Journal of the Motherhood Initiative for Research and Community Involvement (JMI - York University)

Putnam, Amanda

Book Reviews 
employed mothers as bearing ultimate responsibility for their children's well- 
being; "problems" associated with paid chidcare; and contradictions between 
a market-based definition of "care" and the ideology of "care." 
Life After Baby: 
From Professional Woman to Beginner Parent 
Wynn McClenahan Burkett 
Berkeley: Wildcat Canyon Press, 2000 
Reviewed by Amanda Putnam 
Wynn McClenahan Burkett's L@ Ajer Baby: From Pr@essional Woman t o  
Beginner Parent shares exploits and anecdotes of real mothers. No simplified 
version of motherhood, Burkett's text offers authentic stories of mothers who 
are "primarily over thirty, college educated, and had worked for several years 
before becoming mothers" (6). Burkett reveals the diversity within the some- 
times seemingly static category of American motherhood. 
Having experienced the rewards of a "mothers' group" which she founded, 
Burkett hopes to create through these narratives a mother's group in print to 
support all new mothers. As a new mother, Burkett remembers feeling "most 
comforted . . . by other mothers" and she soon realized that "sharing storieswith 
other moms" helped her feel that she "was not alone" (5). Burkett seeks to 
expand the concept of motherhood through the varied experiences gathered in 
her book, and she intends that Life After Baby "will be a little like having a 
conversation with a group of trusted girlfriends" (5). 
Chapters focus on a broad range of issues, including pregnancy; early 
motherhood; changes in relationships with one's partner and extended family 
members; family size; community support; differences in mothering sons and 
daughters; employment outside the home; and the spiritual side of mother- 
ing. Each chapter begins with a quotation from Erma Bombeck, followed by 
introductory comments by Burkett. The stories dominate, however, as moth- 
ers "speak" for themselves. Cohesion is supplied by Burkett's summaries and 
transitions that frame the stories. Burkett explains that she did not "set out 
to draw conclusions and wrap them up in a neat little package. Motherhood 
is messy in that way. We  all experience things a little bit differently, and yet 
we have much to learn from each other" (6). Burkett reminds readers that 
mothers make important decisions that bear on their own lives and the lives 
of their children, and that they hold the credentials as well as the right and 
privilege to do so. 
Journal oftbe Association for Research on Mothering 1 215 


English

Life After Baby: From Professional Woman to Beginner Parent

Musial, Jennifer

Book Reviews 
et al., Zimmerman, et al., and Edwards, et al. discuss the results of their studies 
on accommodation, marital equality, and the impact of relocation on the 
resilience of children. Parker, et al. addresses the limitations of research in this 
area-which focuses largely on white, dual career, heterosexual couples-and 
argue for the need to expand the narrow definition of family. The volume 
concludes with an overview by Viers, et al. of the research in the field and its 
implications for therapists, as well as suggestions for future research. I appre- 
ciated Bacigalupe's insightful call for families, practitioners, and researchers to 
reject either-or choices and to search for logic in balancing family and work. 
All the contributors are sensitive to the limitations of their research. As 
Zimmerman points out, 'couples were recruited for this study on the basis of 
their ability to successfully balance family and work." At the end of the volume, 
it is encouraging to find Viers's recommendation to integrate research into 
therapy, an affirming view of the bridging potential of theory and praxis. 
Dehumanizing Discourse, Anti-Drug Law, and 
Policy in America: 
A "Crack Mother's" Nightmare 
Assata Zerai and Rae Banks 
Burlington: Ashgate Publishing Company, 2002 
Reviewed by Jennifer Musial 
Dehumanizing Discourse, Anti-Drug Law, and Policy in America is an excellent 
interdisciplinary study of the rhetoric constructing the "crack mother." Zerai 
and Banks combine discourse analysis with quantitative research to argue for 
a change in public policy, one that moves away from criminalizing maternal 
drug use and toward rehabitation. Following the vein of Dorothy Roberts's 
Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of liberty, this text 
examines the social construction of the poor, pregnant woman of colour. Zerai 
and Banks use intersectionality, as put forth by Patricia Hill Collins, to analyze 
how race, class, and gender affect legislation, punishment, and public opinion. 
The book is arranged in two parts: part one is qualitative and part two 
is quantitative in nature. Part one highlights the "hostile environment" that 
addicted women face. The authors look at the history of "crack momsn in 
media coverage that demonizes poor, African American pregnant women. 
Next, medical studies of "crack babies" are deconstructed to point out that 
cocaine is not the sole factor in determining the sickliness of a child. The 
authors convincingly argue that "inadequate prenatal care is the strongest 
determinants of low birth weight while drug use is not significant" (92). Here, 
178 / Volume 6, Number 2 
Book Reviews 
the authors return to their framework: it is predominantly women of colour 
in lower socio-economic classes who experience obstacles to prenatal care. 
In part two, Zerai and Banks use quantitative research to humanize 
pregnant addicts, affording them agency. Despite the "hostile environment," 
drug users are cast as "courageous" women who persevere in their attempts to 
access medical care and rehabitation. Finally, the authors turn to grandparent 
advocacy. A common strategy for addicts entering treatment is to solicit the 
help of grandparents to care for children. Unfortunately, as the authors point 
out, the legal system does not value this arrangement, often making it difficult 
to apply for, and maintain, child custody. 
Unfortunately, part two, which relies heavily on empiricism and not 
enough on actual women's voices, is not as strong as part one. Cocaine users' 
agency is described through data rather than interviews, although grandparenting 
is explained primarily through dialogue rather than statistics. This last piece, 
however, is brief and would benefit from further development. 
The strongest aspect of this book is its focus on the inequality created by 
race, class, and gender oppression. One example of this is Zerai and Banks's 
explanation of why white women are seen as cocaine addicts who merit 
treatment while black women are perceived as crack addicts who deserve jail 
time. The authors examine legal rulings in cases where women have been 
charged with neglect and child abuse based on cocaine use during pregnancy. 
Deconstruction of the "dehumanizing discourse" present in the legal system 
and culture at large is the most intriguing section of the book. 
Zerai and Banks are activists who charge, "The nightmare of 'crack 
mothers' can only end when the prevailing ideology that demonizes Black 
women is dismantled" (142). Their commitment to praxis is valuable academic 
and advocacy work. Dehumanizing Discourse, Anti-Drug Law, and Policy in 
America masterfully unites empiricism and rhetorical analysis; it will be a useful 
text in a variety of courses. 
Birth: A Literary Companion 
Kristin Kovacic and Lynne Barrett, eds. 
Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2002 
Reviewed by Miriam Jones 
Anyone who has felt exasperated by the prescriptive tone of What to Expect 
WZlen You're Expecting will delight in this collection of stories of being born, 
as the editors call it, as parents. From the thoughtful introduction to the final 
pawed poem, these pieces will resonate with readers starved for represen- 
Journal ofthe Association for Research on Mothering 1 179 


Dehumanizing Discourse, Anti-Drug Law, and Policy in America: "A Crack Mother's" Nightmare

Berger, Aimee

Book Reviews 
The Price of Motherhood: 
Why the Most Important Job in the World Is 
Still the Least Valued 
Ann Crittenden 
New York: Henry Holt, 2001 
Reviewed by Aimee Berger 
The Price ofMotherhood is a compelling book, so well documented as to be 
virtually unimpeachable. It should be required reading for every first year 
college student, or better still, part of the high school curriculum. Maybe then 
we could look forward to an honest public discussion about the dangerous 
ideologies and policies that work against mothers and children in America. We 
could begin to focus on valuing the family instead of bludgeoning women with 
the hollow club of "family values." 
Crittenden argues that women who mother face discrimination and she 
illustrates the myriad ways in which that discrimination has been institution- 
alized and perpetuated by public policy, the legal system, and the values of 
"turbo-capitalism." In particular, she shows how mothers and children are 
devalued by the childcare industry. 
Crittenden debunks myths that have worked to further complicate and 
denigrate the work ofmothers, such as the myth that children necessarily suffer 
when mothers work outside the home ("mothers today spend as much if not 
more time with their children as mothers did in the 1960's" (19); the myth that 
176 1 Volume 6, Number 2 
fathers are becoming equal partners (even if a married father becomes unem- 
ployed he "will typically contribute no more than 30% of the domestic services 
and chiildcare" (24); and the most damaging myth of gender equality ("there is 
overwhelming and systemic evidence that mothers can never achieve economic 
equality in the labor market as things now stand" (44). 
Through an analysis of trends, recent court cases, and comparisons of 
current American policies and ideologies with those of more "family friendly" 
nations such as Canada, Norway, and Sweden, Crittenden firmly establishes 
the need for and possibility of change, not only in policy but in how the United 
States thinks about women and family. For example, she writes in Chapter 13 
that an interesting question to ask might be "why the worldwide problem of 
absentee fathers has been interpreted in Sweden as a call for equal partnering, 
while in the U.S. the same phenomenon has prompted cries for a return to 
traditional marriage, complete with breadwinning husband and stay-at-home 
wife" (246). 
Crittenden's final chapter, "How to Bring Children Up Without Putting 
Women Down," leaves the reader with a sense of hope and call to action. She 
acknowledges that "Americans may never accept the kind of compassionate 
capitalism or caring state that western Europeans demand," but she can 
nevertheless "easily imagine adding care to our pantheon of national values" 
(258). She outlines changes in the workplace, government, family, and com- 
munity that will improve the conditions for women and children, and in turn 
enhance the public good. She reminds us that none of these changes will occur 
unless we realize that our decision to mother should not necessitate our 
exclusion from full participation in the economy and society, and that we, along 
with "all the free riders-from employers to governments to husbands to 
communities-have to pitch in and help make the most important job in the 
world a top national priority-and a very good job" (258). 
Balancing Family and Work: 
Special Considerations in Feminist Therapy 
Toni Schindler Zimmerman 
New York: Haworth Press, 2001 
Reviewed by Linda R. Ennis 
Balancing Family and Work offers hope for working mothers who seek balance 
in their life at home and at work. It moves from the lived reality of Toni 
Schindler Zimmerman to the realities and reflections rooted in the research of 
the other contributors to this volume. Each chapter offers a unique vantage 
point from which to explore the issue of "balance." Bacigalupe, Haddock, et al. 
and Macdermid, et al. offer insights from clinical research, while Brockwood, 
Journal ofthe Associationfor Research on Mothering 1 177 


The Price of Motherhood: Why the Most Important Job in the World Is Still the Least Valued

Shroff, Farah M.

Book Reviews 
example of mothering special needs children. In this example, the author pulls 
together the various themes and tries to show the interconnections between 
the issues of technology, new genetic knowledge, and cultural understandings 
of motherhood. 
In The Political Geopaphies of Pregnancy, Woliver moves beyond an 
analysis of the shifting locations of reproduction (the "geography") and 
examines the political dimensions of these changes. The book is a good 
overview of the variety of ways in which the state and medical professionals 
exert control over pregnant women. I found the introduction especially useful, 
but the threads that link the chapters were tenuous and difficult to follow. The 
conclusion begins with a postmodern view of reproduction, the body, and 
situated knowledge before returning to the need for society to adopt a feminist 
ethic of care and justice. As Woliver notes in her conclusion, "the new 
reproductive arrangements must imagine women's bodily integrity as essential 
to an integrated, coherent, individuated whole" (169). She is convincing in her 
argument that if the "terrain" of pregnancy and reproduction continues to shift 
towards medical and political control, our society will continue to move away 
from these goals. Women must regain control of their reproductive power. 
Growing Up Again: Parenting Ourselves, 
Parenting Our Children. Second ed. 
Jean Illsley Clarke and Connie Dawson 
Minnesota: Hazeldon, 1998 
Reviewed by Farah M. Shroff 
This is a how-to book, written primarily for parents who come from "uneven 
parenting" (the authors prefer this term to "dysfunctional") backgrounds. 
Clarke and Dawson define parenting as "the daily demand of knowing what to 
do, when to do it and how to do it and then doing it" (9). They explain the range 
of parenting styles as abusive; conditional care; assertive care; supportive care; 
overindulgent; and neglectful. Many pages are devoted to defining these 
different parenting styles; assertive and supportive care are considered the ideal 
types of parenting. 
Many examples illustrate the differences between parenting styles, such as 
the following: 
Situation: Teenage son is surrounded by pressure to use alcohol. 
The parent: 
Abuse: Regularly searches teen's personal belongings, listens in on 
186 1 Volume 6, Number 2 
Book Reviews 
phone conversations. Slaps him around after hearing there was beer 
at a party he attended. 
Conditional Care: Says, "I love you as long as you don't drink." Or, 
'You'll be the death of me if you drink." 
Assertive Care: Does not offer liquor to teenagers. Offers car when 
appropriate so teen doesn't have to ride with peers who are drinking. 
Affirms love for and importance of the teen on ongoing basis. 
Supportive Care: Does not drink or uses in moderation, never to 
intoxication. Acknowledges peer pressure to use. Asks how to be of 
help. Encourages teen to develop a variety of skills and awareness for 
coping with pressure. Celebrates successes. 
Overindulgence: Offers to buy liquor for teen. 
Neglect: Drinks to excess, is emotionally andlor physically absent, 
doesn't notice kid is drunk. 
This example, which compresses the complex subject matter of alcohol 
and teenagers, is illustrative of the book's approach to the subject of parenting. 
Clarke and Dawson warn against the effects of overindulgence, which may 
include inappropriate decisions; weak skills; difficulty knowing what is enough 
or normal, difficulty with boundaries; being stuck in double binds; and pain. 
Three chapters are devoted to the effects of overindulgence and one chapter is 
devoted to "alternatives to overindulging." Similarly, there are three chapters 
on denial and one chapter on problem-solving vis-i-vis denial. The prenatal 
period is covered in one chapter and another chapter considers developmental 
stages from birth to death, followed byways to deliberately grow up again. The 
last chapter is devoted to the subject of adoption. 
The first brief, 12 chapters concern nurture and structure, the heart of 
Clarke and Dawson's parenting They discuss nurture as uncondi- 
tional love; thriving and growing; and learning to love oneself and others, to say 
"I love you; you are lovable" (10). Because unconditional love is not enough, the 
authors note that limits, skills, and standards-structure-help children learn 
healthy habits; develop a sense ofwho they are and who others are; learn values 
and ethics; and stay safe. "Children need parents to convey the message, 'You 
can do this; I will teach you how; you are capable" (10). Nurture and structure 
work together like soft tissuelmuscle and skinlbones: nurture makes the body 
move gracefully and structure provides an upright container. Parents learn 
nurturing and structuring skills horn their own parents, from others, and by 
observing their children. 
The authors are hopeful that parents who have learned negative behaviours 
can become loving parents. This book may help some parents achieve that goal, 
although the positive sections of the book are too brief. The authors suggest, 
for example, that it is possible to "redo" particular stages of our lives, to acquire 
new attitudes about who we are. A concrete illustration of this process of 
revision appears on page 245: 
Journal afthe Association for Research on Mothering 1 187 
Book Reviews 
~Barbara regrets events on her fortieth birthday, so she is going to give 
herself a fortieth birthday party on an unbirthday date. 
~Betty harbors bad feelings about the way she was fired from her job, 
so her support group is going to role-play a job termination that is 
respectful. Betty will indicate what she wants to have happen. 
The book ought to have included more positive information about 
parenting. References to parenting styles from diverse regions, ethnocultural 
groups, and types of families also would have enriched this text. Although 
limited in scope, this collection may serve the needs of readers who are trying 
to understand the range of parenting styles that exist. 
The Therapist's Notebook for Families 
Bob Bertolino and Gary Schultheis 
Binghamton, NY: Haworth Press, 2002 
Reviewed by Justyna Szachowicz-Sernpruch 
In a crystal ball, record your vision ofthe future and what you have done to solve 
your problems. Put into a time capsule five ideas that will move you toward the 
future that you envision. 
The "crystal ball" and "time machine" are two of the many exercises 
available in The Therapist's Notebookfor Families, a carefilly drafted collection 
of tasks for working with parents, children, and adolescents. In this book, Bob 
Bertolino and Gary Schultheis offer an interesting insight into family therapy: 
successful therapy has less to do with technique and more to do with personal 
factors and relationships between therapists and patients. According to the 
authors, therapy is meant to promote health and well-being. Whiie reading this 
book, I thought of the many times I sought to solve problems but was unable 
to see beyond them. This book is effective in providing different strategies to 
help clinicians, parents, and children feel acknowledged, validated, and to 
effect the change they desire. 
Raising children and adolescents can cause parents to doubt and blame 
themselves at times of difficulty. This book suggests that recovering from 
difficulties is an extremely important relationship skill. What matters is not 
that parents and children differ in significant ways but how they cope with their 
differences. The proposed solution-oriented exercises are designed to remind 
individuals of what they value and what they do well as parents or caregivers. 
The exercises are organized into sections intended to help family members and 
therapists in scaling their goals, clarifying preferred outcomes, and identifying 
best ways to generate solutions, augment change, and establish alliances: 
'What qualities do you look for in a therapist?; "Are there other things that you 
188 / Volume 6, Number 2 


Growing Up Again: Parenting Ourselves, Parenting Our Children

Dunlop, Rishma

Editor's Notes 
... I am trying to understand something about how we dwell in our 
bodies, in our lives, in our loves. I am learning that I don't have to lunge 
toward the fleeting presence of my gone daughter; if I am quiet, in my 
own skin, I will register her, a singing flutter of light. She is my 
inhabitation. 
I consider my scarred self, its laborious move back into the fullness 
of a life. Some descents offer you better vision, stronger lungs, more 
nerve. Wreckage can bless you, I am learning to believe that,wreckage 
can crack you open, make more space for the world to get in. Love is 
an awkward dance of pain &celebration, &here I am again: out of 
grief, singing. 
-Charlene Diehl, Out of Grit$ Singing 
In this issue of Folio, the literary section of ARM Journal, I am pleased to 
present excerpts from the work of Charlene Diehl. Her memoir titled Out of 
GrieJ; Singing is an eloquent and moving elegy, an account of the birth and 
death ofher infant daughter Chloe. Through Charlene Diehls'intimate, poetic 
narratives, we are brought into birth, death, mourning, grief and loss. The 
author offers us her deeply personal embodied experiences in a memoir that 
reminds us of the astonishing bond of mother to child, the folding of the child 
into the mother's being, a bond described by Diehl as "more potent than history 
can record." Ultimately, the writer shares her journey of loss in a way that 
assures us that after such deep grief, it is possible to feel joy and love and beauty 
again. As readers, I believe many of us will find ourselves in Charlene Diehls' 
courageous considerations ofthe scarred human self and its capacity to rise "out 
of grief, singing." 
Rishma Dunlop 
Journal of the Association for Research on Mothering 179 


Editor's Notes

Moravec, Michelle

Book Reviews 
On the other hand, at times its prose is hyperbolic and its narrative slides into 
a politics of victimization. 
Throughout Sherer Jacobson's memoir, frequent tensions arise between 
Denise and her in-laws, Denise and her husband, Denise and her housekeeper. 
A particular strength ofthis workis that it does not gloss over the interpersonal 
struggles engendered by varying perceptions of ability and disability. I wonder, 
however, if the story would not be enriched further by a more multi-faceted 
analysis of the interpersonal struggles described. For example, Denise's ongo- 
ing contest of wills with Challukah, her housekeeper, portray Denise as 
victimized and Challukah as stubborn, careless, and unreliable. Indeed, every 
mother who has relied on another caregiver can identify with the frustration 
Denise experiences when Challukah is late or inattentive. Nevertheless, it is 
important also to recognize that an employee has needs that may be thwarted 
by the employer-employee relationship. Disability renders Denise dependent 
on Challukah; socio-economic class renders Challukah dependent on Denise. 
Similarly, all adult children-especially, perhaps, adult children with disabili- 
ties-will empathize with Denise's frustration at her mother-in-law's faiiure to 
treat her as capable. Yet, the tension between Denise and her mother-in-law 
appears also to be related to their differing relationships to Judaism and the 
Holocaust. A Question ofDavidwould be enriched by greater recognition of the 
complexities ofthese and other human relationships. Sherer Jacobson's memoir 
about the adoption of David raises important questions about our perceptions 
of disability, however, it may be that we cannot adequately answer these 
questions without also raising questions concerning how our perceptions are 
influenced by factors such as gender, class, age, and ethnicity. 
Baby Catcher: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife 
Peggy V' incent 
New York: Scribner, 2002 
Reviewed by Michelle Moravec 
With a background in obstetrics nursing, natural childbirth education, and her 
experience administering a birthing centre, Peggy Vincent's decision to be- 
come a licensed midwife with a specialization in home births might have been 
expected. As Baby Catcher: Chronicles $a Modem Midw@ aptly illustrates, 
however, Vincent's experiences as a midwife were anything but the expected. 
Vincent's career neatly encapsulates the scope of the women's health 
movement. As a young nursing student at Duke University, she became 
disillusioned with traditional obstetric practices that gave labouring women no 
control over the experience of childbirth. The occasional pregnant women who 
"thrived on the challenge and the passion" ofbirth and refused to submit to the 
212 1 Volume 6, Number 1 
Book Reviews 
drugs and procedures considered necessary by the medical establishment 
showed Vincent that women could make their own decisions about what was 
best for their own labour and delivery. 
Inspired by the sweeping changes wrought by the various social move- 
ments of the 1960s, Vincent set out to transform women's experiences of child- 
birth. In Berkeley, California in the early 1970s, Vincent began working as a 
labour and delivery nurse just as the Lamaze movement was gaining popularity. 
Her own labour and delivery, however, convinced her that women were 
empowered by neither a formulaic approach to natural childbirth nor the stuffy 
practices of traditional medicine. Over the years, she developed a childbirth 
education course centred on the notion that "every birth is different7' (52). 
As the women's health movement rapidly transformed the field of wom- 
en's health, more women began seeking out alternative methods of childbirth 
and in 1974 Vincent had the opportunity towitness firsthand the workofa "lay" 
midwife. She found thewoman's skill so impressive that she began contemplat- 
ing a career in midwifery. In herwork as a nursing coordinator at a local birthing 
centre, Vincent enjoyed a degree of autonomy unheard of in conventional 
medical settings, but she still faced "physicians who believe that normal 
childbirth is a retrospective diagnosis" (58). After 15 years as a nurse, IGncent 
began training as a midwife and she spent the next 15 years attending home 
births. While most of %ncent's narrative is inspirational, she sounds some 
cautionary notes. For example, that lay midwives in the United Stated have 
difficulty acquiring malpractice insurance and medical back-up from physi- 
cians and hospitals has severely curtailed the number of home births. 
Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Baby Catcher is Vincent's style. 
While Vincent has delivered more than 2,500 babies, every case she recounts 
reflects the joy and awe she feels at each birth. Deftly, she interweaves memoir 
and case studies with an overview of the transformations that have altered 
childbirth practices in the United States over the past 40 years. Baby Catcher is 
a valuable work for multiple audiences, including health care professionals, 
scholars of pregnancy and birth, and the general reader interested in issues of 
women's health and pregnancy. 
Making Care Work: Employed Mothers in the 
New Childcare Market 
Lynet Uttal 
New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2002 
Reviewed by Heather E. Dillaway 
Lynet Uttal begins by suggesting that her title, Making Care Work, can be 
Journal ofthe Association for Research on Mothering 1 213 


Baby Catcher: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife

Robson, Krista

Unfair Guidelines: A Critical Analysis of the Federal Child Support Guidelines

Frye, Joanne S.

Making a Living, Making a Life

Duncan, Carol B.

Black Women and Motherhood in Contemporary Cinematic Science Fiction

cryderman, robin a.

Book Reviews 
There are many problems with prenatal care in the United States. First, 
obstetricians persist in regarding pregnancy as a disease rather than a natural 
condition for manywomen. The medicalization of pregnancy leads to the high 
cost ofprenatal care but it does not improve pregnancy outcomes. At the same 
time, obstetricians actually spend very little time with their patients. During a 
typical office visit, women are assessed by a nurse or technician and they see the 
doctor briefly. Strong argues that neither routine examinations nor an obste- 
trician's hasty appearance influence the outcome of pregnancies. 
Strong also raises two important issues related to prenatal care and health 
care in the United States in general. fetal interests often overshadow 
women's interests. Second, domestic violence, the single most common cause 
of injury to women, is ignored by most obstetricians. 
Obstetricians' expertise is invaluable for treating complicated cases of 
pregnancy. Strong argues, however, that the prenatal care of low-risk women 
(approximately 97 percent of all pregnancies), should be left to certified nurse- 
midwives who, as research shows, are the most effective providers of prenatal 
care. Mothers, too, should be trusted to make informed choices during 
pregnancy and delivery. Strong also points out that the role of the partner/ 
spouse should not be underestimated and that men should become visible in the 
pregnancy/birth process. 
According to Strong, to radically change the poor pregnancy outcomes in 
the United States it is necessary to address the larger social ills of racism, 
socioeconomic problems, and the inaccessibility of abortion. A third-genera- 
tion doctor and a second-generation obstetrician, Strong views women as 
agents in the process of pregnancy and birth and he addresses women's needs 
in prenatal care. 
The Birth Book: Everything You Need to Know 
to Have a Safe and Satisfying Birth 
Sears, William, and Martha Sears. 
New York: Little, Brown, 1994. 
Reviewed by robin a. cryderman 
As a staunch midwifery advocate, I was prepared to dislike a book that claimed 
to offer "everything" about birthing; I expected another medicalized birth 
training manual. However, this text, by a husband and wife team who have 
birthed eight children of their own and have published seven other books on 
pregnancy, babies, and child-raising issues, is an admirable achievement. Their 
text brings to life the motto of the International Childbirth Education 
Journal ofthe Associationfor Research on Mothering 1 195 
Book  review^ 
Association: "Freedom of choice through knowledge of alternatives" (137). 
Clearly and calmly, The Birth Book takes the reader through pregnancy and 
birth in three sections: "Preparing for Birth," "Easing Pain in Labor - What 
You Can Do," and "Experiencing Birth." 
The authors intend to empower women to take control of their births, 
regardless of setting: 'Women need to take more responsibility for their 
birthing decisions. At no time in history has obstetrics been more ripe for a 
change" (27). Their philosophy rests on two ideological pillars: "what's good for 
the mother is good for the baby" (152), and birth is an embodied experience that 
should and can be fully experienced by the mother and her support person(s). 
They criticize standard medical language and practices that have led to high 
cesarean rates: "historically in obstetrics, interventions have become common 
practice long before their usefulness or their safety has been proven" (75). Their 
discussion takes into account whether a birth takes place at home, in a birth 
centre or hospital, with a doctor or a midwife. The authors strongly advocate 
for midwives and doulas at each and every birth and are critical of many 
"standard" hospital routines. This even-handed approach is welcome and 
should put an expectant mother at ease. 
The rhetorical features of this practical book are one of its many strong 
points. It  is arranged in columns, two to a page, with bolded headings that 
indicate the content of the paragraph(s) to follow. Throughout the book, there 
are boxes containing summarized information; they stand out and can be 
located easily. For example, the section on easing pain includes boxes entitled 
"Pain - A Useful Signal," "Humor at Birth," and "Music to Birth By." There 
are sketches throughout, illustrating pregnancy exercises, birthing positions, a 
baby's position during the stages of labour, labouring positions, the various 
positions a baby can take in utero, and forceps delivery. These illustrations are 
clear, simple, and useful, and, to the authors' credit, show a diverse range of - 
ethnic groups and body types. There are numerous boxes that list resources 
specific to the topic at hand, and a good reference and additional reading list. 
The section of birth stories and the authors' experiences in every discussion 
serve to personalize the large amount of detailed information provided. 
What I find most impressive, though, is the even-handed approach the 
authors take towards birthing sites, practices, and situations: "Determining the 
birth you want and finding out how to get is what this book is all about. This 
is a system-fming, not a system-bashing book" (xi). The authors recognize that 
institutions will be slow to change, and that it is up to birthers to demand 
change. This book does provide expectant parents with "everything" they need 
to know, and is a must-read for first-time mothers, or any mother who wishes 
to have a happy, embodied birth experience. 
196 / Vohme 5, Number 2 
