DAKOTA FANNING FEBRUARY UK ELLE COVER

OK, so this is a shameless reblog, but I can't stop looking at how beautiful Dakota fanning is on the February subscriber's cover of Elle UK...

Those matte, velvety pink lips and nails are to die for, no?

I've always loved Dakota Fanning's look. Although younger sister Elle is classically more model-esque, Dakota's features are interesting, and there's just something about her face that draws me in...

Definitely be keeping my eyes peeled for this when it hits the shops.

Happy Hogmanay eve!

Nurse midwives empower patients with delivery options

Sarah Darby, RN, CNM, is a nurse midwife at The Women’s Healthcare Group. She delivers at Overland Park Regional Medical Center as well as the Shawnee Mission Medical Center.

“Nurse midwives are more able to develop and bond with their patients,” said Sally Darby, RN and CNM at The Women’s Healthcare Group in Overland Park. “We’re going to enable them to be part of the decision-making process.”

Darby has delivered 130 babies since 2009, when she began training as a midwife.

“It’s that sense of responsibility,” she said. “You are making all the decisions. You can make an impact and influence in women’s lives.”

Midwives care for normal, low-risk healthy pregnancies, which distinguishes them from obstetricians who care for high-risk pregnancies and healthy pregnancies. Darby said she is passionate about practicing in an area where she can offer her patients a wide range of services. She encourages expectant mothers to make their own decisions about their birth plan and spends a lot of one-on-one time educating her patients. She likes to tailor pregnancy care to fit each unique individual, she said.

“Pregnancy is in itself a healthy state of being,” she said. “That’s how midwives view it.”

Darby said patients who decide to use a midwife come to her with a fair amount of knowledge on the process of pregnancy and childbirth. They have taken the time to learn something about the process, she said, and arrive prepared to be a decision-maker. Darby helps expectant mothers understand their labor options, whether they choose a natural childbirth or one with medication. Should a woman choose a natural birth, Darby said having a midwife will help ensure her success.

“For some women they want to explore that natural childbirth option,” she said. “My passion is helping women through a natural childbirth.”

Darby delivers at Shawnee Mission Medical Center and Overland Park Regional Medical Center. Women can choose a home birth, a birthing center or labor and delivery unit at a hospital. The options for delivery are abundant, she said.

MULBERRY BARGAIN!

Say hello to my new winter/spring tweed boyfriend coat, courtesy of the irresistible Mulberry sale...

I have something similar from Topshop but it's totally done, and I couldn't resist this bargain - £275 down from £595! Real tweed and check out those gold buttons... Swish.

I love a boxy, mannish coat so I do, total epitome of dress up or down. Seems like a bit of a splurge but I mainly just got money from Santa and I was privy to a cheeky wee tax rebate recently so BAYUM, I just went and bought it! Cannot WAIT for it to arrive.

There's hunners of other things in the sale, including that gorgeous dress Fearne Cotton wore on Children and Need (totes stunning - when she gets it right she gets it RIGHT) so have a swatch, but be quick!

When push comes to shove, home births don't deserve to be demonised

Tara Moss
December 14, 2011

Monty Python's 1983 film The Meaning of Life begins with a woman in hospital about to give birth. Comedians Graham Chapman and John Cleese are dressed as doctors in scrubs, surrounded by expensive hospital equipment (including the machine that goes ''ping'').

''Don't you worry, we'll soon have you cured,'' Chapman tells the panting woman. When she asks ''What do I do?'', Cleese replies: ''Nothing, dear. You're not qualified.''

Childbirth is still seen by many as something best ''cured'' by a doctor in hospital. The rate of major surgery for birth has more than doubled in the past 15 years in Australia. More than 30 per cent of mothers now have a caesarean - more than 40 per cent in private hospitals.
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And caesareans aren't the only procedure on the rise. Obstetricians in NSW have been given strict new guidelines after a record 34 per cent of women having their first baby were induced in 2009 (more than 50 per cent in three hospitals), causing significantly higher numbers of emergency caesareans and other complications. First-time mothers who give birth in hospital here are now more likely to have a medical intervention than not.

While the medicalisation of birth is on the rise, the demonisation of women seeking natural births continues. A recent article in The Daily Telegraph by Miranda Devine labelled all home births dangerous and home-birthers as selfish "zealots".

It followed a previous article in the Herald in 2009 - the same year the largest study conducted into home births (examining 529,688 births and published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology) concluded that home births for normal pregnancies were just as safe. In 2009, Devine quoted a doctor saying that ''100 years ago, one in 10 women died from complications of childbirth and [one in 10] babies''. In her article this year, she pointed out that ''3.5 million babies are stillborn, 90 per cent of them in impoverished Africa and Asia'', concluding that we have modern medicine to thank for our better birth outcomes in Australia.

To read the rest of this article click here.

H&M X THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

Warning, I rant in this one!


This fairly unassuming collection of grungy jeans, hoodies, leather jackets and boots might actually be one of the most controversial high street collections ever. That's because H&M have teamed up with Trish Summerville - costume designer for newly-released American remake The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - to create a collection inspired by it's brooding, hard-assed, punkish heroine Lisbeth Salander. And some folks are WELL offended.

In the original trilogy of books by Stieg Larsson, Lisbeth's unique, gritty style is hinted at embodying an outward representation of her traumatic past (interestingly this is speculated at by Blomkvist, never confirmed herself). She is not only a kick-ass investigator, rebel and all-round awesome female lead character, but also a rape survivor. Because of this tenuous link between her harsh, relentless, genderless style and the years of sexual abuse she suffered, many are up in arms with H&M's decision to create a collection which directly emulates her signature look.

Rooney Mara plays Lisbeth in the remake which is out now.

None moreso, it would seem, than journalist and rape survivor Natalie Karneef who posted an open letter on her blog (which then found its way onto fashionista.com) in which she criticises the collection for being 'irresponsible' and claims it 'glamourises gender-based violence and rape:'

"H&M have created a line of clothing based on her character: a woman who has suffered a lifetime of abuse, who is violently raped, and who is hunting down a man who violently rapes and kills other women.  Lisbeth has been through hell, and her clothing is her armour.  That's her choice, and it's an understandable choice.  But [they] glamorise it, putting a glossy, trendy finish on the face of sexual violence and the rage and fear it leaves behind.

"What message is H&M sending to the world? "Look at the trendy rape survivor? Look how strong she is, that she can get through all that hell and still wear cool leather jackets?"'

But I have to say, neither this collection, nor the interpretation of it's inspiration offends me.

Firstly, I would never dream of disrespecting Natalie Karneef's opinion and obviously I am not drawing on any personal experience of rape to form my own. But nevertheless, I am as equally entitled to it as she is. I say this because I was recently publicly chided on Twitter by a blogger who told me I was essentially stupid and childish because I wasn't morally outraged, as she was, by the collection. What a silly girl...

Number one, when Natalie Karneef's describes the character of Lisbeth she places her SOLELY in the rape victim box, and ONLY in this box. This is extremely one dimensional, and, as far as I'm concerned, wrong. While Lisbeth's traumatic past is perhaps a contributing factor towards her style, it is not the only factor (her difficult childhood being the far greater factor in my opinion), and 'rape victim' is only once facet to an extremely complex character identity. In fact, I have a hard time even using that word at all when describing someone like Lisbeth - survivor feels much more appropriate. It seems to me that H&M have chosen to focus on her independence, strength, survival instinct, willpower and rebellious nature in this collection, rather than her portrayal as a victim - of ANY kind, rape or otherwise. It's a mistake on Karneef's part to assume that we all identify Lisbeth as first and foremost a rape victim. Because I certainly don't, and never have H&M mentioned that this part of Lisbeth's character had anything to do with the collection. In fact they say completely the opposite:

"Though we think Lisbeth is a strong woman who stands up for her ideals, we are not trying to represent her specifically. Our goal is to rather offer a collection that we see in today’s trend picture that will appeal to many customers."

Number two, if we are to take the message Karneef is preaching as gospel, then where on earth would it stop? What about goths and goth brands, should we hassle them for emulating death and horror? Likewise, what about brands like Topshop who sell t-shirts emblazoned with pentagrams and upside down crosses on the front - should we boycott them completely for glamorising the Satanic and occult? Of course not. We buy these things in their droves without placing the inspirations and connotations on trial. Obviously Karneef's particular issue with the alleged glamorisation of rape since it is what hits home with her in particular - which is tragic and genuinely heartbreaking - but it is wrong to again assume that it's something which will resonate universally. Rape is neither the first thing I think of when I think of Lisbeth, nor does it come to mind when I see this collection. And that's OK.

Number three, as I told whoever it was on Twitter (I can't remember now, it was a while ago but she was swiftly unfollowed due to her condescending attitude, willingness to shove her opinion down my throat and general odious nature), I feel an opinion like this grossly underestimates the general public's ability to tell the difference between FICTION and FASHION. I can tell the difference between a made up character, a fictional series of events, and a collection of clothes which I can hold in my hand. My issue here is not so much with Karneef's opinion but with that blogger who attacked me on Twitter, who seemed genuinely affronted when I told her I was intelligent enough to know when something is and IS NOT glamorising rape. 

The crime of rape is despicable, horrific and can NEVER be taken seriously enough, but I believe some reationaries to this collection have taken the inspiration of Lisbeth Salander too seriously, too literally. The blogger in question's reaction in particular smacks badly of jumping on a  bandwagon. Give some of us more credit - we weren't born yesterday and can tell this from a mile off. How about instead you do some research and form your own opinion. Perhaps this blogger also has an issue with the apparent heightened sexuality of the American actress Rooney Mara as compared to Noomi Rapace as the original Lisbeth in the Swedish films - does she think rape victims portrayed in films should look or dress a particular way?  Why should this be? Or what about the popularity of the books in general - does she balk at the millions of dollars the worldwide franchise has doubtless made? Does she consider all of this to be profiting from the glamorisation of rape? I wouldn't have thought so.

It's been pointed out that it was perhaps naive of H&M not to expect some sort of backlash to this collection, but whether they genuinely didn't, or did and went with it anyway is irrelevant. Potential for a minority to create controversey is no reason not to do something.

Anyway, I fear I've digressed. Congrats if you've made it this far! To sum up, I like this collection and I might well purchase something from it. It doesn't glamorise rape for me, and neither do the books. I've yet to see the film but I suspect it doesn't either. And I'm more than a little upset that Lisbeth has been reduced to ONLY a rape victim/survivor by all this controversy when in reality she is so much more, and would never dream of referring to herself as such.

I sympathise with Natalie Karneef and empathise with her opinion, but I don't share it. And to the aggressive blogger who thought her opinion was much more important than mine, pipe doon hen. You had no idea who you were dealing with, which is forgivable once. But don't cross me again.

Peace! I really hope I haven't come across like a total cow - it's just my opinion and we are all entitled to one.

Oh, and let me know what you think, please! It might  not sound like it but I do genuinely appreciate a good debate. Have you seen the film yet? What do you think? Will you be buying anything from this range?

As You Desire: Orgasmic Childbirth ~ Can it be?

By Nancy Sutton Pierce December 6, 2011

After watching this video there were so many things running through my head. The first of which was, "If I had known that I would have had many more children". The next was, "I'm pissed off because I didn't know that was a possibility when I was living through 24 hours of natural labor and delivery"!

I went into my own childbirth experience very well educated and prepared. Now I realize I was not nearly as prepared as I would have liked to have been. Can labor and delivery actually be a sensual, orgasmic experience? According to the experts approximately 20% of birthing mothers experience an orgasm during the delivery. Dr. Christiane Northrup explains that the very same anatomy which is stimulated during sexual intercourse is also stimulated by the descending baby. Makes sense. Then why don't more women know about this? Do we have puritanical attitudes which prevent us from seeing sexuality as a normal physiological process... kind of like breathing?

I was a labor and delivery nurse for part of my nursing career. I have to admit I never saw that side of childbirth. My experience and research explains why. When we put a laboring woman in bed, attach her to wires and machines, she is unable to move about and labor naturally. There are very few cultures who do this to their women. Birth is the most natural act (besides sex) and yet we treat it as though it was a "diagnosis" to be dealt with. I've heard all the reasons for this... the medical culture in the USA has very stanch beliefs to back up their defensive practice actions. Morbidity, Mortality, & Legality are the top three. But what they don't realize is that the way we currently treat childbirth is creating a whole new basket of problems (we call them unforeseen consequences) they have yet to connect the dots to.

To read the rest of this article click here.

Why are we scared to give birth naturally?

My belief is that as more medical intervention occurs in childbirth, it leads to a cascade of labour complications and traumatic birth experiences. This has led to a most understandable increase in the amount of fear and aversion felt by women and prevent them even considering giving birth vaginally.

If more money was spent on offering women counselling, fear release and relaxation techniques for those women, who quite understandably felt afraid to undertake childbirth, then not only would women experience the joy of giving birth, but also have less complications recovering from major surgery.

* Opting for caesarean
* HypnoBirthing
* Effects of caesarean
* Explore natural options

Opting for caesarean

A controversial move by NICE to introduce guidelines for caesarean section to be available as a choice for women has stirred up emotions both for and against the move. I am a great believer in giving women informed choice, but one of my concerns is that women are fully informed about the pros and cons of a caesarean section. What worries me even more is that we have such a negative view of childbirth that we are too scared to give birth naturally!

Don’t get me wrong, a caesarean section is a life saving operation in specific circumstances and should be used in those situations. The problem is when it becomes normal practice and we forget that it is major surgery with a higher risk of complications for both mother and baby.

To read the rest of this article click here.

PROPER CRIMBO!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

So far, my festive period has been utterly awesome. Friday was spent catching up with an old pal I've not seen in months and resulted in about 14,000 empty bottles of wine (and beer and gin - boke) and a sare heid on Saturday for visiting my wee Grandma and Maw for early Christmas present-unwrapping.

Traditionally I spend Christmas Eve with Maw but this year I headed to the local pub with my pals for more boozing and embarrassing dad-dancing...

Christmas day was a little different - spent the morning visiting my other wee Granny in the home (it's an amazing place, donate!) and then headed over to Kirsten's Aunt's house for a massive roast with all the trimmings :) Then out again to local haunt The Shed for a boogie and bed.

Today I had Christmas dinner take two with yet more turkey and trimmings at my Aunt's and now I'm at work battling through the worst food coma/extended hangover EVER!

Hope you all had a lovely few days and that Santa was good to you!

Oh, PS, I wore this Topshop dress:

SUCH a drama getting it shipped to Glasgow as Aberdeen was the only store in the country with any left in stock. Grr! Thankfully it came, JUST in time.

This week is for working heinous late shifts, sleeping, recovering and planning a humongous diet for the New Year.

Lots of festive love! xxx

Mothers and babies can instantly synchronize their hearts just by smiling at each other

Mothers and their babies are often said to share a deep, intimate connection...but even so, this new discovery is weird. Simply by looking and smiling at each other, moms and babies synchronize their heartbeats to within milliseconds of each other.

Researchers at Bar-Ilan University in Israel found that visible affection from their mothers had tangible physiological effects on three month old infants. Previous studies in animals have shown that social interactions between "attachment partners" can actually affect the animal infants' body, but this is the first time such an effect has been observed in humans. Writing in Infant Behavior and Development, the researchers explain what they discovered:

Mothers and their 3-month old infants were observed during face-to-face interactions while cardiac output was collected from mother and child. Micro-analysis of the partners' behavior marked episodes of gaze, affect, and vocal synchrony. Time-series analysis showed that mother and infant coordinate heart rhythms within lags of less than 1 s.

Bootstrapping analysis indicated that the concordance between maternal and infant biological rhythms increased significantly during episodes of affect and vocal synchrony compared to non-synchronous moments. Humans, like other mammals, can impact the physiological processes of the attachment partner through the coordination of visuo-affective social signals.

To read the rest of this article click here.

Childbirth: Images Spanning Thousands of Years

Posted by Monica Bielanko on December 13th, 2011 at 7:36 pm

A year ago my husband gifted me with Randi Hutter Epstein’s book Get Me Out: A History of Childbirth From the Garden of Eden to the Sperm Bank.

It is an excellent read for myriad reasons. Myriad, I say! Doesn’t the phrase “myriad reasons” make me sound a little bit smart? I think it does. That’s why I employed it when describing Epstein’s book.

Get Me Out runs the gamut of pregnancy, exploring the medical and cultural history of pregnancy and childbirth, from folk remedies and old wives’ tales to ultrasound images and fertility drugs.

It was so mind-altering reading it got me to googling images relating to sections of the book and I was amazed at what I discovered. From ancient times to now, whether carved into rock or snapped by a camera, images of childbirth are absolutely fascinating.

To view these amazing pictures please click here.

MAC X IRIS APFEL

In the latest in a series of quirky collaborations, MAC has announced it's newest muse as New York style legend, 90-year-old Iris Apfel, which IS AMAZING!

Talk about an icon. A former employee of Women's Wear Daily and interior design guru (responsible for revamping the White House under a succession of  9 US presidents), Apfel was featured in an exhibition at the MoMA in 2005 entitled Rara Avis, which explored her unique sense of personal style and interior design tastes. She comes across in interviews as a right GAME AULD BIRD with the most delicious New York accent in the world:

See?

I remember reading an interview with her AGES AGO where she talked about celebrity fashion these days and how young female celebrities look bland, dried out and generally awful. And I can kind of see what she means. When was the last time you saw Jennifer Aniston rocking something unique or extravagant? Does she even HAVE her own personal style? I don't think so, the woman is BLAH to the max. 

Stuff that, man. When I'm 90 I wanna be like Iris, decked head to toe in garish accessories and mis-matching knits, loving life and not giving a HOOT. She reminds me of that poem Warning by Jenny Joseph...  

Anyway, I digress.

The collection will be released in January and will feature all the usual stuff - lipsticks, nail lacquers, eye shadows... Just don't expect any peaches, beiges or taupes. It's all about COLOUR, dahhling.

Here's some more awesome snaps of Iris to whet your appetite until then...

I'd pretty much die to have a rake around her apartment.

Chillin.

COATS!!!

I. LOVE. HER.

Giving Childbirth Back to Women through the Support of a Doula

During my three years at International Planned Parenthood Federation, Western Hemisphere Region (IPPF/WHR), I have been fortunate—and humbled—to work with incredible colleagues whose dedication to securing sexual and reproductive health and rights for all is unsurpassed.

As Project Design Coordinator, I know my work is vitally important, particularly at a time when several large global health donors have withdrawn from Latin America and the Caribbean. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has “graduated” the majority of countries in our region, despite the inequalities that persist, as has the UK Department for International Development, USAID’s counterpart in the United Kingdom. The Netherlands, one of the region’s significant donors, is currently phasing out its final project in Colombia, and the Danish government will be pulling out of Nicaragua, a country it has supported for many years.

Despite this trend, last year IPPF/WHR Member Associations provided nearly 29 million vital health services and worked to promote the sexual rights of every woman, man and young person. But sometimes, working on these issues from behind a computer screen is not enough. For many of us, our mission is more than our 9 to 5. We live and breathe the commitment constantly, both in and out of the office. We march for reproductive rights in the United States, spread the word, and continue to seek opportunities to expand our knowledge of the field.

While we are often challenged to defend the right of all women and girls to decide if, when, and with whom to have children, the equally important right to choose the way in which a woman brings her baby into the world often does not receive the attention it deserves. Rich or poor, childbirth is a defining moment in a woman’s life—whether the experience is positive or not, it is one that she never forgets.

To read the rest of this article click here.

What babies learn before they're born

Editor's note: Annie Murphy Paul is the author of "Origins: How the Nine Months Before Birth Shape the Rest of Our Lives." She's now working on a book about learning, and writes a weekly column at Time.com called "Brilliant: The Science of Smart." TED is a nonprofit organization dedicated to "Ideas worth spreading," which it distributes through talks posted on its website.

(CNN) -- When does learning begin? As I explain in the talk I gave at TED, learning starts much earlier than many of us would have imagined: in the womb.

I was surprised as anyone when I first encountered this notion. I'm a science writer, and my job is to trawl the murky depths of the academic journals, looking for something shiny and new -- a sparkling idea that catches my eye in the gloom.

Starting a few years ago, I began noticing a dazzling array of findings clustered around the prenatal period. These discoveries were generating considerable excitement among scientists, even as they overturned settled beliefs about when we start absorbing and responding to information from our environment. As a science reporter -- and as a mother -- I had to find out more.

This research, I discovered, is part of a burgeoning field known as "fetal origins," and it's turning pregnancy into something it has never been before: a scientific frontier. Obstetrics was once a sleepy medical specialty, and research on pregnancy a scientific backwater. Now the nine months of gestation are the focus of intense interest and excitement, the subject of an exploding number of journal articles, books, and conferences.

To read the rest of this article click here.

SCOTTISH BALLET: THE SLEEPING BEAUTY

Yesterday, after yet another day of pampering at Blythswood Spa and a humongous curry for tea, my friend Jenna and I trotted along to the Theatre Royal to indulge in Scottish Ballet's winter offering - the sumptuous spectacular that is The Sleeping Beauty. I've talked about my love for the ballet before and this time I was thrilled to be given the chance to wax lyrical to my heart's content in a wee article for the programme:

This isn't sad at all...

Back in October I was invited along to Scottish Ballet's southside HQ to investigate the painstaking costuming process involved in a grand production like The Sleeping Beauty, and found that heaven DOES exist in the huge warehouse-style hangar that is the wardrobe department. If you have a spare five mins gie it a read - click on the pictures to enlarge:

It truly was an amazing show. The 1940s costumes in Act III looked stunning contrasted with the earlier extravagance of the late Regency gowns. My favourite costume was Auroras when she has her first proper dance with the Prince after she awakes... It's just a simple, light and airy white dress (almost like Victorian undergarments) but it looked so elegant and innocent, especially with her hair down, dancing such a beautiful, romantic duet.

I also loved the other four princesses dresses, and especially enjoyed seeing them updated for Act III - for example, Snow White's traditional fairytale gown was transformed into a smart navy and white skirt-suit with a quirky poisoned apple-shaped fascinator!

The Lilac Fairy was my favourite dancer of the night. Unrivalled fluidity and grace - gobsmackingly good.

The baddies.

Aurora and her pals.

One of the many fairies who bless Aurora at her Christening.

All in all, yet another smashing success from Scottish Ballet. If you fancy going along, and WHY wouldn't you, booking details can be found here.

Dangers of “Crying It Out”

Damaging children and their relationships for the longterm.
Published on December 11, 2011 by Darcia Narvaez, Ph.D. in Moral Landscapes

Letting babies "cry it out" is an idea that has been around since at least the 1880s when the field of medicine was in a hullaballoo about germs and transmitting infection and so took to the notion that babies should rarely be touched (see Blum, 2002, for a great review of this time period and attitudes towards childrearing).

In the 20th century, behaviorist John Watson (1928), interested in making psychology a hard science, took up the crusade against affection as president of the American Psychological Association. He applied the mechanistic paradigm of behaviorism to child rearing, warning about the dangers of too much mother love. The 20th century was the time when "men of science" were assumed to know better than mothers, grandmothers and families about how to raise a child. Too much kindness to a baby would result in a whiney, dependent, failed human being. Funny how "the experts" got away with this with no evidence to back it up! Instead there is evidence all around (then and now) showing the opposite to be true!

A government pamphlet from the time recommended that "mothering meant holding the baby quietly, in tranquility-inducing positions" and that "the mother should stop immediately if her arms feel tired" because "the baby is never to inconvenience the adult." Babies older than six months "should be taught to sit silently in the crib; otherwise, he might need to be constantly watched and entertained by the mother, a serious waste of time." (See Blum, 2002.)

To read the rest of this article click here.

Vit.K- Are Babies born Deficient? or Do Modern Life and Current Birthing Practices Create the very Problem that Vit.K supplementation is supposed to S

by Sherry Rothwell

So the question has been asked at Birth Without Fear: Vit.K…yes? no? why?
http://www.facebook.com/#!/birthwithoutfear

Well, I was about to give my two sense, when I remembered that I wrote about this at length in response to a post at Homebirth: A Midwife Mutiny written by Lisa Barrett (which is a fantastic blog by the way and I recommend that you read her whole article and thread on this topic!)
http://www.homebirth.net.au/2008/03/vitamin-k.html

Lisa writes,

“This brings us to the action of the third stage in all of this. If the placenta isn’t detached from the baby until after it has birthed then there is an equalisation of the blood passing to and from the placenta: this creates just the right amount of transfer of all the cells required. There is a higher haematocrit which essentially makes the blood thicker and stickier. Isn’t this the natural way to prevent bleeding in the newborn until vit K can be made by the gut flora and what is in breast milk can be absorbed by the baby. This is a good reason not to interfere with the third stage. Even cutting the cord when it doesn’t seem to be pulsing isn’t a guarantee that the natural process has taken place, and I believe that the potential for complications due to that can cause bleeding issues for the mother if cut before placenta is out.”

While I don`t profess to know the ultimate truth here or have the final answer on this subject, I sure do have a lot of questions.

First of all, I think that Lisa`s point is a poignant one and probably the most important consideration here.

As well, would it not be possible that while we are also “creating” this “deficiency” of adequate Vit.K (by cutting the cord too soon and not enabling baby to have “thicker and stickier blood”), but we might also want to ask, “how much Vit. K is stored in that 1/3 or more missing blood supply“ when the cord is cut before it stops pulsating (as is done in hospitals and even with some homebirth midwives….gasp!)?

To read the rest of this article click here.

BUBBLE BETTY

And now for something COMPLETELY different...

Say hello to Bubble Betty - a new Scottish brand which aims to bring back that "chic" vintage rainwear staple from the 50s - yes, the humble rain bonnet (or Rain Mate as my Grandma calls hers) and make it uber cool again.

No, seriously!

But we're not talking just any old clear, plastic rain bonnet, these ones have COOL PRINTS, YO, to make 'em chic and fashionable...

They also come in nifty wee tins to keep em safe in your handbag:

I was very kindly sent the red lace version to try out and while I'm really not sure this is my kind of thing, I can't dispute the sheer HANDINESS of something which, under Hurricane Bawbag-like conditions, manages to keep yer DO in place perfectly. A little weird to get used to but utterly practical and a godsend if you've just had your hair done and it's raining cats and dogs outside. Which, let's face it, it always is here in Glasgow.

I imagine the leopard-print or tattoo-print Bubble Bettys would be perfect for glamorous, vintagey/pin-up-esque girls who love a coiffed 50s do and red lip, or for folk who just can't bear wrestling with an umbrella.

Each Bubble Betty is priced at £6 and available to buy here.

What do you guys reckon - will the Bubble Betty catch on?

Mothers Wanting Natural Childbirth Have Options

By DyAnna Gordon
The experience of giving birth profoundly impacts a woman forever. In the past, many women had little choice in their birth experiences. Either they gave birth before the advent of modern anesthesia techniques or gave birth during the time of “twilight sleep birth,” when women were given pain medication that rendered them unconscious or into such a trance that they would not remember what they went through.

In the modern world, women have more options. They can choose a natural birth, without any type of medication, or an epidural — anesthesia placed in the woman’s spinal column causing a cessation of pain below her waist. Epidurals can be a lifesaver for women who need cesarean sections and a useful tool for those with drawn out labors.

However, natural childbirth offers tremendous benefits for the laboring woman and her baby such as:

• Reduced chance of cesarean section.
• Easier time breastfeeding.
• Increased bonding between mother and infant and less separation.
• Increased participation by the mother’s partner in the birth experience.
• Increased maternal sense of accomplishment.

To read the rest of this article click here.

OOPS!

Following on from yesterday's post, and since it's payday and all, I just bought myself this badBOY as wee PUNKY crimbo treat.

I've been enjoying wearing a bit of colour recently, but as soon as I clicked the BUY button for this awesome, over-sized Boy London Tshirt, I got that familiar comforted feeling - like the cockles of my grungy, goffy soul were basking in a right royal warming. Ahhhhh!

I imagine it'd look pretty cool with my Acne leather jacket, grey leggings and creepers or white docs. I don't actually HAVE white docs, but that's a purchase for another month...

Safe to say I am now officially SKINTED.

Ricki Lake: Why I'm So Passionate About Childbirth

In her first blog for the iVillage blog series CelebVillage, actress/ filmmaker and mom of two Ricki Lake shares why she's so passionate about her childbirth documentary film, The Business of Being Born, and its follow-up series and why she feels they've "revolutionized" her purpose in the world.

About eight years ago my dear friend, director Abby Epstein, was visiting me in Los Angeles and I approached her with an idea for a film project about midwives and natural birth. I showed her home video footage of my younger son Owen’s birth in our New York City bathtub and gave her a copy of my childbirth bible, Ina May Gaskin’s Spiritual Midwifery. I am sure Abby thought I was nuts and was probably thinking this would not be a commercially viable project (to say the least!) but she took the material and politely agreed to look it over.

A few weeks later, Abby called me and said she was blown away by her own ignorance on the subject and thought it would make an amazingly compelling documentary. We spent the next three years filming birth in hospitals, homes and birth centers and ultimately created The Business of Being Born (which Entertainment Weekly has said was the "rare documentary that is actually changing lives. It deserves to be called revolutionary.")

To read the rest the rest of this article click here.

RECENT PURCHASES: NOV&DEC 2011

Howdy, y'all.

Currently obsessed with Christmas shopping, but it seems I can't trawl the shops these days without arriving home LADEN with treats for myself too. Shameful!

 In case you're wondering, here's a selection of STUFF I've been buying the last few weeks:

Topsop 'Fluro' ombre jumper. Just trust me when I say it's much nicer in real life. It's a little bit pinker at the top and quite slouchy and over-sized. Perfect for these really dull winter days when the sun never seems to properly rise.

This was ACTUALLY the only piece of clothing I've bought in the last wee while you guys, SO unlike me! The rest of my purchases have been more makeup/skincare based...

Topshop Pillow Talk lipstick. If you follow me on Twitter you might remember a while back I was asking you guys for some nice pale pink lipstick recommendations and this badboy got a lot of hype. I only bought it today so I can't tell you what it looks like on, but hopefully it'll suit me. I have fairly dark browny/pink lips naturally so I hope this has enough pigmentation to properly cover them up and not sit in the cracks and gross chapped bits. Boke! That actually makes a nice segway into my next purchase...

Elizabeth Arden 8 hour skin protectant for lips. I get really bad chapped, broken and sometimes bleeding lips in the winter which I constantly bite and pick at - HOW ATTRACTIVE, GUYS. For the last few years I've been religiously using my Smiths Rosebud Salve - cult fave - but this year they've been particularly bad and I felt it just wasn't cutting it.

I'd heard from a friend this was the way to go, but I got a PURE shock when I realised it was £18! However the girl at the counter assured me that for sore, red, chapped lips there really is nothing better, so I shelled out the moolah. SAW ME COMING, EH?

I've only been using it for a few hours but already my lips feel SO moisturised and much less inflamed. I was worried the texture might be gloopy or thick like the Burts Bees lip balm which I just DO NOT get on with, but thankfully it's light and there's a slight sheen too. I also like the citrus smell and white packaging so all in all, so far I'd say it's worth the money.

Sleek Storm i-Divine palette. I'd been hearing about the Sleek eyeshadow palettes for ages but never really felt much need to get one - usually I'm happy with a generous slick of liquid eyeliner and lashings of mascara, however, for this Christmas season I really wanted to try out some warm, browns, berries and golds.

I'm sure I've mentioned to you all before about what a beginner I am when it comes to makeup, but I kinda felt like only a PROPER DONKEY could go wrong with this particular palette. There are a wide range of shades to blend together (some shimmery and some matte), and a nice wee mirror and applicator, though I might chuck that out and get a proper brush.

I've been using it for a few weeks, on and off and I find the colours really pigmented and easy to blend. I'm still getting used to seeing my eyes with eyeshadow and not just eyeliner as it's quite a DONE sort of look, but for nights out I think I definitely quite like it.

Make Up For Ever HD Foundation. So I've been using my Skin 79 Intense Classic Blemish Balm solidly for a while now as I felt like I needed the extra coverage and slightly satin finish it gives me. Plus, it matches my skin tone EXACTLY. However, recently I've been watching more and more YouTube tutorials which feature this foundation and I love the look of it. It's not cheap though, I paid over £30 for this beast, so I have pretty high expectations. It should arrive in the next few days so I'll let you guys know what it's like. Anyone out there use it? What can I expect?

Mac 187 brush. To use with the HD foundation innit. I usually just use my fingers, or my flat Ruby and Millie foundation brush to apply foundation but I like this swirling, buffing motion I keep seeing and hearing about (amateur guys, I told you) and I fancy giving it a go. This is probably a bit of an unnecessary splurge but WHAT THE HELL, it's Christmas!

Bare Escentuals Mineral Veil finishing power.  Simply the best finishing power I've ever used. Fact! This is a much-needed and long-awaited repurchase.

Dermalogica Overnight Clearing Gel and Clearing Mattifier. In my tireless, NEVER-ENDING quest for the right skincare to tackle my evil, spot-prone skin that hates me, I stumbled across a YouTube video of Lisa Eldridge using the clearing mattifier and chatting all kindsa good stuff about how it helps control oil and stop breakouts etc etc, and I totes trust her word so, BAM, I just shelled out over £60 for these two products.

I'm really hoping these make a long-term difference you guys. I'm so sick of trying new products with my hopes all up and then nothing happening. Or in the case of the Alpha H Liquid Gold, a totes unexpected painful burning sensation and immediate breakouts the next morning :( If I'm honest though, my skin has been slightly better than usual the past 2 weeks, and that's thanks to my next new buy...

Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish. I am SO glad I bought this. At first it was a bit weird smearing the white cream all over my dry face, but now that I'm used to it I can say that WITHOUT A DOUBT it's the best cleanser I've ever used. The process can be a little time-consuming what with all the rubbing, rinsing the cloth, wiping away, rinsing again and repeating, but the results are totally worth it. After patting my face dry it's completely smooth and comfortable - by that I mean it's not bright red and tight as it usually is with soapy or exfoliating cleansers. I haven't noticed a dramtic reduction in the apperance of blemishes but the overall texture of my skin is much improved. The soft, calm effect is still there in the morning when I wake up and I've noticed that I don't need to use a moisturiser in the morning any more. And it literally removes every single stitch of makeup - waterproof mascara, lipstick, you name it - without all that nasty aggravating scrubbing or harshness of astringent removers.

Seriously guys, this is my new Holy Grail product and I've been raving to everyone I see about it. It's about £18 for the largest size in John Lewis but you can get a smaller amount for cheaper if you want to try it. And seriously, YOU DO WANT TO TRY IT.

Yankee Candle in Christmas Cookie. Not clothes, makeup or skincare-y based at all but something else I'm totally loving at the moment - the Christmas Cookie Yankee candle! The others in the Yankee Candles Christmas range, like Christmas Eve, Happy Christmas and Christmas Tree are all nice enough but it's Christmas Cookie's sickly sweet and warm cosiness I can't get enough of! Sweet scents aren't for everyone and I might not get this as a present for someone unless I'm sure they really are into it, but personally I have a massive sweet tooth that just won't quit so this is perfect for me.

I love giving Yankee Candles as gifts. Sometimes candles can seem like a bit of a namby-pamby cop out but the Yankee range is so well-known and credible, which such a massive range to suit everyone that I can't imagine anybody being disappointed with one under the Christmas tree.

*cough* Hint, santa?

Finally, something I WISH I'd bought recently...

Large Mulberry Evelina satchel in black.

Please, Santa? GO ONNNNN!!!

x