ABSTRACT
This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters. The part illustrates the tenacity of our image of the nurturing mother as it constricts her—both the woman herself and the woman as therapist—in her ability to tolerate the full range of emotion in her patients. Women might have whispered about it, but it certainly never reached public consciousness. Erik Erikson stated that "everyday miracle, pregnancy and childbirth, have disquieted every man through childhood, youth and beyond. In his accounts and historical periods, man acknowledges this as a probably necessary sideshow". The part focuses on the "sideshow" and illuminates the very real suffering that accompanies pregnancy and birthing as well as its unpredictable aftermath.
