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Today, the White House released the Biden-Harris Administration’s Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis, a whole-of-government approach to combatting maternal mortality and morbidity. For far too many mothers, complications related to pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum can lead to devastating health outcomes — including hundreds of deaths each year. This maternal health crisis is particularly devastating for Black women, Native women, and women in rural communities who all experience maternal mortality and morbidity at significantly higher rates than their white and urban counterparts. Under President Biden and Vice President Harris’s leadership, this Administration is now taking the next step towards...

ABC’s legal analyst Sunny Hostin said Monday on ABC’s “The View” that she believed the nationwide baby formula shortage was, in part, happening because of America’s lack of federal paid maternity leave. Co-host Joy Behar said, “This crisis blew up after Abbott Nutrition had a massive recall over a scare their formula had killed and sickened some infants. But they say they investigated and found no evidence that the formulas were to blame. So they’ll resume production when the FDA lets them. There are only four companies that produce formula for most Americans. So let me ask you. is it...

Resignations over vaccine mandate forces hospital to shut down maternity ward September 12, 2021 | Ashley Hill | Print Article Share Tweet Telegram GAB LinkedIn An upstate New York hospital announced on Friday that it would pause baby deliveries in its maternity ward over an epidemic of resignations related to the state’s COVID vaccine mandate for healthcare workers. “If we can pause the service and now focus on recruiting nurses who are vaccinated, we will be able to reengage in delivering babies here in Lewis County,” said Lewis County Health System Chief Executive Officer Gerald Cayer according to a report...

We live in a culture that tends to frame childbearing through the lens of loss: a loss of self, sleep, personal space, or brain capacity. A momentary weakness to be overcome as quickly as possible. On the other hand, researchers have noted the disparities between prenatal care and the dearth of understanding regarding the many incredible changes that take place pre/postpartum in a woman’s mind, body, and spirit. Those changes are the subject of a new book by New York Times bestselling author, Abigail Tucker: Mom Genes: Inside the New Science of Our Ancient Maternal Instinct. Drawing from hard scientific...

President Joe Biden’s administration denied multiple President Trump-era aides their previously established maternity leave, some days before birth, reports Politico. Even though some Trump aides made arrangements for parental leave early in 2021 in advance of their children’s births, multiple federal employees were told shortly before or after their babies arrived that the benefits would no longer be extended to them after Biden and his team took office. Some families pleaded with the new administration to honor the previous agreements, one couple writing that they were counting on the leave to deal with “unforeseen complications” during the birth of their...

The whole idea of birthright citizenship, in which any person born on U.S. soil is automatically a citizen, is different here than in many other countries, where citizenship is based on lineage. The idea of "birth tourism" — it's also known as "maternity tourism," and defined as travel to the U.S. for the purpose of having a child on American soil — is, to the growling anti-immigration crowd, utterly enraging. It's a back-door entry into U.S. citizenship, they say. It's happening too much. It's ruining the country. But what really irks the tight-borders bunch, and has for years, is...

NOVENA IN HONOR OF OUR LADY’S DIVINE MATERNITY (Beginning October 2) (May be said in public or private. i. 300 Days each day. ii. Plenary, on the Feast or during the Octave. I, II, IV. See Instructions, p. I, 1910 Raccolta.) —Pius VII, Mem., August 12, 1815; Pius VIII, July 9, 1830. FROM ALL ETERNITY, GOD thought of the Virgin of Nazareth as the future Mother of His Son. At the Annunciation, the Blessed Virgin Mary became the Mother of God. This is her most exalted title, the source of all Her other privileges. On Calvary CHRIST gave His...

The nursery at Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center – Fort Worth has never been as full as it has in the last 41 hours. And, the halls have never been so busy. Since June 26, 48 babies were born in less than 2 days. That’s an average of more than one baby an hour. And, there’s definitely a lively discussion here about why.

The government has said the term “pregnant woman” should not be used in a UN treaty because it “excludes” transgender people. Feminists reacted with outrage to what they said was the latest example of “making women unmentionable” in the name of transgender equality. The statement comes in Britain’s official submission on proposed amendments to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the UK has been a signatory since 1976. The UN treaty says a “pregnant woman” must be protected, including not being subject to the death penalty. Yet in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office submission, Britain opposes...

Read/print the novena here.

Few of us are inclined to look a gift horse in the mouth, and that applies in spades to journalists running with a sensational news story. But even by normal media standards, recent reports about the bones of 796 babies being found in the septic tank of an Irish orphanage betray a degree of cynicism and irresponsibility rarely surpassed by allegedly reputable news organizations. Although the media attributed the “dumped in a septic tank” allegation to Catherine Corless, a local amateur historian, she denies making it. Her attempt to correct the record was reported by the Irish Times newspaper on...

Say they want to stop babies from crying and disturbing othersNurses at a public pediatrics hospital in Saudi Arabia were again caught sticking an adhesive tape on babies’ mouths to stop them from crying. The hospital in the western town of Taif hit headlines last year when some newborns and other ill babies were seen with adhesive tapes stuck on their mouths. Some of them had their dummies stuck inside their mouths. “They have done it again. It is clear they are doing it again because no measures were taken against them by the authorities in the previous case,” Sabq...

One of the things I’ve tried to drill into my children is the truism that the single biggest indicator of poverty is single motherhood. That data, incidentally, does not reflect the old-fashioned kind of single motherhood, which was the result of widowhood or abandonment. Instead, we’re talking about modern single motherhood, the kind that sees women who are deluged with birth control choices nevertheless get pregnant with boyfriends or hook-ups who feel no emotional connection or sense of economic obligation to either mother or baby. One of my children has a part-time job at a cafe and is, for the...

Catholic teaching on surrogacy is receiving reinforcement from current research. Mothers have long believed, cultures have long taught, and research has repeatedly confirmed that an emotional network links pregnant moms to their babies. If mom is happy, the preborn baby is content. When mom is anxious, the prenate shows signs of stress. What’s more, post-birth, this bio-emotional nexus—the gestational link—continues to yoke mothers to their offspring throughout childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. It’s important, then, to investigate what happens when an enterprise like surrogacy sunders the gestational link. For the first time, a 2013 study suggests surrogate children experience greater adjustment...

The woman, a gunner in the Royal Artillery, had complained of stomach pains before medics informed her she was in labour. She gave birth to a son five weeks premature in Camp Bastion on Tuesday. Mother and baby are both said to be in a stable condition, with a specialist paediatric team from the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, preparing to travel to Afghanistan to assist them on the flight home. The Ministry of Defence last night confirmed it was against military policy for servicewomen to be deployed on operations while pregnant and said they had been unaware the servicewoman was...

Secret Planned Parenthood Memo: Stop Maternity Coverage Since becoming pregnant, I have learned a hard reality. I have private insurance because I am self employed. I knew that my insurance plan did not offer maternity coverage. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/11/28/secret-planned-parenthood-memo-stop-maternity-coverage/

Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), who recently announced the birth of his son, Caspian Julius, posted pictures of his adorable new addition on Friday on his Facebook page. Polis seems to be savoring some time with the almost-2-week-old. He was among five members of Congress who missed every House vote last week.

An Iraqi mother holds her child at the newly-renovated Alwaiya Maternity Hospital in Baghdad, recently. USACE photo. BAGHDAD — “I feel like I helped rebuild my home.  I was born and raised just four kilometers from this hospital, so it is a special place for me,” said engineer Wathiq Abdul Jabbar during the Alwaiya Maternity Hospital’s ribbon-cutting ceremony here, May 9. In 2004, the hospital had a capacity of only 37 beds.  Equipment failures and structural damage caused rooms and buildings to remain unused for many years.But that has all changed.  The completed, extensive hospital makeover, described as a “skin...

Tuesday March 17, 2009 Courageous Mother Delays Chemotherapy Treatment for Cancer, Saves Lives of Twins By Hilary WhiteLIVERPOOL, March 17, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - While some doctors routinely offer abortion in the case of women who are pregnant and facing cancer treatments, one British housewife has demonstrated that it is not always necessary to make such a difficult situation into a death sentence for the unborn child. Rachel Crossland, a British housewife and mother of six who had been diagnosed with cancer, refused chemotherapy and radiation treatment when she was informed she was 13 weeks pregnant with twins. The Daily...

FOB DELTA — Obstetricians and midwives at the al Zahara Hospital in al Kut received maternal and child care training from hospital staff and Coalition forces, Nov. 26. Eighty-seven students attended the lecture, which covered topics on maternal health, child care and treatment for choking, taught by Dr. Halam Turki, an Iraqi-American obstetrics and gynecological surgeon. The Wasit director general for health; Company C, 589th Brigade Support Battalion, 41st Fires Brigade; and the 304th Civil Affairs Bde., of Philadelphia; sponsored the training. The training is part of the ongoing Operation Gunner Med, to improve the state of health care in...