Misconceptions: Truth, Lies, and the Unexpected on the Journey to Motherhood

If you're pregnant and don't care if your ob/gyn pumps you full of meds and performs an episiotomy on you and/or a c-section in order to better fit your baby's birth into his busy schedule, then don't read this book. My wife is probably as far from being a rabid feminist as a person can be. But she does happen to have this wacky idea that giving birth ought to be something a woman can do without a whole lot of unnecessary medical interventions, if she wants to. My wife has given birth naturally to all 3 of our kids -- no problems whatsoever for either mom or babies. And every time she's had to fight off the ob/gyn's suggested interventions. Interventions she might not have been able to argue against had she not read Naomi's book and other resources and educated herself about the American medical establishment's typical ob/gyn practices. To blow off this book as a lot of feminist hooey is akin to plugging your ears, covering your eyes and ranting NA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NA...I CAN'T HEAR YOU! Read this book, get informed and then make up your own mind as to how you want to approach your own berthing experience.

I discovered this book while flipping channels one day and saw this woman discussing child birth in a press conference in Florida on the news. Her newest book at the time...after having writen a few best sellers. I was drawn to what she said..but didn't get around to buying and reading the book until this past year. I do not have children as yet, but this book has sparked a desire to learn as much as possible before I do. It did not contain anything I did not suspect or know from stories of women in my life, so no HUGE surprises..though the negative accounts through the authors expereince fed my desire to learn more. There are serious feminist issues, women's issues, family issues and government issues at hand here...and it really solidified all the suspiciouns I had, from the rising rate of C-section to the increasing number of families I meet who want "alternative" births. I now hove every woman I know wanting to read this book...though I will say...my first reaction..after the first two chapters was "wow..I'm glad I'm reading this now..and NOT when I'm pregnant..." because it is graphic..and traumatic..and honest. I'll call this book the "gate-way drug" of childbirth books. It opens the door of curiocity, fear and questioning for some, and may just help you finalize decisions you have already made regarding your birthing preferences. Regardless...It should be followed up with MORE reading...I would not stop after this one. It can have a very strong impact on the reader..and you do need some balence in perspective. I believe it is meant to be a social change book..NOT a "pregnancy book" so to speak. The info is vital...but meant to spark debate and social comentary ...not comfort.

This book is the most important book I have read since finding out my husband and I were pregnant. I have shared many excerpts with my husband to "enlighten" him about my feelings and experiences. It is not a flowery description of pregnancy or motherhood, and is a bit cynical at times, but it is one thing--real. It helped me prepare myself for the months ahead, and the years ahead as a mother. I recommend this book to all women and men, before, after, or during pregnancy.

Naomi has done her research, and she doesn't sugar-coat anything in this impressive work. Birthing in the United States has indeed become medicalized, and it was refreshing to uncover the straight facts, even if they are a little frightening. Most birthing women in the U.S. find that they are ignored by their health care practitioners and rendered powerless during their births, often receiving unnecessary medical interventions that take the birthing experience and power away from women and hand it over to physicians. This certainly isn't a new revelation--our male-dominated American society has for many years taken power away from birthing women by making them feel dependent on their male physicians for birthing expertise. Naomi asks pertinent questions in this provocative book: In a healthy, low-risk pregnancy, isn't the woman giving birth the expert? And aren't physicians acting more out of a fear of being sued if there is an incident than out of the mother's and baby's well-being? Do the huge "childbirth industry" profits correlate with soaring rates of cesarean sections, episiotomies and epidurals? Naomi lifts the rug on many issues like these and seeks real answers. She also addresses how the workplace, husbands and society in general manipulate new mothers. She also speaks candidly about her own birth experience, her postpartum depression, contradictory feelings toward her baby, seeking caregiving assistance, and feeling professionally unfulfilled. Not only is this book extensively researched and well-written, but it offers the honest emotions of an experienced birthing woman, new mother, and one of the most respected feminist writers of our time.

I was instantly engrossed and disturbed when I began to read MISCONCEPTIONS. As a co-founder of the National Womens Health Network I couldn't but ask myself.....Have birth customs not become more patient-friendly over the past 30 years? Are mothers not getting a better break? Was all our effort, - for the passage of Title 9, for a patient's right to full disclosure and informed consent, for a mother's own option to select midwifery or natural childbirth ....or breast feeding ....all in vain?At first glance it would seem that just about everything has changed. We wanted more women doctors and we got them. In 1971, women obstetrician/gynecologists were only 3% of the total.( Back then, when I asked the Director of ACOG, the ob/gyn organization, why there weren't more women, he replied, "It's a strenuous specialty. Few women have the stamina for it.") Today ob/gyn is rapidly converting to a female specialty. By 1999 , two out of every three doctors training for it were -- women..... We wanted fathers in the delivery room and, obviously, we got them too. (The old- fashioned obstetricians stood against it, -seriously- because "The men might faint and then we'd have two patients on our hands." )Our daughters are no longer drugged, shaved, humiliated, isolated, and stuck up in stirrups as readily as in the old days, but as Naomi Wolf reveals in this, her fourth book, women have not , by any means, become true partners in their pregnancy and delivery decisions. They cannot become partners without full disclosure of the pros and cons of every option, and this, Wolf demonstrates, is frequently - and deliberately- withheld. While 21st-century medicine claims to accept and honor "informed consent" many obstetricians still serve up obfuscation, false assurances ("Would I give you anything that would harm you?") and withholding of the bare facts and safety statistics on" iffy" interventions. Wolf makes a persuasive and harrowing case that the scandalous increase in C-sections ,-up from 6% in 1971 to as much as 25% or higher today,- is "part of a complexly negotiated minefild of litigation, politics, vested interest, money, and who holds the power in the delivery room." Wolf shows how ridiculously difficult it can be for a patient who is C-section wary to get simple statistics on the comparative rates for the various obstetricians and medical centers in her community., .Wolf also reveals how hospitals deliberately speed up the birthing process to bolster their profits and minimize the possibilities for malpractice litigation, sometimes placing these values above the genuine interests of mothers and babies. For all our high-tech, high-priced interventions, the United States remains twenty -third internationally in infant mortality and twenty -first in maternal deaths. Wolf also casts an investigative eye on prenatal screening , routine epidurals, episiotomies, needless forceps intervention.- all which may needlessly "spoil " the mother's experience of pregnancy