Film Review || Pregnant in America: A Nation's Miscarriage

Steve Buonagurio both gains and loses points for being a Michael Moore want to be. He sheds spotlights on what he wants you to see and shadows what he doesn't, but this extreme bias makes his point, and I think it's a good one. A point good enough to make medical system devotees cringe and resent being made to think critically of the things we feel most comfortable not knowing. Be warned this film is not without it's fair share of exaggerations, sappy moments and rookie film moves (an interview with an anesthesiologist wearing scrubs on a congested street corner barely audible due to the moving cars and howling winds comes to mind), it is an entertaining and passionate portrayal of the difficult choices facing pregnant women today. Featuring natural birth specialists Ina May Gaskin and Barbara Harper (RN), and interviews with a full spread of professionals from the medical community (OB/GYN, MDs, nurses, Doulas etc), this is a worthwhile and thought provoking film for anyone who works or wishes to work with women during childbirth. The couple who made this documentary travel to Holland, the "home birth capital of the world" to help inform their own decisions. Interesting discussions with a Dutch family physician follow and I was amazed to learn the 87% of the women in Holland deliver their babies at home. Keeping in mind that Canada does not necessarily suit the American system criticism in this film, there is still something to be learned from other countries, like Holland, that have lower infant mortality rates than we do.

For more information and/or to purchase the film, see http://www.pregnantinamerica.com/

I love my vagina

Some of you may have noticed the pack of women sporting "I LOVE MY VAGINA" t-shirts displayed in 24H this week accompanying the article on Papalooza: The Smear Campaign, a unique and popular event run by street nurses to offer pap smears and STI/HIV testing to underserviced and underscreened communities (click here for locations and times). 

The day after reading said article on Papalooza, I had the pleasure of listening to Doreen Littlejohn (founder of the campaign and appearing front and centre in said photo) as a guest lecturer in my UBC class. Not only was she moving and inspirational, but listening to her speak was a great lesson in the power of people. The campaign has brought dozens of women into the clinic who have never had a pap or been tested in their life. Due to the sheer volume of participants last year (most likely lured in my the games, prizes and chocolate vagina door prizes!), those who did not get in to see a practitioner were given rain checks to come back, and they did.

Included in these communities is Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, as well as queer and transgender populations. I was surprised to learn that doctors do not give lesbian women routine pap smears, due to a misconception that HPV cannot be spread between women, thus leading to a potentially higher risk of cervical cancer in lesbian women who detect it too late (read more on this...). The importance of catching cervical cancers, STI's and HIV is not only the individual's concern, but affects our entire community. Making testing and education fun and accessible to these women will easily lead to better health and safer practices - the campaign in brilliant. If only we could all be rewarded with candy for spreading our hips and our lips to cold medal!