Today is World Preeclampsia Day which I shouldn’t let pass unnoticed. There’s much more information on the U.S. Preeclampsia Foundation’s website here about Preeclampsia Awareness month. I had postpartum preeclampsia/mild HELLP twice which is documented in Toxemia (which is the old word for preeclampsia). I chose that title specifically because of the memoir’s focus on preeclampsia but also because the book goes into my experience with mental health, with negotiations within the medical system, chronic illness, and societal expectations for the body. How we see ourselves. How we are kind or not. (A note that May is also Mental Health Awareness Month although Mental Health Awareness Week was earlier this month. Also quite relevant for multiple reasons.)
Preeclampsia Foundation Canada is the hardworking Canadian branch of the organization that has supports research and awareness. It’s possible to make a direct donation here, which I’ll do later today.
In previous years, I co-coordinated the local Ottawa Promise Walk for Preeclampsia though I’ve been stymied by health stuff since 2019 when my heart condition showed up. I was able to work on a walk in 2019 though I was very sick. And then pandemic. And then even post-pandemic, my energy crashes if I do too much. So there was a 2023 Ottawa walk but I haven’t been able to help with one since. Everything in my life screams for me to slow down when I want to speed up. It’s impossible to explain how saturating that is to my day to day. I do strongly believe that this underfunded area of research is worth supporting. A description from the Canadian Foundation’s Canada Helps page:
“Preeclampsia affects 5-8% of all pregnancies and approximately 10 million mothers will develop preeclampsia across the world each year, yet according to the World Health Organization (WHO), preeclampsia is one of the least funded areas of research. We need your help to realize our vision of a world where preeclampsia no longer threatens the lives of mothers and babies. “
There’s an illumination event tonight from coast to coast where landmarks and monuments across Canada will be illuminated in honour of World Preeclampsia Day—raising awareness for preeclampsia, HELLP syndrome, and eclampsia. Here in Ottawa, it will be the Byward Market Ottawa sign.
I’ve been lucky enough to have some recent radio and podcast interviews to link related to Toxemia.
The wonderful Susan Johnston was kind enough to have me and Brecken Hancock on CKCU’s Friday Special Blend to talk preeclampsia, writing life/motherhood, mental health, working in hybridity and Toxemia. Listen to the archived show here.
The indefatigable Hollay Ghadery was willing to chat with me on her New Book Networks podcast, for which I’m very grateful. The episode can be listened to here. I offer a 10 min reading, and we speak about the memoir, choosing form, acknowledging mortality, archival concerns in documenting, writing the body, and darkness. The podcast has such a wealth of different authors and interviews — you should check them all out.
The generous Bruce Kauffman published a recording of the November 2024 drift/line reading series organized by Wanda Praamsma featuring myself, Allison Chisholm, rob mclennan,, and musician Megan Hamilton on his CFRC Kingston’s radio show “Finding a Voice”. You can list to my reading and Megan’s performance here. And you can listen to rob and Allison here.
I’m reading again with the lovely Amanda Earl and rob mclennan in Ottawa on Sunday, June 1st (about a week from now) at the Lieutenant’s Pump. Description: “a reading sponsored by the Writers Union of Canada and the Canada Council for the Arts — three local writers share recent and forthcoming work. Doors open at 1:30pm.”
After that — I’ll be reading with rob in Dublin in July as we follow our eldest’s choir to Ireland. I’ll have a reading in Nova Scotia in November. And I would love to do a few more readings in the summer/fall. Keeping that pinprick of energy in mind — the energy, the energy, the energy.
CHRISTINE MCNAIR 