HELP for Mothers : Solutions to the maternal health care crisis in America

"What can parents do to make a smooth return to work after having a baby?"

"How can astrology help me take control of my own life?"

How does fluoride consumption during pregnancy and early infancy impact a child's IQ?

How do early traumatic experiences affect children?

How do you prevent trauma in your kids, when you are suffering from trauma yourself?

What part do you want government to play in regulating birth choice?

What if Obstetrics has no competition? The medical monopoly in maternity care threatens autonomy and sovereignty for all.

“What three toxic substances should I avoid in pregnancy and parenting.” Award-winning, investigative journalist, Jennifer Margulis, PhD joins hosts, Augustine Colebrook, MA-MCHS & Kesha Chiappinelli, JD, IBCLC to share her decades worth of research on avoiding toxic exposure for mom and baby, physically, mentally, and emotionally.

“Do I have to use a reproductive endocrinologist to achieve pregnancy?” Join Augustine Colebrook, MA-MCHS and her special guest, Brittany Thornton, CPM, LM a midwife, mother and traditional surrogate x6 as they discuss alternatives to the high medicalized assisted reproductive process. Some people who want to be pregnant do indeed need all the technology, but as Brittany shares, many especially in the LGBTQIA community do not need high-tech reproductive technologies, they need education, time, space and respectful care. And many are seeking midwives to help achieve pregnancy as well as give birth.

‘What if my baby is breech?’ Join Augustine Colebrook, MA-MCHS, a midwife & maternal child health investigator, Dr. Caitlin Clarke, DC a Webster-certified chiropractor & doula-advocate and Dr. Anne Lundquist, DC, FICPA, SaBAP a prenatal chiropractic & parent educator as they discuss discuss steps for pregnant people who discover their baby is breech. These birth biomechanics offer home techniques to help prevent and change a breech presentation, as well as resources to help make informed decisions.

“Where is the societally acceptable line between public health and personal autonomy in life and in labor?” Autonomy, defined as being free from outside intervention is a very important notion in Western culture. And yet, as social distancing and self quarantine sweep the globe, people are voluntarily giving up personal liberty in favor of the ‘greater good’. Over the last several centuries, health and disease changed from curse / chance to something that could be controlled. This lead to state coordinated interventions such as irrigation and sewerage systems all the way to public health clinics, policy and even the passage of laws. With industrialization, the population appeared as a ‘problem’, an object of monitoring, regulation, analysis and intervention. Public health policy has reached a new zenith as millions of people in America and millions more around the globe are told to ‘stay home’ to protect their neighbors from an 'invisible enemy’. In maternity care, because of ‘State Emergency Orders’ previous inalienable rights to self-determination in medical decision-making, choice in support people, and sovereignty of parental rights have all been eliminated. Industrialized birth is being coming the norm across the US and Canada, even as many opt out of the system entirely. Join human rights lawyer, Kesha Chiappinelli, JD, IBCLC and maternal/child health investigator Augustine Colebrook, MA-MCHS as they dissect one segment of the maternity crisis in the United States every week.

“What should I do if I am a victim of sexual assault or obstetric violence by my doctor?’ Women routinely report being denied food and drink, being forced to lie in one position during labor, being denied the choice of VBAC, receiving frequent, rough vaginal examinations, having their waters ruptured without consent, being denied the desired number of support people, and being given episiotomies after explicitly refusing during care provided by an Obstetrician in the United States. But some women experience far worse at the hands of legally protected and societally protected obstetricians - they suffer sexual assault. Join human rights lawyer, Kesha Chiappinelli, JD, IBCLC and maternal/child health investigator Augustine Colebrook, MA-MCHS as they dissect one segment of the maternity crisis in the United States every week.