pregnancy

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    Are Children a Good Idea?

    Avatar photoByCatholicWorker.org

    “Children have become a consumer decision,” writes Lydia’s House (Cincinnati, Ohio) co-director Mary Ellen Mitchell, “a luxury item not unlike an expensive mortgage or a Tesla: good for you if you can afford them, but don’t ask for help with that. The result is a collective lack of willingness to sacrifice for children that are not our own.” But her lived experience at Lydia’s House—along with the parenting practices of the Mbendjele people—suggests that there’s a way to celebrate the birth of every child and to support every mother.

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    Having a Baby—A Christmas Story

    Avatar photoByDorothy Day

    Summary: A reprint of her description of the labor and birth of her daughter Tamar in 1928. The memoir describes waiting to begin labor and commenting on the women around her at Bellevue Hospital clinic. Assisted by her cousin Carol, she returns to Bellevue several days later when her labor pains begin. Vivid description of the pain she endured, her thoughts, and of the people she encounters during those hours. Tender description of breast-feeding and her first few days with her daughter. (DDLW #583) The Catholic Worker, December 1977, pp. 8, 7

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    No Continuing City

    Avatar photoByDorothy Day

    Summary: In a fiction-like style, tells a story of Mary Blount, a wife and working-class mother who goes to the city hospital clinic for a prenatal checkup. She begins the day joyfully, but ends experiencing indignity and cruelty from the nurses who fail to listen to her and understand her need for modesty. (DDLW #936: The Catholic Worker, Nov 1933, p. 5).