“Believe me: if you are told that some experience is going to hurt, it will hurt. Most pain is in the mind, and when a woman absorbs the idea that the act of giving birth is excruciatingly painful--- when she gets this information from her mother, her sisters, her married friends, and her physician--- that woman has been mentally prepared to feel great agony." - Stephen King, "The Breathing Method"
I’m not reading The Breathing Method right now, but I am reading a book that quoted it, much to my surprise. I’m reading Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth (which I mentioned briefly in my last post). It was so unexpected to see a quote from a fictitious book (and also, from what I understand from knowing about the author, a horror novel) in a book on childbirth which is in no way fictional.
It just goes to show that authors draw on fact when writing fiction. But they’d have to or otherwise no one would be able to relate to the fiction and enjoy it’s meaning.
But I find the whole meaning of the quote inspirational. As I'm preparing for childbirth I can look to this idea with hope that it won't hurt as bad as if I go in with the thought that it won't. Perception is reality and a lot of fear and pain is your head. I just have to clear my head and focus on the more pertinent part of childbirth which is getting a kid at the end!
On a side note, I’m really enjoying Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth. In fact, I would recommend any woman who is expecting to read it (heck, it’s even great learning for soon to be daddy’s). Right now I’m reading the section that is devoted to birth stories in which women are recalling their experiences. It’s interesting to see what stands out to different women about their birth experience. I have gained a lot of insight into what I can expect from labor but I’ve also learned another very important thing: labor is different for everyone. This is evidenced by the fact that while all the women recall the same basic details, what they each choose to focus on in each of their stories is different.
I have added both the King and the childbirth books to our goodreads bookshelf.
ReplyDeleteGood connection between fiction and nonfiction. It goes both ways. Fiction so often conditions our nonfictional reality that it's almost scary.
It's interesting to see the non-fiction genre of how-to book combined with personal essays (the birth stories you mentioned). This is something my co-author and I did when we published our book about adoption.
Stories about birth are almost primal, they are so fundamental. There is a poem by Pablo Neruda called "Births" that has always strongly influenced me. I'll have to write a post about it now.
Sounds like a great book. Congrats, girl! She is one lucky little girl :)
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