Book Blurb :-
When
Daphne becomes pregnant, it isn’t only her life that changes…
Each
person has a different perspective of the delivery, and of the complexity of
having a child: the difference between men and women, a changing
self-perception of parents, conflicts between work and parenthood.
Lives
are changed, and the equilibrium each of them has achieved is fundamentally
disturbed until, after the delivery, they can find a new balance for the
future.
Buy on Amazon UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Delivery-Emanuela-Barasch-Rubinstein-ebook/dp/B08XQDGBST
Excerpt
(A dialogue between the young parents. First the father)
“Why
do people cheat on their partners?! I don’t know. I always thought it contains
a seed of hatred.”
“Hatred?
For whom? For their partner?”
“Their
partner, themselves, maybe their whole lives, I don’t know. People pick one way
to live and then wish they’d chosen another. They commit to the woman they love
and then dislike her because she stops them being with anyone else. So maybe
cheating is about finding if it is possible to change some choices. Not that we
want to change them; we simply want to know it’s possible.”
“Maybe
it’s simply falling for someone?”
“Obviously,
but it’s not just about that. It’s a taste of the life you will never have: a
romance with a woman you won’t live with, a body you won’t see age, family and
friends you won’t meet. The enchantment is the risk; not the risk of getting
caught, but that the person you are cheating with would turn out to be better
than your partner. And this ongoing comparison—Daphne, are you crying? I can’t
see in the dark, are you crying?”
“No,
only a couple of tears. It happens quite often lately.”
“Daph,
you know I am not talking about myself, don’t you? Come here, let me hug you. I
was only imagining how it must feel. You know how happy I am with us and Tomer,
don’t you?”
“I’m
just a bit moody lately.”
“I
know. Maybe we should consult the doctor? Perhaps it’s postpartum depression.”
“Maybe.
I don’t know what that really means.”
“A
physical consequence of giving birth, an imbalance that produces depression. I
read about it.”
“Imbalance?
Between what? I think it is all the result of pain.”
“The
result of pain?”
“Yes.
Never have I experienced such torment. You know, all my life I have been afraid
of the pain of giving birth. This fear, a vague, fundamental anxiety, has
always been there, without needing any special attention. A sort of
understanding that something I want dearly will necessarily involve terrible
agony. And this comprehension mars even the happiest expectations of the
future.”
“Were
you always nervous about giving birth?”
“Yes.
And from the moment I knew I was pregnant the fear became real, fully tangible,
a petrifying feeling that leaves no room for other emotions.”
“Well,
I am glad the labour is over. Now is the time for happiness.”
“Ah,
well, this is what I didn’t understand: the fear of the birth is one side of
the coin; the other side is the actual experience of pain.”
“Strange,
I never thought about it but that’s true.”
“Do
you know what my mother, my sister, the nurses told me? ‘You will soon forget it
all.’”
“They’re
right, aren’t they?”
“No,
absolutely not. I mean, the memory of pain fades, but not its effect.”
“I
never could have believed pain has such consequences.”
“You
know I love Tomer dearly and I’m thrilled that I have a child. But I find this
disregard for the suffering of labor infuriating.”
“It
seems to me it’s better to try and forget it all. Anyway it can’t be changed.”
“I
think it’s the other way around: the suffering must be respected.”
“Respect
suffering? Is it good to be in pain?”
“Of
course not. I would rather not feel the childbirth at all. But if it involves
such torture, it should be acknowledged and appreciated. Simply ignoring it is
insulting. It became part of me.”
“Daphne,
you know what happened to my mother when I was born...”
Thank you so much for sharing this extract and for taking part in the tour today x
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