Hw - 40 Insights from Book - Part 3

"Hey - thanks for writing Birth. Your core argument about the lively hood of women during and after their pregnancy and the "experimental" tools doctors used made me rethink pregnancy & birth."

But the author, surprised to be talking to someone who instead of sharing their own birth story actually rephrased the main idea of the text s/he spent months giving birth to asks, "Really, which parts were most effective or important for you?" When you answer, "Well, in the last third of the book you focused on the maternal mortality rates and the postpartum period , which added another angle to the first 2/3rds of the book. But let me be more specific." And then you listed the top 3 ideas/pieces of evidence/insights/questions from that final third of the book (and somehow even listed page number references n).
1."In Europe and many other places, postpartum women once considered polluted and therefore dangerous to men; so new mothers were not allowed to prepare or cook food for forty days."(222)

2."The lack of immediate contact between mothers and preemies had long term deleterious implications. Contact is good for babies - and their parents - right from the beginning. And it improves not just their relationship. Allowing time to bond helps increase childhood IQ scores, keeps families intact, and reduces the likelihood of child abuse."(229)

3."...Maternal morality rates were increasing sharply, especially in urban areas. Disease, decreasing numbers of midwives, and more meddlesome practices were introducing new troubles in childbirth...Government and charities sprang into action...but death rates continued to rise...in New York City [it] had risen to alarming levels...4.5 percent of women who delivered in hospitals died after what should of been a normal delivery, compared to the 1.6 percent who delivered at home with a midwife. And at least half of those deaths were preventable."(246)


At this point, realizing that s/he's having a unique conversation with a serious reader of her/his book, the author asks - "But what could I have done to make this a better book - that would more effectively fulfill its mission?" You answer, "Well, let's be clear - your text sought to provide narratives and historical analysis from the perspective of a woman for the book-reading-public to better understand pregnancy & birth in our culture. Given that aim, and your book, the best advice I would give for a 2nd edition of the text would be, to include more of the beautiful stories of birth and how it provides a empowerment to the women who succeeded. But I don't want you to feel like I'm criticizing. I appreciate the immense amount of labor you dedicated to this important issue and particularly for making me think about the effects of a Cesarean section & the tools and fads doctors used throughout history. In fact, I'm likely to do a review of the likeliness of whether women today prefer midwives over obstetricians as a result of your book." The author replies, "Thanks! Talking to you gives me hope about our future as a society!"