Chez Chesler

BostonHerald.com - Masha's Law Senator Kerry is pushing a bill combatting child pornography, apparently adding a cause of civil action by adults against those who download images of them as children. It has a high chance of passing because It's for the children! and it's got the name of a victimized little girl attached.

Kerry said the penalty for illegally downloading music was three times the penalty for downloading kiddie porn now. “Even though Masha’s despicable abuser is in jail and awaiting even further sentencing, the damage to Masha continues in a very real way every single day,” Kerry said.

How does possessing, downloading, or viewing an image taken of Masha years ago damage her today?

The Boston Herald reported that The Times of London reports "Big push makes little difference to the speed of a baby's delivery". As did the Austin Statesman. According to a University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas study in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (May 2005, Schaffer, J. I.; Bloom, S. L. et al) apparently published December 30, 2005,

women who were coached to push during labor fared no better or worse physically than those who were simply told to "do what comes naturally."

As Sam Lister of the Times puts it

IT HAS long been the one task seized on by nervous husbands hanging round the delivery room: coaching their wives through labour. At a loss for the vocabulary or posture for the occasion, many men resort to pacing, perching and instructing, like a neurotic cox urging on his crew.

According to new research, however, regimented coaching of a woman through childbirth, whether by a hapless husband or trained assistant, is of almost no benefit and can even increase health complications.

The Boston Herald report (undoubtably from wire services, but I couldn't find it) concludes by suggesting the new fathers stick to passing out cigars. The Times article concludes by noting that the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence in Britain says that "emotional support is vital to the mother during childbirth, improving the chances of a problem-free natural birth and reducing the need for emergency Caesarean sections. However, the institute recommends having another woman present as preferable to the father." Before I found the original, that was my objection to the Herald's version. The Statesman's article also noted that the fathers do good, quoting a midwife who said "The dads provide love and support, she said. 'They feel relieved when they're told they don't have to coach them.' " I was present at both the conceptions and the births of my three children. I took the childbirthing class with my wife. I didn't coach; I left that to the obstetrician. But I was there for emotional support, and as her dedicated advocate and helper for anything she needed. I enjoyed witnessing the birth, and welcoming the babies into the world. And after 9 months of being a very unequal partner, it was a good beginning to the next phase, which required the full efforts of both of us.