Being Pregnant: Conversations with Women

M. Bernice Standen was a freelance writer in Peterborough, Ontario.

When Vancouver writer Daphne Morrison became pregnant, her interest in that condition, which she considers “natural and entirely commonplace, “ focused on the powerful personal experience it becomes in the context of each woman’s life. The author was inspired by the 1915 publication of a collection of letters from working women campaigning for better maternity and health care for poor women in England. Morrison appears to feel that today’s women, through sharing experiences in pregnancy in a similar manner, could become better informed and more able to cope emotionally and socially with this aspect of their lives.

Instead of letters the author presents fifteen interviews of women who had been or were pregnant, followed with photographs of pregnant women and new mothers. The interviews are wide-ranging — relating the experiences of a teenager, a university teacher, single women, a lesbian, a psychotic, immigrant women, and even a young woman afflicted with arthritis. Intimate details on birth control, shattered and supportive relationships during pregnancy, cultural differences, repeated miscarriages, disease, and finally the emotional and financial burdens of parenting are all touched upon. The author fulfills her desire to break the rule and have women talk openly about all aspects of pregnancy through their experiences.

Anyone interested in personal perspectives on pregnancy would find this volume of interest.