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55
/100
I Index Overall Rating
Readers
92/100Critics
17/100Scholars
Author:
Chavi Eve Karkowsky
Publisher:
Liveright
Date:
March 10, 2020
A doctor's account of pregnancy and the complexity of reproductive life--and everything we lose when we don't speak honestly about women's health.
What The Reviewers Say
As Karkowsky notes, rather than providing an exhaustive guide, she is sharing a collection of stories (with details changed to protect confidentiality) that are loosely organized to follow the chronology of a pregnancy. Just the same, she provides a great deal of helpful information, carefully explaining an alphabet soup of acronyms, such as VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) and TOLAC (trial of labor after cesarean). And in nonmedical terms, she spells out why some pre-existing conditions in pregnant moms can lead to problems.
Karkowsky candidly acknowledges the ongoing problem of implicit bias and its harmful impact on black patients. This well-written narrative is moving and medically dense. Clearly not a simple pregnancy manual for the average patient, the book provides vivid insights into the more intense aspects of reproductive medicine.
In addition to graphic accounts of complications, Karkowsky also examines how pregnancy care is evolving—not always for the better.
