There are many wonderful blogs out there, so we mean for this to be just a little taste of places to start your reading and research. In no particular order, here are 5 of our favorite research blogs*:
- Stand and Deliver–Canadian writer and blogger Rixa Freeze received a master’s degree in American history from Ohio University and a PhD in American Studies from the University of Iowa. Her Dissertation, Born Free: Unassisted Childbirth in North America, examined the unassisted home birth movement. During her graduate studies, she attended both home and hospital births as a certified doula and as a midwife’s assistant. Her blog is always current with the research and her kind but penetrating commentary makes her comments section just as fascinating a read as the blog itself.
- VBAC Facts–Even from a young age, Jen Kamel has had an interest in childbirth. Her career took her in to commercial real estate, but she turned back to her original passion when her daughter was born in 2004–this time she focused specifically on “birth after cesarean.” She spent the next few years studying vaginal birth after cesarean, but was frustrated by how difficult it was to find current, detailed information when resources were so hard to find and even more difficult to gain access to. In 2007, after the victorious birth of her son (a home birth after cesarean or HBAC), she created vabcfacts.com, so all the years of research she had collected could be accessed easily by others. She now teaches VBAC classes in Southern California and is working on a book as well!
- Well Rounded Mama–Well known to ICANers from her popular and informative blog, Plus Size Pregnancy, KMom’s foray in to straight blogging quickly became a must read amongst birth activists and size acceptance activists alike. Going straight to the heart of research involving women of size, KMom uses her years of experience supporting women as an advocate and educator to set out in plain language what the research does, and does not, say.
- Science & Sensibility–A research blog about healthy pregnancy, birth and beyond, Science & Sensibility, published by Lamaze International, promotes a natural, safe and healthy approach to pregnancy, childbirth and early parenting practices. Lamaze education and practices are based on the best, most current medical evidence available, and can help reduce the overuse of unnecessary interventions while improving overall outcomes for mothers and babies.
- ICAN–Well, we do have to toot our own horn a little bit once in awhile! Although ICAN is primarily known for our mother-to-mother support, offered both online and in person with many chapters worldwide, we also have a strong commitment to evidence-based birth practices and as such, continue to seek out new research to best inform women about their birthing options and rights.
Stay tuned for our next list of blogs we love on Thursday, when we will be featuring some of the awesome blogs of our very own ICAN Chapters!
*ICAN does not specifically endorse any of the positions on various issues, outside of cesarean awareness, addressed by these independent writers, but we have found great writings on the topic of birth on each of these blogs and wanted to share them with you.
