Fridge Brilliance
- As a Wife in Gilead, Serena must have attended several births (three onscreen), but she is unprepared when it is her turn. When June tries to check her cervix to find out how dilated she is, she recoils, thinking June is trying to harm her and the baby. Her ignorance makes sense. She did not find out she was pregnant until after her initial detention, and she has been largely isolated since her release. Most pregnant women have access to family and/or friends and to information. Even the Handmaids have each other. It probably never occurred to Serena to ask for a copy of What to Expect When You Are Expecting or similar materials, and the Wheelers would probably have given her a book with pictures if she had.
- For that matter, we've seen what attending a birth means for Wives in Gilead - a pantomime of labour for the Wife, attended by the other Wives, while the Handmaids upstairs attend the actual birth. Given the low fertility rates that led to Handmaids being conceived of, what are the odds Serena has ever been to a birth where the Wife was the one actually giving birth?
