“I’m So Bad at Giving Birth”

Sjöfn Asare says she carried out extensive research for her books and that everything described in them has a basis in real life. Her latest novel, “Fylgjumst að,” is the third in a series about Sóley, an independent podcaster who investigates mysterious cases rather than working as a detective.

In the new story, Sóley has just had her first child and begins examining the suspicious world of freebirth. Asare says her own experience of becoming a mother made her realize how strange childbirth can seem. She then read widely about birth, including blogs, and noticed the debate around freebirth.

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When I had a child myself, I realized how crazy childbirth really is. It is completely absurd.

“I’m in a circle of friends where half want to give birth alone and outside in a meadow, while the other half believe that if you do not give birth in a hospital, both you and the baby will die,” Asare says. She believes that contrast allows her to understand both sides.

The author says subjects occupy her thoughts and then appear in the Sóley books. What Sóley investigates, she adds, reflects what Asare herself has been exploring in her spare time.

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I’m in a circle of friends where half want to give birth alone and outside in a meadow, while the other half believe that if you do not give birth in a hospital, both you and the baby will die.