Land of the Free (Or Born Free At Least)

Well, here I am, back to my blog after about five months. It seems that old habits die hard. I used to start diaries when I was a little girl and swear I would write in them every day. I would usually write about ten entries and then quit. Actually, I haven't been gone from the blogosphere. Instead of devoting effort to my own blog, I've been spending my time and wasting my breath at the Homebirth Debate blog. At first it was interesting and then it was maddening. The blog is run by a retired OB who is rabidly anti-homebirth, anti-midwife, and anti-natural-childbirth. Which would be fine, except for the fact that she represents a point of view that is codified into the laws and policies of most states. It continually amazes me that we can legally kill babies in the womb, even babies who have been partially born, yet the same people who would defend that right try to put a guilt trip on women who birth at home for not caring about the safety of their babies. Whatever.

"Dr. Amy's" latest rant is about how homebirth is a gamble. She continually beats the dead baby drum. Well, our family has just moved to Taos, New Mexico, where you will find the highest rate of out-of-hospital births in the nation (about 30%). Amazingly enough, the magnificent landscape is not littered with dead babies, as Dr. Amy would have you believe would happen if you improved access to homebirth and homebirth midwives.

Yes, you heard me correctly. We just moved to New Mexico. Despite my platitudes about finding hidden beauty in the prairies and cornfields of Nebraska, I finally convinced my husband that we had to get the hell out of there. Just kidding. Actually, I had made my peace with the state, but then my husband found an awesome job out here.

So, now I'm in the land of midwives and liberals. My lifestyle fits the state, but my politics sure don't. I guess I'll have plenty of fodder for this blog! I think the first issue I'll have to address is what you find on bumper stickers around here...