Book Talk with Rebecca N. Thompson, MD

“Held Together: A Shared Memoir of Motherhood, Medicine, and Imperfect Love” with Rebecca N. Thompson, MD

On Saturday, July 26th at 2:00 p.m., the Seaside Library Friends & Foundation will welcome Rebecca N. Thompson, MD who will give a talk and hold a Q&A on her recently released book, “Held Together: A Shared Memoir of Motherhood, Medicine, and Imperfect Love.” This event will be held in the Community Room.

In her debut book, the renowned primary care physician offers a deeply moving narrative that celebrates the resilience of women as they navigate the diverse and complex journeys of building and sustaining families. Dr. Thompson intertwines her personal story of life-threatening pregnancy complications with the stories of twenty-one of her patients, friends, and medical colleagues. Together, they explore the complexities of motherhood, family dynamics, and health and healing, ultimately finding strength in imperfection. Through profoundly honest and emotionally raw accounts, “Held Together” creates a space for connection, delivering comfort and awareness to anyone touched by their own or others’ challenges in parenthood and family relationships. At its heart, “Held Together” aims to expand the understanding of motherhood’s true diversity, while advocating for empathy, inclusion, and improved support for all women and families.

Dr. Thompson will be joined in conversation by Kelly Burke, a fellow Oregonian and her former patient. Kelly’s deeply felt story touches on themes of navigating a chronic autoimmune disorder that threatens her personal and professional identities, talking to children about serious illness and death, and recognizing the ways that physical limitations and understandings of self shape the way we parent.

Rebecca N. Thompson, MD is a family medicine and public health physician who specializes in women’s and children’s health. She trained at Harvard, Stanford, and Oregon Health and Science University and is always learning from her most influential teachers—her patients, colleagues, family, and friends. She lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband and children.