Past Due: A Story of Disability, Pregnancy and Birth

I bought this book out of curiosity after reading Finger's newer book, Elegy for a Disease, about her struggles with childhood polio and abuse in a disfunctional family. Her writing was good enough that I wanted more. Past Due did not disappoint. The writing was first-rate, although the subject matter could be - and often was - absolutely heartrending. Finger's pipe dream of natural childbirth at home with a midwife attending went up in scary smoke, ending in a complicated and emergency hospital Caesarian delivery. For months Finger didn't know if her son had suffered brain damage, and lived through a nightmare of special meds and equipment and midnight ER visits. There are scenes of intervention in the neo-natal ICU which will bring tears to your eyes. Here's one, where they couldn't get an iv line into the baby's arm, so attempted to put in into his head: "'I'm going to to put a rubber band around his head,' the doctor says. 'It'll make his veins stand out.' ... The doctor taps her finger agains his flesh until a vein appears; she shaves a patch of his scalp; the needle goes in, but not into the vein, and she probes, pulling the needle in and out, in and out, in and out, while he wails in pain. He stares into my eyes and I cry with him ... 'Oh, Max,' I say, 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.'..." Anne Finger has much to say in this slight volume, and not just about the difficulties of a disabled woman giving birth, but about our society's attitudes toward the disabled, the helpless and the disenfranchised. This is important stuff, a book which should probably be read by all of those pro-choice and pro-life adherents - both camps. Too bad it's out of print and largely inaccessible now. I'm glad I took the time to read it. - Tim Bazzett, author of Love, War & Polio

This book was absolutely fantastic! I got it at a used book store and it was one of the best books. The author who had polio details he pregnancy and all the politics sourrounding it. It is an eye opener about what it must be like to be pregnant with a disability.

This was one of these books that made me stay up way too late because I couldn't put it down. The author tells the story of the birth of her child. A story that should be simple enough but, like most things in life that touch us deeply, it isn't. Her prior experiences of dealing with polio and her involvement in the pro choice / reproductive rights movement contribute to her decision on a home birth. When she and her baby experience severe complications, she faces the possibility of having a child with a disability. Apart from being very well written it engaged me into many silent arguements with the author on the very political but yet so personal issues of abortion, disability, birthing...It made me tink again about my own life-experiences with infertility, high risk pregnancy and dissability-rights (I have a close familymember, who is very involved). It reminded me how important choices and taking control are. And it reminded me that choices and control often turn out to be illusion. I highly recommend this book to anyone, who is interested in issues of disability and reproduction or who enjoys autobiographies. Your opinions might differ from those of the author but it will definetly be food for thought.