Having Faith An Ecologist’s Journey to Motherhood by Sandra Steingraber

I’ve read a number of books by mothers about having children over the past few years, so I was surprised I had not heard of this book by Sandra Steingraber, especially since it was published in 2001. It was an interview with the author in The Sun in January that first caught my attention. Steingraber has a Ph.D. in biology and is also a cancer survivor. She is passionate about environmental toxins and the problems they cause. I have yet to read her first book entitled Living Downstream: A Scientist’s Personal Investigation of Cancer and the Environment. In the introduction to her interview with The Sun she takes issue with the idea that her cancer stemmed from genetic causes.

“Years later, when cancer research began to focus on genetic causes, she submitted to doctors’ questions about her family history. She would recount her mother’s breast cancer, her uncles’ prostate and colon cancers, and her aunt’s bladder cancer. The doctors would nod knowingly. Then she would reveal that she was adopted.”

So, Having Faith is not your typical memoir about having a first baby. In fact, I would not recommend it to anyone who is currently or soon to be pregnant. It starts off gently. I completely agree with her complaint about gestation and how obstetricians consider you pregnant two weeks before you are pregnant, not because it is accurate, but because it is easier. She also gives some interesting historical perspectives. For example, morning sickness used to be considered a psychological problem.

“In one hospital in the 1930s, pregnant women prone to sickness were confined to bed and forbidden visitors and vomit bowls until they showed improvement. As further incentive for recovery, the nurses who cared for them were instructed to refrain from changing their sheets promptly.”

The book is initially organized with a chapter devoted to each month of her pregnancy. The really scary stuff starts in Chapter 3 where she looks into four different problems from the past and their impact on pregnancies. Her examples of rubella, thalidomide, Minamata (a town in Japan with mercury waste in the water), and diethylstilbestrol are not for the faint hearted. Thalidomide was given in the late 50s to quell morning sickness, however, it results in what is called reduction limb deficit, which is exactly what it sounds like. The day that thalidomide was taken would correspond to different birth defects, for example, a pill taken on days 35-37 of the pregnancy would result in a baby with no ears, and this is mapped out for which limbs would be lost depending on what day the drug was taken.

Her main point is that the fetus is very vulnerable to environmental toxins, but this is rarely discussed with pregnant women, instead the focus is on possible genetic problems.

“The most troubling aspects of prenatal testing still seem to me the single-minded search for rare genetic defects and the concomitant disregard of environmental threats to pregnancy. For expectant mothers over thirty-five, the hunt for chromosomal trisomies has become a routine part of prenatal care. But ask if your amniotic fluid contains pesticides, and if, so, how this contamination may affect the development of your baby, and you are likely to be met with blank stares. Genes and environment are two partners in a dance of creation.”

The second half of the book, immediately prior to and once her daughter Faith is born, is easier reading and tends to sound more like a memoir. She begins to wonder if a birth at a renowned teaching hospital is the best idea, especially one where epidurals and episiotomies are routine. She quarrels with the idea that pregnant women are sick and should be treated as patients.

“As more than one advocate of natural childbirth has pointed out, if labor and delivery were viewed less as medical events and more as Olympic ones, this distinction would be obvious. Who, after all, would rush up to a marathon runner in the final stretch with a needleful of narcotics?”

She does return to environmental toxins and makes the point that man is not at the top of the food chain, but rather a breastfeeding infant resides there. She examines toxins found in breast milk and looks at studies for how these toxins impact children later in life. Should we tell women, not just pregnant ones, but any 10 year old considering ever having a child, to behave in certain ways and avoid certain foods, or should we clean up those foods? It seems clear to me that we would all be much better off with the cleaned up foods.

Her book reminds me of an article in National Geographic where the author was tested for 320 different chemicals. It would be so interesting for each person to know this information for themselves, but obviously not feasible considering the $15K price tag. I think this is a book I’m going to purchase and set on my shelf next to Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Each year the Deschutes County Public Library picks a novel and encourages the whole community to read it. This year’s “A Novel Idea” is The Help. This novel is set in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960’s and focuses on the lives of black maids in white households.

This was a very interesting novel to read. It was not a tradition to have maids where I grew up in the Pacific Northwest and so this is a window into a whole different life where a woman invites another woman into her house to clean it and to raise her children. Added to the mix is that the maids were always black and that segregation was in full force during this time period. One of the maids in the story, Aibileen, has to listen to a discussion about building a separate bathroom for her in the garage so that she won’t “contaminate” the inside bathrooms.

The main plot is that a white woman, Skeeter, has returned home and is hoping to break into journalism. She sees how Aibileen is treated at her friend’s house and comes up with the idea of writing the stories of black maids. Aibileen agrees to do it and after much coercing and some traumatic events finds other maids that are also willing to talk with Skeeter. During this time period Medgar Evers is shot in Jackson and the author brings that into the story. It highlights the danger these maids are exposing themselves to by simply telling their stories, even anonymously.

It did take me some time to get into the dialect used in parts of the story. The story is told by alternating from the points of view of Skeeter, Aibileen, and another maid Minny. I also found it hard to believe the characterization of some of the white women in the story. For example, Skeeter’s friend, Elizabeth, seems to really dislike her own child. It is an interesting look into the everyday lives of people who were not actively engaged in the civil rights movement, yet were impacted by it, either by trying to keep the old ways of segregation or by trying to live in a different, and at that time, unacceptable way.

In looking at the events the library will be putting on around this book, it is great to see there will be some discussions about segregation and civil rights leaders as well as demonstrations of Southern cooking. I’m hoping they’ll add some events for kids.

Escape to Books

NutureShock by Bronson and Merryman

This book is touted as a readable review of new research on children; it’s subtitled New Thinking about Children. If you read the newspaper or keep up online, you’ll likely have seen some of the studies. The authors make the point, though, that there are so many new studies it is often difficult to determine what information or practices will really make a difference in your parenting.

For example, I did read about a recent study that suggested lying in a 4-year-old is actually a sign of intelligence. But what do you do with this information? The authors recommend not putting your young kids in situations where they lie to avoid punishment, otherwise they’ll just become much better at it. They discuss this in a chapter called “Why Kids Lie” that looks at preschool to early elementary age kids. They hit this topic again in “The Science of Teen Rebellion.” There are other points in this later chapter, but what struck me was research showing teens routinely lie to their parents on 12 of 36 different topics, and their parents have no idea.

Another chapter that I found particularly interesting is called “Why Hannah Talks and Alyssa Doesn’t.” I think most parents have heard that talking to your kids helps with their language development. The most current research says, though, that they’ll advance most if you respond to their sounds. That is rather than parent-initiated talk, it is really the baby-initiated babble and subsequent responses that lead to significant gains.

I found this book to be one of the most interesting parenting books I’ve read in the past few years. I really like the way the research findings are discussed in practical ways. Another topic considered is testing for gifted programs and reasons why all kids should really be evaluated after a few years and moved around. Some schools actually offer remedial help for gifted students. Wouldn’t it be much better to simply move them to a regular program? And, testing for gifted kids in kindergarten just doesn’t work.

“… if a school wanted the top tenth of students in its third-grade gifted program, 72.4% of them wouldn’t have been identified by their IQ test score before kindergarten.”

Other chapters address why you should explicitly talk to your kids about race and why watching Arthur is worse for your kids’ peer relationships than watching more physically violent shows like the Power Rangers. NutureShock reminds me of one of my favorite parenting books, The Scientist in the Crib, but it goes beyond studies done with babies and is also relevant for parents of older children.

Escape to Books

Amagansett by Mark MIlls

The novel, Amagansett, is focused on events happening in and around the town of Amagansett, which is located on Long Island. One of the main characters, Conrad Labarde, immigrated to the United States as a small boy with his father and brother. After returning from fighting in WWII, he continues to earn a living fishing. The book opens with Conrad catching a body in his nets.

This town is also a popular place for New Yorkers to have summer homes. The tension between longtime fishing residents and summer-only visitors is exacerbated with this death of a daughter of a prominent summer family. Tom Hollis, an officer with the small town police force, suspects this is not a simple drowning. Tom is a former New York City detective sent to Amagansett as a punishment, and is not really accepted or trusted by either the fishermen or the summer people.

The author does a good job of moving between the different characters. Unlike many detective novels Tom does not spend every waking moment on the case, which seems more realistic. He even takes a day off to walk around the island with a woman he has just met.

I liked this book because it is a standalone well written mystery. It also examines what can happen when people are dropped back into their lives after serving in a war. I reviewed a more recent book by Mark Mills entitled The Savage Garden. It is also set after WWII, but in Italy. It is remarkable to me that the author was able to really capture each of these very different places.

The Lemon Tree by Sandy Tolan

Subtitle: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East

A friend recommended this book on her blog quite a long time ago. I finally got around to reading it and it is worth the time. This non-fiction book is about the history of the formation of Israel. The history is told by examining the lives of two individuals and their families. Dalia Eshkanzi immigrated to Israel at the age of 1 from Bulgaria. Bashir Khairi is a Palestinian whose family was forced to leave their hometown when he was around 6 years old in 1948. Dalia’s family ends up in the house that Bashir’s family has left.

I found myself referring to the three maps in the front of the book over and over again. First is the 1936 map of Palestine under the British Mandate. The second map shows the United Nations Partition Plan in November 1947. The town that Bashir’s family lives in, Al-Ramla, is in the Arab State, but borders the Jewish State. This is only a technicality as almost immediately this town is taken over by Israeli forces. The 2005 map of Israel and the Palestinian Territories shows Ramla as clearly being part of Israel.

This book really shows the impossible situation that anyone who lives in this area is in. Bashir is almost constantly being arrested and put in jail as he insists on the 1948 United Nations right of return plan. Yet, how can he return to a place where someone else is now living? And, for many Palestinians their homes no longer exist. Dalia meets Bashir and over many years they have many discussions, yet can never resolve anything. Dalia cannot go back to Bulgaria and she wants Bashir to accept the idea of Israel. Once her parents die Dalia even turns the house into an Arab kindergarten called Open House to foster Arab Jewish interactions.

I’d encourage you to read this book, if like me, you’ve read about the violence in Israel, but don’t really understand how it came about.