A Midwife in North Country
Emily Bobrow for The New Yorker
This article is near and dear to me today as I await the birth of my second child. My first baby was born at home under the care of a Certified Professional Midwife, and all signs look good for another homebirth this time around. Less than 1% of births in the United States occur at home, yet the data suggests that outcomes are equally as safe, but with less risk of unnecessary interventions, for healthy women with healthy pregnancies. In wealthy countries around the world (the UK, France, Denmark) healthy women are encouraged to birth at home. Meanwhile, maternal deaths are on the rise in the U.S., a frightening trend. Birth should be the most empowering moment in a woman’s life, yet most American moms run a gauntlet of fear and trauma. I share this in hopes that I might help one woman to explore her birthing options and potentially experience the same joy that I have and hope to again in a few weeks.
5 Lessons from the ‘Witch’ of Wall Street
Karen Wallace for Morningstar
During the Gilded Age of the late 19th century, a woman named Hetty Green was one of the most powerful financiers in the world. She made the vast majority of her $100 million fortune ($2.3 billion in today’s dollars) herself, investing in railroad stocks and bonds, government bonds, and mining stocks. She also provided loans to cash-strapped businesses and bailed out the city of New York on several occasions.
Successful Women Use Intuition to Get Ahead
Barbara Stewart on Golden Girl Finance
There are many definitions and interpretations of the word intuition, but my favorite is the one that Jason Voss uses in his brilliant book, The Intuitive Investor: Intuition is “tuning into the cosmic radio station.”
Why Women Go Missing from the Workforce – And What to Do About It
Sue Bhatia for Forbes
If women must take on the role of caregiver to their aging or sick family members, they often aren’t able to commit the same amount of time or energy to their careers. This affects the workplace tremendously, as many women are forced to take time off or reduce their hours so that they can devote time to caregiving.
Women Directed 11% of Major Films in 2019, Reaching Record High
Kelly Gilblom for Bloomberg
Gender Lens Investing – A Sector Analysis
Marypat Smucker for Enterprising Investor
Gender lens investing in both fixed income and equities developed in response to evidence that companies with higher women-in-leadership (WIL) metrics outperformed on a range of financial and share price criteria.
The Bosses Who Walk the Walk on Paternity Leave
Sue Shellenbarger for The Wall Street Journal
Mindful of the benefits, many employers are expanding parental-leave offerings for men and encouraging them to take it. None is going farther than Olark, a 30-employee provider of live-chat software. Both co-founders of the company, CEO Ben Congleton and COO Matt Pizzimenti, took more than three months off with their newborns this year—at the same time.
PHOTO: ANGELA DECENZO FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
7 Women’s Health Topics We Need to Talk About in 2020
Emily Vaughn for NPR
“Because birth control has been an incredible force in the lives of women — allowing them to achieve (and even set) long-term educational goals and career goals, and achieve gains toward economic parity with men — there’s a taboo around talking about it critically, for fear that it will be taken away, and our gains with it,” says Sarah Hill, author of This Is Your Brain On Birth Control: The Surprising Science of Women, Hormones, and the Law of Unintended Consequences.
