#pubh340

Hey parents! I know we've all heard of helicopter parenting before: maybe you are one or maybe you had one. A helicopter parent believes that by staying hyper-vigilant over their child, they can keep them well-behaved and safe.

More often than not, helicopter parenting stems from a parent's own anxieties, rather than any real need to surveil their child. According to Parents.com, helicopter parenting can actually contribute to the onset of childhood anxiety, entitlement, and underdeveloped life skills.

But today I want to talk about another kind of parenting, something I'm going to call Medical Helicopter Parenting.

Medical helicopter parents are parents of intersex children who chose to have their child's genitals surgically modified shortly after birth. Rather than risk the uncertainties of raising a child with genitals that aren't quite male or quite female, medical helicopter parents make the drastic decision to surgically reinforce their child's sex.

While medical helicopter parents may believe they are making this decision in the best interest of their child, the reality is that their child has lost their ability to grow into their identity on their own terms. Furthermore, when that child grows up and learns that this medical decision was made without their consent, the odds that your parent-child relationship will be permanently damaged is incredibly high.

Follow this link to read about parent-child relationships in the wake of infant intersex surgeries:

The best thing that a parent of an intersex child can do is address thier own anxieties in the face of uncertainty and difference.

Lurie Children's Sex Development Clinic is a great resource for both children and parents to learn about intersex conditions and gender. They can help facilitate the development of a healthy relationship between intersex child and parent by including the child in the decision-making process and encouraging parental support.

Get comfortable with difference and find the support you need here:

If you have helicopter tendencies, just remember:

Think about the last time you upgraded your phone or replaced a laptop. It probably felt like a small decision—but what if those everyday choices actually had the power to create real, positive change?

The truth is, they do.

When you choose to recycle your electronics properly, you’re helping protect the environment in a meaningful way. Instead of toxic materials like lead and mercury leaking into the soil and water, they’re safely handled and kept out of communities and ecosystems. That means cleaner air, safer water, and healthier environments for people around the world.

Your actions can also help protect lives.

In many parts of the world, especially in lower-income countries, people are exposed to dangerous conditions while handling e-waste. But when more consumers choose responsible recycling and support sustainable practices, it reduces the amount of hazardous waste ending up in those communities. Even small decisions—like using certified recycling programs or holding onto devices longer—can help lower that risk and contribute to safer working conditions globally.

Consumers also have more influence than they realize. When people start paying attention and making more responsible choices, companies notice. Demand for sustainable products and ethical practices pushes manufacturers to improve how electronics are designed, produced, and recycled. This can lead to better policies, safer systems, and long-term solutions that benefit everyone.

There’s also a resource advantage. Electronics contain valuable materials like copper, gold, and rare earth elements that can be recovered and reused. By recycling properly, you’re helping reduce the need for new mining, which protects natural resources and lowers environmental damage.

The best part? You don’t have to make huge changes to make a difference.

Keeping your devices a little longer, recycling them correctly, and being mindful about what you buy are simple steps that add up. When millions of people make those same choices, the impact is powerful.

E-waste is a global issue, but it’s also an opportunity. An opportunity to protect communities, preserve the environment, and push for a more sustainable future.

Be honest—how many old phones, chargers, or laptops do you have sitting in a drawer right now? Or maybe you’ve tossed a few without thinking twice. It feels normal. We upgrade, replace, and move on.

But here’s the truth: nothing really “goes away.”

Every time we throw out electronics without thinking, something is lost. These devices contain toxic materials like lead and mercury. When they’re dumped or burned instead of properly recycled, those chemicals seep into the air, soil, and water. Over time, that pollution builds up, damaging ecosystems and making environments unsafe for people to live in.

The biggest loss, though, is human.

In many lower-income countries, people are left to handle our e-waste—often without protection. They break apart and burn electronics just to make a living, exposing themselves and their families to harmful chemicals. This leads to serious health problems, especially for children. And it’s not because they’re careless—it’s because they don’t have safer options.

We also lose the power to create change. When consumers don’t pay attention, companies don’t feel pressure to improve. The cycle continues: more production, more waste, more harm. And valuable materials that could be reused are simply lost, leading to even more environmental damage.

It might feel like throwing away one phone doesn’t matter—but it does. Multiply that by millions, and the impact is huge.

If we keep going like this, we’ll keep losing—healthy environments, human lives, and the chance to do better.

The question is: how much are we willing to lose before we start making different choices?

If you’re a Black birthing parent on Chicago’s South or West Side, pregnancy can feel less like a joy and more like a dangerous guessing game. Not because of anything you did, but because the nearest labor unit might be across town, the bus might be late, and the nurse at triage might not believe you the first time you say, “Something is wrong.” You might find yourself timing contractions on a crowded bus, wondering if you will get there in time and if anyone will take your pain seriously (American Medical Association, & Sinai Urban Health Institute, 2024). 

Maternal care deserts aren’t just a map problem; they’re a risk multiplier. When OB units close and clinics disappear in Black neighborhoods, people get fewer prenatal visits, face longer rides in crisis, and have more chances that preeclampsia, hemorrhage, or infection won’t be caught in time. A Chicago study listening to Black birthing people in these areas heard the same story again and again: “We didn’t know what was normal,” “No one explained what to watch for,” “By the time they took me seriously, it was already bad.” The system keeps its distance and then blames you for not seeing danger sooner (Hailu et al., al 2022).

Figure 1: Maternal morbidity, OB/GYN capacity, and OB/GYN unit closures by ZIP code in Chicago, illustrating how South and West Side neighborhoods face higher risk and lower access (American Medical Association & Sinai Urban Health Institute, 2024)

What to Do? 

That’s why our project is creating a small, plain‑language pregnancy and postpartum magazine for Black birthing parents on Chicago’s South and West Sides. It is a tool you can use so you are not left guessing alone. Instead of leaving Black birthing parents to figure out what’s serious and what can wait, it helps you and your people

Stop letting the system turn your pregnancy into a dangerous guess. Pick family, community and tell them, “You’re my emergency teammate.” Hand them the danger‑sign page, ask them to screenshot it, and make a pact, No more guessing. No more going alone. 

References

American Medical Association, & Sinai Urban Health Institute. (2024). From facilities to outcomes: A neighborhood-level examination of maternal and infant care access in Chicago. American Medical Association. https://www.ama-assn.org/system/files/maternal-health-chicago.pdf 

A plain‑language pregnancy tool for Black families on Chicago’s South and West Sides.

Every Black family has that one group chat: the cousin who sends memes, the auntie who posts church flyers, the friend who drops the “drink water and mind your business” reminders. Now imagine a version of that group chat that could literally help save a pregnancy.

That’s the energy we’re trying to bring to maternal care deserts on Chicago’s South and West Sides. Research from Chicago shows Black birthing people in high‑risk neighborhoods don’t want to rely on one rushed doctor visit; they want multiple voices, clear info, and real talk they can revisit and share. They want their partners, grandmothers, and friends on the same page so they don’t have to carry everything alone (Hailu et al., al 2022).

Image 1: ​​ Black couple sitting together on a couch reading and using written information at home, representing family support during pregnancy (Image from Shutterstock “Black family pregnant” collection, illustrative only).

Our magazine is meant to slide into the life you already live, not create a new job for you. Think of it like this:

You’re on FaceTime with your cousin who’s pregnant. Instead of just saying, “Keep me updated,” you flip open the danger‑sign page and add, “If you ever feel anything like this, like you can’t catch your breath or your vision goes funny, please call me right away so we can figure out what to do.”

Instead of pretending the hospital is the only place where health happens, we’re treating your living room, church pew, salon chair, and group chat as real health spaces where knowledge lives and spreads. 

Turn your people into your pregnancy power team. Take one page from the magazine. You don’t have to wait for the system to suddenly care more. You can turn your village into a smart, loud, organized line of defense, one screenshot, one conversation, one appointment at a time.

Reference

(alamy)

COVID-19 Vaccination

COVID-19 Vaccination rates

BIGGER IS BETTER!!!

…right?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Would you like to upgrade your drink to the Large size for just 25 cents?"

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Nowadays, especially with inflation, everyone's looking for the best bargain for their buck. But when you do the “upgrade,” do you ever ask yourself how costly that "bargain" is?

A 1986 to 2016 study revealed that fast-food restaurants have been increasing their portion sizes throughout the decades at an astonishing rate. Portion sizes have increased by a whopping (no pun intended) 226%! Your Big Mac, Whopper, or Club sandwich used to be cut in half and then sold just a few decades ago. 

But if it's more than twice the size, why are we eating so much?

A concept known as "portion distortion" explains that our hunger cues are ruled more externally than by our internal body cues to determine when we are "full."

We eat all of the food on our plate, even if we reach past “fullness.” When we order the Big Mac combo, which comes with large fries and a large soda, we are more drawn to finishing the entire burger and digging through the fries rather than listening to our bodies when we are full.

Ingesting more food than necessary can lead to an ongoing habit of overeating, which increases our risk of:

- Unwanted weight gain

- Heart disease

- Obesity

- Diabetes

- Elevated blood pressure (increased sodium intake)

- Stroke

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Don’t just have a great tasting meal or bargain,  ensure it’s not costing your body a price too.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Know your basal metabolic rate (BMR) and out the baseline amount of calories you truly need:

BMR for female-aligned bodies:

(10 x weight in kg) + (6.25 x height in cm) – (5 x age in years) – 161

BMR for male-aligned bodies:

(10 x weight in kg) + (6.25 x height in cm) – (5 x age in years) + 5

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

References