What’s on your mind this weekend, Bleeding Heartland readers? This is an open thread: all topics welcome. I’ve enclosed a few links in honor of Mother’s Day.
The Pew Research Center posted “5 questions (and answers) about American moms today.”
Annie Fox, who has a great website for teens, tweens, and their parents, shared her perspective on “What makes a good mom?”
Mother’s Day can be a difficult holiday for many people, especially women who have experienced the death of a child. State Senator Janet Petersen wrote about her stillbirth and her work since then to educate parents on monitoring their babies’ movements during the third trimester. I’ve posted excerpts after the jump.
Mother’s Day can also be challenging for those whose mothers have died. Hope Edelman, the author of the book Motherless Daughters, shared her experiences and advice on how to spend the day when your mother is gone.
Finally, Mother’s Day can stir up painful feelings for those who never received the emotional support they needed from their mothers. Dr. Laura Markham, who runs my all-time favorite parenting website and writes one of the best parenting blogs, recently re-shared her excellent post on “How to Give Unconditional Love When You Didn’t Get It Yourself.”
Speaking of great advice, Froma Harrop’s latest syndicated column urges college students who are the victims of rape or sexual assault to call 911, rather than reporting to campus authorities. “Rape is a violent crime, and when violent crimes occur, the police should be called.” Parents of college students should pass along these wise words. My only quibble with Harrop is that she assumes all such victims are women. Men can also be assaulted sexually, and if that happens to a male college student, he should call 911 as well.
Excerpts from Janet Petersen’s post for Healthy Birth Day, Just in Time for Mother’s Day, Here’s How You Can ‘Count the Kicks’:
I was fortunate that another mom who had lost a baby just weeks before me, reached out to me. Then another. And another. Soon there were five of us, who each lost baby girls. We met in coffee shops to talk and grieve, but quickly turned our grief into advocacy to try to prevent other families from enduring the same heartache.
We founded Healthy Birth Day, Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to preventing stillbirths.
In 2009, we launched Count the Kicks, a public awareness campaign dedicated to saving babies. The campaign teaches expectant parents how to monitor their babies’ movements daily during the third trimester of pregnancy to improve the chances of a healthy birth outcome.
Scientific studies indicate kick counting, a daily record of a baby’s movements (kicks, rolls, punches, jabs) during the third trimester, is an easy, free and reliable way to monitor a baby’s well-being in addition to regular prenatal visits.
Since the campaign’s launch in our home state of Iowa, our state’s fetal death rate has dropped by 26 percent. If we achieve that same success throughout the country, we could save nearly 7,000 babies in the U.S. every year.
This Mother’s Day, we’re asking moms across the country to join the Count the Kicks! campaign to save babies with the help of a new app available for free in the Android and Apple online stores.