“In a faculty bathroom on the campus of Illinois Wesleyan University, I am trying to pee on a stick.”
This is the first line in the Sandra Steingraber’s new book, Having Faith.
Steingraber, an ecologist, provides a detailed description of what exactly happens to her body while she is pregnant.
Throughout the book, she attempts to answer the many questions posed by the expectant mother, from an ecological perspective.
“How do toxic chemicals cross the tough sponge of the placenta?” she asks. Through this unique lens, she tries to explain what it feels like to be pregnant for the uninitiated.
The book is divided into two parts. The first begins with her taking a home pregnancy test and deals with the whole nine months of gestation.
The second part deals with her life after her daughter is born. Steingraber has problems with breastfeeding and realizes being woken up at night repeatedly as a mother is just as tough is it was before her pregnancy.
Having Faith is definitely something that an expectant parent should read.
It not only gave a lucid description of the author’s pregnancy but also provided many examples given by mothers.
Her description of going into labor itself is very explicit, with a very textured description of how contractions feel.
The description sometimes seemed a little too explicit.
It’s also a perfect book for anyone who wants to learn more about the wonders of childbirth.
