first of all thank you to both jay and nancy for sharing especially jay
for sharing something is so difficult to "talk" about.....

   another piece that can go into the picture is the issue of control. a
woman ( and the dtats in america for those outside is 1 in 3!) who is the
victim of abuse has the horrible experiece of having something done to her
over which she has no control.

   for many woman pregancy and birthing are focal points for realizations of
past incidents that they may bhave sucessfully buried until this time....

   there are some excellent pieces on the subject: birth magazine published
an excellent (IMHO) piece written by an abused mother of her experieces. part
of what she discusses is her difficulty with ob/gyn examinations...a place
where "generally" a woman has no control over what another person is "doing"
to her......birth is another place where control is "given over" and if you
will allowing a baby to "control" the feedings and access to the body can be
very tough....

    this is a very very difficult issue that needs despreately to come out of
the closet and
be examined, understood and treated with compasion, caring and extreme
gentleness.

                                   Patricia