Lemon-Aid is a blog designed to inform and empower individuals seeking and using healthcare in their reproductive years. It especially targeted for those who have a hard time squeezing themselves into the current patriarchal mold.
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Receiving appropriate care can be especially difficult for those in recovery, members of the LGBTQIA community, those seeking an abortion, and those with a history of trauma, anxiety, or assault. This blog seeks to remove the stigma and provide those who need it with the power and resources to advocate for themselves and their family.
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With any luck, we can also provide some entertainment and good vibes!
Pregnancy
Routine prenatal care in the US is not meeting the needs of women and families. The average prenatal visit is only 15 minutes long, which is not enough time to have your questions answered.
Women and pregnant persons must turn to friends, families, books, and the internet for advice and answers.
What happens to those who don't feel safe asking their questions?
What happens to those who are brave enough to ask, but are judged, shot down, or given false information?
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Women and pregnant people with substance use or in recovery, and those coping with anxiety, depression, or trauma have many more stressors and barriers during pregnancy. They face stigma from providers and society. It's hard to locate reliable information- especially when seeking it means putting their history out there.
Beyond Pregnancy
When you're pregnant you are the shining star!
Everyone cares about you.
Everyone asks how you are.
You have so many appointments and you are at the center of all of them.
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But what about after the baby?
What about when everyone stops asking about you?
What about when it is all about the baby?
What if you're not meeting society's expectations of a "good mother"?
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What about all the things that were there during pregnancy (the anxiety, depression, PTSD, substance use, poor support), but are now 15 times worst with less time and energy to focus on a remedy.
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It sounds like a lot... Because it is!
Our classic care models are missing all of this and more.
I'll see what I can do about that.
What to Expect
Some of my favorite rants, educational tidbits, soapboxes, and high horses.
Links to helpful resources.
Support to know you are not alone.
Empowerment to remind you that you are amazing, and that you are not flawed- the system is.
How It Got Started
In all honesty- this page is the direct result of burnout, hopelessness, disappointment, and frustration with the healthcare system.
Not what you were expecting?
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In short, I was feeling incredibly sour.
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My education gave me the essentials, and my passion pushed to to take my burnout and turn it into something refreshing.
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So I decided to throw in some much needed sugar, make it my own, and mix up a little Lemonaid.
How It's Going
I started the page! So that's something I suppose.
This is where I intend to dazzle you with how everything is shaping up.Â
For now, my only audience is myself and my husband.
If you're reading this then it means I reached at least one person - so for now I'll say it's going pretty well.
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