Birth Stories

Published on December 4th, 2015 | by Sacha Mardou

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THE STATE I’M IN: A Birth Story in Comics by Sacha Mardou, Part I

This comic is about the most stressful nine months of my life, which in a way, turned out to be good training for getting to the state of “okay, I don’t have a clue what I’m doing, so let’s just stay curious and try to do my loving best” that being a mom is for me. My kid is six now and calls me “mommy,” not “mummy,” incidentally. I left the choice to her, young American that she is.

It wasn’t an easy comic to write and it took the best part of a year to complete, as I worked on it around other projects, and honestly, shirked dealing with it for weeks at a time. I was quite scared of talking about my pregnancy publicly and of presenting myself as a comic’s character to imagined criticism and judgment. What encouraged me was remembering the hours I spent, reading stories other women had shared online, stories of scary invasive testing and copious bleeding, and the like.  Well, it was helpful…and it encouraged me to make this comic.

Part II of Sacha Mardou’s “The State I’m In” can be read here. Want more awesome MUTHA comics? And essays and etc? Sign up to receive updates in your inbox or follow us on twitter/FB/etc. 

P.S. Mardou’s graphic novel Sky In Stereo just published, so also click that link.  

Tags: "The American Way", a brit in the states, American healthcare system, american vs. british healthcare system, amniocentesis, birth story, bleeding during pregnancy, choice, Comics, cultural dislocation in birth, genetic testing, home birth vs. hospital birth, laws against midwifery, mummy, navigating the American Way of Birth, obgyn vs. midwife, sacha mardou, subchorionic hematoma, the right to choose, The State I'm In

About the Author

Sacha Mardou

Sacha Mardou is a cartoonist and long-form graphic novelist who lives in St Louis, Missouri with her family. She began making mini-comics after getting her BA in English Literature from the University of Wales in 1998. Working in both fiction and autobiography, Mardou’s comics explore interior experiences such as mental illness, emotional dynamics within families and healing from trauma. Her latest book is Past Tense: Facing Family Secrets and Finding Myself in Therapy (Avery, October 2024)

@sachamardou (FB)

@Mardou_Draws (IG)

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