Author Archives:

Recently, we heard of a woman who exercised terribly poor judgment when her son sustained a gunshot wound. Instead of taking the 14-year old immediately to the hospital, his mother instead consulted WebMD’s gunshot wound entries. Over 7 hours later, she finally brought him to a medical center for treatment.

Presumably, this woman was fearful and embarrassed about the accident leading to the shooting, and not just plain evil or stupid? But whether you like or not, there are going to be some times when you should go to the doctor no matter what—all fear, embarrassment, convenience and expense aside.

More »

That’s a pretty heavy inner conflict to drop on a near-stranger, but clearly Megan is grieving and anxious and not in a good place right now. It brought me back to the way I felt two years ago after my miscarriage.

At the time, I’d been living in Brooklyn and loving it. Life was going along with a few kinks but lots of excitement and potential, and I was fucking psyched about New York City, writing, friends, film projects and all the sorts of things I’m usually excited about. Having children was not the farthest thing from my mind, but it was certainly not on the agenda for another few years, if at all. More »

Two researchers at the University of Nevada Las Vegas decided to study one of the most controversial practices in the highly-fraught world of modern maternity care: placenta consumption. Their findings? 96% of placenta-eaters said they had a “very positive” experience.
More »

Dear Journal of Women’s Health,

A study in your current issue asks “Is Military Deployment a Risk Factor for Maternal Depression?” Scientific journals are constantly publishing studies that basically just quantify obvious social and physical observations; you can’t be blamed for doing the same (though I’m still mystified by where they get the funding, or why you bother allowing them to publish). But I disappointed that you, of all places, are publishing a blatantly sexist study undermining the ability of women to serve in the military, and women in combat. Who is this helping?
More »

Australian TV and radio personality Chrissie Swan is pregnant with her third child—and she was recently photographed smoking. Since then, there’s been a bidding war for the pictures, with Swan herself desperate to keep them from being seen, and several Australian magazine editors rabidly eager to publish them.

More »

Ronald McDonald has been scrutinized for his contribution to childhood obesity; now, he’s taking an even more controversial tack in their bid to get families hooked on McDonalds Happy Meals: books. The fast food giant started distributing children’s books with their happy meals in the UK today, launching a five-week campaign and plan to distribute 15 million books by 2015. On the bright side, this means a lot of kids are getting free books, which are far more beneficial than happy meal toys. But on the not-so-bright side, free books at McDonald’s means more parents who are willing to stuff their kids with unhealthy fast food and soft drinks–ironically, in the name of doing something good for their kids.
More »