Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care

"No woman who is pregnant, has been pregnant, or plans to be pregnant should set foot inside the office of her OB/GYN before reading this."--Women's Review of Books

A groundbreaking narrative investigation of childbirth in the age of machines, malpractice, and managed care, Pushed presents the complete picture of maternity care in America. From inside the operating room of a hospital with a 44% Cesarean rate to the living room floor of a woman who gives birth with an illegal midwife, Block exposes a system in which few women have an optimal experience. Pushed surveys the public health impact of routine labor inductions, C-sections, and epidurals, but also examines childbirth as a women's rights issue: Do women even have the right to choose a normal birth? Is that right being upheld? A wake-up call for our times, Block's gripping research reveals that while emergency obstetric care is essential, we are overusing medical technology at the expense of maternal and infant health.

• The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth
• Ina May's Guide to Childbirth
• Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn: The Complete Guide
• Mothering the New Mother: Women's Feelings & Needs After Childbirth: A Support and Resource Guide
• Becoming Us: 8 Steps to Grow a Family that Thrives
• Birthing Justice: Black Women, Pregnancy, and Childbirth
• Cut, Stapled, and Mended: When One Woman Reclaimed Her Body and Gave Birth on Her Own Terms After Cesarean
• The Labor Progress Handbook: Early Interventions to Prevent and Treat Dystocia
• Where's the Mother?: Stories from a Transgender Dad
• Reproductive Justice: An Introduction (Reproductive Justice: A New Vision for the 21st Century)