Reading about women’s issues is something I do both for my job as a midwife and occasionally for pleasure but it is a rare book that will keep me up reading well past the hour I know I should be in bed in order to rise for my 4:30 work wake up call. Recently two books I stumbled upon have turned out to be exceptional in both categories and have had the added bonus of expanding my understanding in areas that directly affect my midwifery practice. I'll just write about one here and add the second later.
The first book, “An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination” a memoir by Elizabeth McCracken is the beautifully written story of the events surrounding the Ms McCracken’s 1st pregnancy at age 39 that results in a stillbirth at term. This book is written over 2 years later when McCracken has successfully carried a 2nd child to term and speaks of holding the warm living infant on her lap during much of the writing of the memoir. The chapters go back and forth in time focusing primarily on the first pregnancy, the shock of the baby’s, called affectionally “Pudding” by the couple, the death of the child, the induced delivery and how the couple handles the grief and their lives during next few months. While an excerpt of the book first appeared in Oprah’s August 08 issue, reading just a piece of the story made me hungry to know the rest. It is not a especially kind to midwives as McCracken begins her 1st pregnancy wanting, “things simple, easy, low intervention” (page 46). In rural France during the pregnancy she changes from Physician to midwifery care but opts for a hospital birth with a midwife. Sailing past her due date by 10 days raises little concern but when she goes to the midwife complaining that the baby has stopped moving she is given a non-stress test. Though the non-stress test is non-reactive (by McCracken’s description) she was already scheduled for an induction at 5 p.m. that same day so is sent home with the reassurance that the non-activity is nothing to worry about. This course of action agreed on by both the M.D. and the midwife ends tragically and the couple cannot but help be somewhat bitter at all concerned. Having myself been involved with couples having a present or previous stillbirth I found this book to give me profound new insights into the parents concerns and feelings surrounding this type of event. The writing is done so honestly and well that each page relays events that while strikingly personal can in some aspects be universally applied. It is a book that can be easily read in one sitting but whose details will linger. A great book on a sensitive subject.