This was an eye-opening book for me. I'm not a mother, I'm not even married, so I haven't yet looked into all these issues in depth. I also don't live in the US. So it was interesting to read about the health system there, which seems to be on the one hand very much intervention-oriented but on the other hand, there is a continually growing natural-birth movement, which is very good.

I've read all of Naomi Wolf's previous books, & as I can recall, each & every one was met with lots of criticism when they first came out. There are flaws in this book, but it's a 'story' that needs to be told. As many other readers have noted, Wolf is a world-known feminist, & the fact that she decided to tackle this difficult issue may help in more public awareness of the problems of childbirth & pregnancy. One criticism I found extremely unfair is that Naomi "whines". It's true that the book has a general negative feeling about pregnancy & childbirth: but it's also true that 99,9% of information for mothers-to-be show a glowing, content, totally calm & fullfilling experience. Sure, there's talk about the pain of labour. But apart from that, there's little aknowledgment in society of a)post-partum depression, b) womens' frustration & sense of failure when they don't manage as well as they hoped work & child-rearing & when their husbands are only "helpers" & not equal partners in the new responsibilities. These issues have to be handled by the woman herself, while everyone around her finds it hard to see these difficulties. I've seen this happening in many of my friends' lives, I've seen the disappointment & the difficulties, & it would be so much better, first of all for the children, if mothers were better cared-for by their husbands but also by society as whole. Naomi Wolf proposes some interesting changes & gives some ideas at the end of the book, so that's a start.

Another unfair argument is that Naomi Wolf is "privileged", that she has a sense of entitlement. Also, some readers have asked- "what is she complaining about? she had a healthy baby didn't she". Since when does the fact that a woman is well-off take away her right & even responsibility to talk about everything she's learnt? Since when does that fact that a woman had a healthy baby mean that she has to forget & erase all she went through before that? It's as if she should be grateful or something, when the fact is that most women do have healthy babies but most women also aren't encouraged to talk about their negative experiences as well as the positive. Women like Wolf have the knowledge, time & yes money to do good research & to shout out loud all this information that has to be heard. So it's not only in her self-interest that she does this, it's in the interest of all women.

Even though I liked this book, there are a couple of things I wasn't happy with. First, the fact that some of Wolf's points were not very clear, & they were even contradictory at times. For example her view about abortion confused & angered me. She does not take a clear pro-choice position but rather says she takes this position while on the other hand she finds herself confused & persuaded partly by pro-lifers. Also, she talks about breast-feeding glowingly, & then goes on to put down "La leche league" as "lactation fascists".

A final note: the book is very very badly edited. There's not a complete bibliography in the end, & there are MANY typos. I found myself holding a pen, crossing out wrongly spelled words, or adding missing words. This to me is unacceptable & even a little embarrassing for the editors & indeed, the author.

All in all, a book well worth reading, which maybe doesn't contain wide research but which definitely leads a reader to do more research on their own.
Comment ( )

Vital reading for feminists, mothers and feminist mothers. ( )

This is a very compelling book in its way. Wolf exposes the hidden agenda of the birth industry in this country and the subtle but often irresistible influences doctors and hospitals use to control birthing women. That said, it is by no means a scientifically rigorous study—Wolf relies heavily on anecdotes, mostly from her own friends and acquaintances. Missing, then, are the experiences of working-class and less intellectual (read: self-absorbed) middle-class women. For instance, she discusses the problem of what last name the baby will have, when the majority of married women in this country still use their husband’s name. She is right to call for a middle course between the ultra-naturalists and the high-tech interventionists, but mentions only (rare) free-standing birthing centers, instead of discussing the differences between hospitals—and many women are able to choose between hospitals. For instance, my sister had a natural childbirth in a hospital with a doctor-supervised midwife, never had to leave her one room, never had her baby taken out of the room unless she requested it, and had a room big enough to walk around in. While she couldn’t eat, drink, or use the bathtub, it’s a far cry from a hospital that routinely takes babies to the nursery and has separate labor and delivery rooms. Wolf had a particular experience, went looking for other women with traumatic experiences (in new motherhood as well as birth), and found them. But it sounds like she was able to find horror stories all over the place, and that says something. ( )

Every pregnant woman in America should read this book. Wolf's research is thorough and the book is very compelling. Most importantly though, if you are pregnant, you will want to read this book before you give birth, to know what you are getting into.

I was shocked (but not really suprised) at the amount of nonsense that is going on in American hospitals. Birthing babies should be a natural process, but due to the corporatization of the medical industry, and doctors who are trained primarily as surgeons, the C-section rate is at an all-time high (29% nationally in 2004).

Epidurals slow labor (you can't feel your legs; how can you push?) and pitocin is a synthetic version of the the natural chemical, oxytocin, which your body produces nautrally in labor. Pitocin is extremely effective in producing very strong contractions, contractions so so strong that an epidural becomes a necessity. It is also effective in getting patients in and out of the hospital and "off the board".

In this book, Wolf interviwed many midwives, including the great Ina May Gaskin (http://www.inamay.com/), author of the classic, "Spiritual Midwifery", whose approach to childbirth is completely at odds with the modern medical establishment. And their extremely low rates of C-section, epidurals, and episiotomies stand testament to their success.

If you are expecting, you owe it to yourself to read this book. ( )

I read this book when about five months pregnant. Admittedly, with Naomi Wolf you know that you are not going to get the most positive spin on the situation at hand, but I found this to be a really odd book. What I was looking forward to was a well written account of both the positives and negatives of the motherhood experience. What I got was a very negative take on a situation familiar to many women. It is almost that Wolf went looking for every negative aspect of pregnancy and found it. Admittedly, having nine months of morning sickness is not great. But I feel that she over exaggerates in so many areas.

For example, she goes on about how pregnancy and birth is always presented as a positive experience, with no warning of the not-so-great bits. I am not sure what she has been reading or who she has been speaking to - there is a lot of information out there about the not-so-great things that happen to your body, and your mental state. She acts as though she is a passive, put upon participant in her pregnancy, which just doesn't ring true - as a highly educated woman who has spent her professional life as an advocate, why can't she take control of her situation like so many other women seem to manage?

The final loss of credibility is the complaining about her impersonal obstetrics experiences, compared to the more `natural' way of doing things. Two points - she is wealthy enough to have made a choice here, why didn't she? And secondly, it is the modern, impersonal medical care which potentially saved her and her baby's life.

Being a mother can be hard. But we all have choices. Admittedly, I am not going through the American system, so perhaps things are a little different. But I did not find this book helpful at all - it seemed the author had already made her mind up what the results would be and skewed everything to fit a certain viewpoint that I could not relate to. Of interest to women's studies scholars perhaps, but for the expectant mother, this book doesn't really have much to add. ( )