SQUAT Anarchist Birth Journal Out Now!

From Squat Birth Journal

We're super excited to announce that the 1st issue of SQUAT, a radical birth journal, has just been published!

SQUAT Birth Journal is a publication that brings forth the latest talk from radical midwifery. It provides a forum for midwives, doulas and friends of radical midwifery to share opinions, information, and show support. This issue features articles on: Unassisted Homebirth, Breech Homebirth, Childbirth and Social War, Radical Doulas, Due Dates, Artwork by Kate Hansen, and more!

Also, we will be hosting the first annual SQUAT Camp in August, an alternative conference for midwives, doulas, parents, and allies. Registration is filling up fast, so if you'd like to join us, e-mail us for a registration form asap. We've organized some great workshops (topics including abortion, the licensure movement, unassisted birth, gender, EFT, race within the midwifery movement, & more!), and will have the pleasure of being joined by special guests like Christa Bell, Whapio of The Matrona, and others.

If you'd like to purchase a copy of SQUAT, you can do so at: TEXT You can also just preview it there, if you'd like. For the month of June, there is a promotional code (DADGRAD) that will get you 25% off. We are also dedicated to providing SQUAT for free online, but have had some trouble getting it hosted. We're still working on it, and it should be up on zinelibrary or infoshop shortly...

If you'd like to find out more information about SQUAT Camp or the magazine in general, you can follow us online through our blog at squatbirthjournal.blogspot.com or on Facebook.

Our e-mail address is squattingbirth@gmail.com, but if you'd like to send us a submission for the next issue (and please do!), you can send it to SubmissionsToSquat@gmail.com.

Thanks for all your support!
Your friends at SQUAT

I was born feet first {

I was born feet first { coincidently my feet have always been firmly on the ground }. I was disturbed to find out that some indigenous tribes killed babies born feet first, saying they were an evil rebellious spawn. How nasty and ignorant of them! Therefore I shall rebel against their ideology!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoulder_dystocia

We should love our mothers

We should love our mothers for bearing us, unless they be capitalist partys!

In 2011, there was a marked

In 2011, there was a marked increase in anarchist infant mortality rate among English-speaking countries.

THIS IS AWESOME. I LOVE

THIS IS AWESOME. I LOVE SEEING ANARCHISTS BRING THEIR ETHICS AND ACTION TO WHATEVER AREAS OF LIFE THEY HAPPEN TO BE INTERESTED IN, WHETHER THAT BE CHILD BIRTHING, MUSIC, OR PHYSICS.

<3!!!

Docotrs, nurses and clinics

Docotrs, nurses and clinics can't be anarchists now? Epidurals, Cesareans, Fetal Monitoring are some how against anarchist ethics now?

DiY infant mortality is still dead babies and dead moms.

It isn't "DIY" as in some

It isn't "DIY" as in some low-budget lifestylist zine-reading bullshit. What is referred to as "natural" or "alternative" birthing methods today are actually centuries-old, tried and true, rooted in ancient herbalism and midwifery in culture throughout the world. We weren't always born in sterile white hospital buildings, with our mothers doped up, and the human race has survived thus far...

Allopathic medicine is not the only valid system in the entire world. As an anarchist, one should be more questioning of the hegemony of "western" medicine.

guies crime against

guies crime against anarckyism, halp is needed quick solidarity!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5Zqr8fKuSo

Take whatever risks you want

Take whatever risks you want with your life and your baby. Don't be all "more revolutionary than thou" because some of us are willing to use the dreaded "hegemony of western medicine". Delivering babies is something that dreaded hegemony has gotten pretty good at.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infant_mortality
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_infant_mortality_rate

a picture might help! Map of

a picture might help!
Map of infant mortality rates globally

Fear the hegemony of "western" medicine and the MEGABABYMACHINE! LEVIATHAN IS PREGNANT WITH THE CHILDREN OF THE EPOCALYPSE!

" What is referred to as

" What is referred to as "natural" or "alternative" birthing methods today are actually centuries-old, tried and true, rooted in ancient herbalism and midwifery in culture throughout the world."

I hope you realize that before modern medicine, the human race coped with high infant mortality by having a shit ton of kids.

My mother had

My mother had "complications" of the sort that could have killed us both. I came into the world by an emergency Caesarean.

I have nothing but love and admiration for midwives and doulas but I trust and hope they will lead us into the future and not into the past.

Fuck primitivism. The human population wave needs to be worked through -- it can't be reversed.

Looking forward to reading Squat! Looks awesome...

"Fuck primitivism. The human

"Fuck primitivism. The human population wave needs to be worked through -- it can't be reversed."

And how do you mean primitivists want to "reverse" population wave instead of "working through" it?

And the technology that

And the technology that allows doctors to perform c-sections is part of the same technological apparatus that harbors the destruction of the earth and the people and animals on it.

What technologies related to

What technologies related to c-sections to you particularly object to and please explain how they harbor the destruction of the earth, people and animals.

Incisions?
Surgical steel?
Asepsis?
Uterine suturing?
Anesthesia?
Blood transfusion?
Antibiotics?

Buildings? Electricity? Runni

Buildings?
Electricity?
Running water?
Symbolic thought?
Intentional avoidance of death?

Species Traitor has a new

Species Traitor has a new zine that addresses overpopulation! Remember, Infanticide is a revolutionary act!

fuck off scum

fuck off scum

I don't see much difference

I don't see much difference between infanticide and abortion. Logical position for those strictly condemning infanticide would be to condemn abortion also.

There is a world of

There is a world of difference between terminating a pregnancy in the first or second trimester, and infanticide of a healthy birthed baby.

If you don't understand the difference, I'm probably not the one to explain it to you.

Isn't there some other

Isn't there some other trimester or is it just those two?

Duh! 'tri' = 3 . the

Duh! 'tri' = 3 . the remaining 3rd division is the time from copulation and fertilisation up to the 3rd month. then 3rd month to 6th month, and 6th month to birth.

Well yeah, I was sorta

Well yeah, I was sorta pointing out that they were glossing over the third trimester abortions...

Oh my bad, but have you

Oh my bad, but have you heard about elaborate sentences, detailing the gist?

Third trimester abortions

Third trimester abortions are quite rare and generally only done when the mother's life is at risk. Further, since the fetus may be viable outside the womb, it is closer to infanticide. Many people see a contextual moral difference between 1st/2nd trimester abortions and 3rd trimester abortions.

Yep, a single cell zygoye is a unique lifeform... but many people do not regard it's death as a significant as the death of a born infant.

From the Crimethinc

From the Crimethinc Ex-Mothers Collective (West)

RESIST MEDIATION! Real

RESIST MEDIATION!

Real anarchist babies claw their way out of their mother's wombs, unassisted!

Unless feet first like

Unless feet first like myself, landing on my feet and ready to go. except my big head got stuck for a short while. I recommend it to any foetuses out there.

What the fuck is wrong with

What the fuck is wrong with some of the people in this comment section?

If anyone actually did their homework, they would find that homebirths performed by competent midwives (or unassisted deliveries by healthy mothers) are safe. There is a tremendous amount of information and case studies to back this up, and if any of you actually decided to look.

If anarchy for us actually means decentralized communes of no more than 500ish people (Bolo Bolo style) that thrive on creating well adjusted members of our community then I think that natural homebirths fit right in. But if your anarchy means industrialism, transportation infrastructure, space elevators and work, then I don't know what to tell you Michael Albert.

Anyways, modern child-pysch theory tells us that birth in hospitals is a traumatic experience for both mother and child. This is, in part, caused by the immediate separation of mother from child, where the child's umbilical cord is cut, then is blinded by (usually) unnecessary anti-gonorrhea goop, taken away by strangers, cleaned, put into a sterile box underneath a bright warming light and left to cry their fucking hearts out. This separation, which destroys vital imprinting time, is counterproductive to forming a life long healthy attachment relationship between mother and baby. This severance also increases the likelihood of problems with breastfeeding because it is the baby's first suckle within a few moments after birth that stimulates the pre-milk "colostrum" (which is only small droplets that contains vital nutrients and helps to set up their immune system for later life). Without a healthy breastfeeding relationship comes a whole host of attachment and personality disorders.

I think that children expect to come into this world cradled skin-to-skin by loving parent(s), smell their mom and imprint onto them, have full access to breast-milk and have a generally not overstimulating environment. I don't think that's fucked up to create that for you and your child, in fact I think it's downright intelligent.

P.S - To whoever the fuckwad is who put up the graph map of infant mortality rates around the world, did you ever think that reasons for these deaths have more to do with economic, ecological, and political conditions than the superiority of the medical industry.

Yeah, I'm with this guy.

Yeah, I'm with this guy. Surely it's just an unfortunate coincidence that all the countries on the map that rank highest in infant mortality have little to no modern hospitals, and those that rank lowest most commonly practice Western-style hospital births...

The "coincidence" maybe has

The "coincidence" maybe has to do with the fact that a lot of the countries with higher mortality rates don't have things like I don't know... drinkable water? Maybe instead of living in the suburbs, or an apartment in the city, a lot of people in those countries live next to giant poisonous development projects.

Maybe things are more complex than you think they are? Fucking loser.

"If anarchy for us actually

"If anarchy for us actually means decentralized communes of no more than 500ish people"

That's not what anarchy means. You are confusing village size with polity. You can have a tiny tyranny with 500 people as much as you can have a free commune. See: Feudalism.

Ditto. And even if everyone

Ditto.

And even if everyone agrees that 200-500 people primary/base social units is the ideal goal, it would be literally impossible to transition to that overnight. We need to very deliberately change the way we grow and distribute food, deal with wastewater, etc, or the results will be tragic. To endorse a particular shift in the social structure is to endorse a time period of transition... hard a pill as that may be to swallow.

Yeah the pill is the size of

Yeah the pill is the size of a golfball, 500 linda lovelaces may congregate, but I dont expect a functional communal self-sufficiency arising from a membership of deep throaters, which brings us back to topic, chronic deepthroaters or pregnancy, freedom of choice, freedom of birth control, and freedom of foetus . Interesting options, some compromise is expected.

"immediate separation of

"immediate separation of mother from child, where the child's umbilical cord"

I don't know if you've delivered a baby in a hospital lately, but... I don't think you know what the fuck you are talking about.

Many hospitals now allow (and even recommend) that mother and baby have some bonding time immediately after birth. Some also have the mother cut the umbilical cord themselves. Nice try though. Most hospitals are encouraging breast feeding these days. Most hospitals encourage Doulas. Lighting is low, your family is present, you can walk around, change positions, take a shower, play music... really whatever works for you. Many hospitals are moving away from cesareans except when medically necessary and encourage vaginal deliveries--the options to medically escalate are there if needed, but they are in favor of going about it with as little medical intervention as possible. About the only thing maybe they should do different is perhaps allow mothers more than ice chips for particularly long labor, but they have concerns about the effect of anesthesia if the need to do a Cesarean. It's also nice to have someone to stitch you up if you have vaginal tearing, put you on a dose of anti-biotics and the like.

You don't need a hospital service to give birth if everything is working out for you. You do need one if things aren't working out.

Anyway, take your own risks with your own life and your own baby, but don't act as if doing so is somehow more anarchistic or revolutionary.

Is it permitted in your

Is it permitted in your design for the father to have sex with his wife straight away after the birth, if there has been abstinence out of respect for the domain of the foetus for 9 agonising months?

1) vaginal sex during

1) vaginal sex during pregnancy is fucking great
2) vaginal sex immediately after birth is a horrible idea
3) you are a horrible troll

2) What about the butt?

2) What about the butt?

No! 4)I am a comedian.

No! 4)I am a comedian. Lighten up!

5) oral sex 6)anal

5) oral sex
6)anal sex
7)masturbation
8)castration :)
9)bullet to head :(

"This is, in part, caused by

"This is, in part, caused by the immediate separation of mother from child, where the child's umbilical cord is cut, then is blinded by (usually) unnecessary anti-gonorrhea goop, taken away by strangers, cleaned, put into a sterile box underneath a bright warming light and left to cry their fucking hearts out. This separation, which destroys vital imprinting time, is counterproductive to forming a life long healthy attachment relationship between mother and baby."

What are you, a scientologist? Have you even been to an OB floor? Hospitals, even at their worst, don't work this way.

It was difficult enough

It was difficult enough getting my head stuck coming out feet first, then the fucker dropped me on the hard floor, i was slippery sure, but otherwise developed into a well spoken healthy individual with a rebellious tendency [because of the concrete floor].

thanks for doing this, y'all.

thanks for doing this, y'all.

I hope all you overly

I hope all you overly burdened modern men realize that home births in developed countries are actually going up, there is an aspect of dealienation and the longing for a more intimate encounter between mother and child that is driving this, the will perhaps be scraps of "western"(you'll find the pre-figurations in american chinese and indian medicine) medicine that will still be maintained but as for the totality with all the alienated processes included, no thanks you.

Wolverine

Shoulder Dystocia: The Event

Shoulder Dystocia: The Event that Wraps a Midwife's Heart in Cold Terror
Brauer-Rieke, Gretchen. Midwifery Today with International Midwife. Eugene: Sep 30, 2000. , Iss. 55; pg. 28

Copyright Midwifery Today, Inc. Sep 30, 2000

SHOULDER DYSTOCIA: The Event that Wraps a Midwife's Heart in Cold Terror

"The accountability sometimes feels overwhelming when shoulder dystocia happens out of the hospital. There is no one to call--no doctor on the floor, no neonatal intensive care team to come help with resuscitation, no extra nursing staff to lend assistance. It's just me and a frantic woman trying to push out a stuck baby. We have to get the baby out. We have to keep that baby from dying. Just us. If I don't know what to do and how to do it, that baby will die. I will be accountable.It scares me that midwives are delivering babies at home who are inexperienced enough to be confident that "birth works" all the time, that all we need is faith and to let nature take its course. What I know for a fact is that I would have three dead babies in my career if I didn't know what to do with shoulder dystocia. I would have dead babies if I confidently assumed that all I'd have to do is get the woman on her hands and knees and the baby would come...
A severe shoulder dystocia may not happen until a practitioner has delivered hundreds of babies. You can never get cocky and think you have the right technique or position to prevent shoulders from sticking. Sticky shoulders aren't all that uncommon--they'll come with just a trick or two. Real shoulder dystocia is different and deadly. Every midwife who delivers enough babies will get caught someday. I know of midwives who stopped doing midwifery after experiencing true shoulder dystocia. The fear and sense of helplessness became unshakable and polluted their ability to see birth as a normal process. The accountability became too much to cope with."

Thanks, let primitivists or

Thanks, let primitivists or new age hippies play around with shit they are not skilled to handle.

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