HELD TOGETHER

RESOURCES & BONUS MATERIALS

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reflection, conversation, and communitY DISCUSSION IDEAS FOR BOOK CLUBS AND BEYOND

General discussion ideas

Discussion ideas on specific themes related to:

• Maternal and family mental health

• Pregnancy loss

• Genetic testing and other medical evaluations

• Assisted reproductive technology

• Adoption, fostering, and surrogacy

• Complications with newborns and infants

• Abortion

• Self-advocacy and communication as a patient in the medical system

• Body image, the experience of illness, and the continuum of ability and disability

• Illness or death of a close family member

• Children’s and parents’ medical challenges, evaluations, and diagnoses

• Mother-daughter relationships

• Relationship struggles, partnership, and divorce

• Profession, work, and identity

• Religious, cultural, and racial influences on family building and relationships

• Influences of historical events on individuals and families

• Travel, geography, and sense of place

• Friendship, conformity, and gendered expectations

• Intuition, sensory experiences, and everyday magic

guides for medical professionals AND TRAINEES

Considering patient experience in context (especially for medical trainees and professionals)

Deepening conversations in healthcare settings (especially for mothers in medicine and other practicing clinicians)

Other resources

Chapter summaries and notes on themes (including allllll the spoilers!)

Related reading