Women's Health Clinic (WHC)

Our Provincial Eating Disorder Prevention and Recovery Program is hiring! We're hiring for a Program Counsellor. For more information about this job posting visit our website or link in bio. https://lnkd.in/gc72PZcf

Join WHC and our community partners for the first-ever Chāpān Games and Teachings at The Forks on Monday, September 30th. The event focuses on healing through the medicine of laughter and having fun with traditional Indigenous games provided by the Manitoba Aboriginal Sports & Recreation Council (MASRC), and will feature stand-up comedy, storytelling, Chāpān teachings, food trucks, Sacred Fire, musicians and DJs, an appearance by Ojibwe Elvis, and more. The meaning behind the Cree word Chāpān refers to the traditional role of the elderly as well as youth in families, especially when everyone in the community left every summer to go hunting and fishing at the family camps. Granny Albert McLeod explains, “here, everyone had a role, everyone was busy – one of the Traditional roles of the Chāpāns was to take care of the young - sometimes they would lead the little ones, and sometimes the little ones would lead their Chāpans. This was the cycle of life and a very special relationship.” “This is very different from today,” Granny Louise remarks. “Chāpān Games and Teachings is a time to remember and dream about what life was like before we all had to live apart from each other”. We ask that attendees bring a pair of shoes to fit a child in kindergarten-grade 8. The shoes will be displayed on September 30th and then donated to NIJI MAHKWA School. Chāpān Games and Teachings September 30, 2024 | 11am – 9 pm CN Stage & Skate Park at The Forks Free to attend The partners consist of Art City, Bear Clan Patrol, Crisis & Trauma Resource Institute, Festival du Voyageur, Jessie Home Inc., Pitikwe Skatepark, Manitoba League of Persons with Disabilities, Manitoba Moon Voices, Manitoba Aboriginal Sports and Recreation Council Inc., VIDEA, Vincent Design, Winnipeg Art Gallery, and Women’s Health Clinic.

Today! Tune into Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights's Instagram live for: Contraception and Coffee: A Discussion on Bill C-64 and Free Contraception Date: Wednesday, September 25th | 1:00pm EST (10:00am PST; 12:00pm CST) Format: Instagram Live Length: 15-20 mins    Partners: Teale Phelps Bondaroff (AccessBC) and Kemlin Nembhard (Women’s Health Clinic – Winnipeg)    Objective: With Bill C64 due to pass in the Senate this October, we must raise awareness about Pharmacare with those who will benefit from free contraception. This includes re-engaging Action Canada’s supporters on the advocacy that has led us to this point. Additionally, using this opportunity (World Contraception Day) to recruit supporters to pressure Premiers to get on board with single-payer Pharmacare. During the IG Live, we’ll be asking our supporters to join our letter campaign to make free contraception a reality. Through sharing stories out of British Columbia and Manitoba, supporters will also learn about the impact of this advocacy at the Provincial level and be inspired to make contraception access free in their provinces.

One of our procedure beds – the ones we use to perform abortions – broke. Not only did it break, but it broke on one of our abortion procedure days. This means the number of abortion procedures we can perform has been cut in half, and it began impacting our ability to provide care with a room full of people waiting to receive it. We wouldn’t be asking for your help right before the back-to-school and back-to-routine busyness begins, but this has put us in an emergency situation. As you can imagine, when someone is coming to us for abortion care, they are anxious to know they have an appointment coming up. With this new development, we might have to delay their procedure date or send them elsewhere. Replacing the bed is not just important—it’s crucial. WHC is the only abortion provider who doesn’t perform aspiration (surgical) abortions in a hospital setting. Many people come to us because they don’t feel they can go anywhere else. They know they will receive compassionate, non-judgmental care when they walk through our doors. More importantly, they know they can access a safe procedure when they come to see us. We know times are tough, but if you are able to, please consider a gift today: https://lnkd.in/gnW7yg7T

The Manitoba government announced yesterday that free hormonal contraceptives will be available to all Manitobans beginning on October 1, 2024. According to the news release sent out by cabinet communications, 60 different types of birth control will be covered through Manitoba Pharmacare. There are several different methods of birth control, ranging in cost from free (outercourse/abstinence, getting condoms at resource centres) to hundreds of dollars per year (oral contraceptives, intra-uterine devices). This announcement will alleviate financial concerns for thousands of Manitobans and we're looking forward to hearing more about how the plan will roll out from the province in the coming months. While this is a positive step for reproductive rights in our province, we are disappointed to see emergency contraceptives, or the “morning after” pill, as well as condoms were not included in the list of birth control options covered by Pharmacare. WHC has always operated on the model of people are experts of their own lives and their own needs. Not every person wants to or is able to use hormonal birth control for a variety of reasons. Condoms are 79-99% effective in preventing pregnancy (depending on usage) and are one of the only methods of birth control that also protect from STBBI’s. “It’s unfortunate that condoms and emergency contraception are not included under the plan in its current iteration,” says Kemlin Nembhard, WHC Executive Director. “We are hoping to see them included in the future, as the costs associated with emergency contraception ($40-50 per pill) can be prohibitive for some people.” Every year, WHC provides free birth control and pregnancy peer counselling to community members, free of charge, and provides community with emergency contraception (Plan B).

"This is not about erasing men and women but rather acknowledging that man and woman are two of many — stars in a constellation that do not compete but amplify one another's shine," Alok Vaid-Menon, Beyond the Gender Binary On International Non-Binary People's Day, we honour and celebrate our friends and relatives who make the world a better, brighter, more understanding and more interesting place by just being their wonderful selves.

Media literacy is important! Thank you Dr. Jen Gunter for shedding some light on the study that just came out discovering tampons contain toxic metals in them. Media literacy is important to understand some important nuances Dr. Gunter is pointing out. Key takeaways from her Instagram post: "Nothing here is panic-worthy. ✅The arsenic, cadmium, and lead levels in this small sample cannot reflect what is found in all tampons. ✅ The source of the arsenic, cadmium, and lead is almost certainly the soil. ✅ It’s possible that the non-cotton components of the tampons could interfere with the testing, so there are some unknowns. ✅ Extracting metals with nitric acid and then baking them for over an hour at 180 C is not reflective of what will happen in the vagina. ✅ Even if the results are correct and reflective of what is in tampons, if all the arsenic, cadmium, and lead made it into the vagina (highly improbable, like very highly improbable), the levels are still within safety standards. It’s good to have transparency, but when you see the amounts of lead, arsenic, and cadmium in context, it changes things. And it’s important to emphasize that no medical condition, outside of toxic shock syndrome, is caused by tampons. Ideally, we want no arsenic, cadmium, or lead, but the reality is that they’re in the soil and will ultimately creep into all kinds of products. This is one reason we need regulation: so people can understand their cumulative risks. It’s good to test tampons and hopefully come up with standards, but it’s wrong to fearmonger and generate clickbait about this study." However - if you don’t want to use tampons, you don’t have to! There are other options out there. We believe everyone should do what is right for them. Read her whole post: https://lnkd.in/g5KTtxHQ

Two years ago, Roe v. Wade was overturned in the United States. This is a chilling anniversary to mark. One we didn’t think we would see a few years ago. As we have said repeatedly: abortions happen whether they are legal or not. When folks seek abortion care outside of a regulated medical facility, the possibilities of infection, permanent damage, or even death are many. We cannot ever stop fighting to ensure abortion access stays legal. We need to continue our work to ensure folks can access abortion care no matter where they live. WHC provides up to 600 more abortion procedures than we are funded for every year. That amounts to $300,000 in overall costs with these additional procedures. We have been able to deliver this because of generous donations from our community, but we need long-term solutions to ensure we are adequately funded and resourced to continue delivering our crucial care. You can help too. -Stay in the loop – sign up for our newsletter and follow accounts who talk about reproductive justice -Write your elected officials to state your support of abortion care -Donate – every dollar makes a difference. No donation is too big or too small. If you are able, you can give today: https://lnkd.in/gwXvgwsS

The work of reconciliation and decolonization isn't just part of our work in community health, it IS the work. -Kemlin Nembhard, WHC Executive Director #quote #quotes #communityhealth #reconciliation #decolonization

Reminder - our virtual AGM is tomorrow and features a moderated Q and A session with Ericka Hart! You don't want to miss this. Register now to save your spot today: https://lnkd.in/gCpW_Di3