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	news bulletins january 2008

• Cookus Interruptus
• Waterbirth International Needs Help
• Outstanding Online Facilitator Honored
• Author Refuses Nestlé Prize Check
• Lamaze Publishes Revised Care Practice Papers

Cookus Interruptus
The word on the food scene is that we need to be feeding our families fresh, local, organic food for optimal health. Experts tell us to eat more plants, less meat and stay away from processed food. Home-cooking has never been more critical. But many of us lack the skills, not to mention time.

Help is on the web. Nutrition educator Cynthia Lair (author of Feeding the Whole Family, Feeding the Young Athlete and regular Mothering contributor) invites you into her kitchen for fast and fun DIY videos on cooking and family nutrition. She brings her expertise from 15 years of teaching nutrition and cooking at Bastyr University to the camera, while Steve and Jane (her cooking show husband and daughter) add reality and a dash of humor to the mix.

Learn what quinoa is and how to make it into a stupendous salad. Find out how to identify whether a food is whole or not. Ever wondered what to do with collard greens? What's the secret to frying tofu so it has great texture and taste? Cookus Interruptus has easy answers. Videos are organized into menus and new recipes are added every few weeks. Plus, you have a say. Leave a comment and request recipes or add your favorites. Influence the outcome of who Jane dates or what befalls Steve and Cynthia on their mid-life adventure.

It's educational, it's entertaining, and most of all it's accessible. It's about cooking wholesome meals while the tentacles of kids, husbands, phone solicitors, and missing strainers pull us in every direction. Bring your busy, wonderful whole self to Cookus Interruptus and learn to how make a perfect pot of quinoa or why sea salt is better. Visit www.cookusinterruptus.com or www.cookus.tv today.

Waterbirth International Needs Help

Founded in 1988 by Barbara Harper, Waterbirth International (WBI) has pioneered a quarter century of birth reform. With the intention of making waterbirth available for all women, the non-profit has become the world's leading resource for waterbirth supplies and information. They have assisted in the installation of birth pools in over 200 hospitals in the US—and several dozen in other countries around the globe, including Mexico, Costa Rica, Switzerland, Taiwan, China, Turkey, Germany, Argentina, Ecuador, Australia, Philippines and India to name just a few. WBI has also rented portable birth pools for home waterbirths to over 6200 couples (this writer included, over 14 years ago, via mail order).

After hosting the premiere Gentle Birth World Congress and Free Baby Expo in Portland, Oregon last September, WBI is facing the fact that the event, while hugely successful, drained their coffers. They are making an open appeal to their allies in the normal birth community, for help in sustaining their vital efforts. Learn more about how you can help here.

Outstanding Online Facilitator Honored
As Mothering reported in May, 2007 Jacqueline Kramer works to weave mothering and homemaking into a spiritual practice. Her organization, the Hearth Foundation is a free, online resource for parents to receive support, guidance and connection as they embrace the powerful spiritual journey of parenting. Kramer was recently recognized for her efforts by a distinguished committee of international Buddhist clergy and lay Buddhist scholars as an Outstanding Woman in Buddhism. She will be honored at an international ceremony at the Association for the Promotion of the Status of Women (headquarters of the OWBA) in Bangkok on March 6, 2008. While the Hearth Foundation has a Buddhist orientation, Kramer notes they welcome all Wisdom traditions.

Author Refuses Nestlé Prize Check

British children's author Sean Taylor, winner of the Nestlé Children's Book Prize 2007, refused to accept a check as part of his recent award, presented in December. Taylor, who won the prize for his book When a Monster is Born, said that he could not accept the money because of his concerns over the marketing tactics used by Nestlé in their promotion of infant formula.

In an open letter explaining his decision, Taylor said that he was honored to have won the prize because it is awarded on the basis of children's votes, but he could not accept Nestlé's money because "their interpretation of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes sets up the risk that profit is put before infant health." After examining their baby formula marketing practices, Taylor said, "I do not feel that Nestlé are the most appropriate sponsors for this major children's book prize."

A global marketing report recently released by the International Baby Food Action Network found that Nestlé is the leading violator of the International Code for the Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes.

Taylor made his decision after consulting with representatives from Nestlé, anti- Nestlé group Baby Milk Action, and an unnamed third party with "experience in the field."

For more information visit http://www.babymilkaction.org/press/press12dec07.html.

Lamaze Publishes Revised Care Practice Papers

Recently published in The Journal of Perinatal Education (Volume 16, Number 3), the care practice papers are available on the Lamaze Institute for Normal Birth website, in both HTML and printer-friendly PDF formats.

Care Practice #1: Labor Begins on Its Own - Labor is a set of complex, interacting components. Alteration of the natural process can expose a woman and her baby to unneeded risks.

Care Practice #2: Freedom of Movement Throughout Labor - Free movement during labor allows a woman to manage contractions and assist the baby's rotation and movement through the pelvis.

Care Practice #3: Continuous Labor Support - Current research supports the benefits of continuous emotional and physical support during labor.

Care Practice #4: No Routine Interventions - Supporting the natural, normal, physiologic process of birth requires clear medical indications prior to any medical intervention.

Care Practice #5: Spontaneous Pushing in Upright or Gravity-Neutral Positions - Allowing a woman to find positions of comfort and encouraging her to push in response to what she feels is beneficial to the birth process.

Care Practice #6: No Separation of Mother and Baby, with Unlimited Opportunities to Breastfeed - When a baby is kept with the mother, there are physiological benefits to both, including the facilitation of breastfeeding.

Learn more by reading the revised and complete six care practices.