Pregnancy and childbirth are topics that are bound to bring out some strong opinions and preferences. The ways in which the conversations and debates play out are largely reflections of our sociocultural expectations and hopes, and these in turn are affected by our particular place in history. Epstein takes a journey back in time to explore many trends, advancements, and controversies surrounding pregnancy and childbirth that have helped bring us to where we find ourselves today. Each chapter is dedicated to one topic and these range from twilight sleep and Lamaze to DES and sperm banks.This is an easy read and ideal for someone just embarking on this study. It provides brief and basic histories for these various issues. My one major critique would be that it is very heavily focused on Western cultural perceptions of pregnancy and birth. There are no mentions outside of Europe and the United States. This book was interesting, albeit, a bit dry. It gave me a bit more insight about the history of childbirth. I had often heard it referred to as being hijacked by men--but now I understand why and how it happened. Unlike some of the reviewers, I had no problem reading it while pregnant--and I am going to demand my epidural just as stridently as I did with all my other births. The differing perspectives were given equal weight to present a balanced picture. One thing I do wish was touched upon--I had heard that midwives were often labeled as witches and that subject was not explored.
This was a very interesting read. We're lucky today that childbirth isn't a death sentence.
—Halo
really wished this had focused more on pre-1900s history
—chelsea
Fascinating book about childbirth throughout history.
—letlet
The bomb. I got it from the Library.
—Destiny
Fun pop-science gossip.
—Bells
