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| Author: Jennifer Block
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Category: Book
List Price: $16.00
Buy New: $9.43
You Save: $6.57 (41%)
New (29) Used (4) from $9.43
Avg. Customer Rating:  41 reviews
Sales Rank: 10367
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 5.8 x 0.9
ISBN: 0738211664
Dewey Decimal Number: 618
EAN: 9780738211664
ASIN: 0738211664
Publication Date: April 7, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: New, never read, FREE UPGRADE to hardcover edition! New, never read, may have minor wear from being on a retail store shelf.
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| Customer Reviews:
excellent book! June 4, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
My only constructive criticism is that I wish the book had been written with some sort of working outline and/or organized better. Otherwise it is a page turner and a must read for all who care about childbirth in the US.
Do no harm May 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I'm shocked every day when I meet a woman who defends obstetrical intervention. I have to stop and realize that different things are at play here: 1) perhaps they were forced in a situation they didn't like while giving birth, and are so ridden with guilt by the negativity surrounding their own birth experience, they must edit that history to remember their child's birth as the joy it should have been - this is understandable; or 2) perhaps they are still in the confines of societal thinking that encourages trust in the authority and high-social ranking of "doctors."
Though I ache to stop every woman I see and ask her "Have you done your research?"; though I ache when I hear a woman say "Oh, I'm getting an epidural for my birth"; and though I ache when I see a woman's face scrunch in fear at the mention of a home birth; and though I want to shake them and force them to read, to research, to learn what is being done to their bodies as women, I can't get everyone.
I hope Jennifer Block's book can do the shaking for many of us.
I responded to a reviewer who gave this book 1 star. Again, I doubt I will completely ever understand what makes a woman attack any support of her rights, but apparently it exists, and it saddens me. I'll post the response here as well.
All women, all fathers, push back.
****
It seems to me that the only people NOT reading the unbiased medical statistics and research studies are the obstetricians. Jennifer Block did her research; she backed it up not only with citations, summaries, notes and interviews with the medical establishment, but she went one step further and found the women who actually experienced those statistics you so desire. She has researched more about birth in this country than most medical students learn in their entire medical school career. If you're a mom, a woman, a father, a sister, etc., it would behoove you to do your own research. Never take anybody's word for it - find it yourself. If you think Jennifer Block didn't do her research, I urge you to do it yourself. In combination with Henci Goer's book "The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth" - which includes, in the book, the literature and statistics all parents and researchers require, you're urged to make your own choice. And the literature makes it clear: obstetrics in this country is horrendous; it is failing; and it is dangerous. Keep me far away unless the time comes when I need an obstetrician for what they were intended: a complication. I believe it's in their oath: "Do no harm." It's a slap in the face when a woman's husband has to bar the door to an operating room while she's screaming "I do not consent to a c-section" and she is IGNORED, her husband tossed aside, and her risk of danger and death forcibly increased by 4 times.
Trust me. I did my research. Try reading a book instead of flippantly commenting on one. If you happen to be a mom who experienced something she didn't want, and only now realize it, then I sympathize with your experience. But take control of that intervention and that experience, and realize that we have been brought up in a culture of trusting the man in the white coat. Only when we research ourselves do we realize they are just people.
Wonderful Book May 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have had four children, one c-section which was my first child and the next three at home with a highly trained midwife (direct entry), and hopefully the last one will be at home as well with the same wonderful woman. The information was accurate and detailed and the presentation made it impossible to put down until the end.
I wish I had a book like this to read before I had my first child 12 years ago.
Well Researched, Shocking and Necessary May 16, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I never thought of myself as someone who would consider a home birth, but after having ever myth of modern maternity masterfully debunked through this well researched book, I'm convinced that home birth is safer than the alternative. Our "modern" maternity care system suffers from the classic "if you build it they will come syndrome". After spending so much time, money and energy on developing machines and chemicals that "help" women give birth, the system now needs to justify the expenditures by pushing these interventions on women who don't need them. Every woman should read this book and begin seeing the absurdity of statements such as "it's taking too long" or "your baby was too big for you". Women where built for labor and nature has few timeliness. Read the book and learn the truth.
Mandatory reading for anyone planning a hospital delivery April 30, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I read Jennifer Blocks "Pushed" in the 5th month of my first pregnancy. How lucky was I that this book came out right on time! A friend strongly recommended it to me and it was one of the best bits of advice I received during my pregnancy (another great bit was to pretend I was on my cell phone when walking down the street to avoid inane comments on my huge belly).
Most importantly, this book showed me how important it is as a pregnant woman to sit up and take charge of your delivery. In the end, I didn't receive my ideal birth experience (I ended up with an emergency c-section) but I PUSHED back and stood up for myself as a patient in a way that I know that I wouldn't have felt informed enough to do if I hadn't read this book. "Pushed" effectively gives windows into the history of pregnancy and delivery in America and looks at the trends in both the insurance industry and medical practices. It is well researched and a strong example of good journalism. Ms. Block shows the solution for that "ideal birth" is a personal experience and personal choice. The issues are not black and white. Midwives are not a panacea. Doctors are not your enemy; they are struggling under the heavy foot of our current insurance system's structure. Your own silence is your enemy.
I would have completely avoided a hospital delivery if I could have, but a medical condition made that impossible. Reading "Pushed" helped me to feel confident enough to ask questions, to ask for alternatives and to sometimes say no, because I did my homework, new my choices, and it was my right. I think Jennifer Block's work helps to reveal the over-reaching authority the medical industry has taken over the experience of pregnancy for women, infantilizing women by excluding them from full disclosure of the risks involved in the options that make it easy for doctors to control the natural pregnancy: pitocin, epidurals, episiotimies, fetal monitors. "Pushed" reminds us that the body, and the woman who owns it, has a voice and authority as well.
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