[PODCASTS] The Birthkeepers

How two influencers made millions radicalising pregnant women around the world. And the tragedies that followed. A year-long investigation by Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne

Just when you think you've heard it all...along comes this very distressing podcast about two women grifters who sold women worldwide on the idea of unassisted "free birth" (birth without assistance, medical, traditional or otherwise), defrauding women and leading to the unnecessary deaths of many children :S

HUGE content warning for grief, death, and maternal harm.

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-birth-keepers-the-guardian-investigates/id1731314182

https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/the-birth-keepers

Two apps for the new year

Cronometer
https://cronometer.com/

Cronometer has been around for a long time--and it's one of those super nerdy nutrient tracking apps. I've used it on and off because it's so good at doing what it does. It's also Canadian, which means many Canadian brands are in the barcode scanning system. Manually entering nutrition labels was always a huge pain in the ass, and Cronometer's latest version is so easy peasy--photograph the food and it does the work for you.

Cronometer is great if you want to gain, loose, or maintain weight. I use it mostly to track my iron intake these days. You can use it however it works for you :-)

Finch
https://finchcare.com/

I've been using Finch for just over a year. An artist friend raved about it, and it turned out that a lot of people I knew were also using it. You rasie a virtual bird pet from baby to teenager by completing quests. After I had my first iron infusion in December 2024, I really needed to get back on track with life and looking after myself. It's a delightful combination of birds and cuteness. There are many habit forming apps out there, but I never tried one before.

It's a gentle app that will help you accomplish anything you set out to do, whether it's moving more, trying some breathing exercises, or building a daily habit. It's helped me keep up with my rotator cuff exercises and now I'm determined to floss daily :-D