Are you a mother? Do you know someone who is? You probably do, and that’s why you should be very concerned about Alabama’s chemical endangerment clause, which aims to protect fetuses from mothers who abuse drugs. Alabama’s law — and others like it — signify a wave of legislation aimed at granting fetuses more rights and women less, effectively treating mothers as second class citizens.
Melissa Rycroft is perhaps best well-known for being proposed to and then dumped by “Bachelor” Jason Mesnick in favor of his runner-up. Since then, however, Rycroft has made the most of her unfortunate initial 15 minutes of fame, finishing third on “Dancing with the Stars,” marrying the boyfriend she had before “The Bachelor,” Ty Strickland, and, in 2011, starring in a reality show on CMT about their life together with baby daughter Ava, born in 2009.
But in the new issue of Us Weekly, Rycroft opens up for the first time about her battle with postpartum depression, telling the magazine that it started as soon as Ava was born. “Almost immediately I didn’t feel right,” she says. “I had just given birth to this perfect baby, but absolutely nothing made me happy anymore. I had no idea what was wrong. I had these great blessings, but I felt empty. I’d put Ava in her crib and go outside and scream for a minute.” Keep reading »
Kids these days! They just aren’t getting pregnant like they used to. The birth rate for young women ages 15 to 19 fell to its lowest ever recorded in 2010, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. States with the lowest teen birth rates are in the Northeast with Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont and New Hampshire, while the highest are concentrated in the South/Southwest: Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico.
It might seem like great news that teen births have been declining over two decades. But the United States still has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the industrialized world. It’s no surprise that the states “16 & Pregnant” casting agents drool over have the strictest abortion laws and also think abstinence-only sex ed actually works. [NY Times, NY Times (2)]
A new study conducted by the Boston Medical Center/Boston University School of Medicine and published in the journal Pediatrics has uncovered a truly disturbing trend: teens are being given false information about the legality and availability of the morning-after pill (also known as Plan B), quite possibly on purpose, by their pharmacists. What the what?!
First, the facts about the Plan B’s legality/availability: teenagers 17 and older are allowed to purchase the morning-after pill without a prescription; teens under 17 are able to acquire it but need a doctor’s prescription. However, the study found that when researchers posing as teens under the age of 17 called their pharmacy to inquire about getting Plan B, many were told that they were not legally allowed access to it or were given misinformation about how they could get it — but when researchers posing as doctors called back asking for the same information, the pharmacists suddenly had their facts straight. Keep reading »
“I puke all the time and have sex with my boyfriend.”
“I don’t really puke when I’m hungover but I puke a lot when I’m drunk. And ever since I started University, I pretty much have sex every weekend when I’m drunk.”
These are some of the more, um, insightful quotes recently used in an article on The Huffington Post, warning young women about the increased pregnancy risks binge drinkers face. But isn’t this advice (“Don’t drink and throw up your birth control”) worth repeating to all women who might get sick (after drinking or for reasons unrelated to alcohol) and not know the risks, not just irresponsible, repeat binge drinkers like the two ladies quoted above? I think so. So, here goes… Keep reading »
I am a writer. I have been a writer since age eight, when I penned a dramatic tale about a girl who gets asked to the prom by the school bully. He turns out to be really nice, and they end up getting married. It was daring, featured some witty dialogue, and suggested an attraction to bad boys that never played out in real life. It also suggested something else—my classic, boring, old-fashioned interest in getting married and living happily ever after, in that order. Keep reading »
As I lay on the floor next to my boyfriend getting ready for to play another round of Dance Central on our Xbox, I thought to myself , Something is wrong with you. You are too happy.
Less than 72 hrs before, I had a miscarriage.
I lost the baby we were so excited to be bringing into this world at a little over seven weeks.
I knew I was pregnant even before I saw the telltale plus sign on my home pregnancy test. My normally predictable period had been two weeks late. I took the pregnancy test just to have something to show to him, to announce that we were expecting. He was out of town that weekend, and I thought I’d break the news to him in a creative way. I emailed him a picture of the pregnancy test with the subject line “Guess what?” He called me immediately, and after expressing some shock, he said he was genuinely happy about it, that I would be a great mother and he was proud I was having his child. Keep reading »
“I feel like I have a bowling ball sitting on my hoo-ha … Apparently I have a lot of amniotic fluid, so whenever my water breaks it will be like a fire hydrant!”
– Jessica Simpson continues her habit of over-sharing — just a bit! — with Jimmy Kimmel. Now, I am super fascinated by pregnancy, so I love that she’s being so open about everything happening with her body during this experience. Quotes like this make me tilt my head and make an O shape with my mouth as I consider the visual. Thanks, Jessica, for keeping me informed of what may happen to my body should I ever get pregnant someday! (And who knew it was possible for Jess to be even ditzier? That’s Pregnancy Brain for ya!) [Us Weekly]
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