When I delivered my second child this past May, things didn't go exactly as I'd planned, which is usually how it goes, but still. I had totally intended to Twitter the whole thing. I had a brand new MotoRazr smartphone and everything. It was going to be awesome. But when the time came, it just wasn't possible. Man, was I bummed.

If you've given birth in the United States in the past three years, you are eligible to participate in The Birth Survey. Thanks to The Birth Survey: Transparency in Maternity Care, "women can now give consumer reviews of doctors, midwives, hospitals, and birth centers, learn about the choices and birth experiences of others, and view data on hospital and birth center standard practices and intervention rates." If enough women take this survey, it could have a serious impact on maternity care in the U.S.

While wondering today how I would segue into writing about model Christy Turlington and former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell's recent campaign for maternal health, I unexpectedly came across a blog post about that very subject that stopped me in my tracks and left me in tears. The post was on Single Mom Seeking by guest blogger Matt Logelin who lost his wife and mother of their child just hours after she gave birth.

This just in: childbirth can be traumatic.

I'll admit my finger is not exactly on the pulse of Hollywood happenings. I have far too much going on in my life to add celebrity watching to the list. However, when there is a natural or home birth in Hollywood (things near and dear to my heart), the news usually crosses my path one way or another. And so I was both surprised and pleased to read yesterday that Jessica Alba's new daughter Honor Marie Warren was born via a natural hypnobirth.

About nine months after I had my first child, I went (with the kiddo in tow) to my first Mothers Acting Up meeting. It was my first foray, at least post-children, into an organized activist group. While the timing wasn't right for me to become a regular member, I gleaned a piece of knowledge from that meeting that I think will always stay with me. That is that mothers as a whole are a very, very large group, and if they use their power for good, they can become a force to be reckoned with.

Ricki Lake gave birth to her second child at home, in her bathtub. Which is great, but I almost did her one better by very nearly giving birth in the front seat of my husband's car while we sped down the highway at close to twice the legal speed limit. However, almost giving birth in a speeding motor vehicle - which, can I say?

Elective inductions are on the rise in the United States, and while this means many excited mothers get to meet their babies sooner than if they waited for labor to begin spontaneously, it also means they are much more likely to meet their babies as a result of a cesarean section, which of course comes with it's own set of risks to both mother and child. According to a study linked on Birthfriend's Place to Ponder:

It is my pleasure to introduce you to my nephew, henceforth known as "The Heir to the Throne Jr" unless I forget and blog him by his real name or the nickname my mom and I were discussing for him this morning. I'll keep you posted on that.

An article in the New York Times this weekend reported that some women are being forced to pay higher health insurance premiums or are being denied insurance coverage all together if they've had a Caesarean section in their past. Peggy Robertson of Centennial, Colo., was turned down for individual health coverage by Golden Rule Insurance Company because she had given birth by c-section. No matter that she was in perfect health.

If you had asked me a few days ago what an obstetric fistula was, I'd have shrugged my shoulders and told you, "I don't know." Thanks to advances in modern medicine and in obstetric and midwifery care, fistula has been eradicated in North America for over 100 years. Although the condition has been long since forgotten here, there are at least 2 million women in Africa, Asia and the Arab region living with fistula, and some 50,000 to 100,000 new cases develop each year. These estimates are believed to be low.

On Thursday, May 15, Blogcatalog.com is challenging bloggers to Unite for Human Rights by posting words, pictures and/or videos. While the words might change from country to country and are sometimes taken for granted, human rights represent one of the universally agreed upon ideas — that all people are born with basic rights and freedoms that include life, liberty, and justice. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations.