Please email Corinne at corinne_book@dashjr.org if you can help with the following more than praying:
I was reading Sheila Kitzinger’s book “The Complete Book of Pregnancy and Childbirth” this morning when I realized how offensive parts of it are to us. I am writing to ask for your prayers and any other help you can give me so that we can publish a pregnancy and childbirth book written by and for Catholic mothers.
It would not have any nude pictures of laboring women that you would hide from your husband or sons. Most pictures would be of women in dresses.
The term “family planning”, if used at all, would refer to helping the mother and father allocate funds for medical care and baby supplies, and think about how living arrangements will change after their baby’s birth.
Contraception will never be endorsed as a valid option. If mentioned at all, it will be in the context of helping the woman’s body heal from past contraception. NFP will be presented only as a means to conceive, with relevant Church teaching.
Abortion and sterilization will never be presented as valid options or “choices”. There could be a section for mothers whose bodies have survived an abortion or a reversed sterilization, perhaps with a piece by a priest about repentance, forgiveness, and healing.
The baby, whether born or unborn, will never be referred to as an “it”. I realize that many Catholic authors have done this, but it is especially disconcerting to me as a mother in third trimester to continually read “it” in place of “him” or even “him or her”. Our children have souls, therefore they are never “it”s.
Catholic teaching about the beauty and responsibilities of motherhood will be sprinkled throughout. Sections written by priests are welcome! Breastfeeding will be given precedence over formula feeding, and healthy alternatives to conventional formula will be presented. There could be a short discussion about circumcision with medical facts, and instructions on how to care for an “intact” penis and a circumcised penis.
I would love to include information about breastfeeding from Catholic professionals. I’ve heard that La Leche League was begun by Catholic mothers, but I have yet to find a Catholic LLL Leader.
Are you interested in accomplishing this with me? Do you think this is needed, or at least a good idea? Will you pray to St. Anne, St. Gerard, the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, and the Divine Infant Jesus of Prague for this effort, that it may be pleasing to God?
I think this is an excellent idea, and I wish you well.
The only advice I can give at this moment is to look into raw milk preparations as alternatives to standard formula (which of course should only be an alternative to breastfeeding if absolutely necessary).