Our Bodies, Ourselves: Pregnancy and Birth

Reviews

Feminist Review
April 4, 2008
"Complete with pictures that capture the miracle of childbirth and the honest comments of diverse women that personalize the chapters, readers will find a lot more than information in this book... Readers will turn the last page with a deep sense of trust and gratitude to the Boston Women’s Health Book Collective for their latest installment..."  Read more.

Publishers Weekly: Web Exclusive Reviews
March 17, 2008
"This book will help women make confident and informed choices about the birth process as they negotiate the healthcare system and balance their options… This comprehensive guide is sure to take its rightful place among its sister titles, empowering a new generation of expectant mothers."  Read more.

Citizens for Midwifery blog
March 15, 2008
"This book would be an excellent addition to the library of most pregnant women… It goes beyond the scope of most basic pregnancy books though in its willingness to address important, though uncomfortable, topics such as domestic violence, sexual abuse, depression during pregnancy, HIV, STDS, & substance abuse that are often neglected or ignored in other books."  Read more.

Library Journal Reviews
January 15, 2008
“…includes current information on making health-care decisions (e.g., choosing a provider and a birth setting), nutrition, labor and delivery, Cesarean birth, recovery, feeding an infant, and life as a new mother…. The information goes beyond the usual pregnancy self-help material by placing childbearing and parenting within a psychosocial and political context…. a superlative guide…”

Advance praise

"Our Bodies, Ourselves: Pregnancy and Birth contains a treasure trove of information you won't find in other books on pregnancy and birth.  The advice is balanced, honest, medically up-to-date and beautifully presented.   If you read only one book in preparing to deliver your new baby, this should be it.
-- Sandra Blakeslee - co-author of The Body Has a Mind of Its Own.

"As a new mother myself, I appreciated all the scientific evidence that was used to back up recommendations or to question standard practices. And yet this book manages to be a smart, readable guide that is not preachy -- a rarity for pregnancy books."
 -- Tina Cassidy, author of Birth: The Surprising History of How We Are Born
   
"The trusted Boston Women's Health Book Collective has written a comprehensive, accessible, and up-to-date book for expectant mothers. It balances important facts, scientific data, and evidence with the voice of the "wise woman"; and it provides questions to ask, issues to think about, and options to consider and discuss. This is the #1 book I am going to recommend to my patients."  
 --  Timothy R B Johnson MD FACOG, Bates Professor and Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Professor of Women's Studies, University of Michigan

"Once again, OBOS is the voice of reason and sound evidence in what has become a fear-based culture of childbirth in America, where medical technologies abound but often increase risks to mothers and babies unecessarily.  This book is an essential resource for women who want to make informed decisions about who will attend them at birth, where they give birth,  and how they will manage the pain of labor."
 -- Lorrie Kaplan, Executive Director, The American College of Nurse-Midwives

"Too much current maternity care overuses technological and surgical interventions in normal pregnancies, often detracting from the joy and optimal mother and baby outcomes that are possible. This book is a clarion call for more sanity in our maternity care system."
 -- Charles S. Mahan, MD, FACOG and Professor Emeritus of Public Health and Obstetrics and Gynecology, USF, Tampa

Other Media Coverage

The Oregonian
Women's health remains a career 40 years after book
April 23, 2008

The Daily Pennsylvanian
A new approach to birthing practices and maternal care
April 22, 2008

The 10! Show (NBC Affiliate/ Philadelphia)
TV clip with Judy Norsigian
April 22, 2008

Your Call: The State of Women's Health
A NPR radio interview with Judy Norsigian
April 8, 2008

ABC News in Chicago
Brief interview with Judy Norsigian
April 7, 2008