My Caesarean

Twenty-One Mothers on the C-Section Experience and After

By: Amanda Fields - Editor, Rachel Moritz - Editor

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Janina Edwards

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 21 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.

©2019 Amanda Fields and Rachel Moritz; Foreword copyright 2019 by Maggie Smith (P)2019 Tantor

Finally!

I've been excepting that I will likely have a c-section for my next birth. Despite c-sections occuring for about 20% of American births, this was the only book I could readily find to lend some encouragement or give some voice to c-section mothers. It's just another example of how women tear each other down in their pursuits to fight the man or go against the system. We neglect the people behind that 20%. Although my particular situation was not addressed in any of the essays, I was so happy to hear part of my story and know that those women were finally being heard. What freedom?! I hope that we can have more publications that recognize the frequency of c-sections and focus on helping mothers cope instead of feeling shame for something that wasn't totally in their control.

Healing

A wonderful listen for anyone who has had a c-section. You are sure to find resonances to yourself in some if not all of these stories.