It took a $610,000 lawsuit settlement for the NYPD to change its rule allowing police to shackle pregnant suspects even during labor and delivery.
Back in February 2018, the New York City Police Department cuffed the wrists and ankles of a 27-year old pregnant Bronx woman they arrested for a domestic dispute that had occurred 6-months prior to the arrest.
Doctors appealed to an NYPD supervisor to remove the restraints, arguing that they posed a serious danger to the mother and baby, but were denied and forced to conduct their examinations while the woman’s feet and hands were bound.
Per an NY Post article about this, moments before the delivery “a growing chorus of outraged doctors convinced the NYPD to remove her shackles” — but cops slapped the cuffs back on immediately after the birth, the suit says.
The woman struggled to feed her new baby with one arm cuffed to a hospital bed.
“The NYPD anticipates amending its patrol guide to better address safety and medical concerns associated with arrestees in late stages of pregnancy as well as the exceptional circumstance of safeguarding an arrestee through childbirth and until their arraignment,” NYPD spokeswoman Sophia Mason said in a statement toThe New York Post on Friday.
The Police Department would not elaborate on precisely how the policy will change.
Last week, a judge signed off on the $610,000 settlement between the city and the unnamed woman.
City jails severely restricted the use of restraints for laboring inmates in 1990, and federal prisons followed suit in 2008, the papers state.
Model Slick Woods was told after suffering two miscarriages in her youth that she would never have children, naturally, so she didn’t think she was pregnant when an agent told her she was looking chubby in her bikini at Coachella last year.
It turns out she was well into her third trimester!
In a feature for Vogue back in February, Woods wrote about her surprise pregnancy, and shared that after that exchange with her agent, she visited the doctor and learned the news.
“A few appointments later, a nurse was doing a sonogram,” she continued. “There he was: my son. I started crying tears of joy. I had life in me, and felt like I understood the true power of my body for the first time. If I could bring another human being into this world, nothing was out of reach.”
She eventually decided to get a doula and in and interview with Elle UK said why she picked singer Erykah Badu for the job. She had always loved the “Baduizm” singer’s profile as a mother.
“She’s a mommy role model. A mother I look up to, who kills her shit and is a boss-ass bitch,” Woods said of Badu.
A lot of people are now learning that Badu has brought a lot of babies in teh world. The neo soul queen talked about her doula life in a 2015 interview with Pitchfork.
“I became a doula by default,” Badu said at the time before opening up her own practice. “A home birth is about being able to create exactly what you want, because it’s such a violent moment inside of the body that you want everything else to be as beautiful as it can be. So I started studying to be a doula and got my certification in 2011 and now I’m in training to become a midwife. I’m almost there and before I know it I’ll be able to open my own practice, if that’s what I desire.”
And if that isn’t enough, singer, business mogul and actress Rihanna unknowingly helped usher Woods into labor.
By the time Woods was ready to give birth, she had already made news by walking in NYFW shows while pregnant.
She was walking for the Fenty X Puma collection and eventually had to be rushed to the hospital room to deliver her baby boy.
As Hip Hop Hollywood writes, it was in September 2018 when Woods was at the end of her pregnancy when she was modeling in one of Rihanna’s shows wearing what she describes as “pasties, thigh-highs, stilettos, and not much else,” when then 22-year-old went into labor.
“My last memory before going into the hospital is of Rihanna spanking me with a whip,” Woods recalled. “I was already 2cm dilated when I left the show, and I was in labor for another 18 hours.”
In that Vogue piece, Woods wrote about FaceTiming Badu during the birth, the only person there along with the father of her child and her agent.
Badu convinced her to return to the hospital after Woods had talked herself out of having an emergency hospital birth.
“Every day since, my son has healed me, invigorated me – and helped me come to terms with my past,” Woods says. “I never had a normal family. Now I’ve created my own. Who knew you could miss someone your whole damn life without ever having met them?”
You wouldn’t think that hashtags like #pottytrain, #naptime, #splishsplash and #kidsswimwear used in captions of innocent photos parents share in social media should be avoided, but they should because they attract child predators and pedophiles.
A republished story in Good Morning America today includes a list curated by a non profit child advocacy groups of over 100 hashtags that parents should avoid using in social media. The list was initially released in January as part of the group’s @kidsforprivacy campaign that launched in 2018.
Child Rescue Coalitionis an organization that aims to protect all children from sexual exploitation.
One way they do that is through the Child Protection System (CPS) — “technology that provides the most comprehensive view of where child predators around the world are downloading and sharing explicit content online -— leading to direct action,” according to the web
“To a normal person and normal friends photos picture on the beach that’s cute to us cute to us might be seen very differently by predators,” CEO and founder, Carly Yoost told GMA. “Child predators not only use the Internet to distribute pornography, but also to stalk children, share information, and trade tips and techniques on how to seduce and lure them into sexual encounters.”
After Marshae Jones was shot in the stomach, she lost her pregnancy.
Now, a grand jury has indicted her for manslaughter in the death of her unborn fetus, while declining to hand up a criminal indictment against Ebony Jemison — the woman who shot her during a scuffle between the two women.
Despite the grand jury indictment. prosecutors in Jefferson County, Alabama insisted this week that they had not yet made a decision on whether to charge Jones with manslaughter.
Still, the highly-unusual proceedings have sparked outrage across a state where this year, the governor signed into law the most restrictive state abortion ban in the nation.
In a statement issued by the Jefferson County Bessemer Cutoff District Attorney‘s office said that the grand jury had included in its conclusion that the fault in the incident rested entirely with Jones, who was five months pregnant at the time.
“The grand jury, based on the facts presented, determined that Ms. Jemison acted in self-defense and did not warrant charges against her, and that Ms. Jones should face charges for her actions resulting in the death of her unborn child.”
Hmmm… Is this a trend of celebrities naming their baby girls after their dads?
Could be! As the institutional memory in celebrity pregnancy online content, I have noticed a pattern.
Vanessa and Kobe Bryant chose to name their newest arrival, daughter Capri Kobe Bryant.
Two years ago, tennis ace and newest Wheatiesbox cover model Serena Williams named her daughter after her husband, who famously has a name that is usually given to a girl anyway: Alexis.
Alexis Olympia Ohanian, Jr. is named after dad, Reddit co-founder and investor Alexis Ohanian. (She boasts over a half a million followers on Instagram)
Similarly, NBA star Imani Shumpert has a unisex first name that usually is given to girls and thus it’s not a stretch to have his daughter with singer, model and dancer Teyana Taylor be named Imani Shumpert, Jr. (though she is affectionately nicknamed “Junebug” and has 444K followers)
I must admit, the “Junior” at the end adds an extra layer of “kicking conventionality in the buttocks” to me! Gotta love it!
Who else? Add to the list and join the convo at @Bellyitchon Facebook under this post!
This month, Boston vets found 19 pacifiers in the belly of a family dog.
According to Dr. Doug Bruma, the primary primary veterinarian of the three-year old bulldog named Mortimer, had been consuming the pacifiers since April.
The owners, including mom Emily Shanahan, didn’t notice the missing pacifiers but instead took note when Mortise got sick.
Bruma’s veterinary hospital Angell Animal Medical Center removed the pacifiers using a medical scope that did not require surgery. Mortimer recovered and is back at home.
Rapper Yung Miami, one half of the southern rap duo City Girls, gave an energetic performance this weekend whilst in her second trimester of pregnancy at the BET Awards on June 23rd at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, Ca.
The song is off the group’s second album “Girl Code” featuring label mate Cardi B on the hit song “Twerk”.
Their other label mates include Migos, Stefflon Don and Lil Yachty.
Watch below:
Yung Miami has a son named Jai, born in 2013, from a previous relationship with ex Jai Wiggins. Southside has 5 children from previous relationships.
Though the group is a duo, Yung Miami has had to hold it down her partner JT, (Jatavia Johnson) who is currently serving a sentence for credit card fraud in Florida.
According to the group’s management, and their label Quality Control CEO, Pierre “Pee” Thomas, JT is set to be released from prison by the end of the summer.
Her initial release date was slated for March 21, 2020. In a recent interview with HipHop-N-More, the QC co-founder revealed that JT is due to be released soon, saying, “will be home within the next 90 days.”
Yung Miami’s mom Keenya Young is also serving a sentence for vehicle manslaughter following a high speed chase after she and another man were caught stealing designer bags at Macy’s.
Both girls’ stories are a testament to using talent to escape a rough path and life.
Streaming is changing the way people are entertained and interestingly, making an impact on the Summer blockbuster.
Big Movies on Big Screens
Actually, the idea of the summer blockbuster came of age in the 1970s.
Movies like Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and of course Star Wars were as big as today’s movies that center around an epic costumed hero.
In those days the blockbuster was even more of a windfall for the theaters than it is now, as fans who wanted to see the movie again and again had no choice but to go back to the theater.
Scale models, robotic cameras, and many other innovative techniques brought these movies to the big screen.
Therefore, lavish character-based movies in realistic settings like Tootsie or When Harry Met Sallycontinued to be a staple because they were less taxing to make and there was still a perceived difference in production values and viewer quality experience between the theater and standard definition TV.
Today, extensive CGI special effects are common and virtually required if a movie will become a box office hit.
Character-centric movies like A Star is Born, with executive producer Heather Parry and others, seem to be the exceptions, when actors with star power like Lady Gaga can draw people to the theaters.
Big (and Small) Screens at Home
The traditional theater faces two formidable challenges today.
First, modern TVs with 4K video provide an experience that some actually prefer to the theater, even for the blockbusters.
Second, the viewing habits of younger viewers are increasingly fragmented. Many are content to watch on screens as small as their phone.
Because of these facts, character-driven comedy or light drama are increasingly going straight to video.
Given that a lot of viewers browse their phone and look at social media even when they’re watching, there is a lot of pressure for the non-action movie to stand out because subtle plot nuances are lost in the noise of distractions.
It’s difficult to say what all this holds for the future of movies that aren’t about heroes with tights and capes.
If another movie like “Remains of the Day” is made in the future, it’s much more likely to be direct to television.
Although most people are probably aware of the dangers of drinking alcohol while pregnant, the same threshold has not been reached yet with regards to marijuana use. A new study shows that marijuana use during pregnancy continues to rise among moms-to-be in the United States. In fact, the numbers indicate that use has more than doubled between the years 2002 and 2017.
The new research was published in theJournal of the American Medical Associationand analyzed data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, according to CNN. To get to their findings, researchers looked at information from 4,400 pregnant women and 133,900 non-pregnant women aged 12 to 44. Questions asked related to past-month marijuana use, the number of days it was used, and whether it was used daily or near-daily. Researchers defined that as more than 20 days per month.
Overall, according to the study, marijuana use during pregnancy increased from 3.4 percent in 2002 to 7 percent in 2017. And for just the first trimester, use increased from 5.7 percent to 12.1 percent in the same time period.
It’s something that is often easier said than done for a lot of us out here running the rat race that is life.
But believe it or not, there is science to back over 100 theories of things that make us happy or happier.
Mindful assembled a list of over 100 things that we can do to be happier people. In this post, I excerpt 14 of the tips that have worked for me below and I try to implement in my life.
Have at Least 10 Good Friends
A survey of more than 1,700 individuals found that people who have 10 good friends or more were happier than those who had less.
Conducted by Nottingham University, data collected suggest that having less than 6 friends made you more likely to be unhappy than happy. Meanwhile, those who had between 6 and 10 friends could swing either way.
The findings show that friendship is a key predictor of happiness. Whether the friends you have come from childhood, work or just recently acquired, it didn’t matter.
The study also suggests that the more friends, the more likely you are to be happy.
It did mention however, the potential danger of having too many friends. Doing so may result in not having enough time to nurture all the relationships. In which case, you’d end with many friends you weren’t close with.
These less meaningful relationships didn’t really provide as much value as good friendships.
Engage in Meaningful Conversations
There’s nothing wrong with small talk. In fact, it’s often fun.
But if you’re looking to get to know someone, build a more meaningful relationship and make yourself happier, skip the chit chat.
Instead, spend more time having meaningful conversations.
A study by the University of Arizona reveals that more substantive conversations led to feelings of satisfaction. Following 80 individuals and their conversations over a 4 day period, researchers found that spending less time with small talk and engaging in more meaningful conversations resulted in higher levels of well-being.
It findings also show that those who spend more time talking to other people rather than being by themselves were also happier.
The observations bring us back to the point that human beings are social creatures. And a happy life is intrinsically linked to spending time with others instead of solitude.
Talk About the Things that are Bothering You
Talking about something that’s bothering you lets it off your chest. This helps relieve the tension from within.
In a review of 11 studies covering more than 1,500 patients, talk therapy was found to be just as effective as antidepressants in treating depression.
Apparently, it isn’t just the things that are troubling you that you can talk to others about.
Research also suggests that talking about positive things like achievements and memorable moments likewise boost our mood.
The study did 5 small experiments to see how sharing positive news in various ways affected happiness.
In all the trials, sharing good experiences boosted satisfaction and happiness levels. However, the effects hit their highest point when the listener provided an active-constructive response.
This tells us that the person you share to is just as important as the sharing itself.
In addition, it’s not always easy to open up to someone, much less to someone who you aren’t close to or who won’t be able to give you the response you need.
Try New Things
While getting over your fear or anxiety of trying something you’re not sure of can be frightening, science offers evidence that new experiences and adventures make us become happier.
In analyzing over 500 diaries and 30,000 event memories, Winston-Salem University psychologist Rich Walker discovered that people who engaged in different types of experiences were more likely to retain positive emotions and minimize negative ones compared to those who had less experience variation.
Plus, trying out new things and experiences opens us up to learning and growing as a person. Who knows, you may turn out to really like whatever it is you decide to try.
But what if you aren’t the curious or adventurous type?
Carnegie Mellon scientists observed that there are a few characteristics that influence the willingness to explore. These include:
Availability (removing obstacles, being responsive and open),
non-interference (not doing anything to jeopardize the curiosity or activity) and
encouragement (accept and take on the challenge)
These are some characteristics you can try to work on to make yourself experience different things.
Ditch Warm Showers for Cold Ones
If you’re a fan of warm showers, you may want to switch to cold ones for its health benefits.
A study conducted by the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine discovered that taking cold showers help reduce depression. Exposure to cold promotes the increase of neurotransmitters in our brains that helps improve mood.
In addition to boosting happiness levels, cold showers have also been scientifically shown to improve circulation and respiration. It likewise reduces muscle inflammation, fatigue and helps you lose weight.
Learn Something New
For some reason, the older we get, the less inclined we are to try and learn something new.
I’m not sure why it is, but I’ve noticed that in myself, my parents and many other people.
While staying in our comfort zone may feel good, going out and learning something new lets us become happier in the long run.
In addition to the possibility of attaining a promotion, getting a raise or just being more independent, research shows that this sense of accomplishment and achievement lead to increased happiness and well-being.
The study, performed by psychologists at San Francisco State University, found that participants who learned something felt happier and more satisfied when they looked back at the experience, even if during the time they were learning it caused them added stress.
In addition to the new skill you get, increased competency brings with it self-confidence and resilience.
Get Rid of Clutter
We’re all probably guilty of having clutter at some degree or another. It’s easy to leave stuff lying around.
But science tells us that doing so actually increases stress levels and leads to irritability.
A 2012 UCLA study found that many homes suffer from too many things, to the point that their garages and driveways were stuffed with extra belongings.
Also, cleaning up or putting the items in place led to elevated stress hormones for mothers.
According to Princeton University researchers, having a lot of clutter in the office or your desk not only makes you more irritable, but less able to focus. Cluttered workspaces, ultimately makes you less productive, not to mention dampens your mood.
Make Sure to Have Good Lighting
Just as color can affect how we feel, the presence or lack of light can likewise affect our moods.
Researchers at the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands found that using certain types of lighting, it is possible to change and improve one’s mood.
The study was participated by elderly individuals who were subjected to 2 different types of movies, one that evoked anxiety, and another sadness.
Both movies successfully produced negative moods among the subjects, though with different levels of arousal. The anxious movie produced a high arousal negative mood state, whereas the sad movie a low arousal negative mood state.
After the movies, groups were divided into rooms with different types of lighting.
Results revealed that compared to a neutral lighting,
A cozy lit ambience (low arousing, pleasant) was better at reducing the effects of the anxious movie.
A high arousing, pleasantly lit ambience meanwhile, was likewise better than a neutrally lit environment in enhancing the psychological arousal from the sad movie.
Choose Cheerful Colors for Your Rooms
Colors have a profound effect on our emotions.
The right color surroundings can help lift your mood or put a smile into your face. The wrong ones on the other hand, can quickly make you sad.
In a color experiment performed by French researchers, backgrounds of green and pink colors each promoted happy faces and positive emotions among the trial’s participants.
Conversely, a gray colored background evoked sad facial expressions.
The effects also work the other way around as one’s mood also affects which colors you select.
According to a research piece published in the journal BMC Medical Research Methodology, happy people are more likely to go with positive colors when describing their mood. Meanwhile, unhappy individuals go for the gloomier shades.
The study recruited 105 healthy individuals, 110 anxious people and 108 depressed adults to see which colors they chose to represent their moods.
When the results were tallied, the data found that 20% of the healthy individuals selected a particular shade of bright yellow, whereas 30% and 50% of the anxiety and depression groups, respectively, selected some shade of gray.
To see which colors enhance what emotions, check out this guide.
Surround yourself with Flowers
Flowers liven up any room.
They’re bright, colorful and quickly lighten up your mood. Research performed by a Rutgers University psychology team found that:
Upon receiving flowers, participants expressed excited and genuine smiles, with feelings of gratitude and delight.
The effects were also long lasting as their positive mood allowed them to reduce feelings of anxiety, depression and agitation.
Those who received flowers also showed better life satisfaction.
The presence of flowers likewise improved social interaction and promoted closer connections with friends and family members.
This confirms the positive emotional effects of having flowers around one’s surroundings observed by an earlier study by Dr. Nancy Etcoff from Massachusetts General Hospital. Titled “Home Ecology of Flowers Study”, the team learned that:
Flowers around the home made people kinder and more compassionate.
Adding flowers in the room you spent your mornings also helped ward away the blues.
There was more happiness and enthusiasm exhibited in surroundings where flowers were present.
Their effects also extend to the workplace.
Adding indoor plants has been shown to improve productivity as well as lift employee mood levels.
Research printed in the journal Environment Behavior notes that the number of plants in the workplace increased its perceived attractiveness, the workers’ level of comfort, mood and productivity levels.
Make Your Bed Right After You Get Up
Strange but true. Those who make their beds after they get up in the morning are happier.
Surveying 68,000 individuals on whether they made their beds or not, Hunch.com discovered that majority of people (59%) did not while only 27% did. The rest had someone else do it.
Where it becomes interesting is that:
71% of those who make their own beds were happy, while
62% of those who didn’t make their beds considered themselves unhappy.
The benefits didn’t end there.
Bed-makers were also more likely to own a home, worked out regularly, liked their jobs and felt well rested.
Non bed-makers meanwhile, rented an apartment, hated their jobs, didn’t go to the gym and woke up tired.
The conclusion was bed makers were happier and more successful than their non-bed-making counterparts.
Practice Mindfulness
Mindfulness, which is the practice of focusing on the present moment without placing any judgement, has been proven to help relieve stress and enhance our awareness of ourselves and our surroundings.
Additionally, being mindful also helps make you a happier person.
The practice of mindfulness helps regulate our emotions and lets us focus our attention in the current moment. This takes away thoughts that involve negative self-evaluation that can trigger our emotions and moods.
In contrast, letting your mind wander produces the opposite effect.
Wandering minds have been associated with unhappiness.
A 2010 study presented by Harvard researchers reveals that on average, 47% of the time we’re awake, our minds are thinking of something else other than what we’re doing at that very moment. The only exception was during sex.
Their findings also reported that those who weren’t paying attention to what they were doing, be it daydreaming or letting their minds wander, were also less happy.
Take Time Out to Pamper Yourself
When working or doing something stressful, take some time out every so often to pamper yourself.
This can be anything you like, including watching a short video, playing video games, or relaxing on your favorite chair.
A study by the U.K.’s University of Warwick found that employees who took 10 minutes to relax and eat snacks or watch a funny video were happier than those who continued working during that time. The group that took a break also exhibited improved mood which resulted in better productivity.
Practice Gratitude
Being grateful has been scientifically shown to promote happiness and well-being.
A study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology states that counting our blessings compared to thinking about our burdens, results in more positive feelings and improved sense of well-being.
Using 3 experiments where participants adopted attitudes of gratitude or one where they focused on life’s hassles, researchers observed that those who consciously focused on their blessing benefited emotionally.
In addition, other research show that gratitude also offers the extra benefits. It protects us from negative thoughts, depression, stress and anxiety.
One’s attitude not only affects how people perceive and react to you in terms of social support, it also changes our minds’ perception of how others treat us. As a result, we experience lower levels of stress, anxiety and depression.
The good news about being grateful is that its effects aren’t just temporary. They’re there for the long term.
A 4 week experiment involving 67 participants noticed that incorporating gratitude and visualizing our best possible selves (BPS) allowed the subjects not only to increase their positive mood states but also maintain these positive levels.
So how do you start being more grateful?
Try a gratitude journal. Write something you’re grateful for each day.
It takes around 21 days to form a new habit. So if you start now, by this time next month you’ll be on your way.
