About This Blog

 Note: All content on my website and blog is copyrighted. Do not repost or use without permission. Short passages for the purpose of education or support may be quoted with attribution to Pamela Vireday and a direct link to the appropriate URL. No pictures may be used or shared without specific permission. 

Purpose of This Blog

The primary focus of my mission is to:
  • provide general information about pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding, and parenting
  • to discuss how to improve care for women of size in pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding, and menopause
  • to discuss how to improve overall health care for people of size throughout life
  • to discuss parenting as a person of size
  • to raise awareness about the impact of weight stigma and discrimination on people of size
  • to promote health by focusing on positive habits instead of the scale with a Health At Every Size® approach
It is time for common-sense information about pregnancy in women of size, without the scare tactics and judgment so common in many resources. We need frank discussion about how overly-interventive and discriminatory treatment in this group impacts outcomes. We need to discuss how to provide dignified and respectful care for high BMI women, and to open a dialogue about how best to improve outcomes in this group.

This blog also discusses healthcare for people of size through all stages of life. It highlights the negative impact of weight stigma, negative body image, diets, and weight cycling. It seeks to bring additional attention to conditions that may affect people of size, such as PolyCystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), hypothyroidism, and lipedema. It seeks to raise the awareness of Health At Every Size® as an alternative approach to health.

This blog provides information about pregnancy in general and the benefits and risks of various maternity care choices. It reviews research on birth and advocates to improve maternal-child health worldwide.

This blog is for people of all sizes. It discusses concerns common to people everywhere, particularly healthy living issues such as parenting, gardening, nutrition, food preservation, and emergency preparedness.

And every once in a while, just for fun, a little fluffy content like humor, music or pop culture is thrown in to lighten things up. Life is too wonderful to be serious all of the time!

Both health-care consumers and health-care providers are welcome on this blog and are encouraged to dialogue in a respectful way. Spamming, disrespectful, inaccurate, unkind, or inflammatory comments, however, will not be tolerated.

About The Author

The author of this blog is Pamela Vireday (also known as "kmom"). I am a childbirth educator, author, speaker, and well-rounded mama to four kids. I write at:
I can be emailed at kmom AT plus-size-pregnancy  DOT org. I read all my emails, although I no longer have the time to reply to all of them.

I graduated from college magna cum laude and have done extensive graduate work. I have taken childbirth educator training with several different organizations, am a Certified Childbirth Educator with Birth Works, am active with The International Cesarean Awareness Network, and have received several teaching awards and other honors. My website and/or blog has been recognized with a Size-Wise Website Recognition Award, and was a Finalist for the 2012 "Best Pregnancy Blog" Award from about.com.

Writing

Science and Sensibility Blog: 
  • Part One: Discussing the Risks of Obesity and Pregnancy 
  • Part Two: Analyzing the Research on Obesity and Pregnancy 
  • Part Three: A Proactive Approach to Preventing Complications Among Women of Size
  • "CBAC: Supporting Women When VBAC Doesn't Happen" 
Our Bodies Ourselves:
Midwifery Today: Are You A Size-Friendly Midwife?

Without Measure: Lowering the Cesarean Rate in Big Moms

The Politics of Size: Perspectives from the Fat-Acceptance Movement
               Chapter contributor for scholarly fat-acceptance anthology

Speaking

Speaker/Workshop Presenter at the following conferences/events (topics in italics):
  • Women Living Large, November 2001 (Plus-Size Pregnancy)
  • National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA), 2002 (Plus-Size Pregnancy
  • Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome)
  • International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN) 2003 (Plus-Size Pregnancy)
  • Birth Works, 2003 (Plus-Size Pregnancy)
  • Midwives’ Association of North America (MANA), 2004 (Plus-Size Pregnancy)
  • International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN)/California Association of Midwives, 2005 (VBAC After Multiple Cesareans)
  • Midwives’ Association of North America (MANA), 2005 (Serving Women of Size, Lowering the Cesarean Rate in Women of Size)
  • International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN), 2007 (VBAC in Women of Size)
  • Birth Works, 2007 (Transforming Your Fears)
  • National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA), 2007 (Plus-Size Pregnancy)
  • Midwives Association of North America (MANA), 2009  (VBAC in Women of Size, Nutrition and Weight Gain in Women of Size)
  • International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN), 2010 (When VBAC Doesn't Happen: Supporting CBAC Mothers)
  • Guest speaker, Grand Rounds, OHSU Nurse-Midwifery Program, December 2011 (Improving Care for Women of Size: An Evidence-Based Look)
  • International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN), 2016 (CBAC and Beyond: Help and Healing for Birth Trauma)
  • Guest Panelist, Martha Browning Bryant Memorial Lecture, October 2016 (Opportunities for Collaboration to Promote Access Care for Families who Desire a Vaginal Birth after a Prior Cesarean Birth)

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