Favorite Links

Here are a few of my favorite links, sorted by topic.

If you have suggestions for further links (or want to report a broken link), you can email me at kmom AT plus-size-pregnancy DOT  org.  (No attachments, please.)


Birth-Related Books and Websites

Favorite Websites

• Childbirth Connection - consumer-friendly childbirth information on many topics, with easy-to-read, plain language summaries of the research
• Vaginal or Cesarean Birth: What is at Stake for Women and Babies? - excellent, evidence-based research summary of the data about both vaginal birth and cesarean birth, written in neutral, judgment-free plain language
• cesareanrates.com - data on cesarean rates by hospital from most states in the United States and most provinces in Canada
• The Plus-Size Pregnancy Website - website about pregnancy in women of size (written by me! Moving to a new website soon, one that can actually be updated!)
• Fertility Plus - fertility information and support for women of size (trigger warning: not a diet-free space)
• The Ample Mother - Facebook support page for ample mothers everywhere
• Size-Friendly Connections - connecting up size-friendly doulas, healthcare providers, massage therapists, and other professions
• The International Cesarean Awareness Network - information and support for women who have had cesareans, those who want a VBAC, or those trying to prevent unnecessary cesareans
• VBAC Scare Tactics - things some care providers do and say when they want to discourage a woman away from a VBAC
• The Shape of a Mother - what postpartum bodies really look like, and all the differing feelings that can accompany that

Favorite Birth Blogs

• The Unnecesarean - fun and snarky Facebook commentary about birth-related issues by the author of the cesareanrates.com website
• Stand and Deliver - blog by Rixa, a mom and PhD who writes about birth, breastfeeding and parenting issues from both a mom and an academic perspective
• Birthing Beautiful Ideas - blog by "feminist mother, philosophical doula, snarky storyteller"
• Science and Sensibility - excellent research-based blog that discusses the science around various maternity-related issues
• My OB Said WHAT?!? - blog documenting outrageous things that maternity care providers have said to women over the years.  For balance, there's also "Thankful Thursdays," with empowering and helpful things said to women by providers
• Our Bodies Our Blog - blog of the classic feminist book, with lots of thoughtful information and debate about many women's health topics
• International Cesarean Awareness Network Blog - ICAN's blog (see entry above).  Lots of birth stories, especially VBAC-related stories
• VBAC Facts - about Vaginal Birth After Cesarean - blog of a childbirth educator, has a lot of information about VBACs and cesareans, including "Why Cesareans Are a Big Deal"
• Breastfeeding Medicine - doctors blogging about breastfeeding-related issues, with a focus on the research and medical side
• Blacktating - blog about breastfeeding in general and in particular about breastfeeding in the African-American community ("breastfeeding news and views from a mom of color")
• Public Health Doula - blog of a nurse and lactation consultant with a recent master's in public health (trigger warning: the author has had weight loss surgery, but weight loss is not her usual topic of discussion)
• Mom's Tinfoil Hat - blog of a midwife-turned-medical-student, writing about women's health, childbirth, medical ethics, and many other topics
• Pushed Birth - website of Jennifer Block, author of Pushed Birth, an excellent book about the crisis in obstetric care in this country
• Enjoy Birth - website of a childbirth educator, doula, and author

Favorite Birth Books

• The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth (Henci Goer)
• Journey Into Motherhood: Inspirational Stories of Natural Birth (Sheri Menelli)
• Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care (Jennifer Block)
• Birthing From Within (Pam England and Rob Horowitz)
• Creating a Joyful Birth Experience (Lucia Capacchione and Sandra Bardsley)
• Taking Charge of Your Fertility (Toni Weschler)
• The Labor Progress Handbook (Penny Simkin and Ruth Ancheta)
• Rebounding From Childbirth: Toward Emotional Recovery (Lynn Madsen)
• The Nursing Mother's Companion (Kathleen Huggins)
• Impact of Birthing Practices on Breastfeeding: Protecting the Mother and Baby Continuum (Mary Kroeger)
• Cesarean Voices (ICAN)
• Silent Knife (Nancy Wainer Cohen and Lois Estner)
• Birth as a Rite of Passage (Robbie Davis-Floyd)

Fat Acceptance-Related Books and Websites

Fat-Acceptance Blogs

• Health At Every Size Blog - blog of ASDAH, Association for Size Diversity and Health.  Lots of blog posts about Health At Every Size ® and related topics
• First, Do No Harm - documenting stories of weight bias and size discrimination
• Dances With Fats - blog by fat activist Ragen Chastain, a professional dancer and writer who writes with a strong voice for equality and an end to size discrimination
• The Fat Nutritionist - musings on intuitive eating, eating competence, and learning how to break the "diet" mentality 
• Fat Fu - snarky, smart-ass literate writing from fat-acceptance point of view
• Living ~400 lbs. - blog from a supersized author who sets people's biases on their ear
• Fat Chicks Rule - great blog from the author of Fat Chicks Rule 
• The Feeding Doctor - blog by Dr. Katja Rowell who specializes in helping with feeding relationships and other issues - her motto is, "Be a mom, not a food cop!"
• Discourse - blog by Dr. Samantha Thomas, a health sociologist from Australia
• Big Fat Blog - blog about fat issues in the news, musings and debate about the "war on obesity" from a fat-acceptance perspective
• Junk Food Science - old blog, not currently being updated, with a lot of good articles in its archive that question the weight loss/war on obesity paradigm

Fat Health Links

• "I Stand" Campaign - the fat acceptance community's response to shameful anti-obesity campaign in Georgia that negatively targeted fat children
• ASDAH - Association for Size Diversity and Health - ASDAH's website, one of the leading voices promoting Health At Every Size® and fighting against size bias and discrimination
• Fat-Friendly Healthcare Professionals - a list of care providers reputed to be size-friendly, submitted by ordinary people
• Australian Fat-Friendly Healthcare Professionals - same as the above, but for Australia
• Linda Bacon's Website - website of the author of Health At Every Size 
• Health At Every Size book excerpts - excerpt chapters from Linda Bacon's Health At Every Size book
• Health At Every Size Fact Sheet - quick fact sheet about HAES from ASDAH
• Health At Every Size Community Links - self-submitted links to a HAES community page
• Don't You Realize Fat Is Unhealthy? - Kate Harding's eloquent reply to the question that all fat people hear when try to step away from the weight loss paradigm
• Fat Facts Wiki - collection of information and older study citations about obesity and dieting
• Weighing the Actual Risks of Dying of Obesity - article from Junkfood Science about looking into the claims of dying early from obesity
• NIH's Active At Any Size Page - generally positive advice from the governement about becoming active at every size, including large ones
• National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance - one of the first fat acceptance organizations
• Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity - link to size-friendly images of fat folk that can be used for free online and with news stories
• Stocky Bodies - free size-friendly image library, created by fat folk themselves, in response to stigmatizing stock photos that are often used with "obesity" stories in the media
• The Illustrated BMI Project - Can you guess a person's BMI by just looking at them?  An illustrated slide show featuring pictures of real people of all different sizes
• Photographic Height-Weight Chart - chart showing photographic illustrations of different sizes of people, showing what different heights and weights look like in real life
• Bodies of Work - slide show from the New York Times, showing the diversity of size and athletic strengths of various Olympic athletes from 2012

Fat-Acceptance Books

• Health At Every Size (Linda Bacon)
• Live Large! (Cheri K. Erdman)
• Fat!So? (Marilyn Wann)
• Self Esteem Comes in All Sizes (Carol A. Johnson)
• The Obesity Myth (Paul Campos)
• Big Fat Lies (Glenn Gaesser)
• Health Risks of Weight Loss (Frances Berg)