FYI
Dear Friends, I am writing to you to seek your assistance in an upcoming book project. As you may know, I have been compiling an anthology of birth stories that highlight the value of one-to-one midwifery care. After a considerable gestation time, the book, Having a Great Birth in Australia will be published in July 2005 (see http://www.acmi.org.au/greatbirth for more information), by the Australian College of Midwives on behalf of the College and the Maternity Coalition (MC). The breadth and quality of stories collected for 'Great Birth' attest to the assistance I received from activists and consumers and friends (such as yourself) in identifying possible authors. I am now asking you to assist me to find authors for a new book that I intend to compile. This new book will focus on men's experience of birth. My original idea for Great Birth was that it would have stories from women and men about their experiences. I received over fifty submissions, but only one was written by a man! As you are aware, men are very important at birth. They can either be supportive of the labouring woman, or they can communicate their fear of birth to the woman, and make the birth more difficult (and increase the likelihood of intervention). I believe (and research confirms) that much of this fear comes from birth being such an alien experience for men. Men do not talk about birth with each other and therefore they do not know what to expect. Their education comes from television, films and books. The little information they may get from pre-natal childbirth education courses still tend to focus on the biological aspects of birth, and little on 'the experience for men.' I wish to redress this lack of information by publishing a book of birth stories written by men for men. So what would I like from you? Attached to this letter are Writers Guidelines for the second book, seeking assistance from men willing to write their stories. I would greatly appreciate your assistance in sending these guidelines to your friends, colleagues, or anyone or any organization that may be interested in the project. I found for the first book that those consumers who speak directly to their friends and ask them to contribute were most successful in getting women to write their stories. I imagine that this is the best approach for men too. I want stories that encompass the entire range of births - normal, caesarean, VBAC, twins, home, breech etc (and even stillbirth and miscarriage), so please don't feel restricted in asking men for their help. If you don't have the time to contact your friends directly, please just forward them this email and guidelines. If you know of other people I should contact, I would appreciate if you could let me know. Thank you so much for considering this request. With best wishes, David Vernon Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/boysed/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
