A doctor’s revelatory account of pregnancy and the complexity of reproductive life—and everything we lose when we don’t speak honestly about women’s health. “My work offers a window into the darkest and lightest corners of people’s lives, into the extremes of human experience,” writes Dr. Chavi Eve Karkowsky in High Risk, her timely and unflinching account of working in maternal-fetal medicine—that branch of medicine that concerns high-risk pregnancies. Whether offering insight into the rise in home births, the alarming rise in America’s maternal mortality rate, or the history of involuntary sterilization, Karkowsky offers a window into all that pregnancy, labor, and birth can entail—birth and joy, but also challenge and loss—illustrating the complexity of reproductive life and the systems that surround it. With historical insight and journalistic verve, Karkowsky unpacks what is involved for women, for a family, and for us as a society; and explores what’s at risk when these aspects of medicine remain clouded in mystery and misinformation.

One doctor’s testament to the importance of listening — truly listening — to women and their medical experiences of pregnancy and childbirth. Infertility, pregnancy, miscarriages, difficult births — as a doctor specialising in high-risk pregnancy, Chavi Eve Karkowsky has seen it all. And in the process, she’s seen how women are failed by health services again and again. In this timely and unflinching book, she tells the stories of the families she has worked with — of miracles and joy, but also of challenge and loss — and explores what’s at risk when women’s bodies are clouded in mystery and misinformation. Moving and compassionate, blending personal narrative with broader analysis, High Risk is a doctor’s testimonial to the strength and resilience of the women she treats, and — in an era when reproductive rights are under threat — a timely reminder that women’s health is of vital concern to us all.

A doctor’s revelatory account of pregnancy and the complexity of reproductive life—and everything we lose when we don’t speak honestly about women’s health. “My work offers a window into the darkest and lightest corners of people’s lives, into the extremes of human experience,” writes Dr. Chavi Eve Karkowsky in High Risk, her timely and unflinching account of working in maternal-fetal medicine—that branch of medicine that concerns high-risk pregnancies. Whether offering insight into the rise in home births, the alarming rise in America’s maternal mortality rate, or the history of involuntary sterilization, Karkowsky offers a window into all that pregnancy, labor, and birth can entail—birth and joy, but also challenge and loss—illustrating the complexity of reproductive life and the systems that surround it. With historical insight and journalistic verve, Karkowsky unpacks what is involved for women, for a family, and for us as a society; and explores what’s at risk when these aspects of medicine remain clouded in mystery and misinformation.

"The availability of services provided by psychologists in perinatal care is a relatively recent event. It remains uncommon for a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) to have a psychologist as a dedicated staff member, although the number of NICU psychologists is increasing. This volume is primarily concerned with perinatal services provided by psychologists. I do, however, want to make note at the beginning of the valuable role of social workers as a complement to the care offered by psychologists. Social workers have been available in NICUs since the mid-1960s. The National Association of Perinatal Social Workers (NAPSW) was founded in 1980 to help standardize training and services. The initial focus of perinatal social workers was service delivery in the NICU, but social work services soon spread to antepartum care and follow-up. NAPSW has published an excellent set of standards for a variety of activities including fertility counseling, bereavement, obstetric settings, adoptions, field education, and surrogacy. Some activities of social workers overlap with those of psychologists, but each discipline has its own set of unique skills. Social workers are often involved in case and crisis management, bedside family support, and discharge planning in the NICU"--

From three top ob/gyn's--the personalities of the television series "Deliver Me"--comes this comprehensive pregnancy resource that's medically reliable and mom-to-mom relatable.

Pregnancy after prenatal or infant loss can be a lonely and frightening time, but through stories of both pain and healing, the authors show how to navigate the exciting but choppy waters of a subsequent pregnancy. The loss of a pregnancy or newborn infant changes the meaning of pregnancy, birth, and parenting forever. Increased parental fear and anxiety, and continuing grief for the deceased baby, can impact subsequent pregnancies in unexpected ways. Parents who are unsupported in pregnancy after loss are may be more at risk of experiencing anxiety, depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and difficulty in attaching to a new baby. Different Baby Different Story explores the range of emotions, thoughts, and physical experiences of parents who have gone on to subsequent pregnancies. Including stories from mothers, fathers, other children, and extended family members, this poignant and moving work will help readers through their own feelings and give voice to those who may have felt unheard or unsupported in the past. With practical advice on self-advocacy, the book helps expectant parents gain insights as to how others learned to work with health care professionals, mental health professionals, and their own families and friends and coworkers. For expectant mothers, their partners, their families and their friends, this work supports the range of experiences and encourages readers on a path to healing.

"Supported by ample data and suffused with anger,” an award-winning journalist “convincingly recasts this country’s maternal health care system as needlessly dehumanizing” (New York Times Book Review). Modern medicine should make pregnancy and childbirth safer for all. But in Birth Control, award-winning journalist Allison Yarrow reveals how women are controlled, traumatized, injured, and even killed because of the traditionalist practices of medical professionals and hospitals. Ever since doctors stole control of birth from midwives in the 19th century, women have been steamrolled by a male-dominated medical establishment that has everyone convinced that birthing bodies are inherently flawed and that every pregnancy is a crisis that it alone can “solve.” Common medical practices and procedures violate human rights and the law, yet take place daily. Misogyny and racism, not scientific evidence and support, shape the overwhelming majority of America’s four million annual births. Drawing on extensive reporting, expert interviews, an original survey of 1,300 mothers, and her own personal experiences, Yarrow documents how modern maternal health care is insidiously, purposefully designed to take power from women to the detriment of their physical and mental health—not just during labor, but for years after. She then shows a better way, exploring solutions both cutting-edge and ancient to—finally—return power and control to birthing people. Full of urgent insights and heartfelt emotion, Birth Control is an explosive call to action.