Fat Birth: Confident, Strong and Empowered Pregnancy At Any Size

by Michelle Mayefske

You are worthy of a joyful pregnancy and positive birth at any size! For too long people in bigger bodies have been told the same story of fat pregnancy— it is risky, complicated and birth will be anything but straight forward

In Fat Birth Michelle Mayefske debunks common myths and exposes the single fatphobic narrative that has led to the overmedicalization of plus size birth. She encourages birthing people everywhere to stand in their power and create their own unique story.

Fat Birth is a combination of a pregnancy guide and anthology of more than thirty birth stories submitted by parents from across the globe. From finding a size-friendly provider and creating a birth plan to understanding your rights in childbirth, you will walk away knowing how to embrace your body and use your voice confidently during birth.

Genres: Nonfiction

249 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2021

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started really enjoying this book. It read to me the same way that "Plus Size Pregnancy" by Sarah Wickham did, it was informational in a non-nonsense kind of way. "Here are the facts and what you can expect, but knowing these facts here's how you can advocate for yourself". It was great.

Then we got to the personal birth stories section, which I was initially really looking forward to finally seeing positive fat birth stories. Which yeah, we got that, but we got so much more.

I felt it was...odd including a story about a woman loosing her baby to still birth. That story wasn't helpful and instead anxiety inducing. There was also so much internalized fatphobia- writers praising themselves on being "small fat" and not that other horrible BIG fat. Other writers who were a SMALL16 at the start of their pregnancy and then a DISGUSTINGLY LARGE 18 at the end. Like girl bffr rn, you went up one pant size your entire pregnancy???

I also found it VERY odd that the author included their own birth stories in the middle of the book with no indication that they were the author?? There were 4 birth stories back to back that made no mention AT ALL that they were the same person, I had to compare tattoos in the included photos to figure out that they were the same person. And I didn't know it was the author until I looked up the authors Instagram page and once again compared tattoos. I felt if she wanted to include her own story she should've started out the story section with her story and then went into other peoples. And having her story in there 4 times (even for 4 different births) felt weird.

Overall I was left disappointed and felt my needs were better served reading "Plus Size Pregnancy" by Sarah Wickham, I got the same information without the fatphobia at the end from other fat people.

[Sydnee Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good questions to ask your doctor about pregnancy and labor. However, I felt like the author was writing from a place of a lot of hurt. Maybe a bit jaded? I understand that there’s a lot of assumptions and misinformation with plus size birth, I’ve experienced some of that myself. Overall I felt like this book lacked a lot of meat. There was a lot of fluff, a lot of encouragement and positive words to mama but not enough about how to stand up for yourself and get the care you deserve.

[Annie Webb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative & relational at the same time! Provides birth stories & challenges that fat mamas face in the birth world.

[Nora Radway Moore · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lots of repetition and fluff. Parts felt a bit judgmental and shame inducing. But that’s also my own baggage. The birth stories were very repetitive with lots of home births.