Menstrual Health, Abortion Options, STI’s and General D.I.Y. Health/Self Care A-M

Body Conscious Birth Control: An Intro to the Fertility Awareness Method— (2010) Thorough and nicely put together zine about Fertility Awareness.  Beautiful illustrations, easy to reproduce, clear directions, and it comes with charts.  The author is open to offering workshops and answering questions and can be contacted at losingalltouch@hotmail.com. $3

Brainscan 22: A Practical Body Modification–Alex Wrekk puts out a great issue of Brainscan describing her experience with getting an IUD.  It’s the only D.I.Y. perspective I’ve seen so far on the subject.  Order this zine from Alex Wrekk from her Etsy site here.

Carrotte Sauvage–Wild Carrot Seeds as Birth Control (@nti-copyright 2005) An introduction about how to use wild carrot seeds as a contraceptive. It is thorough, practical, and friendly, with personal stories as well as some good information. I would also refer to the Robin Rose Bennett studies if you are interested in this subject. $3

Caulophyllum,etc–Herbal Abortion and Contraception (@nti-copyright, 2005) Good overall description of some herbs for preventing or ending pregnancy, as well as a beginner lesson on how to chart your cycle by Maude Richards.  Really good resource list at the end (though the websites are outdated) $3

Chart It!– Charts and Info on Tracking Your Menstrual Cycle (2006)  Introduction to menstrual charting and natural family planning by megan.  Small and easy to reproduce, it includes several charts to copy and get started with. Good diagrams and great facts, this is a good primer on fertility awareness with clear and easy to follow instructions$1

Crucial Sisterhood–This blast from the past (2002) is a great zine that covers a wide range of topics from how to use a speculum, how to do breast exams, reproductive freedom, alternative and sustainable ways of dealing with menstruation, UTI’s, how to treat vaginosis, and how to love your body just the way it is.  The website lists are out of date, but the book resource list is great.  $3

Do It Yourself Gynecological Exam–Trifold pamphlet on how to do a speculum exam put out by the Down There Collective.  Good to hand out during self-care workshops. Fifty cents if ordered with other zines. $1

The Femmenstruation Rites Rag: Stories of Women’s Blood and Rites of  Passage–Another older zine (1999) this full size booklet has stories of pride, shame and discovery about menstruation and resisting a mainstream view of a womyn’s cycle.  The pages are a little discombobulated (sorry it’s an old zine, and the only master i have to work with) but the stories and perspectives are well worth reading. $5

Fertility Awareness for Non-Invasive Birth Control (@nti-copyright 2002) This is the best zine out there about natural family planning and fertility awareness as birth control.  It is thorough, well researched and has all the info you’d need to get started.  It is also funny, adamant and shamelessly pirates info from everywhere, as well as having some great art.  I attended a workshop at the first Burdock Gathering in 2002 given by the author, and it rocked my world. $5

Herbal Abortion: A Woman’s DIY Guide (@nti-copyright, 2002)  This is a fairly thorough guide to herbal abortion, explaining the functions of the herbs as well as the actions, and has fairly good safety guidelines to go with them.  Not a lot of personal story or ideology, and a lot of good facts.  It comes from the UK, so the resource lists, as well as being kind of old, aren’t relevant in the US. $2

Herbal Healing for Piercings and Tattoos–Organic Aftercare for Everyone: (2010) Anastasia Weedsmith brings us a beautifully illustrated natural self-care guide for piercings and tattoos.  Though this is not reproductive health specific, it is written in the same D.I.Y. spirit of self care and is a must have. $3

Hot Pants: DIY Gynecology (@nti-copyright, 1999) This is a classic self care zine that’s so good, that you still see pirated excerpts in other feminist health zines over a decade later.  This is a Bloodsisters reproduction (a feminist group from Canada, now disbanded) originally written by Isabelle Gauthierand Lisa Vinebaum, and translated into English by Rachel Guay, Martine Bazar, Lisa Vinebaum, Penny Pattison, Tania Waters and Jennifer Petrela.  The book is full of herbal, vitamin, dietary and other natural remedies for yeast infections, UTI’s, STI’s, ovarian cysts, vaginits, hormone imbalance and more.  A great reference booklet on natural cunt care. (8×11 folded vertically) $3

HPV, Abnormal Paps and Natural/DIY Treatments (2008) Basic overview of HPV and treatment options.  Written by a good friend of mine in response to the scads of mis-information being put out there by the mainstream medical community.  Good recipes for natural ways of dealing with the virus.  It is a little hard to read,(my master copy is a little shoddy)  so i would recommend getting this one along with the other HPV zine for a complete overview of the virus. $1

HPV (by the Down There Collective): Best zine out there about this topic! Great information about HPV, transmission, prevention, and treatment.  Well researched, informative and well put together. $3

HPV, Herpes, and Me This is a great zine about STI’s and radical disclosure.  It is a series of personal stories aimed at helping others overcoming the shame and stigma of STI’s so that we can feel comfortable disclosing this information with each other, to keep ourselves safe, and to get the support we need.  A great zine for someone who has just been diagnosed with an STI. $1

Make Yer Own Medicine!–A DIY Herbal Primer (@nti-copyright) This zine is not explicitly feminist, but it focuses on DIY health.  An introduction to herbal medicine making, tinctures, salves and teas, as well as a small list of herbs local to the american northeast and their basic uses.   I wrote this zine in 2008 with a class analysis, a typewriter and an old seed catalog for the pictures, so it’s got that classic punk rock aesthetic (but don’t worry, i am anal about having wide margins so that it is still easy to read!) $1

ManaCulture: (2009) A zine celebrating menstruation as sacred, with stories, exercises and resource lists, in the spirit of self-love. $1

Materia Medica for Women: (1/2 size legal) A thorough overview of herbs for womyn’s health.  Impressive and detailed.  It’s obvious that this was reproduced from a book somehow, and many other DIY health zines pirate this one, but i don’t know who the original author is or when it was published.  $4