This incredible photo in the Missoulian made my whole family crazy this morning.

Willow was captivated by the tiny triplets and described each in detail: “This fawn is ready to go to sleep. This fawn is getting a drink. This fawn is kissin’ its mama.”

For our part, my husband and I couldn’t stop saying “Fawns on the lawn. Fawns on the lawn. Fawns on the lawn.”

I think we’re all a little giddy with spring/summer.

- MM

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I was perusing Mamalode online this morning and noticed the calendar item on the upcoming Perinatal Mood Disorders Conference. The two-day conference kicks off in Missoula next Wednesday, April 14.

The conference is geared toward the vast array of professionals and others who have contact with mothers during the perinatal months, and is being organized by Perinatal Support of Montana founder Lara Matson Radle.

Lara’s credentials on the topic of postpartum mood issues are pretty extensive. Mamalode was kind enough to link to a previous post Missoula Mom wrote after meeting with Lara, but you can also read her story in her own words back over at Mamalode.

- MM

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I had a very interesting interview with Lara Mattson Radle yesterday morning on the subject of postpartum depression and other perinatal mood disorders.

Mattson Radle, a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor in Missoula and the only Montana coordinator for Postpartum Support International, is organizing an upcoming Perinatal Mood Disorders Conference open to anyone who works with postpartum women.

Mattson Radle pointed out that OBGYNs are not the only good candidates for the two-day conference; others include lactation consultants and therapists.

“In the time after childbird, so many changes are going on it can be difficult for a woman to recognize all the emotions and changes,” Mattson Radle said.

That’s why it’s important for friends, family and others to be aware of what questions to ask and what resources to refer mothers in need.

“My goal,” Mattson Radle said, “is to spread the word about postpartum mood disorders, because they’re a lot more common than most people think.”

For instance, did you know that men and adoptive parents can experience postpartum mood disorders, too?

Check out her Web site, Perinatal Support of Montana, for more information and to sign up for the conference in April.

- MM

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I received the following essay from a licensed psychologist in Chevy Chase, MD, last week. In it, Lynette Long really goes off on the phrase “We’re pregnant,” apparantly after hearing it one too many times. Read her thoughts – but be forewarned, she describes some of the anatomical apects of pregnancy and the differences between the sexes with an unflinching eye – and then tell me what you think:

“When did it become politically correct to say, we’re pregnant. Gag me with a spoon. We don’t get pregnant. I’ve yet to notice any person with a penis spending his mornings puking his guts out, having a speculum inserted inside his non-existent vagina, or changing his lifestyle to assure the birth of a healthy baby. I also haven’t noticed maternity stores for men where they sell elastic fronted boxer shorts or custom designed wife beater t-shirts for the newest part of the male anatomy: breasts. Nor have I noticed men giving up six packs for a forty-pound egg-shaped belly. So let’s get this straight, we’re not pregnant. Until cloning is a reality, it would be more accurate to say, we’re going to have a baby, since men still contribute 23 of the 46 chromosomes needed to produce a child. Speaking of production, I don’t see men volunteering to endure the excruciating pain of childbirth, the weeks of exhaustion after delivery, or the struggle to get that pre-baby figure back. Let’s not forget about those stretch-marks, that might never disappear or that ’small’ cut a doctor makes to minimize tearing during delivery, which ensures it will burn like ‘heck’ every time you urinate. Anthropologist Margaret Mead once said, ‘If men and women shared pregnancy and childbirth, no family would have over three children, since no man would do it twice.’ She was right.

“When I ask women why they say we’re pregnant rather than I’m pregnant, the responses are based on emotion not logic. ‘It’s sweet.’ ‘I want to include him. I want him to feel a part of it.’ ‘I’m scared and I don’t want to feel like I doing this alone.’ ‘I want him to feel responsible for the baby.’ ‘I want to create buy-in for my partner.’ Whatever happened to individuation and separation? ‘We’re pregnant’ is a denial of reality to create an artificial oneness. Expanding this ‘we-ness’ to other circumstances highlights the absurdity of the claim. The phrase, ‘we got a tooth pulled’ is not used to gain sympathy for a dental visit, nor is ‘we got a promotion’ used to brag about one’s accomplishments at work. Saying ‘we’re pregnant,’ doesn’t change a woman’s personal reality. No matter how you say it, in the end, pregnancy is something women have to do alone.

“The reason the phrase ‘we’re pregnant’ grates on my nerves is that it does what women too often do, share credit and diminish their own personal accomplishments. Pregnancy is a biologically expensive proposition for women. Adult men literally produce 100 million sperm a day and are physically capable of producing hundreds if not thousands of children in a lifetime. Women have a limited number of eggs and make significant biological sacrifices to have children. The phrase, we’re pregnant, diminishes a woman’s experience by implying men and women share equally in the experience. Women deserve full credit for enduring both the burden and responsibility of pregnancy.

“Besides the psychological implications of joint ownership of a pregnancy, there are significant legal implications. When men are pregnant also, who decides when whether or not to terminate a pregnancy? In Japan, where abortion is widely accepted and readily available, women have to get their husband’s permission to have an abortion. Similar legislation could be not far away in the United States and subtle differences in the way we describe experiences may impact the way we legislate them. Ohio Rep. John Adams introduced a bill this year that would require a woman to get the permission of the man she had sex with in order to have an abortion. He argued, men deserve the right to choose, too. So next time you want to say, we’re pregnant, think again. Women have fought long and hard for the right to choose, don’t jeopardize that right for emotional reasons. Protect everyone woman’s right to choose and embrace your pregnancy and the significant contribution you are making to your family.”

- MM

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The Missoulian’s front page today carries the story of certified midwife Jeanne Hebl’s banishment from Community Medical Center. The big question – Why? – is left unanswered because Community won’t talk about it except to provide a copy of their birthing room policies.

This, of course, leaves us plenty of room for rampant speculation, which is always fun. Did Community decide to keep Hebl away because they knew it would hamper her new Birth Center? The birth business, after all, is big business, and right now Community has a near-monopoly. If you don’t give birth at home, Community is your only other option in Missoula. Or, did they tell her to stay away for purely legal reasons? Or was there a complaint filed of some sort?

We may never know. However, the effect the ban will have on Hebl’s Birth Center clients – who, I thought, had the right to invite almost anyone they wish into the delivery room with them – will probably soon be clear.

- MM

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For many years, teen pregnancy rates in the U.S. were declining. Every year from 1990 to 2005 saw a decrease in the national teen pregnancy rate – but then, the rate started trending upward again.

So, too, did Montana’s rates. While the state’s rate of teen births fell by 15 percent from 1991 to 2006, and while historically Montana’s teen pregnancy rate has been lower than the national average, it looks like Montana is currently on a course to close the gap.

In 2006, Montana suddenly saw a 9 percent increase in its teen birth rate. Unfortunately, the increase has only continued, and now Montana is seeing the second-highest increase in the rate of babies born to teenagers of any state in the nation. At last count, in 2008, 1,680 teenagers in Montana found themselves pregnant.

Teenage parents have children who are more likely to drop out of high school, use social services, experience abuse or neglect, enter the foster care system, and end up in prison. They are also more likely to repeat the cycle by having children of their own at a young age.
In fact, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy estimates that the cost of teen childbearing to Montana run about $18 million – each year.

The good news is that the steep increase Montana’s teen birth rate caught the attention of a national organization based in Washington, D.C., called the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, and that nonpartisan group funded a mid-September summit in Missoula on the issue of teen pregnancy prevention.

That summit brought together parents, educators, social service providers, government representatives and many others to talk about the unfortunate trends and discuss what could be done about it. The reality is that there are already a number of small groups throughout the state working to prevent teen pregnancy, but no statewide umbrella that would bring these various efforts together.

And so, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy has asked Planned Parenthood of Montana, as the largest provider of family planning services in the state, to organize a statewide coalition solely devoted to the issue of teen pregnancy prevention.

The coalition is in its early stages, but already it has brought together an array of government agencies, nonprofits and concerned parents. Their multi-level approach includes the active involvement of parents in any teen pregnancy prevention effort, as well as Montana’s school districts and other educational institutions.

- MM

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Jeanne Hebl vowed that the Birth Center would be back. It has not been quite one year since the old Birth Center in Missoula closed following the sudden death of its founder, Dr. Lynn Montgomery. Hebl, a certified nurse midwife who was closely involved with the Birth Center, promised that she would help provide pregnant women in Missoula with an alternative to home or hospital birth.

Today, she’s making good on that promise with the opening of the new Birth Center. Located at 2404 39th Street, the Birth Center will be in a separate location from Hebl’s practice focusing on women’s health. Those services will still be offered at her current location, at 2516 S. 14th Street.

On a related note, Sutton Stokes, who covered the closing of the old Birth Center for New West, offers a personal account of labor and delivery at Community Medical Center. The comments that follow this account – nearly all of which appear to be from men – are an interesting insight into some local fathers’ experiences and opinions on childbirth.

- MM

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That’s from one of my all-time favourite bumper stickers.

You may have noticed a whole lot of midwives – and some of the people they’ve helped out – downtown yesterday afternoon, a whole parade of moms and their kids, pushing strollers and carrying babies and signs.

They were marching to draw attention to the fact that home-birth midwives are not recognized by the federal government, and to deliver a petition to Sen. Max Baucus in the hope that he will help change that.

As part of a national effort called the MAMA Campaign (Mothers and Midwives in Action), the participants hoped to persuade Baucus to include health care coverage for families who want their pregnancies and births overseen by certified midwives. They point out that allowing families to choose between a hospital and home birth is a cost-saving opportunity, because the average cost of a home birth is roughly half what it is for a hospital birth.

- MM

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