‘It’s a surprise,’ I say to my mother, ‘just wait outside with your phone.’ She agrees and takes her phone outside with the camera ready to shoot as I walk into my studio to get ready. When I emerge a few minutes later she struggles to control her laughter while I navigate the garden path…
Read more
It was a painful blister, on the arc of my right foot. It was one that had stopped me wearing closed in shoes for a week. It was red raw and puffed up and as big as a 20 cent piece. It had happened as all good blisters do. Having fun. My husband and I…
Read more
At Sydney’s Festival of Dangerous Ideas last weekend, the question was asked: is surrogacy child trafficking? Swedish journalist Kajsa Ekis Ekman thinks so. She argues that surrogacy is a form of female oppression based on sex and reproduction, regardless of whether it’s for commercial or altruistic reasons, as it requires women to renounce their interests…
Read more
“NO” – By Kaylia Payne On July 8, Mallory Loyola was the first person to be charged under a new Tennessee law that classifies drug use during pregnancy as assault to the foetus. The law stipulates that ‘a woman may be prosecuted for assault for the illegal use of a narcotic drug while pregnant, if…
Read more
From 11 June- 12 July this year, the Red Stitch Actors Theatre will present the Australian premiere of Grounded, an internationally acclaimed play written by George Brant and directed by Kirsten von Bibra. Grounded is a solo-drama that tells the story of an F16 fighter pilot, played by Kate Cole. A rock star of the…
Read more
If you were a teenage girl addicted to television programmes examining teen pregnancy and parenthood would you: a) Go out and get pregnant because it’s so cool and you’ll get on TV! Or, b) reflect on your sexual practices. Well, according to research into the impacts of MTV’s 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom, you’d…
Read more
Mothers in the American state of Oregon now have the right to take home their placenta along with their baby from the hospital. The New Year has seen state laws come into effect to allow a mother to take their afterbirth home for consumption, burial or other rituals. The organ – which provides oxygen and…
Read more
In what is becoming an international legal row, it has become apparent that an Italian woman visiting Britain was forcibly sedated and given an caesarean section after experiencing a mental breakdown. Last year, while visiting the UK on a two-week business trip, a pregnant Italian woman with a preexisting bipolar disorder experienced panic attacks, and…
Read more
Workplace discrimination on the basis of pregnancy is now the most common complaint to the Fair Work Ombudsman. Of the 235 complaints to Fair Work over the last financial year, 28% were from pregnant women experiencing issues with their employer, with a further 11% of complaints from employees claiming unfair outcomes at work due to…
Read more
I’m pregnant and while most people around me have responded in a lovely, thoughtful way, it has opened the floodgate for some annoying questions. Chief among these are the ubiquitous, ‘Do you know what you’re having?’ (Yes, a human) and ‘Were you trying?’ which has the rather distasteful connotation, ‘Just how enthusiastically have you been…
Read more
This week, news came from the US of a bizarre product which has become available online. Entrepreneurial pregnant women have been selling their positive pregnancy tests to people online via the Craigslist website – on which you can find just about anything.* Even more interestingly, women have been posting ads wanting to buy tests with…
Read more
In a blue polka-dot dress Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton stood on the steps of Lindo Wing of St. Mary’s Hospital holding baby George. Seems like a straight-forward scene. But this entirely simple act of introducing the newest royal to the world via the media has sparked wild debate about Kate’s post-delivery baby bump. OK…
Read more
Have you ever considered homebirth? Well, neither have I, but that’s because I deliberately avoid all contemplation of having a baby because it’s terrifying. After reading Peace, Love and Khaki Socks, however, I find myself cheering for the home team. Kim Lock’s novel is about a young woman grappling with a surprise pregnancy. Freelance graphic…
Read more
A new public awareness campaign designed to lower teen pregnancy rates has sparked public debate after billboards were recently rolled out across Chicago. The posters, aimed at teenagers and their parents, feature Photoshopped images of topless, heavily pregnant teen boys with the tagline: ‘Unexpected? Most teen pregnancies are’. The billboards and posters have been concentrated…
Read more
