Friday Five (#12)

Oh Friday! This Friday is the start of a long weekend of call for me. I’m trying to imagine spring, sunshine and flowers blooming through the few feet of snow Alaska received this week. I think we used the snow blower 3 times already before Friday (and by we, I mean the husband did most of that manual labor!). I came across a bunch of fun things this week. Let’s dive in…

1. This news article on a recently published study called: BIRTH SETTINGS IN AMERICA: OUTCOMES, QUALITY, ACCESS, AND CHOICE. Want to take a look at the report yourself? Download the report here for free after submitting your email. I downloaded it and will slowly work through it over the next month (it’s over 200 pages long). My brief skim through looked very promising…

2. Mama says Homebirth – this cute little book about homebirth! Has anyone read it? I put it in our shopping cart to buy next month but loved the little description below:

“A beautiful story of an inquisitive young girl as she learns about the legacy of homebirth within her family and the importance of a midwife. Filled with beautiful, realistic illustrations and a poetic flow, it’s a story to be enjoyed by all.”

Mama Says Homebirth

3. Are you a nurse? Do you ever take time to reflect on your practice? One of my assignments for graduate school this week was to examine tools that help nurses rejuvenate their minds and spirits from the hard work of nursing. This article gets a little deep into the meaningful art of nursing practice – but I loved it! I really love this quote below and all the references to Florence Nightingale. What do you all do to reflect on your practice? My favorite things are journaling, debriefing (usually with another midwife or colleague), or a nice, hard workout.

None of us will ever accomplish anything excellent or commanding except when he listens to this whisper which is heard by him alone.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

4. A new blog/podcast recommendation! This one is called Strong Sense of Place and combines two of my favorite things: books and travels! The recommendation came off one of my other favorite podcasts and I finally had time to check it out. I want to go back through their lists and find books about the places I’ve actually traveled too…Italy, Germany, Switzerland, England, France…and see if I can read my way back to each country! Check it out and let me know what you think! Want more blog or podcast recommendations? Check out the RESOURCE page!

5. Mothering Justice. Again, I feel like I have been working in the labor and delivery world for over a decade and I continue to find out about these new groups and resources. This group has an agenda and I am loving the things they are focusing on: earned paid sick time, affordable childcare, and women’s health. They focus on women, politics and economics and how those three topics intersect. Their vision: a country that works for every mother. And their mission: to empower a well-organized group of mothers that can engage fellow mothers and law makers around a variety of issues that affect working families. These ladies seem to have a really active instagram – check them out here.

Other goodies for the weekend!

Happy weekend!

Jamie

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