Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster
Birth: Three Mothers, Nine Months, and Pregnancy in America
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"An important book...Grant is a good storyteller, subtle and compassionate." --The New York Times Book Review
In the tradition of Random Family and Evicted, a gripping blend of rigorous, intimate on-the-ground reporting and deep social history of reproductive health that follows three first-time mothers as they experience pregnancy and childbirth in today's America.
Journalist Rebecca Grant provides us with a never-before-seen look at the changing landscape of pregnancy and childbirth in America--and the rise of midwifery--told through the eyes of three women who all pass through the doors of the same birth center in Portland, Oregon.
There's Alison, a teacher whose long path to a healthy pregnancy has led her to question a traditional hospital birth; T'Nika, herself born with the help of a midwife and now a nurse hoping to work in Labor & Delivery and improve equality in healthcare; and Jillian, an office manager and aspiring midwife who works at Andaluz Birth Center, excited for a new beginning, but anxious about how bringing a new life into the world might mean the deferral of her own dreams.
In remarkable detail and with great compassion, Grant recounts the ups downs, fears, joys, and everyday moments of each woman's pregnancy and postpartum journey, offering a rare look into their inner lives, perspectives, and choices in real time--and addresses larger issues facing the entire nation, from discrimination in medicine and treatment (both gender and race-based) to fertility, family planning, complicated feelings about motherhood and career, and the stigmas of miscarriage and postpartum blues. "An enlightening and accessible portrait of maternal healthcare in America" (Publishers Weekly, starred) Birth is an inspiring look at one of life's most profound rites of passage.
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Book Details
ISBN:
9781982170431
EAN:
9781982170431
Binding:
Paperback
Pages:
384
Authors:
Rebecca Grant
Publisher:
Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster
Published Date: 2024-23-04
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As a midwife, I’m always on the lookout for books that give more than just the cultural paradigm of giving birth (in a hospital w/an OB).I had high hopes for a more nuanced even radical perspective from this book and was pretty disappointed.Ms. Grant’s research and history is solid especially when she delves into racial disparities, but her reporting of current day trends and practices seems biased and shallow. Her description of breastfeeding as “tremendously time consuming, emotionally draining, and physically draining” could have been straight from the marketing pamphlet of a formula company. Two pages later she describes the measurement of the pregnant belly of one of the mothers “Thirty eight inches, one inch for every week of gestation.”Fundal height is measured in centimeters and it is an estimation with 2cms on either side of weeks gestation as normal (ie at 38 weeks gestation could measure 36-40cm).These may seem like minor details but they left me disappointed and no longer interested. This not a book I’d recommend to anyone, especially new parents.
This book was really interesting and engaging! It was a great mix of following three women's stories of their pregnancy while weaving in related context, history, and statistics about all aspects of pregnancy, midwifery, etc. in the US. Admittedly, this isn't a topic I regularly read about, but this book was very engrossing and accessible and I learned so much!
This book is exactly what it says it is--the story of three women, their pregnancies, and the birth stories. It will be of interest primarily to those who are pregnant, have given birth, or want to know more about midwifery. It's well written and a lot of information about birth in America and different issues is given.I was surprised at the complications that incurred in two of the births. But... that's life. Happy endings all around, but getting there was not easy.
Fantastic read for any expecting parent! I was lucky enough to start reading this before my daughter was born and finished it after. Not only did the three stories resonate but also understanding why birth in the American healthcare system is so frustrating. On that note, if you're on the fence about whether to choose a birth center, at home birth, or hospital birth, this book can be a great guiding light.
I love this reported book from journalist Rebecca Grant, which invites us to follow three real-life women through conception, pregnancy, birth, and fourth trimester in Portland, Oregon. Grant reports with true compassion and always centers the humanity of each woman going through the pregnancy and birthing process. I love that she treats women giving birth, something deemed so ordinary by our society, as the extraordinary and life-altering journey that it truly is. It's given me so much to think about and important questions to ask about how pregnancy and birthing people are treated by our medical system.
