prominent clichés about pregnancy and childbirth
Hey DW,
I've been planning a blog post on the topic "a plea for variety in depictions of pregnancy and childbirth, or, your clichés are boring." It seems to me the big ones in stock portrayals of pregnancy and childbirth are morning sickness; mood swings; food cravings; delivery flat in back in bed; and fathers freaking out. (Let us put aside the tendency to see pregnant bodies as horrific and tools/things to be invaded, for the moment.)
What other major clichés are there about pregnancy and childbirth? What key things would you want writers to remember when writing pregnant characters? And, separately, what big-picture questions should SFF writers think about when doing worldbuilding around pregnancy and childbirth?
(I'm not sure if this should also include newborns; I can't think of any big clichés there, except maybe the cluster of things around breastfeeding, which may be just too complicated.)
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