Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care by Jennifer Block

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book caught my attention from the first paragraph about the “Apparatus For Facilitating The Birth of A Child by Centrifugal Force.” I thought this anecdote was both funny and frightening and from then I couldn’t put it down. This book is not directed at pregnant women and their partners only as is many books about childbirth, rather this book is for anyone and everyone interested in current state of maternity care in America. It was a nice change in genre for me.

This book gave much larger picture of maternity care in America. Now knowing what actual OB/GYN doctors thought in the early 1900s about women, it makes sense that modern maternity care is what is today. I always knew there was a dramatic difference between the care given to women in the United States and the evidence, yet I wasn’t sure why it was that way. I also learned about the grassroots initiatives taking place, considering birth rights and access to care as reproductive rights, the legal and political aspects surrounding midwifery care, among other things.

There wasn’t really anything about this book that I didn’t like. I would have liked it it was organized more clearly for future referencing purposes other then that the book is definitely a 5 out of 5 stars for me.

A must read for childbirth educators, doulas, midwives, doctors, public health professionals, anyone in the medical field, feminists, reproductive rights activists, all women, parents, and care givers.

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