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“Made for This accomplishes the vitally important task of rebuilding a culture of life by bringing the Church’s rich teachings on motherhood and birth into the void left by the breakdown of family life and disruptions to the transmission of intergenerational wisdom. Mary Haseltine’s engaging style and expertise as a doula combine to make this a must-read book for expecting parents.” — Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila of Denver, Colorado
“Our Catholic faith helps to shed light upon the meaning and beauty of all our experiences. From her study of theology, the knowledge gained as a childbirth educator, and her own experience as a mother of five, Mary Haseltine, in Made for This: The Catholic Mom’s Guide to Birth, unpacks the illumination faith brings to the miracle of the birth of a new life. This book is a valuable tool to help mothers experience pregnancy and birth as God intended — something beautiful, redemptive, and supernatural. It is a must-read for expectant mothers and fathers, for couples in childbearing years, and for everyone who cares about them.” — Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas
“My hope is that every woman will pick up this book and give it a read. Whether you are religious or not, have had children or not, this book gives a beautiful reflection on the female body and the amazing strength that is within all of us.” — Abby Johnson, pro-life advocate and founder of And Then There Were None
“For mothers seeking a companion through pregnancy and birth, Made for This offers a wise and comprehensive resource as a Catholic alternative to popular how-to guides. Mary Haseltine celebrates the beauty and strength of women’s bodies as part of God’s loving plan. New and experienced mothers alike will appreciate the practical guidance and ways to pray through pregnancy and labor. A beautiful invitation to encounter God in the midst of bearing and birthing new life!” — Laura Kelly Fanucci, author of Everyday Sacrament: The Messy Grace of Parenting
“Birth is wild, raw, unpredictable — and absolutely beautiful when you allow God to meet you in this profound human experience. Mary Haseltine equips every mom — whether pregnant for the first time or expecting her tenth baby — to enter fully the mystery of childbirth. By educating her mind, preparing her body, and engaging her soul, this book provides every pregnant woman a crucial road map for the journey to motherhood.” — Edward and Beth Sri; Edward is author of Men, Women, and the Mystery of Love, and Beth is creator of borntodothis.org and mother of eight
“Finally! This is a book that acknowledges not only the miraculous work that a woman’s body is doing throughout pregnancy, but also the intrinsic value of the child. So many Catholic mothers (myself included) have had to lean on authors who understand only partially the miracle that is taking place when God chooses to co-create a human being with us. We’ve had to guard our minds, bodies, and spirits with our childbirth preparation courses and literature because the authors simply do not understand the richness of the reality that is taking place. I am so happy that Mary Haseltine has written such a comprehensive and authentic book for Catholic women to lean on as they come to understand fully the amazing title that God has given them as mothers.” — Leah A. Jacobson, MA, IBCLC, founder and CEO of The Guiding Star Project
“Mary Haseltine has walked a delicate line with masterful precision, bridging the sometimes contentious gap between medicated and unmedicated birth with grace, mercy, and a profound dose of faith-filled wisdom. In a culture which tends to downplay the spiritual and struggles to acknowledge the beauty of fertility and childbirth, Mary has brought her formidable skills as a mother, a doula, and a careful theological thinker to bear on a profoundly important part of the human experience. As a woman and a mother who has experienced the gamut of hospital births, reading her book brought both joy and healing to memories I had relegated to the very dimmest places in my mind. Stock this title in every Catholic parish and medical practice and put it on your gift list for new moms.” — Jenny Uebbing, blogger at Mama Needs Coffee and mother of five
“Mary Haseltine has given the Church a true gift by diving deep into the richness of countless aspects of motherhood. I only wish I had had this book years ago!” — Sarah Swafford, speaker and author of Emotional Virtue: A Guide to Drama-Free Relationships
“This is the all-in-one childbirth book I was looking for but couldn’t find during my entire pregnancy: a balanced, evidence-based look at women’s options for childbirth, beautiful theological reflections on the sacramentality of motherhood, and inspiring birth stories from Catholic women. I will be buying this book for every pregnant woman I know!” — Christina Dehan Jaloway, Catholic wife, mother, speaker, and blogger at The Evangelista
Made for This
The Catholic Mom’s Guide to Birth
Mary Haseltine
With a Foreword by William Sears, MD and Martha Sears, RN
Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division
Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.
Huntington, Indiana 46750
Scripture citations used in this work are taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible — Second Catholic Edition (Ignatius Edition), copyright © 1965, 1966, 2006 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for use in the United States of America copyright © 1994, United States Catholic Conference, Inc. — Libreria Editrice Vaticana. English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: Modifications from the Editio Typica copyright © 1997, United States Catholic Conference, Inc. — Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
Quotations from papal and other Vatican-generated documents available on vatican.va are copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
Every reasonable effort has been made to determine copyright holders of excerpted materials and to secure permissions as needed. If any copyrighted materials have been inadvertently used in this work without proper credit being given in one form or another, please notify Our Sunday Visitor in writing so that future printings of this work may be corrected accordingly.
Copyright © 2018 by Mary Haseltine. Published 2018.
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All rights reserved. With the exception of short excerpts for critical reviews, no part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever without permission from the publisher. For more information, visit: www.osv.com/permissions.
Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, Our Sunday Visitor, Inc., 200 Noll Plaza
Huntington, IN 46750; 1-800-348-2440
ISBN: 978-1-68192-171-6 (Inventory No. T1884)
eISBN: 978-1-68192-175-4
LCCN: 2017961130
Cover and interior design: Lindsey Riesen
Cover art: Shutterstock
Printed in the United States of America
About the Author
Mary Haseltine is a theology graduate and a certified birth doula and childbirth educator. With a passion for building a culture of life through the teachings of the Theology of the Body, she works to bring an awareness and practice of the teachings of the Church into the realm of childbirth, mothering, and pregnancy loss. She lives in Western New York with her husband and five sons. You can find more of her writing at www.maryhaseltine.com.
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