Articles by Zomi Bloom
Local View: Let your voice be heard, even when it's uncomfortable
Lately, we’ve become increasingly afraid of talking about things that are political. A glaring problem with this is that we are now avoiding topics that impact human rights, health care, diversity, and our freedoms as Americans. It’s one thing to avoid bickering at a family dinner about how one politician made a mistake or how another seems better equipped to handle foreign affairs. It’s a whole other thing to avoid talking about how policy and rhetoric are harming or helping people.
Local View: Let's demystify perinatal substance use disorder
I was attending a conference in Atlanta that brought together groups from around the country who had been awarded Health Resources and Services Administration Rural Health Network Development grants. A fellow awardee told me, “You know how when someone in our community gets a cancer diagnosis, everyone rallies around them, calls, offers support, brings food over? But when someone has a substance addiction, they are shamed and avoided?
September is National Recovery Month: Families impacted by substance use deserve loving support
In September of 2023, the Duluth News Tribune published my opinion piece: Those with substance-use disorders need support without judgment. I'm including a visual of the piece here. Substance misuse in our communities is here and real. Avoiding the topic or couching these challenges in shame and stigma hurts rather than helps. Supporting families with love leads to healing.
Using Your Five Senses to Craft a Birth Plan
Birth is an intense experience that can sometimes be overwhelming. Grounding ourselves in our senses helps facilitate birth and can enhance our capacity to navigate and cope. In crafting birth plans and preferences, I like to consider sensory input based on each birthing mother and person’s unique nervous system. Here are some ways to think about how each of the five senses can inform the structure of a birth plan. Sight.
Deficit, Exploitation, Beauty, Opportunity: Academics and Practitioners Talk Rural Health and the Rhetoric of Health and Medicine
Article Details Dialogues References References Ackerman, John M., & Coogan, David J. (Eds.). (2010). The public work of rhetoric: Citizen- scholars and civic engagement. University of South Carolina Press. Angeli, Elizabeth L. (2020). How report writing supports paramedic students’ learning. International Paramedic Practice, 10(1), 2–7. https://doi.org/10.12968/ippr.2020.10.1.2 Angeli, Elizabeth L., Jezykowski, Julia, Sinclair, Patrick, Grawey, Tom., Poltrock, James T., & Weston, Ben. (2022).
On Listening
Listening, when done right, is a full-body activity. Meaning transforms in the light of the speaker-listener relationship, and comes alive in the interpretation by an open witness. Robert Greenleaf described listening as “an attitude toward other people and what they are trying to express” (Servant Leadership). In deep listening, we assert respect and acceptance of the speaker in their full spirit and humanity.
Black Power in Birth: Three Black-led initiatives making a difference
Throughout the month of February, we see stories and images to remind us of Black contributions to American history. I don’t think celebrating Black History Month was ever intended to negate Black presence throughout the other months of the year, but honestly it feels too small. I’d been trying to think of something valuable to write during the month of February and felt stuck; there’s so much to say and so much to share.
Letting Go in Birth and Parenting
In pregnancy, birth, and parenting there’s a lot that’s out of our control. That’s an enormous mindshift at a fundamental level for many of us. But it’s a necessary mindshift for transitioning into parenting. In labor, trying to control or fight against the waves of contractions causes pain at best, and stalls labor at worst. In parenting, we can drive ourselves absolutely crazy by hanging on too tightly to outcomes.
Doulaing the Doula
Recently I was part of a social media exchange. A doula posted that she had missed a birth and explained the circumstances. The client had a rare but serious complication and had an emergency C-section before the doula could arrive. The birth professional expressed that she felt “awful” and was looking for words of encouragement, support. Being a doula is hard. Lots of jobs are hard. This one is hard in unique ways. Oftentimes, we pour our hearts and souls into our work. Things are not clear-cut.
Surviving and Thriving a Pregnant Summer (and a Little Bit on Climate Change)
In the summer of 2006 I was in my third trimester with baby Charlotte and living in South Carolina. We were near Charleston in a small town in Berkeley County and it was oppressively hot. Out of curiosity today I looked up the weather reports from that time. The South Carolina State Climatology Office published a summary of weather trends by month for that year. The report says "South Carolina baked the first week of August." A nearby Berkeley County town apparently reported 103 degrees on August 3.
When it Comes to Breech, Birthing Parents Deserve Options
Most of the time, babies in utero turn head-down, or cephalic, before they are ready to be born. But sometimes they are breech, with bottom or feet down. In the United States, nearly all breech presenting babies are birthed through Cesarean section (surgical intervention). But it doesn’t have to be this way. Breech presentation can be viewed as a variation of normal – occurring in about 3-4% of term pregnancies – and there are ways to safely support vaginal breech birth.
Centering Women of Size in Birth: "Talk to me, not at me"
Birthing women and people of size deserve no less than to be respected, honored, and wholeheartedly supported during their pregnancy and postpartum experiences. Pregnant women with higher body mass index (BMI) may be discriminated against. They may be presented with a barrage of anticipated risks rather than getting individualized support when seeking health services.
You Should Know About the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
Photo by Mediamodifier on Unsplash The federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act went into effect June of 2023. It requires covered employers to provide "reasonable accommodations" to a worker's known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions. There are some exceptions if it causes the employer an "undue hardship." You can read more about the law on the EEOC's website at What You Should Know About the PWFA.
On Nurturing Creative Children
When my kids were little but experiencing big, big emotions, I had a consistent response: Let's express that. There were ample crayons, markers, paper, and other supplies provided. The point was -- don't keep it inside; get it into the world. And use it! I drove them to dance and music classes. But not every child learns in the same way. Philip was distressed with a piano teacher who relied on a rote approach to learning.
Untitled and Unsure: Phases of parenting and becoming
I've been thinking a lot about pregnancy, birth, and new babies. This goes with the territory when you're a doula. Thinking, researching, listening, holding space for my clients. But right now I feel like I'm headed over the edge of a cliff because my own babies are growing up. You know that feeling right before you fall? (You may be especially familiar with this feeling if you live in Minnesota and have ever tried to walk down a hill after freezing rain.) That's where I am.
Work-Life Balance According to Todd
Todd came into my life when Julie adopted a kitten (after years of coaxing me). He quickly became my special little man. And that's when I realized I had officially reached middle age and saw my future unfold as a crazy cat lady. No regrets. This post is a shameless celebration of Todd couched in a popular topic -- work-life balance. Work-life balance is in and of itself an inaccurate term because it implies that work is somehow separate from life.
Bodies in Motion: Finding what feels good in pregnancy
The photo featured in this post shows her bouldering at about 5 months' gestation. Mike also proudly shares a video of Hella climbing a 5.11 at the gym, at full term and 3 days before she gave birth. (She wore a special harness to support her pregnant body for climbing.) Climbing was a way for Hella to feel alive and healthy during her pregnancy. As a doula, I look at the photos of her and see her building strength in her pelvic floor, hips, core and full body.
3 Ways of Welcoming: A framework for introducing a new sibling
One of my favorite mom memories is when little Juliana (just shy of age 3) picked up baby Charlotte from her bassinet, carried her to the living room, and plopped her on the floor. At first I thought Julie had just brought one of her dolls out to play with. Imagine my surprise when I realized it was not a doll but rather my precious newborn! Both of them seemed perfectly content, by the way.
Local View: Doulas are an important part of birth teams
World Doula Week is right now, March 22-28. Doulas provide non-medical support to improve the health of birthing people and women, newborns, and families. We work with and for the birthing person and the partner or other family support. I have been passionate about childbirth for as long as I can remember, but the need for doulas feels stronger now than ever. Birthing people in the U.S. experience poorer perinatal (before, during, and after birth) outcomes compared with other nations.
After the Endoscopy, in Which You Looked into My Guts and Found Nothing
Abstract Poem about the patient experience of a gastrointestinal disorder and diagnosis process, as well as interfacing with the medical system. Recommended Citation Bloom, Zomi (2019) "After the Endoscopy, in Which You Looked into My Guts and Found Nothing," Survive & Thrive: A Journal for Medical Humanities and Narrative as Medicine: Vol. 4: Iss. 1, Article 21.
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