricks to get the babies born? Or did they put their trust in the Lord and give birth alone?
I would suggest they gave birth alone.
The doctor in the clip made the case that the few hours of labor are the most dangerous for the baby, and I would agree with him, IF someone like him was calling the shots. Inducing with Cytotec and/or Pitocin, making the woman labor on her back, refusing her fluids and food etc etc... The very fact that he believes labor is dangerous is part of the problem.
I also disagree that those of us who have chosen freebirth are "rebelling". I am not a rebel. I have never thought of myself as rebellious. I am a very obedient person, happily living the laws of morality that have been outlined in the ten commandments, and keep my life in strict accordance with mormon ideals and principles for living.
Rather than a rebel, I am simply a mother who has logically weighed all of the issues in a methodical and practical way, spent many years reading books, statistics, and carefully following the birth controversies, and then, when I felt comfortable with it, made the faith leap to unassisted homebirth.
Some women may be rebelling from the powers that be, but I give birth alone because I believe it is best for the baby. This choice is based on a factual understanding of all of the facets of birth.
My dearest friend Susana Baig is gearing up to give birth to her seventh child in a few weeks. She has had four homebirths, three of them without a midwife present. Interestingly enough, she told me that she probably would have hired a professional in her state to help with a homebirth for this child, but because midwives are outlawed in her state, she feels that freebirth is her only choice.
Susana was one of the speakers at the 2nd International Husband Wife Homebirth Conference, hosted on my web site here. Here is a free copy of her talk.
Here is a video montage of her beautiful family!
Mothering Magazines Discussion board talking about this story: Go Here
Free Republic Thread on this topic: Go Here
Amanda Counter Speaks at the 2nd International Husband/Wife Homebirth Conference.
UPDATE Jan 9th:
Chris the mother profiled in the GMA Video had this to say about her interview with the producer for the piece on the Mothering Discussion board: Go here for her quote.
"Delurking, desperate to vent lol!
Well, overall that was a pretty big disappointment for me.
I can't believe how much they left out of my interview! They didn't mention WHY I decided to do this - being forced out of my midwifery clinic because of a new hospital policy against VBACs, no homebirthing midwives in our area, etc - nor did they mention that I had already had 2 VBACs; gotta wonder how many people are thinking I had 3 c-sections and then chose to UC lol!
I can't believe they had a doctor giving an "expert opinion" about the irresponsibility of UC, without giving me a chance to respond - they even specifically asked me in the interview, "What would you say to someone who says you're being selfish/irresponsible?" (And I had a very rational response of course lol!) By not showing a counterargument, they slanted it against UC - that position solidified by Annie's (shocking) comments at the end. I can't believe she told me she agreed with what I was doing and we sat there talking about the evils of hospitals, only for her to turn around and come out so anti-homebirth on air. :roll:
And their little "complications" part was absolutely laughable - breech birth and nuchal cord are NOT "complications" but just variants of normal; they could've chosen some REAL complications like shoulder dystocia or cord prolapse at least :roll: And hemorrhaging in 5 minutes? Um, if you're going to bleed to death in 5 minutes it doesn't matter where the heck you are, home or hospital. :P
Ah well, it could've been much worse. It will at least get people thinking."
__________________
Chris, 25, mom to: Cade - 2/14/04 (c-section), Parker - 7/30/05 (hospital-medwife VBAC), Macy - 11/12/06 (hospital-midwife VBAC) & Dawson - 12/12/07 (UP as of 18 weeks/UBAC!)
And Gloria Lemay responded to the doctors rediculous claim that a mother could bleed out in five minutes: Also found on the Mothering Discussion board here.
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Dear Women, the above quote is by a physician who was interviewed by Good Morning America for a program about Unassisted Birth on Jan 8, 2008.
http://abcnews. go.com/GMA/ TurningPoints/ story?id= 4098198&page=1
Please feel free to repost what I'm about to tell you. I think it's very important to address the statement that a woman can hemorrhage and bleed to death in as little as five minutes. This is a very horrifying comment for a dr to make and, for anyone who doesn't really know birth, it could be enough to send them running for the hospital.
First of all, yes, it's possible to hemorrhage and bleed to death quickly in birth IF YOU HAVE A SURGICAL WOUNDING. Women die from bleeding in cesareans and with episiotomies. The closest to death that I have ever seen a woman in childbirth was in a hospital birth where the ob/gyn cut an episiotomy, pulled the baby out quickly with forceps and then left the family doctor to repair the poor woman. We were skating in the blood on the floor and desperately trying to get enough I.V. fluids into her to save her life while the family doctor tried to suture as fast as he could. I have never seen anything like that in a home birth setting or a hospital birth that didn't involve cutting.
Think about it, would any midwife ever go to a homebirth if it was possible for the mother to die from bleeding in five minutes? I know I wouldn't go if that could happen. We had a visit here in Vancouver BC from an ob/gyn from Holland back in the 1980's. Dr. Kloosterman was the head of Dutch maternity services for many years and he was a real friend to homebirth and midwifery. He told us that you have AN HOUR after a natural birth before the woman will be in trouble from bleeding. Does this mean that you wait for an hour to take action with a bleeding woman? No, of course not. If there's more blood than is normal, you need to call 911 and transport to the hospital within the hour, but you're not going to have a maternal death before an hour is up. I have had 10 transports for hemorrhage in the many homebirths that I have attended (over 1000). Two women have required transfusions. The other 8 recovered with I. V. fluids, rest and iron supplements. Of course, no one wants to see blood transfusions in this day and age. We also don't like to see a woman anemic after having a baby because it makes the postpartum time very difficult. The most important action after having a baby is to keep the mother and baby skin to skin continuously for at least the first 4 hours.
What doctors won't tell you is that the most severe cases of postpartum anemia are in women who have had cesareans. Major abdominal surgery results in anemia. I have a friend who is a pharmacist in a hospital. He spends most of his days trying to figure out individual plans to help cesarean moms get their hemoglobin counts up. He finds these cases of severe anemia in post operative mothers very distressing.
I hope this information is helpful to you.
As far as the other nonsense this person is trying to frighten you with:
1. Significant tearing---if you look with a mirror at your vulva after birth and there seems to be skin that "flaps" away from the rest of the vulva structures, you can always go into the emergency ward and have someone suture the wound. Tears do not bleed like cuts do. This should not dissuade anyone from staying away from the place where the scalpels reside.
2. Breech position---you' ll know if your baby is breech. When the membranes release, you will see black meconium coming out the consistency of toothpaste. With a head first baby, the meconium colours the water green or brown but with a breech, the meconium is being squeezed directly out without mixing with water. The other way that you should suspect a breech presentation is if you have a feeling from about 34 weeks of pregnancy on that you have "a hard ball stuck in your ribs". Breech presentations are about 3 percent of births.
3. Cord wrapped around the neck---the smart babies put their cords around their necks to keep them out of trouble. If you have a baby with the cord around the neck, it can be unwrapped very easily either during or right after the birth. The most important thing is to keep the cord intact.
Gloria Lemay, Vancouver BC Canada
Advisory Board Member, ICAN
Contributing Ed. Midwifery Today Magazine
Posted by Jenny Hatch at 11:14 AM | Comments (2)
October 13, 2007
Daughters - A Tribute to my Mom and Farewell
One True Media Version of this montage found on my share page.
Thanks for everything Mom, I love you, and am so grateful for the legacy of wellness that you gave to all of us. When I think about the 14 children my sisters and I have welcomed into the world, the young daughters who are being brought up and prepared for motherhood, and the daily nourishment that I know is going on in all of those homes, I just have to yell to anyone interested....I have the best Mother in the World!
Here is a link to my Share Page at One True Media (just in case you can't watch the movie on my blog!)
This video is the final portion (Ch 8) in my Video Book, Liver Cleansing during the Childbearing Season. Go Here to view the whole video.
In this video I reference a book by author Laura Davis Here is the link to her book, The Courage to Heal Workbook.
This video also contains an additional explanation for why I stopped Blogging and has a challenge for women.
Jenny Hatch
Hatch Family 1997
I have been doing some thinking and have decided to end this blogging adventure.
I have really enjoyed this project, and have thrilled to have a place where my voice is not edited out of my own writings.
I spent many years as a frustrated writer. I would spend hours writing articles, books, and letters to the editor to newspapers, magazines, and publishers....but they always managed to edit my voice, especially my political voice, out of my work. Or they refused to publish me.
Blogging has satisfied something deep in my soul.
I have a great passion for singing, and have decided to spend my blogging hours rehearsing my Music. I don't have alot of free time, and want to use these years that I still have a singing voice to develop my talents to a much higher level and audition for some of the many companies and theatrical groups that exist here in Boulder County. Musical Theatre is my passion and I would love to carve out some time to perform in a show. My whole family performed in The Music Man when I was twelve, and it was one of the most fun things we have ever done together.
My family in our Music Man costumes
Here is a picture of our Family 20 years later in 2000.
(My older brother Dave was not in either picture).
With Spouses and Grandchildren at that same reunion!
Since this reunion two of my siblings have married, and eleven more grandchildren have been born.
I thought I would use this final post to dedicate the montage below and these words to my own mother Carolyn.
If you have benefitted at all from my rants, recipes, or realities on this blog, most of the credit has to go to my own Mama, who taught me patterns of living during my childhood which made it easier to adopt certain habits of health and wellness. My mother understood the importance of the hours she spent in her kitchen. She didn't believe the Feminist lies of the 60's. And she made sure to teach all of her children patterns of happy living. With my parents focus on the gospel of Jesus Christ they taught all eight of us children to keep the commandments, repent when necessary, and find happiness in family life.
We spent so many happy hours singing together as a family. Often we turned on music and just danced around the living room. Singing rounds in the car taught us how to harmonize together, and many hours were spent practicing instruments. My favorite memories are of my Dad singing to us as we fell asleep. One of the pictures I put into the montage is of my three sisters and I singing Scarlett Ribbons for our Dad at a family reunion. I loved the way he sang that song to us.
Daily habits of joyful family life have felt somewhat out of my grasp as I fumbled to learn how to be well after mental illness. In some ways it has felt like I was on this long, drawn out quest to learn a couple of things. Why did I go nuts? What is the best way to treat myself when in the throes of depression and anxiety, and HOW can I prevent it happening in the future?
Taking my parents habits of happy living to a much higher level in terms of discipline with nutrition, sleep, focus on the basics, and carefully nourishing my brain with nutrients are what freed me from the tentacles of psychiatric enslavement, and then pushed me past the pain and sickness into wellness.
I figured my healing journey was an important story to share, and so I have used this blog and my books and web site to share the stories that maybe will help you to move past your own medical bugaboos into proactive healthy living.
If I have learned nothing else during my years of mothering, it is that the daily habits of life are what create health. And not just physical health, but also emotional and spiritual health.
In fact, once...many years ago, my mom and I talked about writing a musical called Daily Bread that would promote the idea that it is the things we do every day that are the most important. Maybe someday we'll get around to writing that show.
For now, I want to sing.
So, I bid you all a fond farewell. Please enjoy my archives. I plan to leave them up for a while.
And here are links to my three favorite posts:
Images from the Iraq Election - Purple Power!
One True Media Version of this montage found on my share page.
Thanks for everything Mom, I love you, and am so grateful for the legacy of wellness that you gave to all of us. When I think about the 14 children my sisters and I have welcomed into the world, the young daughters who are being brought up and prepared for motherhood, and the daily nourishment that I know is going on in all of those homes, I just have to yell to anyone interested....I have the best Mother in the World!
PS I don't mean to diss my four brothers and the awesome families that they are creating, nor would I wish to dismiss Pauls six siblings and the amazing legacy of his own mother. I could not have asked for a better mother in law. I just wanted this final post to be a tribute to my own mother, her four daughters, and my two daughters. This is a blog focused on natural family living, with motherhood as the primary topic. And so it feels right for the final post to be a tribute to the best Mother I know.
Here is our Christmas Greeting for family and friends for 2007!
Posted by Jenny Hatch at 11:17 AM
October 8, 2007
WND: 8 more deaths connected to HPV Vaccine - Go Merck Go!
Free Republic thread on this topic
In the fight against cervical cancer, Merck is overwhelmingly winning the war against cancer.
Eight girls who were injected with that nasty cocktail of chemicals NEVER have to worry about getting that form of CANCER.
Why?
Because they are DEAD!!!
Anyone checked recently to see how much money Merck has made off the pelvic goldmine around this current vaccine scam? I'm too lazy to go look it up....but I think we can safely guess it is in the hundreds of millions.
QUOTE:
"Judicial Watch said it obtained documents from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration under the Freedom of Information Act detailing the new 1,824 cases.
Those cases include as many as eight deaths related to the vaccine, on top of the three deaths reported earlier among 1,637 earlier reports of adverse effects."
It is hard for me to understand, but they are giving this junk to PREGNANT women:
...The flood of adverse reactions during 2007 reported to the FDA through the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, included 347 serious reactions.
"Of the 77 women who received the vaccine while pregnant, 33 experienced side effects ranging from spontaneous abortion to fetal abnormities. Other serious side effects continue to be reported including, paralysis, Bells Palsy, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, and seizures," Judicial Watch said.
And these numbers may not even include all the cases, Judicial Watch said. It filed a lawsuit this week against the FDA for failing to fully respond to its requests for information involving the vaccine.
Specifically Judicial Watch wanted access to correspondence between Merck and the FDA regarding the vaccine, communications between the FDA and GlaxoSmithKline, which is working on a similar vaccine, called Cervarix, and reports by consumers, health professionals and others regarding problems with the HPV vaccine.
When the organization's investigation into the HPV vaccine issue arose, and the first reports starting coming in, Fitton described it as "a catalog of horrors."
One earlier report, No. 275438-1, describes the reaction as coronary artery thrombosis, sudden cardiac death. "Given Gardasil vaccine dose #1 3/12/07. Collapsed and died on 3/26/07… Echocardiogram revealed very enlarged right ventricle, small left ventricle as well as large blood clots within both the right atrium & right ventricle."
Another report noted that the woman was vaccinated and "died of a blood clot 8 hours after getting the Gardasil vaccine."
Officials with the Abstinence Clearinghouse noted in a position paper that groups including the Texas Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, and the American Academy of Environmental Medicine have come out publicly against mandatory vaccination.
"The reasoning of these medical associations is clear. They are not opposed to medical progress, and certainly support all efforts to combat life-threatening diseases. The problem, as these organizations see it, lies in the fact that the drug only went through three and a half years of testing, leaving the medical community somewhat in the dark as to what serious adverse effects might result in the long term," the group said.
"Along with the potential of serious adverse effects is the question of efficacy. There is evidence that after approximately four years, the vaccine's potency significantly declines. The long-term value of the vaccine has yet to be determined; if it wears off within six years, will girls and women need to repeat the battery of injections they originally received?" the organization wondered.
Michigan was the first state to introduce a plan to require the vaccine to be given to young girls, but the proposal failed. Ohio also considered a failed plan in 2006.
Then in 2007, after Merck's aggressive lobbying campaign and contributions to Women in Government, lawmakers in at least 39 states and the District of Columbia worked on sponsoring such plans."
Oh, the wheels of government just roll with the grease from Big Pharma!!!
How many young innocent girls will get squashed as that freight train rolls along???
We are at eight....and counting.....
Go Merck GO!!!
With one of the biggest, most expensive, rollouts in history....this guardasil could easily be called GIRLSweKILL.
Hey Politicians....does anybody give a rodents behind that innocent young women are being murdered by yet another bogus pharmaceutical product that they moved heaven and earth to FORCE us parents to give to our children???
The FREE market means that consumers are FREE to purchase those products and services they believe will help and heal children, not kill or permanently maim them with government nannies waiting in the wings to bully them into it.
Hey Merck, take you dope and shove it where the sun don't shine.
Vaccines are very much tied to Eugenics. Alex Jones movie Endgame has a complete overview of the agendas and goals of those who are pushing these toxins on our children. Here is a You Tube Clip from his movie.
And here is the complete movie:
If you would like more information about Eugenics, go surf around the You Tube cache of videos devoted to this subject. It is absolutely nauseating.
Here are two more videos:
The Nazi Doctors & American Eugenetics Part 2
Jenny Hatch
Anti Depressants Kill Too!
In 2002, Fox National News reported Douglas Kennedy exposed the link between
psychiatric drugs and school shootings.
In September 2005, following confirmation that Red Lake Indian Reservation
school shooter, Jeff Weise, was under the influence of the antidepressant
Prozac, the National Foundation of Women Legislators, together with American
Indian tribal leaders, called for a Congressional investigation into the
correlation between psychiatric drug use and school massacres. Congress has yet to investigate the role of psychiatric drugs relating to school shootings despite international drug regulators warning these drugs
can cause mania, psychosis, hallucinations, suicide and homicidal ideation.
At least eight of the recent school shooters were under the influence of such drugs, and according to media reports, investigators working on the Virginia Tech school shootings, Cho Seung-Hui may also have been taking
drugs for "depression."
Posted by Jenny Hatch at 7:37 AM
October 6, 2007
NYT: Is the mom job really necessary?
This article absolutely disgusted me. As a mother proud of my curves, stretch marks, softness, and ability to give birth to and nourish my children, I think it is absolutely pathetic that mothers in our society would feel so pressured to look like little girls again after giving birth.
Here is the link to the article
The blogger quoted at the end of the piece sums things up perfectly:
On the blog StrollerDerby, Karen Murphy, a mother of four, lambasted mommy surgery.
“Those badges of motherhood have turned into badges of shame and, if you’re the one caught without a tummy tuck, then you won’t get invited to the party,” she wrote. “It peeves me no end that something as drastic as surgery, as this blatant nonacceptance of one’s own body in whatever shape it happens to be in, has become so pervasive.”
Posted by Jenny Hatch at 9:26 AM
October 3, 2007
LLL: The journey of Breastfeeding
This excellent piece was written as a typical nursing experience:
"When Julianna was approaching ten weeks old, she started a growth spurt. I knew from previous growth spurts that she would want to nurse a lot, and I didn't want to keep offering formula. I decided then and there to stop the formula and nurse her throughout the spurt as much as she wanted. To my utter happiness and bliss, it worked! For the very first time since I had given birth, I felt my milk let down. It happened frequently as she worked to nurse and build up my once small but ever-present supply.
I learned how to breastfeed in the relaxed fashion women are meant to. I nourished my precious child and became comfortable with new positions that previously would upset me because I thought we could not do them. Julianna has not touched a drop of formula since then, and she is now nine months old and still nurses every two to four hours. We have become an amazing nursing couple. This bond is something I never dreamed would be so strong. All the work Julianna and I did was worth it."
Posted by Jenny Hatch at 5:15 AM
August 20, 2007
Pajamas Media: Hyper Parenting
"The idea of juggling responsibilities leads me to the other extreme: parents who play too great a role in their children’s lives. Piano lessons, tutoring, art classes and vacations to Europe can all be very enriching. But they become nothing more than highlights on a resume when they are forced upon a child whose life is completely controlled and scheduled."
From the picture on his blog Mr. Hanscom looks like he is about 23.
I would like to encourage this young snippet of a writer to delay writing on parenting issues for, oh about, twenty five years. Find a nice young woman, get married, and then welcome a few screaming balls of fury into your life, and after those children have hit 18, please, share with us your views on how to properly parent the well adjusted child. That is, share your views when your own children prove to be well adjusted and are well mannered in public. A few distasteful anecdotes of your observations of supposedly poor parenting do not a well written essay make.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with keeping children, especially teens, busy and occupied with worthwhile activities. I know, I'm living the lifestyle. How much better to have children out playing sports, participating in music and theatre, and busy with scouts and church activities than so bored and laden with free time that they spend precious youth getting into trouble and making mischief.
And there is nothing wrong with parents wanting children to have great success academically and get accepted or even a scholarship to a top university. We "helicopter" parents understand that life in America is a deadly proposition for young people. It sometimes feels like a sexual predator is waiting behind every door and a sexually transmited disease is lurking in the shadows of every relationship. We understand the risks involved in raising a child, but we also know the great joy of watching a child overcome a weakness, then make it a strength as they grow toward adulthood.
For a teacher to stereotype us as Hyper Parents, well perhaps this teacher feels more comfortable NOT being accountable to parents, actually likes being in control of all those young minds without being held accountable for failure to perform as a teacher. Parents who want the best for their children will NOT allow a teacher to slack off and just get by, and this may pose a threat to the teacher who does not want to do the work he or she was hired to do in making lesson plans and then teaching the children a set curriculum of knowledge and information.
Hyper Parenting or Thoughtful Stewardship of our little ones?
In my experience the most protective parents are the ones who are doing a superb job of raising well mannered, smart, and talented children. The mothers who are completely focused on helping their children to be well launched into adult life, who have sacrificed everything to wear the mantle of homemaker, are enjoying wonderful fruits after a lifetime of labor. I regularly watch the adult children of my friends happily marry, and start their own adult lives with grandchildren appearing soon, and young husbands and wives doing the work of providing for and raising their little ones.
Don't judge something that you obviously don't understand Mr. Hanscom. Protecting our children from the pitfalls of life is one of the main jobs of good parents. Because we live in a society whose pitfalls seem to be increasing at an alarming rate, if we seem Hyper, it is because we live in a Hyper world.
UPDATE:
I had an email from Aaron this morning, this is what he wrote:
Dear Jenny,
Thanks for your comments on my piece. You make some great points.
However, since you write that I stereotype parents based on some random
encounters I've had, I must bring up some points in your post. You make
plenty of assumptions about me from my blog photo. I'm actually 30 years old
and married. While I don't have children of my own, I have a younger brother
who is 15 years younger than me. I think that information counters the image
you seem to depict of a single guy in his young 20's.
I just wanted to make that point. Thanks again though for reading. I'll
check out your site in the future.
Regards,
Aaron
And my response:
Thanks for writing Aaron, I'll share that information with my readers. I checked out your blog and it looks like you are a fellow conservative.
Parenting is one of the most difficult tasks my husband and I have taken on, and sometimes it feels like the harder we try, the more we get dumped on by various people who are childless and have no clue the many sacrifices and challenges we have had to face. Just yesterday I wanted to pull my hair out because my thirteen year old was on a rampage against his younger brother, saying he never helped to clean their room....etc...I don't have all the answers, but I try so hard every day to teach our children well, and I know for a fact that some people in my day to day life think of me as one of those infamous helicopter parents.
Whirling off to make breakfast and get my family up and ready for school.
Jenny
Posted by Jenny Hatch at 10:40 PM
August 2, 2007
The Hatch Family - Unassisted Homebirth for Husband and Wife!
The Paul Hatch Family: Do-it-Yourself Birthers!
This montage is a collection of photographs from the pregnancies and births of our five children.
Paul and I went from a very mainstream medically oriented couple to a Freebirthing Natural Family during the past nineteen years of our marriage. We promote Unassisted Lotus Birth as the most holistic and natural form of Childbirth available for families today.
And we give birth this way because we believe it is best for the BABY!
Posted by Jenny Hatch at 7:05 AM
Your Body Your Birth CD by Lynn Griesemer
PRESS RELEASE
CONTACT: Lynn M. Griesemer, greeze@juno.com
COUNTERCULTURAL! INSPIRATIONAL!!
FAIRFAX, VA ---- July 31, 2007------Finally - a motivational childbirth CD for expectant mothers and women in the childbearing years! YOUR BODY, YOUR BIRTH: SECRETS FOR A SATISFYING AND SUCCESSFUL BIRTH may be one of the most valuable CDs a woman will own. Obstetricians and hospital personnel are primarily concerned with avoiding a crisis or medical problem, and often do not concern themselves with the personal and emotional aspects of childbirth. For many women, giving birth is one of the most important experiences they will have in their lives and having a satisfying birth is largely ignored by those in the baby business!
This 80-minute CD inspires, encourages and reveals secrets for a rewarding birth experience–one you will cherish for the rest of your life. If you’re pregnant or hoping to become pregnant, you can’t afford NOT to own this CD. To order your copy, visit www.unassistedhomebirth.com/YBYB.html (early August) or send a check for $14.95 plus $4.00 shipping to Terra Publishing, 4103 Plaza Lane, Fairfax, VA 22033 or order through Amazon.com beginning in September.)
“ In Your Body, Your Birth, Lynn Griesemer boldly yet gently encourages women to challenge their life-long beliefs and opinions about childbirth. She then beautifully weaves together her personal experiences, intuitive insights, and years of research to present a truly unique and empowering picture of childbirth. Every woman, regardless of where she plans to give birth, can find meaning and inspiration in Lynn’s words.”
Laura Shanley, Author, Boulder, CO
“Your Body, Your Birth, is a profoundly inspirational CD. Lynn, uses her wisdom and experience to craft a uniquely positive and provocative recording, perfect for first-time parents hesitant about facing the unknown path to childbirth.”
Augustine C. Daniels, Midwife, Bend, OR
“I have been listening to the CD and LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Superb reading and so nicely paced and pronounced - excellent material so well presented and clear.”
I listened to this CD recently and found it to be an excellet resource for the birthing mother who is getting ready to birth right now today. With up to date, timely information, this CD will help you to learn the right questions to ask first and foremost, yourself, your care giver, and will ultimately give you the tools you need to protect your body through childbirth.
Lynn Griesemer believes that we are at a crossroad with birthing practices. As we quickly approach the day when science blindly pushes all of us into surgery to give birth by cesarean, self actualized women are indeed pulling away from this madness and claiming the birth experience for themselves and their family.
Buy this CD today to help educate yourself with the facts!
Posted by Jenny Hatch at 6:00 AM
July 27, 2007
Life
Tonight is stake temple night and Paul and I plan to attend. This past week has been a very spiritual one for us as a family. Last sunday Michelle received her Patriarchal Blessing from our stake patriarch. Paul and I have been on a spiritual high since that event.
Last sunday we also had four members of our family speak in church. I was the final speaker in Sacrament meeting - topic was Creating a legacy for future generations. And Michelle was the youth speaker. She was asked to speak about her pioneer heritage and shared a wonderful story from one of our ancestors from Norway who immigrated to Utah as a young mother. Andy was the main speaker in primary, his talk was also on his pioneer ancestry, and Ben was asked to participate in Sharing time telling stories about how his family helps him grow closer to Jesus Christ. We had spent saturday preparing for all of these talks. It was a good experience and I loved sharing my views with the members of the ward.
On wednesday night Paul and I were invited to attend our Stake Preparedness Meeting. Paul was recently called to be the Elders Quorum president and I am still serving as the Welfare Specialist. We had a good turnout from the stake and a woman from the State of Colorado had been invited to speak to our group about Pandemic Flu. She gave about an hour presentation and then opened it up for Q & A. The state of Colorado is working hard to prepare for pandemic scenarios, however I felt that typical government style they are gearing up to hand out fish to the people, rather than teaching them how to fish in terms of what is being done to mitigate,
She talked alot about flu vaccines and tamiflu. She also said the main thrust of their efforts was going to be in food boxes being passed out to those people who cannot prepare for a time of living in their homes for a couple weeks of isolation from the community. The state is encouraging citizens to have on hand a two week supply of food and water, and as many months of medicine as money and insurance will allow them to purchase.
I raised my hand and asked her if anyone had brought up the issue of healthy pregnant women giving birth in a hospital overun with sick people. She said they had spent alot of time talking about it but had not come to any sort of a conclusion as to what to do.
Later in the evening I pressed the issue again by stating that during the 1918 pandemic most babies in Colorado were being born at home and an infrastructure was in place to help those women with birth. Also, most mothers were breastfeeding. I told her that the thing people start screaming for after every disaster is baby formula and plastic diapers, and that if the state really wanted people to prepare for a pandemic they should be pushing breastfeeding and a supply of cloth diapers. She sort of balked when I said that.
She said that they were pushing for families to have baby formula, a two week supply, because during a time of stress, mothers may not be able to produce breastmilk, especially if they were eating junk foods in the form of foods that are easy to prepare without electricity. I backed away at that point and did not press the issue further, especially after a neonatal nurse spoke up and claimed that during certain illnesses breastmilk could be worse for babies than formula.
What I predict if we have a pandemic in Colorado is a whole bunch of dead babies.
Now maybe with even being born to educated parents at home and breastfed by a mother who has stored the absolute best foods for survival, (wheat and beans), and cloth diapered during weeks of isolation in the home during a pandemic, some of those babes will die from flu. But looking at the odds, I would guess that a mother who births in a hospital overwhelmed with flu patients and dead bodies, bottle feeds with limited supplys of baby formula, and is diapered with whatever bits of disposable diapers can be purchased, the babe who is welcomed into the world under such conditions will not do as well as the baby born at home.
But I guess we will have to wait and see. While I thought the power point presentation from this woman was well put together and she had her facts straight about infectious disease, I was extremely dismayed, but not surprised, that most mitigation efforts are going to be put towards chemical interventions and stockpiling of food for the poor.
What this lady does not realize is that EVERY family can store food and water. If poor families were to be educated about the financial savings from eating whole foods, taught how to prepare these simple foods, and how to store them properly, every family could easily put together a three month supple of grains, beans, and salt that could help them to weather any storm.
Costs for a family of four is about two hundred bucks. And her assumption that it would only be the poor who did not have any supplies is extremely short sighted. Many families do not have more than a week supply of food on hand because of dependence on restaurants and take out food. Some of the wealthiest people in our society have the most beautiful pantrys on the planet, that are completely void of nourishing foods.
If I was king of the world, or head of the Colorado State preparedness task force, I would immediately begin an education campaign focusing on proper food and water storage, rotation of whole foods into the daily diet, and the very simple principles of caring for the sick without chemicals. I would offer home birth classes and push breastfeeding and use of cloth diapers and menstrual pads. I would not even think about food boxes or vaccine or chemical "cures" as these measures would basically be akin to rearanging deck chairs on the titanic while the ship went down.
If we truly want to save lives and mitigate for future pandemics, the people of Colorado should be educated with what will truly help rather than wait for a time of raw survival, when survival of the fittest and the law of the jungle will ensure that those who are not prepared will drop like flies.
Here, once again, are my primers on Flu and Emergency Childbirth.
Emergency Childbirth during a pandemic
And a complete roundup of my provident living information is found in that catagory. Go here
Emergency Preparedness Catagory
I believe that those families and individuals who believe government is going to "save them" during a pandemic by handing them a box of food and a shot of chemicals in the arm are very naive. Yet this is what the state of colorado is preparing to do at this point in case of a pandemic. Being at the meeting just furthered my resolve and focus that individual preparations for a pandemic are the best forms of mitigation and relying on the government will be a fruitless endeavor.
It was a good meeting overall and the final hour we spent talking about communications and how we as saints can watch over each other better, especially if communications and electricity were cut off. I was chuckling as we talked remembering the winter storms of last year. The stake president had asked that we account for every person in the stake and give him a report. We were called by a total of seven people during the worst blizzard. The checks and balances of the mormon people is a wonder to behold.
Many of our members are ready with short wave radios and generators - to be a communication tool in case the phones are out. We have a whole crew of guys in our ward who are ready to go with that endeavor.
I'm looking forward to being in the house of the Lord tonight. It will recharge my spiritual batteries.
Posted by Jenny Hatch at 6:46 AM
July 26, 2007
Shauna over at the Blog The Laundry Line
Shauna has some great insights into Home Making at her Blog The Laundry Line:
And her Natural Family Living Web Site
Posted by Jenny Hatch at 5:21 AM
May 22, 2007
Unassisted Childbirth and Thieves Essential Oils Blend are the answer for plagues of any kind!
I have been taking a blogging break for the month of May, just too busy, but a headline announcing plague at the denver zoo caught my eye yesterday and I thought I would repost an entry I did in September about the Thieves Blend of Essential Oils. It is below:
Here are a couple of highlights from the past few weeks.
Paul and I were part of the Denver WestWord Article on Unassisted Childbirth last week. Here is the link.
Laura Shanley has a round up of the various Unassisted Childbirth Media Stories from the past few weeks on her blog. Go Here.
And Here are the Links to all of the Freebirth articles: (This outpouring of Media Interest in UC Birth has been extremely gratifying to those of us who have been promoting it for many years!)
The Independent 3-20-07 (UK) - Oh, baby!
Guardian 5-9-07 (UK) - Going it alone
Marie Claire 5-10-07 (UK) - The women having 'extreme births'
Globe and Mail (Canada) - 5-15-07 - DIY delivery
Channel 2 News (Alaska) - 5-15-07 - Great Expectations This video clip contains the UC Birth of Twins at home alone, one was a footling breech.
Reuters - 5-22-07 (UK - London)- Freebirthers dismiss fear and bring babies home
The Age - 5-27-07(Australia) - No doctor, no midwife — women go it alone
Same family, different story from Australia - A 'relaxed, beautiful' entry for Carter
And here are the links to the various online versions of the many UC Birth articles that have been written in the past month: Bornfree web site.
And here is a quick overview of some headlines for parents, so many different voices and opinions. Mothers and Fathers really need to just follow their hearts and not listen to all of the fear mongering about babies.
Having large families is an "eco crime"
Vegans sentenced for starving their baby
Stay-at-home mother's work worth $138,095 a year
Navelgazing Midwife - Oh, The Homebirth Debate Blog - Insights into the psyche of the fraud named Amy Tuteur MD (Pseudonym for a couple PR guys from Eli Lilly out to destroy and shut down the debate around home birth with statistics!!!). Go Here
Marsden Wagner's new book Born in the USA: How a Broken Maternity System Must Be Fixed to Put Women and Children First - Go Here
Unassisted Childbirth forum at Mothering - Go Here
Here are a couple of links used in the various debates that I engaged in at Salon and the NHS Blog Doctors comment sections.
The website of the Pre and Peri Natal Psychologists - Go Here
A Declaration of the Rights of Childbearing Women
Monty Python Birth Sketch: And people wonder why we don't want to have a hospital birth?
I have also participated in two online chats at blogs where Unassisted Childbirth was being discussed. Go Here and Here.
Here is a link to a synopsis of my comments at Salon: Go Here
And my Comments at the NHS Doctors Blog starts with this one: Go Here
I posted quite a few entries on that blog, so keep scrolling down for the rest of my comments.
I tend to let myself go when debating with medical people, they are just so full of themselves.
The chats are filled with lots of rage against those of us who birth alone, but I want to take the chance to testify right here on this entry, that I believe bubonic plague is very much tied to unassisted childbirth.
If the hospitals are overun with patients hacking and dying from plague and/or any other disease (certain forms of staph infection only exist in hospitals!), it is the last place in the world a healthy woman should be giving birth to a healthy child. Preparing for a quiet home birth is the best investment a healthy mom can make to insure the safe arrival of her child, despite what those individuals with MDs after their names have say about it. And they have plenty to say, I've been talking to some of them all week!
Speaking of prepration, I was asked to do the Food Basics booth at our Church Preparedness Fair last saturday! It was really fun and I was thrilled to be a part of it.
A little video:
My dear friend Esther baked twenty loaves of bread for the booth. All but one and a half loaves were chowed down by the people who attended. We teach a bread class for young moms to learn how to make this amazing bread which only costs 25 cents a loaf to make from scratch.
I also recorded this version of Be Still My Soul a few sundays ago:
Here is a link to the plague article at Reuters:
I'll start blogging again when Allison and I get back from New York. Too busy right now with rehearsals for our Faure Requiem performance next week with Colorado Repertory Singers. Michelle is graduating and we have a boatload of activities to attend around her commencement from high school. She has decided to accept the scholarship from her Dads alma mater, so each moment we get to share with her until she leaves home is very precious. I'll start blogging again when and if things slow down.
Thieves blog entry:
With Cold and Flu season just around the corner, I am really excited about this new line of products from Young Living. I have been a Young Living Essential Oils Enthusiast for ten years, and have actively worked a business on and off (mostly off) for some years now. I absolutely love these new products. My favorites are the toothpaste, lozenges, and the oil blend.
Recently I started cleaning everything with the Thieves household soap - it does it all - toilets, hardwood floors, etc... Here is a run down of all of the products. A great place to start would be to order the Thieves Kit, which contains a variety of products from the Thieves line.
All are available on my Young Living Web Site
Thieves Kit - Code # 3173
How to use:
Thieves® Essential Oil Blend: For dietary, aromatic, or topical use. When using as a supplement, dilute one drop in 4 fl. oz. of liquid such as goat's or rice milk. Diffuse for short periods of time (1/2 hour or less) in the work or home environment. Possible skin sensitivity. If pregnant or under a doctor's care, consult your physician. Always dilute before applying to the skin or taking internally. Keep out of reach of children.
Thieves® Hard Lozenges: Dissolve one lozenge in mouth, as needed. Swallowing lozenges whole may cause choking. Keep out of reach of children and do not expose to excessive heat or direct sunlight.
Thieves® Spray: Spray on any surfaces that you feel need to be cleansed, such as kitchen and bathroom counters. Not for use on infants or on sensitive areas of the body.
Thieves® Bar Soap: Use as any regular bar soap. For external use only. Store in a cool, dry place. Keep out of direct sunlight and away from ultraviolet radiation sources.
Thieves® Dentarome Ultra Toothpaste: Brush teeth and gums thoroughly morning and night.
Thieves® Fresh Essence Plus Mouthwash: Rinse mouth with one tablespoon or capful of Fresh Essence Plus Mouthwash for 30 - 60 seconds or as needed.
The Thieves Products are also available individually for purchase:
Thieves Hard Lozenges - Code # 3282
Thieves® Hard Lozenges are a soothing, therapeutic blend of 7 natural essential oils and will refresh you mouth and breath. Lightly sweetened with stevioside and the low-gylcemic sugar maltitol, these lozenges deliver the power of Thieves®, the university-tested essential oil blend, along with the flavor of natural peppermint and lemon essential oils. For fresher breath and relief, try these lozenges.
Thieves Fresh Essence Mouthwash - Code # 3683
Thieves® Fresh Essence Plus Mouthwash contains a special formulation of essential oils that gives you incredibly fresh breath. The unique liposome technology (using soy-derived lecithin) binds the essential oils to the mucous membrane inside the mouth for longer-lasting effects on teeth and gums.
Thieves Essential Oil - Code # 3423
Thieves® was created based on research about four thieves in France who protected themselves with cloves, rosemary, and other aromatics while robbing plague victims. The proprietary Thieves® oil blend was university tested and found to be highly effective in supporting the immune system and good health.
Thieves® oil blend is an integral ingredient in Thieves® Household Cleaner, Thieves® Spray, Thieves® Wipes, Thieves® Lozenges, Thieves® Dentarome Plus and Thieves® Dentarome Ultra toothpastes, and Thieves® Fresh Essence Plus Mouthwash.
Thieves Cleansing Soap - Code # 3679
Thieves® Cleansing Soap is fragrant with the rich aroma of naturally antiseptic Thieves® essential oil blend. Moisturizing plant oils and botanical extracts help promote healthy, smooth skin. A natural soap for sensitive skin. How to use: Use as any regular bar soap. For external use only. Store in a cool, dry place. Keep out of direct sunlight and away from ultraviolet radiation sources.
Ingredients: Saponified Elaeis Guineensis (Palm) Oil, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, and Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil; Vegetable Glycerin; Syzygium Aromaticum Flower Bud Oil; Lycium Barbarum Seed Oil, Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Meal, Simmondsia shinensis (jojoba) Seed Oil, Citrus Limon (Lemon) Peel Oil, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Cinnamomum Verum Bark Oil, Eucalyptus Radiata Leaf Oil, Rosemarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract. 100% pure therapeutic-grade essential oil Organically grown in accordance with the California Organic Foods Act of 1990.
Thieves Spray - Code # 3265
The Thieves® Spray is ideal for use on door handles, toilet seats, and any surface that needs cleaning. The small one ounce bottle is also the perfect size for any kind of traveling. How to use: Spray on any surfaces that you feel need to be cleansed, such as kitchen and bathroom counters. Not for use on infants or on sensitive areas of the body.
Ingredients: Pure grain alcohol, deionized water, Thieves® essential oil blend, fractionated coconut oil and soy lecithin. 100% pure therapeutic-grade essential oil.
Thieves Wipes - Code # 3756
Tired of using dirty sponges you have used a hundred times, only to spread the dirt around on the surfaces in your home? Try our Thieves® Wipes! They are ideal for use on door handles, toilet seats, and any surface that needs cleaning. Simply use and throw away. How to use: Wipe on any surfaces that you feel need to be cleansed, such as kitchen and bathroom counters. Not for use on infants or on sensitive areas of the body.
Ingredients: Pure grain alcohol, deionized water, Thieves® essential oil blend, fractionated coconut oil and soy lecithin. 100% pure therapeutic-grade essential oil.
Dentarome Plus Toothpaste! Code # 3738
Thieves® Dentarome Plus Toothpaste contains well-proven ingredients-thymol and eucalyptol-found in clove and thyme essential oils, along with gentle, odor-absorbing baking soda. Also contains the powerful oil blend of Thieves®, which was the subject of research published in the Jornal of Essential Oil Research. Dentarom Plus is usually preferred by adults. How to use: Brush teeth and gums thoroughly morning and night.
Ingredients: Baking soda, deionized water, vegetable glycerine, xanthan gum, ionic trace minerals, thymol, eugenol, steviocide (Stevia rebaudiana), the essential oils of wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens), peppermint (Mentha piperita), and the blend of Thieves [clove (Syzygium aromaticum), lemon (Citrus limon), cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum), eucalyptus (Eucalyptus radiata), and rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)]. 100% pure therapeutic-grade essential oil.
Dentarome Ultra Toothpaste - Code # 3744
New Thieves® Dentarome Ultra Toothpaste is an advanced formula of all-natural ingredients that gently clean your teeth and freshen your breath while harnessing the powerful action of pure, therapeutic-grade Thieves® essential oil for fresh breath. How to use: Brush teeth and gums thoroughly morning and night.
Ingredients: Calcium carbonate, essential oil concentrate containing peppermint essential oil, Thieves® essential oil blend (a powerful blend of clove, cinammon bark, lemon, Eucalyptus radiata, and rosemary, zinc oxide, deionized water with papain, xylitol, vegetable glycerine, essential oil base (thymol from Thymus vulgaris), Eucalyptus globulus, and methyl salycilate from wintergreen, xanthum gum, zinc citrate, and stevioside. 100% pure therapeutic-grade essential oil.
All You Ever Wanted To Know About THIEVES HOUSEHOLD CLEANER
Ordering Information: All are available on my Young Living Web Site
Thieves Household Cleaner - Code 3743, 14.4 oz.
Wholesale/Distributor: $21.50
Preferred Customer/Autoship: $24.89
Retail Customer: $28.29
Dilution Proportions for Thieves Cleaner - NOTE: one capful cleaner = ½ tablespoon
Light degreasing (1:60)
1 capful cleaner : 3.75 cups water
1 bottle makes 30 quarts of light degreaser (.32/quart)
Med. degreasing (1:30)
1 capful cleaner : a little less than 2 cups water
1 bottle makes 15 quarts of medium degreaser (.64/quart)
Heavy degreasing (1:15)
1 capful cleaner : a little less than 1 cup water
1 bottle makes 71/2 quarts of heaver degreaser (1.27/quart)
Pots & Pans (1:100) ½ capful cleaner : 3+ cups water
1 bottles makes 50 quarts of dishwashing liquid (.19/quart)
Hand Cleaner (1:1) ½ cup cleaner : ½ cup water
1 bottle makes 1 quart of hand cleaner ($19/quart)
Floors ( 1:100) 1 capful cleaner : 6.25 cups water
1 bottle makes 50 quarts of floor cleaner (.19/quart)
Walls ( 1:30) 1 capful cleaner: a little less than 2 cups water
Fabrics, Carpet spotting, etc. (1:40)
1 capful cleaner : 2 cups water
Carpet (1:100) 1 capful cleaner : 6.25 cups water
Glass ( 1:320) -1 capful cleaner: 5 quarts water
All are available on my Young Living Web Site
Posted by Jenny Hatch at 6:32 AM
April 24, 2007
Dissertation on Motherhood
Dissertation
Thesis: The New Millennium finds the modern woman at a crossroads. Will we continue on this path of destruction forged by medical science, or will we claim our sovereignty as women and restore/retain The Divine Feminine and claim our freedoms of self-determination?
Written by Jenny M Hatch: For her Doctorate in Motherhood.
Note: Since there is no Criteria, University Curriculum, Certificate, or acknowledged academic cap and gown that could be used to designate myself as a Doctor in the Philosophy of Motherhood, I went out and bought myself a new apron, and offer the words of this dissertation combined with the pictures of my family as evidence and proof of my credentials as a PhD MH!
*Message to any person who has come across this Dissertation –
We Mothers have to know what we are about. Since the world, especially the education establishment, largely holds the daily work we do in contempt, we need to stake our claim and stand tall, confident, and clear on what our efforts mean, not just to us, and our families, but to society as a whole. For anyone who is thinking about becoming a parent, please carefully consider the words that follow.
If you count up the hours spent reading, practical skills mastered, and recognize the contribution to society the amazing gift of yet another gently birthed, nurtured, and nourished child to be enjoyed by all who come in contact with him or her and decide you too deserve to receive the coveted PhD MH, go ahead, start putting those little letters after your name.
Welcome to the Motherhood branch of Academia!
Get a new apron, have your husband get you pregnant, throw out all your high-heeled shoes, and happily welcome another blessed child into your home. We have a certain stereotype to proudly thrust in the faces of all who judge us…..it is BAREFOOT AND PREGNANT!!! I can think of few blessed states to be in than barefoot and expecting another blessed child into our home. So I happily project this supposedly derogatory cliché’ of Motherhood and combined with the PhD MH letters after my name, will gladly defend this dissertation in any forum at any time.
Who said only the hallowed halls of academia and the ivory towers of the Ivy League have the right to bestow Advanced Degrees upon the heads of individual men and women?
What do those little letters mean?
To me, the designation PhD MH is a very “tongue in cheek” attempt to quantify and validate the work we are accomplishing in our own homes. If reading this introduction to my dissertation has given you a laugh and helped you to gain some perspective on the value of this important work, then I have accomplished my goal.
Jenny Marie Hatch PhD MH
(*That name does look official, doesn’t it? Kind of makes you think I know something…Well, I do know something, I know how to make a healthy baby*)
Dissertation
Thesis: The New Millennium finds the modern woman at a crossroads. Will we continue on this path of destruction forged by medical science, or will we claim our sovereignty as women and restore/retain The Divine Feminine and claim our freedoms of self-determination?
Written by Jenny M Hatch: For her Doctorate in Motherhood.
Note: Since there is no Criteria, University Curriculum, Certificate, or acknowledged academic cap and gown that could be used to designate myself as a Doctor in the Philosophy of Motherhood, I went out and bought myself a new apron, and offer the words of this dissertation combined with the pictures of my family as evidence and proof of my credentials as a PhD MH!
*Message to any person who has come across this Dissertation –
We Mothers have to know what we are about. Since the world, especially the education establishment, largely holds the daily work we do in contempt, we need to stake our claim and stand tall, confident, and clear on what our efforts mean, not just to us, and our families, but to society as a whole. For anyone who is thinking about becoming a parent, please carefully consider the words that follow.
If you count up the hours spent reading, practical skills mastered, and recognize the contribution to society the amazing gift of yet another gently birthed, nurtured, and nourished child to be enjoyed by all who come in contact with him or her and decide you too deserve to receive the coveted PhD MH, go ahead, start putting those little letters after your name.
Welcome to the Motherhood branch of Academia!
Get a new apron, have your husband get you pregnant, throw out all your high-heeled shoes, and happily welcome another blessed child into your home. We have a certain stereotype to proudly thrust in the faces of all who judge us…..it is BAREFOOT AND PREGNANT!!! I can think of few blessed states to be in than barefoot and expecting another blessed child into our home. So I happily project this supposedly derogatory cliché’ of Motherhood and combined with the PhD MH letters after my name, will gladly defend this dissertation in any forum at any time.
Who said only the hallowed halls of academia and the ivory towers of the Ivy League have the right to bestow Advanced Degrees upon the heads of individual men and women?
What do those little letters mean?
To me, the designation PhD MH is a very “tongue in cheek” attempt to quantify and validate the work we are accomplishing in our own homes. If reading this introduction to my dissertation has given you a laugh and helped you to gain some perspective on the value of this important work, then I have accomplished my goal.
Jenny Marie Hatch PhD MH
(*That name does look official, doesn’t it? Kind of makes you think I know something…Well, I do know something, I know how to make a healthy baby*)
Family Sovereignty
December 22, 2003
Sovereign, the buzzword in Internet circles also has applications for the family. Why? Over the past decades a shift has occurred in the hearts and minds of some parents. So many have adopted home-school, unassisted family birthing, and a complete severance from government programs and money that this trend toward family sovereignty could be called a movement.
Why? The definition of sovereignty holds the clues as to why familie