Readings for mothers and tummies: In the shade of the cabbages
I am very happy to present a different book from the usual treatises that I am used to reading on the subject of pregnancy.
It is ” In the shadow of cabbage, the false myths of pregnancy and motherhood ” (Studioimmagine Editore, 72 p. ) by Cristina Lanaro , teacher and writer from Thiene. I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting you in person yet, but I hope to be able to meet you soon as we live in the same country. And this is also an absolute novelty for me!
The book makes use of the nice illustrations by Ugo Barbieri.
It is different from the usual texts precisely because instead of presenting pregnancy and motherhood as a set of problems to be faced on a daily basis, it plays down the condition of the mother and future mother. It unmasks many false myths imposed by tradition in a direct, frank and deliberately light language.
“No human being can get out of it: we all came out of a huge belly in which we had wallowed for nine months, unaware of the world that awaited us. We all, at some point, really knew how babies are born and we all had the sensation of to have been cheated. we all thought the story of conception and pregnancy was a little too complicated”
“In the shadow of the cabbages” thus appears as a sort of survival manual, as its subtitle mentions, in which the most widespread beliefs that accompany the birth of a child are unmasked. If ancient popular beliefs can make you smile (such as “cravings” or the shape of the belly
as a premonitory sign of the sex of the unborn child), other clichés are sometimes a source of stress (breastfeeding at any cost, the taboo of unique).
The book begins with the caption “THE FERTILE PERIODS” and a sentence contained in it reflects what happens every day on this site:
“We all know how to make sure we don’t have children, but things get complicated when we want to have them without wasting our own and others’ energies too much”.
But the book touches on many other themes such as cravings, wanting to make a career with a belly, dad’s help at home, child growth, nostalgia for a belly, breastfeeding at all costs, sleeping in the bed … All extremely current ideas and themes that sooner or later you have to deal with when you decide to have a child.
Free from false sentimentality, the book proposes the weapon of irony in defense of all those women who wish to experience motherhood serenely: one can
smile at false myths, the important thing is not to believe too much.
Kathryn Barlow is an OB/GYN doctor, which is the medical specialty that deals with the care of women's reproductive health, including pregnancy and childbirth.
Obstetricians provide care to women during pregnancy, labor, and delivery, while gynecologists focus on the health of the female reproductive system, including the ovaries, uterus, vagina, and breasts. OB/GYN doctors are trained to provide medical and surgical care for a wide range of conditions related to women's reproductive health.