The month of May provides reasons for celebrations. The first seven days of May included the celebrations of Cinco de Mayo, World Press Freedom Day, National Truffle Day, National Cosmopolitan Day and more. Don’t worry if you missed these, there are more celebrations ahead with Mother’s Day, National Buttermilk Biscuit Day, Stay Up All Night, Night, and many other noteworthy days this month.
Mother’s Day is Sunday May 9th. President Woodrow Wilson issued a presidential proclamation that officially established the first national Mother’s Day holiday to celebrate America’s mothers on May 9, 1914. Ann Marie Reeves Jarvis and her daughter, Anna Jarvis, are often credited with the idea of a national day to honor mothers. In the 1850s, Ann Marie Reeves Jarvis started Mother’s Day work clubs as a way to teach local women how to properly care for their children. Following the Civil War, Jarvis organized “Mothers’ Friendship Day,” where mothers gathered with former Union and Confederate soldiers to promote reconciliation. Anna Jarvis, Ann’s daughter, was inspired to organize the first Mother’s Day observances a few years after her mom’s 1905 death as a means of honoring the sacrifices moms make for their children. She would later denounce the holiday’s commercialization and spent the latter part of her life trying to remove it from the calendar.
Mothers are not limited to women who give birth to a child. Women who adopt, foster or “are like a mom” to a child play a special role in lives. Moms are often responsible for “the talk” – when parents speak to their children about sex. Or for Black parents, “the talk” is telling children and teenagers about the dangers they face due to racism or unjust treatment from law enforcement or other parties, and how to de-escalate them. As you gather with friends and family for Mother’s Day or on another spring day, consider another variation of “the talk” – talk about the reasons to get a COVID-19 vaccine!
This Weekend Reading Series begins with Scripting the Talk, with articles on how to talk to others about the vaccine. Next, check out Mom Matters, with articles on maternal health. Do not miss Not as Planned – when pregnancy and childbirth do not go as planned. Last, but not least, check out On Being Mom – and my favorite, The Lives of Others, for the real story of babies switched in the hospital at birth!
I hope you enjoy the following:
1. Scripting the Talk
- Stat: A user’s guide: How to talk to those hesitant about the Covid-19 vaccine
- Seattle Times: Coronavirus vaccine skeptics share who, and what, changed their minds
- Henry Ford Health System Staff: How To Talk To Someone Who Is Vaccine Hesitant
- USA Today: Fact check: No, interacting with a vaccinated person won’t cause miscarriage or menstrual changes
2. Mom Matters
- Independent Women’s Forum: 1.5 Million Working Mothers Sidelined By COVID-19, But For Good?
- U.S. News and World Report: Maternal Mortality Spiked in U.S. Ahead of COVID Pandemic
- The Lily: This little-known section of the stimulus bill could save mothers’ lives – more mothers die in pregnancy in the U.S. than in any other industrialized country
- Pew Charitable Trusts: States Push to Extend Postpartum Medicaid Benefits to Save Lives
- Scientific America: Racial Disparities Have Been Found in Screening for Postpartum Mood Disorder
3. Not As Planned
- The Conversation: What causes miscarriages? An expert explains why women shouldn’t blame themselves
- NPR: What To Do If You — Or Someone You Love — Is Going Through Pregnancy Loss
- Healthline: What Causes Postpartum Depression?
- University of Michigan Health: Suicide Risk During Pregnancy, After Childbirth on the Rise
4. On Being Mom
- The Atavist Magazine: The Lives of Others
- LA Times: Years after my mother’s death, I finally understand what she was trying to say
- New York Times: How’s Our Girl?’: On Loving a Foster Child and Letting Go
Enjoy the weekend!
Best,
Suzanne
Suzanne Daniels, Ph.D.
AEPC President
P.O. Box 1416
Birmingham, MI 48012
Office: (248) 792-2187
Email: [email protected]
