I actually like both of them, albeit for different reasons.
The Grieving Mother for me was just something new and unexpected - when have I ever had a virtually invisible midwife in the party. I also felt that the Birthing Bell story was a nice change of pace. Reasonably poetic imagery, undercurrents of horror and deceit, woven into a topic usually far from my mind.
As for Durance, I think he's a pretentious ass with an exaggerated opinion of himself.
Most characters in other RPGs that I don't like I can more or less discount as "well, that's just is the neutral evil companion". Durance, however, managed to make me dislike him *as a person*. Therefore, I have to give props to the way he was written.
Back to topic: Both their stories are of course perfect examples of "dead baby world" grimdarkness. And I'm rather glad they got balanced out by things like Edér going "Hey pig! Woo pig! Ha ha, look at him with his little tail!". As they say, "Balance in all things". And really, I trust Obsidian to find this balance.