Rhiannon

I was curious to see how this anthology would land with me since I'm not now, nor have I ever wanted to be, a mom (and am now even more reassured by my life's choices thanks to several traumatizing scenes in this book.)

I think it's a testament to the great storytelling that a good percentage of the stories in this collection were deeply, horrifyingly disturbing (and gruesomely bloody!) and go far beyond the thematic premise of childbirth and should be appealing to all fans of horror and dark fiction.

Particular standouts for me were:
Nuno Gonçalves – Dystocia (a single page of a story that was something I'd never even considered and was so deeply unsettling)
Deborah Coldiron – The Animus of Agnes Grishom (a solid commentary on the hypocrisy of society)
Patricia Lameida – There Was a Number Seven (a moving tale of the cycle of abuse)
Autumn Weese – Don't Say a Word (a shocking ending that I didn't see coming)
Ruth Anna Evans – A Piece of My Heart (the ultimate parental sacrifice!)
Jacy Morris – Mother Earth and the Terrestrial Birth (a darkly humorous ecological birth and revenge story all wrapped up in a short, sharp little tale)

A solid collection!