Milk and Blood

It takes a village to raise a child. But we don’t live in villages anymore.

It’s 3 a.m. and new mom, Evelyn, finds herself looking more like Medusa than human these days as she attempts to put her baby down to sleep for the seventh time. So what does she do when her little bundle of joy actually gives into slumber for a few precious minutes? She writes a sleep training guide on no sleep.

With her husband by her side, Evelyn quickly learns that it takes a village to raise a child. And with no village in sight, she finds the next best thing: writing for the next woman who will need a village but won’t have one. This story features dozens of raw, unfiltered missives from the front lines of motherhood, covering breastfeeding battles, postpartum anxiety, sleep deprivation, and navigating relationships that will never be the same.

Milk and Blood is a visceral take on becoming a parent that’s broken down in the form of personal essays, a postpartum checklist, a one act play, FAQs, and more. Jade Kim Monsen’s non-traditional telling of the ups and downs of parenthood belongs on every expecting or new parent’s reading list.