Birth; a rite of passage in which a woman is transformed from a well-groomed, well-organised, self-centered, carefree, childfree person into the exhausted, poo-wiping, milk-sodden, love-ravaged hero that is a new mother. Gabrielle Carey's "Motherlove; Births, Babies and Beyond" is a wonderful collection of stories and memories from women writing about their own and others' births, their babies, and their lives beyond the moment of childbirth, when the world changed forever. Each of the writers invite the reader into their own unique world of Motherlove, that most extraordinary of loves that only mothers can experience and truly understand. The smells, the pain, the power and powerlessness, the joys, the utter exhaustion and the exhilaration, and the incredible love. Sometimes sad and moving, sometimes practical and funny, these are stories that will enthrall and delight every reader. The Editors: Sydney writer Debra Adelaide is best known for her novel "The Hotel Albatross", a wonderful story of love and struggle in a pub in country NSW. The Contributors: Debra Adelaide; Mary Moody; Anna Booth; Fiona Place; Gabrielle Carey; Annette Stewart; Julie Clarke; Pat Mamajun Torres; Anna Maria Dell'oso; Monica Trapaga; Sara Dowse; Brenda Walker; Noni Hazelhurst; Rachel Ward; Adele Horin; and Sue Woolfe. Sales Points: The very first Australian collection of its kind, "Motherlove" brings together a diverse group of women who offer fascinating depictions of the humanity, passion and struggle of birth. "Motherlove" will be supported by an extensive marketing campaign focused on the enormous Mother's Day sales potential of this title. "Only two things were clear after both births: that my body had just performed the most extraordinary miracle, and that I would never be the same again". - Noni Hazelhurst. "It frightens me to think I might have lived the rest of my life without knowing this humbling, extraordinary, secret world: this milky furious love". - Anna Maria Dell'oso.