Category: Events

Tips For Breastfeeding Under Quarantine

March 23, 2020

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1. Ease your mind with knowledge.

Thus far, COVID-19 has not been detected in breast milk of infected mothers, though data is still limited. Infectious spread is mainly caused by person-to-person contact through respiratory droplets.

The CDC advises that those confirmed or suspected of having a COVID-19 infection and are planning to breastfeed or are currently breastfeeding should CONTINUE to do so. There are very few medical conditions in which breastfeeding is currently considered contraindicated.

Frequent hand-washing, limiting visitor interaction, and adhering to proper pumping hygiene can decrease risks of acquiring or spreading the virus. CDC recommends infected mothers wear a face mask while breastfeeding, if possible.

In an immediate postpartum setting, follow the infection control guidelines found at CDC.gov.

For archives of updated information regarding C-19 and breastfeeding, see KellyMom.

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Female Nipples Aren’t Obscene

August 25, 2019

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To promote acceptance of human bodies as inherently natural, innocuous, and not obscene, I’m proud to share this project celebrating Women’s Equality Day, Go Topless Day and the “Free The Nipple” movement. 

By expressing this vision through art, we aim to encourage a change in societal and legal censorship norms to view bodies of women as truly equal to others.

This project was hosted in collaboration with Your Labor Neighbor | artist Melissa Rose Tylinski | artist Kellyn Kimbrell | North Houston Studio

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If a woman wishes to feel the warm sun on her skin at the beach like her brother… to lay in the grass, babies grazing upon her chest while she picnics with her partner… to pop out of her home to retrieve something from her car without fussing to scramble for an appropriate ensemble… to garden in her yard without needing to keep the neighborly peace by donning a button-down… if she wishes to do these things, why can’t she?

On one level, because of the law. Did you know it’s illegal for women to be topless in public in 35 states, including while breastfeeding?

In a few states, women have a legal right to go topless in the same areas as men, but even those women cannot properly enjoy the freedom (rather an illusion of equality) when faced with risk of harassment and humiliation. Protection from this risk is a privilege men have enjoyed for a long time without even realizing it.

Men have legally been allowed to be topless in public since 1936, a freedom they too had to fight for in ways similar to today’s Go Topless movement. Gaining this legal freedom finally secured their right to go bare-chested on public beaches, in parks, pools, and so on. Men don’t always want their tops on, which is why they fought for their right to choose toplessness without fear of stigma or lawbreaking. Read More

Mi Patio Cafe: Serving Animal Products to Unaware Vegan Families Isn’t Ethical

June 6, 2018

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I’m quite upset to learn that food truck vendor Mi Patio Cafe & Grill sold animal flesh and animal dairy byproducts on nearly every food option on their menu at Vegandale Food & Drink Festival, where all food and beverages were intended to be fully vegan. Customers were livid and felt betrayed (by a local business nonetheless).

Hearing this news brought up a memory from my own experience at Vegandale. I helped at a New York City-based vendor table called Monk’s Meats for a few hours, assisting in sandwich prep. One customer glanced at the sandwich handed to him, then looked back at its server. “Is this meat?” he asked suspiciously. “Ah, no…” he received in reply. Overhearing this exchange, I thought to myself, Wow, how ridiculous! Let’s not be *that* kinda vegan… I mean, this is a vegan festival! Looks like this man had the right idea to question after all. (For the record, Monk’s Meats is a 100% plant-based business).

 

Vegandale was promoted as ‘100% vegan… Where you don’t have to worry about ingredients,’ and this reassurance was given in the website FAQ as well. We paid $10-$20 per ticket to enjoy a fully vegan community event with promise to uphold a certain standard of ethics.

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What Vegans Said About Circumcision

May 28, 2018

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I know some of you roll your eyes when I say “Circumcision isn’t vegan.” But hear me out.

On a recent weekend, I represented Intact Vegan Network at Texas Vegan MayFest, a spring festival hosted by Rowdy Girl Sanctuary. If you haven’t heard of it already, it’s a vegan-owned and operated farm animal sanctuary in the heart of Texas cattle country. In fact, one of the owners used to be a cattle rancher himself before turning vegan.

“Intact Vegan Network is here to talk about… why it isn’t a good thing to cut off your baby’s foreskin,” announced Rowdy Girl Sanctuary founder Renee King-Sonnen during vendor introductions.

Cue me in the back behind my table, waving.

If bodybuilding, skincare, and musical artists can have a presence at vegan events, and we accept that it just makes sense, it can make sense for a circumcision education table to be there too.

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Changing Diapers & Changing Minds (About Circumcision)

April 25, 2018
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Cuteness overload “Born Perfect” cloth diaper found here.

The Great Cloth Diaper Change happened this weekend and I spent it educating about circumcision, a surgery that many American baby boys undergo in their early diapering days. I represented Intact Houston at Wellspring Midwifery Care & Birth Center‘s GCDC event, at which attendees attempted to set a new record for the number of babies changed into a cloth diaper simultaneously across the globe.

First, if you’ve ever wondered about how to cloth diaper a baby after circumcision, please read this.

Now I’d like to share some of the interactions we had throughout the day.

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Conversations & More: Genital Integrity Awareness Week

April 7, 2018

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I just returned from a trip to Washington D.C. for Genital Integrity Awareness Week, which was March 28th-April 3rd. A week full of seed-planting, countless conversations with principled conclusions, minds changed, futures salvaged… This is my kind of activism!

The mission as stated on the web site is to raise public awareness of:

  1. the basic human right to genital autonomy for all individuals, regardless of sex
  2. the damage inflicted by forced genital cutting, of boys, girls and intersex persons
  3. foreskin restoration options for those impacted by forced genital cutting
  4. research based information on intact subjects to a large body of individuals in Washington D.C. – students, educators, tourists, lawmakers, politicians – who take this information home with them to their own circles of influence
  5. the need for congress and lawmakers to grant boys and intersex minors equal rights under law with protection from forced genital cutting

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Limited Time: Crunchy Wear Discount!

March 12, 2018

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So I’ve had this blog running since fall of 2014. My oldest child had just turned two, and I really wanted to share our experiences and what we’d learned about breastfeeding and this parenting thing (so far!).

If you’re a regular reader you may have noticed my blog posting frequency has slowed down in recent months. There are a few reasons for this.

First, life has gotten terrifically busy with the addition of another child and two rescued companion animals.

Second, I hope to work on other projects soon to get me closer to my goal of publishing a novel.

Third, I am still undecided about whether to continue blogging (and maintaining associated social media feeds) in the midst of the aforementioned First and Second. I’ve never been paid to blog. I’ve shared my writing entirely for free and, in fact, have been PAYING to do so because I’m so passionate about it. However, I’ve come to a point where I can no longer afford to keep renewing my domain and paying to maintain this site.

So, here’s the thing. If you have enjoyed my posts thus far and want to see more fresh content, OR even just to ensure the site remains accessible as is, please consider helping out.

It costs $208 per year to keep this site as you see it. As I mentioned, I’ve never made money from ads, affiliates, or fundraising to cover this annual expense.

Now I’m finally asking for a little help to meet that goal! And you get something rad in your mailbox, too.

Here’s what you do:

CrunchyWear is giving a discount for the launch of their awesome crunchy themed gear! Mama’s Milk, No Chaser followers can use the discount code for 10% off orders over $30, AND 10% of profit will be given toward MMNC to help cover costs to keep the site running.

It’s EASY and you get some cool new advocacy threads!

  1. Visit CrunchyWear.com!
  2. Shop your style! ~ Breastfeeding ~ Genital Autonomy ~ Positivi-Tees ~ Veganism ~ Vaccine Awareness ~ Woke Wear ~
  3. Use discount code MMNC10 at checkout!

BOOM done! Offer ends 3/31 so don’t dilly dally if you see something you like!

THANK YOU for your support. ❤ It has been quite an exciting and moving journey over the past 3.5 years and I hope we can keep it up!

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Breastfeeding Concerns During a Natural Disaster: Babies Still Need To Eat

August 30, 2017

 

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Via Associated Press

As I write this*, I’m taking note of the tornado warnings that have made my phone beep seemingly every hour for the past few days. The sound of rain pelting the windows. Bayous and reservoirs cresting over. I’m watching friends’ and neighbors’ homes flood in real time. Reading about pleas for rescue as families seek refuge from rising water in their attics and on their roofs. You could say things are out of control.

Amid all of this, babies still need to eat. Newborn babies who took their first breath at a Houston area birth center after tropical storm Harvey made landfall. Older babies who nurse around the clock or drink expressed or powdered milk or formula supplements.

The stores are closed and roads are crumbling or underwater. Formula is now largely inaccessible. But babies still need to eat.

Pumping moms need to continue pumping to avoid mastitis, supply issues, and maintain production. What about when the power goes out? Or when the house floods and the circuit board must be shut off? Hopefully they have a manual pump or have been taught how to hand express… because babies still need to eat.

New mothers, welcomed into motherhood with all the terrific drama Mother Nature herself could muster: I hope you have a (relatively) easy time getting started. The well-trained eye of a lactation consultant in your home, personally assessing latch and other tricky spots, cannot compare to scouring the internet for emergency breastfeeding help in the early days. But no one is risking travel across town for ‘work’ in a deluge. A lucky mother has her phone fully charged and ready to go with breastfeeding apps right now because, of course, babies still need to eat.

*(Flood waters have since receded from my neighborhood and we’re doing fine now. However, eleven million people in the southeast counties of Texas are still trying to get a grip on the continued consequences of this historic flooding). Read More

Don’t Wait To Take a Stand For Genital Autonomy

May 9, 2017

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A white truck slowed as it rolled by. The same driver swung back around three more times, honking with each pass. This was no coincidence or deja vu.

One of us carried an oversized white posterboard with the words “Honk if you ❤ foreskin” drawn across both sides.

The other eight of us fulfilled some task related to our cause — hoisting other signs, hauling info cards and materials to distribute, capturing the proceedings on camera, or merely accompanying for purpose of solidarity or, in the case of one individual, by chance meeting. Read More

Isn’t the Ghost Inside a Single Onesie More Than Enough? (My Experience at GIAW 2017)

April 9, 2017
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Image courtesy Saving Our Sons

Here we gathered, sixty four of us. All affected by circumcision in one way or another, the lucky among us protected from the worst of its damage. Sixty four of us prepared to deliver the message that natural bodies are normal, healthy, and beneficial; to leave the alteration for medical necessity or personal consent.

We were here for Genital Integrity Awareness Week — which, in the great fortune of the 2017 calendar — happened to fall on the same week that female genital cutting was outlawed in the U.S. twenty years ago.

For the past two decades, baby girls have been protected from threat to their genital integrity, but their brothers, sons, nephews and grandsons are still routinely cut in barbaric fashion. Some die, and the rest bear the telltale scar forever.

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Image courtesy Saving Our Sons

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Giving Thanks For Intact Education

November 7, 2016

It was perhaps the first beautiful day of the season and hardly anyone showed up. The morning was slow, and though I was grateful to spend a few hours outside without nearly fainting from the usually oppressive Texas heat, we had come here to talk to people… a lot of people.

The turnout did remain slight all day, but the conversations we had were meaningful. Even those who seemed to think they had no personal history with circumcision certainly had plenty to say… or plenty left unsaid, for now.

At the end of the day, though I did feel somewhat frustrated, confused and deflated, I walked away feeling mostly just thankful. The best part is, I know I wasn’t the only one.

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The Secrets of Postpartum Bodies

October 24, 2016

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The power of transformation is an inherent gift of woman. The spider, snake, and butterfly are just a few of many creatures regarded as manifestations of feminine energy and universal symbols of shape-shifting. A master of creation, woman’s body is the original 3D printer. When she nurses a child, as Mark Twain once said, “she has no equal among men.”

Somehow still, many of us know discontent with or hatred for our bodies, whether transient or persistent. What’s worse is we believe it’s normal. Accepted to the point of expectation. This is especially true at the moment we inherit our mothering bodies. Through literally all forms of media and outlets for opinion, we are told before anything else that mothering bodies are not sexy, therefore not valuable, therefore invisible.

It’s a dangerous trajectory for the postpartum woman who is vulnerable, open, and recovering — she is brainwashed to confuse these things with weakness, brokenness, incapability, and decreased desirability. Read More

If I Could Tell People Only 10 Things About Circumcision…

October 6, 2016

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We changed minds last weekend. I actually saw the process happen.

Sometimes like this: a pregnant mother walks up, admits she hasn’t researched circumcision and has no opinion on it, is told there’s no medical indication for routine circumcision, and walks off with her eyes glued to a handful of information she just received.

And sometimes like this: a mother of circumcised boys walks up, her attention caught by “117+ boys die” written on a frame, says “I didn’t know any of this when my boys were born,” is told “I’m so sorry,” and assures us “Don’t be sorry! You are doing a good thing. Tell EVERYONE.”

It was clear our message was supported, even by many of those who were hearing it for the very first time.

We wanted people to know about babies. That all babies want to remain whole. That babies of both sexes are equally “too cute to cut.” We wanted people to know about foreskin. That foreskin is normal. That its absence is a big deal.

We had a message about parents, too. We want to help you. We support you. We have answers.

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