If men had uteruses

There is an excellent NY Times op-ed piece by always-impressive Nicholas Kristof called "Crises in the Operating Room" about the utter lack of focus by world powers on birth resources in developing countries. While our fight here is against too much and unnecessary intervention, in other countries life-saving intervention can be hard to come by for those in poverty...the single birth story in the op-ed is chilling.

Here's the meat of the piece:

If men had uteruses, “paternity wards” would get resources, ambulances would transport pregnant men to hospitals free of charge, deliveries would be free, and the Group of 8 industrialized nations would make paternal mortality a top priority. One of the most lethal forms of sex discrimination is this systematic inattention to reproductive health care, from family planning to childbirth — so long as those who die are impoverished, voiceless women.Thankfully, there is the dawn of a global movement against maternal mortality. Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain and the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, are trying to work with the United States and other countries to hold a landmark global health session at the U.N. focusing, in part, on maternal health. If that comes to pass, on Sept. 23, it will be a milestone. My dream is that Barack and Michelle Obama will leap forward and adopt this cause — and transform the prospects for so many young women like Shazia.

Also check out a follow up piece, in which Kristof says,

"Interestingly, in the U.S., maternal mortality remained very, very high even as the United States enjoyed economic development and improved overall health in the 19th century."

Seriously, read all his stories on birth - I hope those in power start listening.

"over here, Mr. President"

Check out Pushed author Jennifer Block's wonderful new piece, "Where's The Birth Plan",on birth as it relates to health care reform, or rather how it seems to be getting short shrift in the reform debate. Where's the outrage? Where's the common sense?

There are so many working models (at least where birth practices are concerned) from which to learn if we really want to reform...cheaper+better outcomes - isn't that what we should be after? No need to reinvent the wheel or keep limping along with this flat tire of a system we currently have.

Here's a quote to whet your appetite,

In other words, our for-profit system not only rewards the overuse of intervention even if it leads to more sick babies; in some cases, it depends on it.

So, if this system is broken, and this system is wasting public funds, and this system is harming women and babies, why isn't fixing it part of the national conversation on health reform?

why is this night...

why is this night different from all other nights? Because our president will host and attend a Passover seder at the White House. There have been seders there before, but no sitting president has ever attended.

From Politico:

A year ago, Barack Obama and a dozen of his campaign staff gathered in the basement of the Sheraton in Harrisburg, Pa., for an impromptu Seder to mark the start of Passover.

After proclaiming the traditional “Next year in Jerusalem” refrain at the end of the meal, the future president, who was still in a heated battle for the Democratic nomination, raised his glass and added, “Next year in the White House."

waterworks, redux

Not sure why I find it so touching, but I do...an elementary school on Long Island has just changed it's name to the Barack Obama Elementary School. Read about it here - lots of other places honoring president-elect Obama with a name change too.

meet the new Bill - more like the old Bill

a rousing speech in which Bill mentions infant mortality rates sucking in comparison to how much we spend on health care (about minute 7:01 on the counter)