Tag: pregnancy

In her new book, Miranda Ward explores the unique place of almost-motherhood — an uncertain landscape characterized by waiting, wanting, hoping, and not-knowing.

“In general, I try to expect nothing and hope that everything is possible. I want the courage to need very little and demand a lot.”

New York midwife Elizabeth Catlin faces 95 individual felony counts at her upcoming trial. For what? For doing her job. Politics and patriarchy make the work of many credentialed, experienced midwives illegal — to the detriment of women and underserved communities.

When she loses a pregnancy, Anna Lea Hand searches in vain for vital advice and information.

After a traumatic experience with childbirth, Rachel Somerstein struggles to bond with her newborn daughter.

When a high-risk pregnancy jeopardizes their eyesight, Heather Quinn explores the expectations of motherhood and finds common ground with a patron saint.

A visit to Auschwitz makes Eliza Margarita Bates only more determined to have a baby, despite her painful chronic illness.

Kira Martin struggles through her connection – both emotional and physical – with her troubled and destructive son.

“The prevalent perception of black women as unruly bodies and incompetent caretakers overrules even the most dominant stereotype about us—namely, that we are superhuman.”

“There was so much I could have given her, but it pales in comparison to what she gave me.”

Doree Shafrir reflects on how Halloween changed for her after struggling with infertility.

On pregnancy, demons, and Stranger Things.

When risks arise in her partner’s pregnancy with triplets, Amber Leventry discovers that letting go of one life doesn’t have to mean losing faith, or love.

Stories of women of color dying of childbirth have dominated headlines — but little has been done to change postpartum care.

How do you bring yourself to plan for a baby after three miscarriages in a row?

An unexpected pregnancy not long after her troubled mother’s passing forces Ashley Abramson to navigate a kind of dual citizenship she couldn’t have anticipated.

How many not-quite-parents are bearing the pain of miscarriage silently and alone?

In the U.S., getting pregnant can be exciting, joyful, and the first step toward a lifetime of debt.

A close, personal look at the evolution of the maternity clothing industry.

On midwives, metaphysics, and intensely natural births.

During her high-risk pregnancy, driven by a longing for normalcy, Paulette Kamenecka tried out a class for parents-to-be.

In Don Waters’ short story “Full of Days,” a grieving Las Vegas man uses an anti-abortion billboard to justify his own pained existence.

After a miscarriage, Laura Turner faces the sadness of returning to everyday life.

Jessica Grose recounts the agonizing waiting period after an inconclusive ultrasound, and considers whether there is such a thing as a good miscarriage.

Belle Boggs writes in Guernica, exploring what the possibility of uterine transplants — no matter how remote or unaccessible the science is — means for trans women.

At The Walrus, Georgina Blanchard reflects on the stillbirth of her son, Charlie Showman.

I am used to pausing beside train trestles, tilting my head to watch passing planes, perpetually looking forward to: to the evening, to the weekend, to the next year in a new place. But for the first time I find myself unable to fix my gaze on the horizon; I find my relationship to time […]

Some commentators have questioned the implausibility of “million-dollar babies.” I have no expertise in health care costs, but I have a 3-inch thick folder of hospital bills that range from a few dollars and cents to the high six figures (before insurance adjustments). So even though it’s unlikely that AOL directly paid out those sums, […]