-Isms: Views on life in rural America

Madeline Tiger, a poet, wrote, "The instant of birth is exquisite. Pain and joy are one at this moment. Ever after, the dim recollection is so sweet that we speak to our children with a gratitude they never understand."

After reading Leslie Jamison's "A Personal History of the C-Section," I contemplated Tiger's quote about the exact moment we usher a new life into the world and how the experience shapes our views.

Jamison drives the point home while talking about undergoing a caesarean section, explaining to others how it was an emergency, overcoming the stigma that, at times, has been associa...