Learn More

For more information on some of the topics discussed in this episode, we recommend the following resources:

• CWHC’s Self-Exam Kit includes a speculum, a mirror, a flashlight, and a self-exam guide for individuals with cervixes to learn more about their body, including cervical mucus. Self-Exam Kits can be purchased online in our Corner Store.

Resources referenced in this episode:

• The 1990 Chicago Lesbian Kiss-In featured on the 10% Show: made available through the Gerber Hart Library and Archives: Midwest LGBT History and Culture website.

• The Age That Women Have Babies: How a Gap Divides America: New York Times Article by Quoctrung Bui and Claire Cain Miller, August 4, 2018.

Books on Birth, Birthing Justice, and History of Grand (Granny) Lay Midwives:

• Birthing Justice: Black Women, Pregnancy, and Childbirth edited by Julia Chinyere Oparah and Alicia D. Bonaparte

• Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty by Dorothy Roberts

• Deadly Delivery: The Maternal Health Care Crisis in the USA, a report by Amnesty International: the full 154-page report can be viewed and downloaded for free here (also available in other languages).

• Listen to Me Good: The Story of an Alabama Midwife by Margaret Charles Smith and Linda Janet Holmes

• Why Not Me: The Story of Gladys Milton, Midwife by Wendy Bovard and Gladys Milton

• The Women Who Caught the Babies : A Story of African American Midwives by Eloise Greenfield 

• Delivered by Midwives: African American Midwifery in the Twentieth-Century South by Jenny M Luke

• Motherwit: An Alabama Midwife’s Story by Onnie Lee Logan

• My Bag Was Always Packed: The Life and Times of a Virginia Midwife by Claudine Curry Smith and Mildred H.B. Roberson

• Granny Midwives and Black Women Writers, Valeria Lee

• African American Midwifery in the South: Dialogues of Birth, Race, and Memory by Gertrude Jacinta Fraser

Books on fertility awareness, understanding menstrual cycles, and reproductive health:

• A Donor Insemination Guide: Written by and for Lesbian Women, Lacy Frazer and Marie Mohler

• Taking Charge of Your Fertility: The Definitive Guide to Natural Birth Control, Pregnancy Achievement, and Reproductive Health by Toni Weschler

• The New Essential Guide to Lesbian Conception, Pregnancy and Birth, Stephanie Brill and Kim Toevs

• The Fifth Vital Sign: Master Your Cycles & Optimize Your Fertility by Lisa Hendrickson-Jack

• The Ultimate Guide to Pregnancy for Lesbians by Rachel Pepper

Books for Queer, Lesbian, and Single people attempting pregnancy or already parenting:

• Considering Parenthood: A Workbook for Lesbians, Cheri Pies

• For Lesiban Parents: Your Guide to Helping Your Family Grow up Happy, Healthy and Proud by Suzanne M. Johnson and Elizabeth O'Connor

• The Lesbian and Gay Parenting Handbook, Creating and Raising our Families, April Martin

• The Lesbian Parenting Book: A Guide to Creating Families and Raising Children by D. Merilee Clunis and G. Dorsey Green

• Pride and Joy: A Guide for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans Parents by Sarah Hagger-Holt and Rachel Hagger-Holt

• Lesbian Parenting: Living with Pride and Prejudice, Katherine Arnup

• The Queer Parent's Primer, Stephanie Brill

• The Single Parent Resource Book, Brook Noel and Art Klein

• Single Mothers by Choice by Jane Mattes

• The Complete Single Mother by Andrea Engber and Leah Klungness

Films about Birth:

• The Business of Being Born (there is a part two to this film, which is a one-season series that was made available on Netflix) 

• Bringin' in Da Spirit

• All My Babies: A Midwife's Own Story: an instructional film following granny midwife, Miss Mary Coley, and detailing the births of black people living in rural America in the 50's

• Freedom for Birth: The Mothers' Revolution - available to watch for free here with a library card

• Orgasmic Birth: The Best-Kept Secret

• The Birth Reborn: a series of 3 films about birthing in Brazil, available on Netflix

*Some of these resources can be difficult to locate. We recommend checking with your local public library for titles that might be hard to find.