Fertility Awareness Center - Links and Resources

Breastfeeding

STDs, Reproductive Health

Places that Support Us

Webmeisters

Fertility Awareness

Taking Charge of Your Fertility - Wonderful, comprehensive book about Fertility Awareness, and its associated website. Emphasis on pregnancy achievement but also covers contraception.

The Garden of Fertility - Another terrific book (and website) about Fertility Awareness, with more of an emphasis on health. Great chapter about using FA while breastfeeding.

Justisse - Venerable Canadian organization providing FA instruction as well as teacher training. Practitioner list on site.

Natural Fertility - This site is mostly in Hebrew but has some information in English and is run by an American expatriate.

Fertility UK - Hideous British site but worth checking out for information & downloadable charts. UK residents can find instructors here.

FAC blog - Of course I have a blog, about Fertility Awareness and related topics, with a global perspective. And you can easily subscribe, so new posts will go directly to your inbox.

Beautiful Cervix - Gorgeous photography detailing the changes that the cervix goes through during the menstrual cycle, featuring several different women in a variety of circumstances.

Pregnancy/Childbirth/Parenting

Education/information

Dawn Friedman's Work - Parenting, (cross-racial, open) adoption, infertility, and more from a talented writer.

Pushed - Sister site of the book, Pushed Birth, by Jennifer Block, both of which shed much needed light on the outrageous situation surrounding American births, where 1 out of 3 births are by C-section, and more than 2 women per day die from pregnancy or birth-related complications.

The Unnecesarean - "Pulling back the curtain on the unnecessary cesarean epidemic." Great set of birth-related links.

Doulas etc

Eden Bertrang - Aside from being an awesome doula, fertile yoga teacher, childbirth educator, etc, Eden is also a supporter of the African Birth Collective. View pics of her trip to Senegal here.

Hypnobirthing - You can search for local practitioners on this site. I particularly recommend Kathryn Beck.

Breathing Room - Family-friendly massage practice specializing in prenatal & post-partum work.

Stores, Facilities

Jane's Exchange -By providing a venue for parents to buy & sell used children's goods, this NY consignment storehelps the environment and makes outfitting your child more affordable. It's also a great community resource.

Red Tent Sisters - Combo store & educational facility, in Toronto. Teaches FA, Fertile Yoga, etc.

International Organizations

End Fistula - Obstetric fistula is a birth-related tragedy that we in the Western World have left behind. It still affects millions of women, and their families, around the world.

A Walk to Beautiful - The film tells the story of 5 Ethiopian women on a journey to be cured of their fistulas. The website has ways you can help.

Fertility/Infertility

INCIID - The InterNational Council on Infertility Information Dissemination Inc.
Large site with lots of medical information.

RESOLVE - The National Infertility Association. Primarily for support. Has a great newsletter and groups.

Fertile Hope - Helps cancer patients & survivors whose treatment threatens their fertility.

Sexuality

Betty Dodson - Mix of essays, erotica, artwork, advice, merchandise, and more from a pioneering sexologist and her partner, Carlin Ross, all very web 2.0 w/podcasts, a blog, videos, forums, etc.

Sherri Winston - Holistic sexuality from another veteran in the field (who happens to be a big woman). "Saving the world, one orgasm at a time."

The Clitoral Truth - Fascinating book by Becky Chalker. This link goes to an interview with Becky, as well as the book itself.

Babeland - Great source for toys, lube, condoms, etc. If you go to their physical stores (3 in NY and 2 on the West Coast), the staff are very knowledgable and the environment is both fun and professional at the same time -the antithesis of sleazy.

New View Campaign - Challenging the influence of the pharmeceutical industry on the public perception and understanding of sexuality.

Judith Steinhart - Health and sexuality consultant in NYC. Read about events on her blog.

Lioness for Lovers - Kim Switnicki is a great Canadian sex educator, primarily for women.

Sexuality Info for Teens

Cycle Savvy - Book about Fertility Awareness for teens, by the author of Taking Charge of Your Fertility.

Get the Facts NY - Info for teens and those involved with them (parents, teachers, etc) as well as advocacy for comprehensive sex education in NY State.

Emergency Contraception

Note that the Plan B form of emergency contraception can be purchased without a prescription by women 17 and older. Those under 17 will need a prescription. If you click on "How do I use emergency contraception" in the Planned Parenthood site you'll find a list of regular birth control pills that can be used for this purpose, along with directions.

Menstruation

Miscellany of sites devoted to menstruation:

Chart Your Cycle - Sounds like an FA site but it's really a site about, well, menstrual humor. Started out as a zine, seems to be evolving into a multi-media extravaganza.

Museum of Menstruation - Don't let the ugly site design prevent you from exploring this rich archive (curated by a man!) devoted to all things menstrual.

Washable pads

Pads4Girls- Women and girls in the global south (aka the developing world, or the third world) often lack access to to anything with which to catch their flow, a problem which sometimes prevents girls from going to school. Disposable pads (a) are too expensive in the long term and (b) add to the environmental problems these areas already face. Cloth pads can change a girl's life. Pads4Girls, a project of Lunapads, accepts donations of cash as well as pads that you can make yourself - a brilliant group project for teens. (And check out Lunapads products for yourself.)

Other environmentally-wise ways to catch your flow:

Breastfeeding

STDs, Reproductive Health

STDs

Reproductive Health

National Women's Health Network - Shapes policy, provides info to public, fights for reproductive justice. Great newsletters.

When Sex Hurts - collection of books and other resources for vulvovaginal disorders that cause pain. Features the wonderful book When Sex Hurts by Goldstein et al.

The V Book - I call this the owner's manual to your down-there. Great section on anatomy and physiology, plus entire chapters on such topics as herpes, HPV, yeast, vulvodynia, etc.

Reproductive Freedom

Haven Coalition - Network of volunteers who support women who must travel to NY for second -trimester abortions. If you don't understand why someone would be seeking a second-trimester abortion, read this 2002 article by Jennifer Block. (Note: links at end of article are now outdated.)

Women on Waves - Tries to reduce the number of women who die from illegal, unsafe abortions (8 per minute worldwide), in part by sailing to countries where abortion is illegal and providing safe ones aboard their ship.

Reproductive Justice

Reproductive justice makes the connection between reproductive health and the conditions that shape women's lives, such as socioeconomic status, race, sexuality, (dis)ability, etc.

Loving our Bodies

This section is devoted to organizations fighting hatred of and violence against women's bodies.

V-Day - What began as The Vagina Monologues has grown into an amazing organization working steadfastly and joyously toward a world without violence against women. Subscribe to their newsletter, read their website, get involved, spread the word, stop the violence.

Equality Now - Working against FGM, human trafficking, domestic violence, rape, among other issues.

vagina vérité - Thought-provoking website and soon-to-be-book about vulvas, vaginas, and our relationships to them. (Yes, lack of caps is intentional.)

I'll Show You Mine - Much like vagina vérité, this is a book of photographs of actual women's vulvas, along with text by each woman, "with the goal of debunking society's artificial standards for normalcy and beauty in female genitalia." Also interesting website.

Love Your Body Day - A project of the NOW Foundation, oriented toward young people. For an emotional roller coaster ride, check out the negative ads to make your blood boil, then check out the positive ones to feel all warm and fuzzy.

About Face - Site (and organization) fighting the media bullshit that makes women hate themselves.

Holla Back - Fighting back against street harrassment -- with cell phone cameras.

The Shape of a Mother - Massive gallery of photos and stories, so that we can see (and love) what bodies that have carried babies actually look like.

007 Breasts - I considered putting this site in the breastfeeding section, but I decided to put it here in order to honor their amazing photo gallery of NORMAL BREASTS. We have no idea what normal is anymore, in so many realms.

Our Foremothers

It's difficult to sum up the life of remarkable women in a few words. Check out these sites and others to learn more about the women whose pioneering work led the way to where we are now.

Barbara Feldman was my teacher and mentor. She was one of the first secular (non-religious) teachers of Fertility Awareness in the US. She wasn't famous, but she touched the lives of many, many people. I wish there was a website devoted to her. I do have a lot of photos, some of which I've posted here. If you would like to share remembrances of Barbara, please feel free to email them to us, and perhaps we will post them on this site.

Tamara Slayton was an artist, and also one of the first secular teachers of Fertility Awareness. She founded the Menstrual Health Foundation and collaborated with Jeannine Parvati Baker on several books. She also wrote many books of her own for children and adults.

Jeannine Parvati Baker was an author, yogini, midwife, and teacher, among other things. She is perhaps best remembered for her books: Hygieia: A Woman's Herbal, Conscious Conception (a term which has entered common Fertility Awareness parlance), and Prenatal Yoga & Natural Childbirth. There is a picture of her with Barbara Feldman here.

Barbara Seaman was an author and political activist who was one of the founders of the National Women's Health Network. Back in the 60's, she sounded the alarm about the dangers of birth control pills (which at the time were in FAR higher doses than those used now), and continued to ask questions about the chemicals commonly prescribed to women until her death in 2008.

Places that Support Us

The Continuum Center for Health and Healing is the largest facility offering integrative medical care (a blend of conventional and holistic) in the U.S. They are part of Beth Israel, and you can find a wide range of compassionate practitioners here, in a space that does not feel like a doctor's office. And they take insurance! They have graciously allowed me to teach in their space since 2003 and I don't think I would still be teaching if not for their support.

Om Wellness trains people to become Certified Holistic Nutrition Counselors, and also offers a variety of Wellness Services. Teaching there enables me to reach the people who most need to learn about Fertility Awareness - future health care providers.

The Harm Reduction Coalition is a bicoastal organization that promotes the health and dignity of individuals and communities impacted by drug use. HRC advances policies and programs that help people address the adverse effects of drug use including overdose, HIV, hepatitis C, addiction, and incarceration. When I was running the Fertility Awareness Center as a nonprofit, they were our fiscal sponsor, meaning that donations made to the FAC would be tax-deductible. I am grateful for their generosity.

Webmeisters

This website had a tremendously long and difficult birth. Webmasters came, webmasters went. Ultimately, this site owes its existence to 3 key people, all of whom I highly recommend for your graphic, design, and production needs:

Lisa Merik came up with the original design, which reflects my love of both visionary art and medieval manuscript.

Anaolga Macnaughton did a huge amount of work to add detail and functionality to the site.

Albert Mejias was the guy who finally got this baby to launch, in part by solving a technical problem which had long befuddled us. And then by fixing everything else that I didn't even know was wrong.