Friday, April 15, 2011

Call for Submissions

We are dedicated to helping expectant parents make informed childbearing choices to enable the healthiest, safest, most satisfying birth possible. While birth can be unpredictable, there is substantial research evidence that supports ways to minimize risks and improve health outcomes for both mothers and babies.


Our goal is to promote informed childbearing choices and positive messages related to having a safe, healthy birth. We are accepting submissions from those who wish to share their wisdom, knowledge, research or personal experiences - troubles and triumphs alike - with our readers.


If you are passionate about birth, a birth professional, advocate, doula, lactation professional or parent with a story to share, and are interested in having your work featured on our website or blog, please leave a comment below or email us with your submission.


The following information outlines our guidelines for submissions:


Submission Guidelines


Submissions should be anywhere from 400-1000 words in length, and should be original, unpublished material. We ask contributors to share their knowledge, research, wisdom, insight or personal experiences - troubles and triumphs alike - with our readers. You may submit a scholarly article, birth story, a photo essay, or a book review, even photos or videos. As long as what you submit is respectful in tone and in keeping with our philosophy of informed childbearing choices, it may be accepted for publication. If you want help determining whether your material is appropriate to our goals and audience, please contact us first to discuss.


Submissions should include a full bio and url to the contributor's site if applicable. We reserve the right to edit bios to fit within our editorial guidelines if necessary.

Sample topics could include (but are not limited to the following):

  • Homebirth (pros/cons, preparation, research, personal stories, photos, videos, etc)
  • Waterbirth
  • Newborn Care
  • Prenatal Nutrition
  • Minimizing Interventions (induction, episiotomy, monitoring options, etc)
  • Postpartum Issues (placenta encapsulation, art, avoiding PPD, etc)
  • Evidence-based practice vs. mainstream care
  • Impact of Provider Choice (options, differences, etc)
  • Birth Consumerism
  • Breastfeeding
  • VBAC/Cesarean Awareness

You are welcome to take a specific or general topic, or to focus on a specific skill, technique or subset area. Submissions should include a full bio and url to the contributor's site if applicable. We reserve the right to edit bios to fit within our editorial guidelines if necessary.

Deadline

Ongoing

Publication

Approved submissions may be published exclusively on GivingBirthNaturally.com (with your permission), which will include an author bio and a link back to your site. Others submissions may be featured on our blog as guest posts or for our Facebook fans. You will be notified via email if your submission has been accepted and when it will appear.


Please Do

Write well, write on topic and make an original submission. Ad value. Remember that all submissions are intended to assist and support expectant parents as they navigate their birth bound journey. Please proofread your work.


Please Don’t

Please don’t use profanity. Please don’t submit irrelevant or argumentative pieces or plagiarized, copied or unoriginal material. Please play nicely with others and help make the world a better, safer place.


Editorial Rights

If accepted, submissions may be edited for word count and tone. If extensive edits are made, we will provide an opportunity for contributor feedback before the submission goes live. We reserve the right to courteously reject any submissions that are inappropriate in tone, scope or philosophy. Please note that a personal response to your submission might seem delayed. Don’t be alarmed. We receive a high volume of daily email and may not have yet had a chance to give your material the time and attention it deserves, or we could be conferring on how or when to best to utilize and implement your work.

All submissions will be reviewed and contributors will be notified whether their material will be published. If the work is accepted, contributors will be notified at a later date as to when the submission will appear for publication.


Questions

If you have questions: Please leave a comment or contact us.



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