Morning sickness nighmare... 76merr1 Sorry to hear this... If it's any consolation, a lot of us have horrible first trimesters... For coping with constant nausea and vomiting, it's all trial and error...
Ericka Kammerer If she up with Naomi Wolf, Smith in the
My take on it was that Naomi Wolf went it with a great deal of confidence in the obstetrical profession, and especially in the high-end obstetrical profession (she first saw a Washington-renowned OB who made her feel like she was applying for a car loan for being there, IIRC). She was a woman of a certain community and demographic getting the best typical-for-that-demographic care money could buy. I think she took on face value that nobody would mislead her or outright lie to her - maybe partly because, "hey, I *am* Naomi Wolf, third wave feminist leader" after all. Seems to me that most of her research, her interviews with Ina May Gaskin and the free-standing birthing centers, etc., came after her daughter's birth.
What really surprised me, or resonated with me, or whatever the right term might be, was that she went in the second time around feeling far more educated and empowered, and still went with an OB, and had a second ceasarean. She may have needed the c-section regardless, but she still felt uncomfortable enough with the alternatives that she chose the "devil she knew," so to speak.
For me, the parts of the book that spoke about obstetrical practices and maternity wards woke me up to the pervasiveness of the problems she addresses, and the fear and disempowerment and complicity that pregnant and labouring women often face. Between mkp and my own experiences with baby doctors and maternity wards in Vancouver, I think I've developed a pretty spoiled-skewed idea of what "normally" happens when a baby's born.
I really liked the earlier part of the book, where she spoke about the experience of pregnancy, and then when she spoke about the isolation so many new mothers feel.
Melania Mom to Joffre (Jan 11, 2003) and #2 (edd May 21, 2005)
