Blog Tag: pregnancy
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The Risks of Giving Birth Early and Often Fall Mostly on...
During the October 2018 Women's Session of General Conference, President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), spoke disparagingly about LDS women getting married at a slightly older age (two years older than in the past) and giving birth to fewer children. He did not make a direct call to action, but judging from what I am hearing in LDS forums, many women of childbearing age are feeling pressure to make babies. Some have reported that third parties have contacted them to nudge them toward starting families right...
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Community Support: Kindergarten-style
One summer day when I was 38 weeks pregnant, I went outside to turn on the sprinklers. I reached down to flip on the pump, feeling for the switch. With my view obscured by my giant belly, I didn’t see that a panel had blown off the night before and exposed the wiring.
As soon as I recovered from the electric shock, I grasped my belly. I felt nothing. My son was born later that day after an emergency induction. And thankfully, he was okay. At least, he seemed okay.
That was about five years ago. Since then, I have often...
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A few thoughts on Mary, pregnancy, and making room.
I. The night I told my father I was pregnant with my first babe, he had a dream. The tiny child inside of me was a girl who would grow up to be great in the sight of the Lord, and her name would be Sophie. That was the name I had wanted for a little girl for over ten years. I couldn't remember telling my father. The child was born, and she was a girl who I hope will grow up to be great in the sight of the Lord, but I named her Cora, after my great grandmother....
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Guest Post: Almost Everyone who Interacts with a Pregnant Woman is...
by MargaretOH
I’m pregnant, due in February with my third child. That’s all I feel comfortable telling you, although the chances are good, if you’re like the majority of people I interact with these days, you’ll want to know more. Much more. And you’ll probably ask in the rudest, most intrusive way possible.
When exactly are you due?
Are you sure you’re not having twins?
Did you get pregnant on purpose?
I’m an introvert and I realize that I’m more sensitive than most about being the focus of attention when I walk in the room. I don’t like discussing private concerns with most of...
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Maternity Garment Wishes
When I was a fetus, I had my first and only opportunity to contribute to the design of the Mormon undergarment. My parents’ neighbor had been commissioned to design maternity garments for the Church. Her goal was to make a garment that would accommodate a pregnant woman’s expanding belly without discomfort. She sought out my mother’s help because she needed a model who was both temple-endowed and enormously pregnant. As she observed to my mom, “Not many women get as big as you.”
My mother tried on the prototype and the designer asked her, “Are you comfortable?” My mother assured...
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China’s Gender Bias—and Mine
I’ve learned the gender of my unborn child via ultrasound. If I lived in China or India, such a procedure would be illegal, due to unsuccessful attempts by these governments to curb gender selective abortion and obtain an even ratio of men and women. 1
Naturally, the human population maintains a fairly equal balance of males and females. More boys are born than girls, but women tend to live longer than men. This pattern usually results in slightly more boys than girls in the younger population, more women than men in the elderly population, and a close gender ratio...
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Guess what, boss? I’m pregnant!
I will let you all in on a secret: I am pregnant. Well, I guess it isn’t that big of a secret, especially now that I’ve told countless strangers on the Internet. Yet, I am afraid to tell my boss.
Mandatory maternity leave benefits are pathetic in my country, and in a way, this should make it easier to tell the boss the news. After all, employers don’t have to spend extra money to send a woman on maternity leave and the time period of lost productivity is relatively short.
Large American businesses are required to allow full-time, benefited employees to...
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Exponent II Classics: Birth at Home
As someone who chooses medicated hospital births, I appreciate this author's sentiment at the end of this piece that advocates choice for all women when it comes to this important decision.
Mary Ellen Sullivan
Arlington, Massachusetts
Vol. 5, No. 2 (Winter 1979)
Gently, she was lifted on to me. After the nine months of being with her, the months of feeling her little movements, the times we heard her heart beat, to see her sweet new body and to touch her with my hand filled me with such joy.
She gave a little cough, a sneeze, and even a yawn. She was...
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A Tale of Two Births
by: mraynes
I just gave birth to my second child and it was an experience entirely different than the one I had previously or what I expected. I suppose the mechanics were the same, I gave birth vaginally without the use of anesthetics and yet it seemed to me that I lost something indescribable in the second birth and I am mourning that loss. You see, I am one of those women who believes that there is real power in the birth process; that there is something other worldly and divine in trying to give life to another being. In...
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Exponent II Classics: Me Pregnant? Inconceivable!
I tried to just take excerpts from this piece, but really, it's so good that you should go to our website to read the whole thing (and enjoy the fancy formatting our webmistress has done for all of our Exponent II Classics!).Laurie Williams SowbyAmerican Fork, UtahVol. 14, No. 1, 1987Suffice it to say, it came as a big surprise. We’d had four children in seven years. We had always thought that we’d have more, but after eight years of no babies, we had decided that we had all we were going to get…Then it happened. On September...
What is Exponent II?
Exponent II provides Mormon feminist forums for women and gender minorities across the Mormon spectrum to share their diverse life experiences in an atmosphere of trust and acceptance. Through these exchanges, we strive to create a community to better understand and support each other.
Exponent II was founded in 1974 by a group of Mormon women in Cambridge, Massachusetts. These women were inspired by the original periodical, “The Woman’s Exponent,” to create a forum “posed on the dual platforms of Mormonism and Feminism.”
For 50+ years, Exponent II has shared women’s voices in its quarterly magazine, and members of the community have convened at an annual retreat. Our reach has expanded as technology has advanced: the blog, founded in January 2006, has reached millions. As we look to the future, we are focused on growth and building a more inclusive community.
