from Adrienne Rich’s Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution, Norton (NY), 1976: Meanwhile, the potential sources of [childbed fever] went unexplored, and women continued to die–not from giving birth but from acute streptococcal infection of the uterus, in no way inevitably linked with the birth-process. It killed one Mary Wollstonecraft, of whom we know, [...]
from Sarah Whedon at Reproductive Rites, “Feminist Coming Out Day and Sacrifice” Yes, I’ve given my time, my energy, my body, my heart, my will, my planning, and my love to raising my child in the way I believed was best for her and for me. I’ve lent my resources toward that most sacred of [...]
Welcome to First the Egg, a collection of practical information, links, and cultural criticism. This site is a feminist intervention in our rigidly-gendered culture of childbirth and parenting. It aims to provide a nonsexist space for people who want to learn, reflect, commiserate, or laugh about being pregnant, giving birth, and helping children grow up whole and happy.
Feel free to contact me with ideas or questions at
links for thought, August 2011
from Amanda Steen at NPR’s The Baby Project, “Birth: In the Comfort of Home” (a 20-year-old journalist’s account of witnessing a homebirth) What I can say, is that I definitely felt encouraged by one of Shannon’s midwives, Erin Fullam, who said to Linda and me, “People talk about how painful contractions are because they’re so [...]