I often tell people when the discussion comes up as to where my son will go to school (as if most people have that figured out at 11 months old) that he will not go to public school. I am then usually bombarded with how the schools in their neighborhood have high test scores or that their particular school is amazing. While I have no doubt these claims are accurate, they do not impress me.

I do not see public school as the devil. It definitely serves a purpose and for many children it is a safety net. It was for me. My public school teachers were the reasons I survived my childhood and one of them in particular still serves the role of a mother for me.

So why no public school for my child? Oh, where to begin...

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PBS Frontline has The Vaccine War available to watch on their website and you can find the full interviews that did not make it in to the report here.  Reports like this do not aid in educating the populace, especially when allegations of open bias and omission of key information are raised.  They do not encourage open discussion of multiple viewpoints and the data points in support of each of these viewpoints.  Lastly, they collapse the discussion into an US vs THEM that allows one to create misleading associations between people who have similar viewpoints as a means of discrediting them.

For example, I am a firm believer in the importance of a mobile populace who have full access to a variety of transportation options from effective public transportation to inexpensive private transportation.  In this one area, I am in agreement with the person widely believed to be the driving force behind the VW Beetle.  Outside of this one instance, our views diverge dramatically and I prefer to avoid any associations.

Squatting, in my opinion is the most valuable pose for pregnancy and childbirth. In a full squat position, your pelvis opens up about 20% more than any other position your body can be in, it shortens the birth canal, and employs gravity to encourage the baby to move down.

Squatting is important for many reasons. It helps open the hips, strengthens & stretches the thighs, elongates the spine, and can even assist in breaking up scar tissue in the cervix (caused by previous cervical procedures or previous births), in addition it can bring relaxation to the pelvic floor muscles. During labor and birth, squatting can help by opening the pubic symphysis in the pelvis making more room for the baby.