Ghostbelly

Ghostbelly is Elizabeth Heineman's personal account of a home birth that goes tragically wrong--ending in a stillbirth--and the harrowing process of grief and questioning that follows. It's also Heineman's unexpected tale of the loss of a newborn: before burial, she brings the baby home for overnight stays.

Does this sound unsettling? Of course. We're not supposed to hold and caress dead bodies. But then again, babies aren't supposed to die.

In this courageous and deeply intimate memoir, Heineman examines the home-birth and maternal health-care industry, the isolation of midwives, and the scripting of her own grief. With no resolution to sadness, Heineman and her partner learn to live in a new world: a world in which they face each day with the understanding of the fragility of the present.


Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Feminist Press
Published: 02/18/2014
ISBN: 9781558618442
Pages: 320
Weight: 0.55lbs
Size: 7.90h x 5.50w x 0.70d

Review Citations: Publishers Weekly 11/11/2013
Kirkus Reviews 01/15/2014