LAUSR

ABSTRACT Written while pregnant and in lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, this piece proposes that pregnancy involves walking a fine line between two opposing states: a narcissistic self-absorption and a complete giving over of oneself in service of the other. Utilizing Kristeva’s writing on pregnancy, motherhood, and herethics, I propose that this balancing act operates both at the level of gestation and in the public realm. A pregnant woman needs to focus on herself in order to protect her unborn child and her physical and mental well-being, but this focus also holds the potential for the woman to consider her own privilege, and to reach out to, and support, other women.