Misstropolis

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Birth Announcement: Author Event at the BPL

by Robin Hauck

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The thing that most dramatically differentiates women from men, the act that virtually guarantees the continuation of the human race, is something that is rarely written about, and - except for baby showers and mommy’s groups - is rarely discussed. “Birth is a thing we experience and then don’t ever talk about in a meaningful way,” says Tina Cassidy. After a harrowing experience giving birth to her son, the prolific writer and editor decided to change that.

Birth: The Surprising History of the Way We are Born, was first conceived after Cassidy asked her doctor what would have happened to her son had she not had an emergency C-Section. His answer, graphic and horrifying, sent her off to the library to begin researching the sociology and science of birth around the world. Birth, she says, is unlike anything ever been written before; a book from a woman’s perspective, (rather than a male doctor’s) on the entire “story” of birth, with a deep historical reach and a global perspective which helps place different culture’s traditions and medical practices in a revealing light.

Not only for the child being born, but for the parents, the medical establishment, and, Cassidy argues, the whole society, childbirth is a reflection of the time and place that it happens. Contemporary America for example, is obsessed with technology and controlling nature; we want to make the decisions, rather than have to wait, we want to schedule everything. Why else, she asks, do we have a 33% C-section rate? Why are half of women given Petossin, and why else are docs refusing VBACS (vaginal birth after cesarian)?

On Monday, May 7, Cassidy and Kris Holloway, author of Monique and the Mango Rains: Two Years with a Midwife in Mali, will read from their books at the Boston Public Library in honor of Mother’s Day and the Women’s Lunch Place’s 25th Anniversary Year.

Kris Holloway looks at birth from a very different perspective in her book, having spent two emotional years befriending and eventually advocating for, a young midwife in Mail.

Publisher’s Weekly writes,

This tender revelatory memoir recalls the two years Halloway spent as an impressionable Peace Corps volunteer in the remote village of Nampossela in Mali, West Africa… Holloway’s moving account vividly presents the tragic consequences of inadequate prenatal and infant health care in the developing world… (Publisher’s Weekly, May 15 2006).

This is the third annual Author Event the Women’s Lunch Place
has organized. In addition to promoting the books, and elevating the conversation about birth, WLP hopes to raise awareness and foster involvement with local business and community leadership.

For more information and to buy tickets visit the Women’s Lunch Place website or contact email Lauren Reilly or call 617-267-1722 ext. 36).

The Women’s Lunch Place
67 Newbury St
Boston MA 02116
617-267-1722