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Twenty-one vivid, moving essays on caesarean birth "No one talks about C-sections as surgery," writes SooJin Pate. "They talk about it as if it's just another way--albeit more
convenient way--of giving birth." The twenty-one essays in
My Caesarean add back to the conversation the missing voices of a vast, invisible sisterhood.
Robin Schoenthaler reflects: "A C-section for us meant life." And yet, women who don't give birth vaginally--by choice or necessity--often feel stigmatized. "My son's birth was not a test I needed to pass," writes Sara Bates. "As if growing a human inside another human for nine months then caring for it the rest of its life isn't enough," adds Mary Pan, herself a physician.
Alongside their personal stories, the writers--decorated novelists, poets, and essayists--address the history of the C-section as well as its risks, social inequities, impact on the body, and psychological aftermath.
My Caesarean is a heartfelt meditation, offering much-needed comfort through shared experience.
Contributors include: Catherine Newman, Judy Batalion, Nicole Cooley, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Lisa Solod, Misty Urban, Jacinda Townsend, Mary Pan, Robin Schoenthaler, Elizabeth Noll, Jen Fitzgerald, Tyrese Coleman, SooJin Pate, Daniela Montoya-Barthelemy, Cameron Dezen Hammon, LaToya Jordan, Sara Bates, Susan Hoffmann, and Alicia Jo Rabins.