“Women often serve as caregivers for their families, putting the needs of their spouses, partners, children, and parents before their own. As a result, women’s health and well-being becomes secondary. As a community, we have a responsibility to support the important women we know and do everything we can to help them take steps for longer, healthier, and happier lives.” -Womenshealth.gov

For Wellness Wednesday, we’re focusing on taking charge of your health and finding out new ways the Affordable Care Act can empower you to make the best health decisions for you and your family. Here are 10 posts with resources, advice, and news about Women’s Health and the Affordable Care Act from the MomsRising blog:

Ask an Expert: Women, Health Reform, and the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative by Ashley Wheeland

I will NOT be denied: Protect women’s health care! by Leni Preston

HERVotes Blog Carnival: What Health Care Reform Means to Women by Cindy Pearson

Healthcare Reform and Breastfeeding by Saray Hill, IBCLC

5 Ways Health Reform Supports Women by Erin Armstrong

Wellness Wednesday: Women and Heart Disease by Claire Moshenberg

It’s in the Law: Breaking Down What’s In It For You in the New Health Care Law by Thao Nguyen

How Restrictions on Health Care Funding Affect Low-Income Women’s Access to Care by Amanda Dennis

Women’s Health, Worth Fighting For by Avis Jones-Deweever

Top 5 Tips for Working and Breastfeeding by Bettina Forbes

While pregnant, what did I need the most—that is, besides a foot massage? Maternity care, of course. My prenatal visits reassured me that my pregnancy was progressing as it should and my insurance allowed me to use the provider of my choosing, labor in the setting I wanted, and get the emergency care I ultimately needed. Unfortunately, only 12 percent of plans in the individual health insurance market currently offer maternity coverage. Thankfully, starting in 2014, Obamacare will require all new health plans to cover maternity care as the essential health service that it is.

Needing an emergency C-section was the first sign that I was no longer calling the shots. It’s fine if my son has his own plans, but not the insurance industry. Insurers currently can deny women coverage for specific health services or entire plans due to gender-related “pre-existing conditions” such as Cesarean sections, breast cancer, domestic violence, and sexual assault. The idea that my surgery could disqualify me from obtaining coverage on the open insurance market is both absurd and deeply offensive. But this discriminatory practice becomes illegal under Obamacare in 2014.

After my son was born, my pediatrician’s office began to feel like a second home with the amount of time I had to spend there his first year. I am lucky enough to have a low co-pay that I can afford, but for far too many families those co-pays are not just a minor inconvenience. Obamacare ensures that families can afford to bring their children in for vaccinations and other routine visits by eliminating cost sharing, such as co-pays or deductibles, for well-baby and well-child care.

Whoever said breastfeeding comes naturally? Like so many of my peers, I was surprised to encounter all sorts of difficulties with nursing. I relied heavily on my local breastfeeding center to help me diagnose and address the problems I had, an expensive but incredibly helpful service. Had I not been able to afford those hefty out-of-pocket fees, there is no way I could have continued nursing my son, providing him with valuable antibodies and nutrients and strengthening the mother-child bond. The good news is that this August, nursing mothers in new health insurance plans will receive no-cost coverage for lactation supports that include counseling and equipment.

Nursing moms who return to work also will benefit, as I did, from the requirement that large employers provide breaks and a private space for expressing breast milk. I was very thankful for this provision, especially when I heard the horror stories of women who were forced to pump in a bathroom stall or in their cars—or those who were fired for requesting pumping breaks. With such obstacles in place, it is no wonder that only 36 percent of U.S. infants are breastfed past six months, even though the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends nursing through the first year. Obamacare should help that rate finally improve.

Despite these amazing benefits and more, the health reform law is under siege. It risks being overturned by the Supreme Court or repealed by conservative politicians. This Mother’s Day, let’s give moms a gift that is truly important and will really last. Let’s do everything we can to make sure Obamacare is fully implemented and remains the law of the land.

Cross posted with author permission from RH Reality Check.

A Rachel’s Network report entitled “When Women Lead: A Decade of Women’s Environmental Voting Records in Congress,”  compares the environmental voting records of Congresswomen and Congressmen from the 107th through the 111th Congress.  The conclusion:  in both houses of Congress, whether red or blue, women are greener!

Here’s Annie’s personal account of a moving conversation:

How did a girl raised and hardened on the streets of New York City become a passionate environmentalist, geeky master gardener and full-fledged compost queen? I read Rachel Carson’s bestseller, Silent Spring.

Overnight, I became a Rachel Carson groupie and went searching for my teammates. I found them at Rachel’s Network, a nonprofit that builds productive alliances among women funders who care deeply about the environment and women’s leadership.  These impassioned leaders and agents of change have collected the latest statistics showing that women are uniquely positioned as environmental stewards and that women in policy-making positions will vote to protect the environment more than their male counterparts.

This is all swell, you may be thinking. We can stop worrying about clean water, safe food and the ubiquitous barrage of industrial and agricultural chemicals. But American women account for only 23 percent of state legislators and 17 percent of Congress, and the United States ranks 73rd in the world in gender parity in governance.

I contacted Laurie Syms, co-director of Rachel’s Network, to ask how both women and men could earn some badly needed extra-credit points from Mother Earth.

To read Laurie’s answers to Annie’s thoughtful questions, see their interview in the Huffington Post, or learn more about ways The 2012 Project is propelling women into the political pipeline here.

And as you celebrate Mother’s Day, consider the influence you could leverage by running for office yourself.  Whether you’re most moved by education issues, toxic chemicals, family-friendly workplaces, or health care for kids, there’s no more effective way to effect lasting change than by setting the policy agenda yourself.

Don’t get me wrong:  breakfast in bed is dandy.  But a seat at the decision-making table is invaluable!

The answer is, as soon as you have a baby, YOU ARE MOM ENOUGH!

TIME is sadly out of touch with what Moms really want. It’s time to ask, “Are we Mom-friendly enough?”

In my circle of “Mom” friends, we largely think that the “Mommy Wars” are over. Until, of course, some stupid news outlet uses the Mommy War to try and sell magazines. We trust that the choices that you made about parenting your children were made based on the information that you had at the time. “We do better, when we know better” is a phrase we often share with each other as we gather new information and work to improve our lives and the lives of our children.

But the question is not the only insult. The cover photo is also offensive. Not because the mother is breastfeeding an older child, but because the picture does not represent the actual relationship that this mother has with her child.  To the many mothers, physicians, and public health advocates, who have strived to bring breastfeeding back into the mainstream, it is offensive to have such an exploitative and staged photograph become emblem of what is a normal part of motherhood.

In my 12 years of motherhood, having breastfed all my children into preschool, I have never seen another mother of a toddler or preschool aged child, pull up a chair, stand like a mudflap girl and nurse her child, while gazing off into the knowing eyes of the camera. I wonder how this picture would have looked if there was a little girl standing on that chair, as opposed to a very boyish boy?  Typically, mother’s who are extended breastfeeding an older child, reserve their nursing for the needs of the child, not the needs of the photographer.

I have seen mothers, whose children have fallen down, with a bloodied knee, comfort their children with nursing. I have seen mothers of children with severe diarrhea, comfort and hydrate their children with nursing. I have seen mothers of children, who have been scared and frightened, comfort and love their children with nursing.

I am not opposed to the beautiful pictures of women nursing older children, as was represented within the article and video, but the cover photo that TIME chose was intended to inflame and misrepresent.  TIME’s use of this inauthentic representation of what extended nursing “looks like” is simply a lie.

Some families choose to breastfeed beyond infancy because of the evidence-based health and neurological benefits. Yes, I said families, because very frequently, it is the fathers that see, support and promote the nursing relationship.

But the reality is that many women never breastfeed beyond the first weeks of life, because of the many barriers that prevent them from achieving their dream. Women need accurate and timely information, not hypersexualized hyperbole.

TIME, here are the questions you should have asked:

-                Where can we get the best information to make an informed choice?

-                Are we supporting a Mom’s choice to breastfeed for 1 minute, 1 day, 100 days or 1000 days?

-                When are we going to get paid maternity & paternity leave?

-                How can we get more flexible work options?

-                How can we ensure our children are educated?

-                How can we get health care?

-                When will we expand lactation accommodation rights for all working women?

-                Are we providing Moms with real food to feed their children?

-                Are we supporting families in the workplace to parent their children?

If you are ready to opt out of the Media-Industrial Mommy War Complex, please join us here.

Here’s a hilarious Mother’s Day fantasy just for you!

Click here: http://www.momsdaycard.com/index2.php

Happy nearly Mother’s Day!!!

- Kristin, Joan, Monifa, Elisa, Ashley, Nanette, Sarah, Julie, Sarah, Anita, Ruth, Claire, Donna, Mary, and Gloria

We are powerfully, substantially, fully “Networked Moms.”

Increased Internet access, coupled with new communication technologies–like Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and even emails– allows women to reach dozens, hundreds, thousands, even millions of other women at one time with a quick press of a button.  It’s an unbelievably fast moving tool that significantly accelerates communication, education, organizing, and impact.

One example of these rapidly growing networks is the fast growth of MomsRising due to networked friends telling friends: We started with just a handful of members in 2006, and we’ve grown to over a million members today.  MomsRising’s highly trafficked blog and social media networks have also grown at a fast pace. We’re delighted to share that MomsRising now has over 700 bloggers, including Congresspeople, Cabinet Secretaries, moms with amazing personal stories, policy experts, and more. There’s an amazing variety of well-written perspectives, resources, and action links in ONE place: The MomsRising blog. 

Networked moms are powerful and we’re everywhere.  And we Networked Moms are creating our own new media online– and are bringing forward topics that have too long been ignored in traditional media outlets.

So in celebration of the growing power of Networked Moms to bring forward critically important topics, for Mother’s Day we’ve gathered together the most popular recent blogs posted on MomsRising right here (Scroll down this page to check it all out).

Click here!

How to Make a Superhero Cape by Lara from HowDoesShe

Food Revolution! A Blog Carnival On School Food and Fighting Childhood Obesity, Diabetes by Monifa Bandele

Mother Takes on Monsanto, Wins Global Prize by Kristin Schafer ***Shared over 1,000 times on Facebook!

The Real View of Free Formula Samples—Open Your Eyes by Melissa Bartick, MD ***Shared over 1,000 times on Facebook!

The Story Behind My Film “Entre Nos” by Paola Mendoza

Coke Turns 125: Why I’m Not Celebrating by Mike Jacobson

130 Death Row Inmates Have Been Found Innocent Since 1973: Troy Davis’ Execution is Set for Tomorrow  by Monifa Bandele ***Shared over 1,000 times on Facebook

Wal-Mart’s Sick Sick Day Policy by Katie Bethell

It’s Not a “Mommy War,” It’s a War on Moms by Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner

The Execution of Troy Davis–A Mother’s Story by Martina Davis-Correia

TIME: Ask the RIGHT Questions! by Genevieve Colvin

These gains have not happened in a vacuum, but have occurred because of strategic and collaborative work of policy advocates, state and federal leaders, and concerned citizens, like moms and dads.  A new publication  just released by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation  and Mathematica Policy Research on the impact of children’s health care coverage advocacy in the states provides valuable insights and lessons about how we can continue to work together effectively on behalf of our nation’s children.

These gains are not abstract.  They’ve made our children healthier and our families more economically secure. For example,  MomsRising member Linda writes,

“My son with Down syndrome had open heart surgery this past summer, without Medicaid, the out of pocket cost would have forced us to sell our house.  We shouldn’t have to choose between medical attention or our home for our children.”

And MomsRising member Kassandra writes,

“My son was born at 40 weeks and 6 days. I expected a completely healthy normal baby when he arrived. Instead, I got a baby with blood sugar issues and possible NEC. I watched as a new mother as my son was poked and prodded, had x-rays and many other tests done. 10 days later he was given a bill of good health and allowed to leave the NICU. Those were so very scary days but I would have been even worse had I not had Medicaid to help our already struggling new family. His bill for those 10 days was over 30,000 dollars. My husband and I both work but that would have broken us. Financially, emotionally and physically trying to work like a dog to pay it off month by month. We are forever grateful to Medicaid for helping us bring home a happy healthy baby and not putting us into debt.”

These stories and the data about coverage demonstrate that we’re on the right track and we need to keep these programs strong.  Success in children’s health coverage can provide a roadmap for other advocates working to secure a better future for our nation’s children.

This Mother’s Day, let’s celebrate the power of our nation’s families to ensure that every child has the access to the health care they need for a healthy start in life.

To find out more about health care coverage available in your state, check out www.healthcare.gov.

Photo credit: Photo by Flickr user ECohen

In honor of Mother’s Day, we’re celebrating some new protections and guidelines for nursing mothers in the workplace. The new Reasonable Break Time for Nursing Mothers rule will help an estimated 19 million women of childbearing age.

What does the Reasonable Break Time for Nursing Mothers amendment cover?

It requires employers to provide:

Reasonable break time: This is enough time to express milk as needed. Your break time does not have to be paid; though, if you have paid breaks and use your paid break to pump, you should be compensated as usual.

A private, non-bathroom place for nursing mothers to express breast milk during the workday: The space does not have to be a dedicated breast feeding space—but here’s what it does need:

• Shielded from view
• Available when needed
• Free from intrusion from co-workers and the public

Space: The mother should be provided with a space to store her equipment, and a cooler for her expressed milk.

Are you eligible?

The Reasonable Break Time for Nursing Mothers law does not apply to all mothers; it’s for FSA nonexempt employees. Not sure if that includes you? Typically, nonexempt employees refers to employees who are:

• Hourly workers (Retail, restaurants, etc.)
• Non-salaried
• Subject to overtime laws in Section 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act

If you’re still not sure, check your paystub or talk to your employer to determine your status.

Here are a few more eligibility factors to keep in mind:

• The age of your child matters: This law applies to women who are pumping for babies up to one year of age.
• If your company has less than 50 total employees, they may qualify for an undue hardship exemption. If they have shown that compliance would cause “significant difficulty or expense when considered in relation to the size, financial resources, nature, or structure of the employer’s business,” they may not have to comply.

I’m not eligible. What do I do now?

• Look up state laws: If you’re not a nonexempt employee, look into your state’s laws: Some states have their own, similar policies.
• Share these resources: The Business Case for Breastfeeding is an excellent set of materials from womenshealth.gov that shows employers the benefits of supporting breastfeeding employees, and shows employers the best ways to offer support.

I am eligible, but my employer isn’t complying. What do I do?

Use this guide on the Department of Labor/ Wage and Hour Division website to help you file a complaint.  When you’re ready to file, call the toll-free WHD number 1-866-487-9243.

Additional Resources:

“Top 5 Tips for Working and Breastfeeding“ by Bettina Forbes

“FAQs: Break Time for Nursing Moms” from the United States Breastfeeding Committee

Fact Sheet #73: Break Time for Nursing Mothers under the FLSA, from the Department of Labor

***Want to keep celebrating Mother’s Day before the big day this Sunday? Celebrate with us this Thursday, May 10, at 12 PM PT/3 PM ET by joining MomsRising, Mocha Moms and Mamiverse for a Tweetchat with the White House! We’ll be celebrating moms and you’ll have a chance to share your stories, questions and comments with us and senior White House officials. Use #MomsatTheWH to join the party!

All of this made me jump at the opportunity to see the French presidential candidates (the runoff between President Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist candidate François Hollande will take place on Sunday) speak on women’s issues during an event co-sponsored by my school and ELLE magazine. I was curious about the topics that interest French women – would they diverge from American women’s concerns or are some things universal?

The short answer? A bit of both. French women face a wage gap of 20% [1], compared to 23% for American women [2], which surprised me in a country that dedicates so many resources to support mothers as they transition in and out of the workforce.

Another concern that the candidates sought to address: childcare. The main concern here, however, was not cost – as is often the case in the US – but space. The cost of education in France is largely shouldered by the state and daycare is no exception: for the American equivalent of a preschool or daycare center, parents pay between 3-6% of their income, depending on the number of children they have. [3] Recently, however, due to budget cuts, there has been a shortage of available spots in these public daycare centers and parents, forced to go with other, more expensive options, are struggling to make ends meet.

The difference that I found most striking, though, was in the debate surrounding contraception. The French long ago resolved the debate about whether contraception should be covered by health insurance; apparently, there was little debate on the issue at all and now the vast majority of the population considers access to insurance-covered contraception to be a matter of course. The latest debate was on whether minors should have access to contraception and if so, how best to make it available to them. But even this question didn’t raise as much debate as I would have expected: centrist candidate François Bayrou said, “Contraception is prevention” and nearly all of the candidates were in support of giving minors access to it.

It’s easy to complain about French bureaucracy (why do I always seem need three copies of stamped, signed, and sealed documents to get anything done?), but it just makes sense to support mothers and families through policies on childcare, healthcare, education, and more – the US could learn from this. I just hope that the next president (both in France and in the US) will make real some real progress on closing the wage gap.

[1] http://www.inegalites.fr/spip.php?article972&id_mot=146

[2] http://www.nwlc.org/our-blog/state-wage-gap-data-show-little-or-no-improvement-2008

[3] http://www.famili.fr/,combien-ca-coute,643,16774,3

“I feel like I’ve been in the eye of a perfect storm of messages about the need to walk,” says Anita Jackson, Social Media Director at MomsRising. “From articles detailing how my sedentary lifestyle is killing me to a hilarious Funny or Die video featuring the West Wing cast walking and talking about walking, everywhere I turn I’ve heard it: Walking is the way of the future. Really!”

Anita’s insight is spot on! West Wing fans have been spreading this Funny or Die reunion video like wildfire this week, and among my coworkers, it’s inspiring a mini-walking revolution. Anita was inspired to take a walk today, she inspired me to take a walk, and now we want to inspire you to incorporate walking into your fitness routine, if you can.

Why walking? According to the American Heart Association, exercising for as little as 30 minutes a day can reduce your risk for heart disease. They’ve set up a whole website dedicated to encouraging you to incorporate 30 minutes of walking into your day. Everybody Walk, a new campaign to promote walking, says that walking will improve your overall health by reducing your risk for cancer, depression, and other diseases. Research shows that regular exercise can “improve your mood, decrease anxiety, and improve sleep.”

It’s easy! Take a few simple proactive steps to create a basic walking plan.

• Find 30 minutes: I know, this can seem impossible. But the examples in the video are true: You can find a 30 minute block of time, or three 10 minute blocks of time, or 10 three minute blocks of time, whatever works for your schedule.
• Find new routes: Everybodywalks.org has a new app that helps you find walking paths and track paths you’ve already taken. The American Heart Association also has a guide to help you identify new walking paths in your neighborhood.
• Find a walking buddy: You can use your walk as a time to socialize with friends, family, and neighbors, or you could make new friends through a local walking group! Everybodywalks.org has information to help you find walking groups, while the American Heart Association has a tool to help you locate walking groups in your area or set up a group of your own. You can also find walking groups on Meetup.com or through local mom message boards.
• Don’t be too hard on yourself: Not sure you have time for a 3o minute walk today? That’s okay! Start with 10 minutes. Pay attention to times in your day when you might be able to fit in a walk. Try your best, and don’t be too hard on yourself. Just walking a couple minutes is a step in the right direction (pun very much intended)!