In our midwifery courses at the University of Technology Sydney, we teach a subject called, 'The Meaning of Birth: Mothers, Babies and Midwives' which explores birth and motherhood through the arts. Below are some of the texts on the reading list that have not already been mentioned on this list.
Nicky 
 
Texts related to learning through the arts:

Calman, K., & Downe, R. (1996). Why arts courses for medical curricula? Lancet, 347, 1499.

Coslett, T. (1991). Questioning the definition of ‘literature’: fictional and non-fictional accounts of childbirth. In J. Aaron & S. Walby. (eds.), Out of the margins: Women’s studies in the nineties. London: Falmer Press.

Grant, J. (1998). Humanities and midwifery. Practising Midwifey, 1, (11),41.
 
Leight, S.B. (2002). Starry night: using story to inform aesthetic knowing of women’s health nursing. Journal of Advanced Nursing. 37,. (1), 108-114.
 
Pollock, D. (1999). Telling bodies performing birth: Everyday narratives of childbirth. New York: Columbia University Press.

Chester, L. (Ed.). (1989). Women writers on pregnancy and birth. Boston and London: Faber & Faber.

Novels/narratives 
Atwood, M. (1987). The handmaid’s tale. London: Virago.

Baines, E. (1983). The birth machine. London: The Women’s Press.

Carey, P. (1994). A letter to our son. University of Queensland Press.

Chesler, P. (1979). With child: A diary of motherhood. New York: 
Thomas Y. Crowell.

Courter, G. (1982). The Midwife. Harmondsworth. Penguin.

Courter, G. (1994). The midwife’s advice. Harmondsworth: Penguin.

Davis, L., Byrne, J., Cullen, S. (1992). Women in labour: 32 personal accounts of childbirth. Melbourne: The Text Publishing Company.

Dunham, C., Myers, F., Barnden, N., Mcdougal, A., Kelly, T.L., Aria, B. (1991) Mamatoto: A celebration of birth. London: Virago Press.

Johnson, S. (1999). A better woman: A memoir. Sydney: Random House.

Lamprell, K. (Ed.). (1991). The greatest adventure: Birth stories: A collection of personal experiences. North Ryde, NSW: Angus & Robertson.

Lessing, D. (1956. Republished 1977). A proper marriage. London: Granada.

Lette, K. (1993). Fetal attraction. Sydney: Picador.

McDonald, V. (1992). Speaking of birth: An Australian midwife talks with parents about childbirth. Newham, Victoria: Scribe Publications. 

Morgan, S. (1987). My place. Fremantle, WA: Fremantle Arts Centre Press.

Nicholson, J. (1983) The heartache of motherhood. Ringwood, Victoria: 
Penguin Books.

Olsen, T. (1960.republished 1980). Tell me a riddle. London: Virago. Modern Classics.

Rice, P.L. (1993). My forty days: Childbearing experiences of non-English speaking background women. Carlton: Centre for the Study of Mothers and Children. Monash University.
 
Sykes, R. (1997). Snake cradle: An autobiography of a black woman. St. Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin.

Walker, K. (1990). My people. Milton, Queensland: The Jacaranda Press.

Weldon, F. (1980). Puffball. London: Hodder & Stoughton.



----- Original Message -----
From: Susan Greene <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Saturday, February 23, 2008 1:40 am
Subject: Re: A Novel Curriculum - a list
To: [log in to unmask]

> ___________________________________________
> 
> From the Normal Birth  Research List Serve:  Someone said:  I am
> interested in the use of novels as part of the reading list for
> midwifery students.   Here is what has been generated so far.
> 
> Novels:
> 
> "The Book of Negros" by Canadian novelist Lawrence Hill in  2007.
> Published in the USA  as  Someone Knows My Name also in 2007.   It is
> about an African woman kidnapped into the slave trade. She is a midwife.
> 
> The Birth House by Ami McKay.  . It would make an absolutely fantastic
> novel for midwifery students to examine (and it is a beautiful story
> too). The themes include tradition vs science, historical issues ie.
> obstetricians vs mw, feminism, knowledge, I
> could go on and on. Students could use it as a basis to explore issues.
> Highly recommend and is doing the rounds of my friends at present.
> 
> Cats, Cradles and Chamomile Tea by Maria Delloso - it has a wonderful
> section on motherhood with a great bit about midwives.
> 
> Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons, first published in 1932
> 
> Family. By Susan Hill 1990  Penguin Books - "essential"
> 
> The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards in 2006
> 
> Midwives by Chris Bohjalian, 1998.
> 
> The Millstone,  by Margaret Drabble, published in 1998, about an
> unmarried PhD student conceiving and giving birth following her first
> sexual experience. Published 1965. Some good perspectives about the NHS
> antenatal care, birth and later serious illness of the baby
> 
> The  Red Tent by by Anita Diamant, 1998
> 
> Small Island by Andrea Levy, 2005
> 
> The Squire, by Enid Bagnold published in 1938. There is a wonderful bit
> where a very
> experienced mother describes what labour is like to a childless friend
> 
> Vera Drake
> 
> The Yellow Wallpaper, 1913, by Charlotte Gilman Perkins gives an
> extraordinary description  of postnatal mental illness
> 
> 
> Other related suggestions:
> 
> Women writing childbirth:  Modern discourses of motherhood. by Tess
> Coslett.  New York: Manchester UP, 1994
> 
> Holly Kennedy has also done an analysis of childbirth issues in the
> video of Gone with the Wind,
> 
> Misconceptions by Naomi Wolf.
> 
> The Art and Soul of Midwifery, by Lorna Davies- There is a chapter on
> how midwives and birth are seen in the literature,  novels etc, by Terri
> Coates.  Tricia Anderson wrote on the use of poetry for education in the
> same book, and Sara Wickham and Lorna Davies also have a practical
> chapter on using art, poetry, triggers in education
> 
> Poems:
> 
> There is a wonderful poem about birth:  Jeni Couzyn Transformation.
> In:Warwick A, Shackleton E, Lavelle S (eds) 2002 The Nation's Favourite
> Poems of Celebration. BBC Worldwide Ltd, London pp35-36 [it even
> mentions the midwife!]
> 
> Also re ultrasound:  Redgrove P (1987) The visible baby. In: The Moon
> Disposes: poems 1954-1987. Secker and Warburg

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