I think this book is excellent.  I find it to be on par with Marsden
Wagner's book, "Born In The USA."  The difference between them is
that Dr. Wagner is an insider, and looks at issues from that
perspective, whereas Jennifer Block is a journalist who is not yet a
mother, and looks at the issues with the clarity of someone who is
not caught up in the system.

I contrast that with Tina Cassidy's book, and with other books
written by women who already have children, and the writing is
clearly influenced by the type of birth they experienced.  I find
that women who have had negative experiences write about and focus
on the pain and fear of birth, but shortchange the power and
strength of women.  Cassidy spends an awful lot of time describing
the instruments used to extract dead fetuses from women's bodies.
There is not a lot of emphasis on the fact that there were many more
live babies born than dead ones.

Jennifer looks at the numbers and sees that it is ridiculous that so
many women are denied VBACS when such a small number of women and
babies are harmed from them, and sees that maternity care is more
about risk and liability than about healthcare.

This is another book for a college course.  Women who are pregnant
and are not looking to become specialists in birth activism are not
the target audience for this book, although I wish they were.  This
is a great book for a college course, where young women could be
exposed to the issues from an intellectual standpoint, before they
even think about having children.

Michal





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