Description

An important bookGrant is a good storyteller subtle and compassionate The New York Times Book Review

In the tradition of Random Family and Evicted a gripping blend of rigorous intimate ontheground reporting and deep social history of reproductive health that follows three firsttime mothers as they experience pregnancy and childbirth in todays America

Journalist Rebecca Grant provides us with a neverbeforeseen look at the changing landscape of pregnancy and childbirth in Americaand the rise of midwiferytold through the eyes of three women who all pass through the doors of the same birth center in Portland Oregon

Theres Alison a teacher whose long path to a healthy pregnancy has led her to question a traditional hospital birth TNika herself born with the help of a midwife and now a nurse hoping to work in Labor amp Delivery and improve equality in healthcare and Jillian an office manager and aspiring midwife who works at Andaluz Birth Center excited for a new beginning but anxious about how bringing a new life into the world might mean the deferral of her own dreams

In remarkable detail and with great compassion Grant recounts the ups downs fears joys and everyday moments of each womans pregnancy and postpartum journey offering a rare look into their inner lives perspectives and choices in real timeand addresses larger issues facing the entire nation from discrimination in medicine and treatment both gender and racebased to fertility family planning complicated feelings about motherhood and career and the stigmas of miscarriage and postpartum blues An enlightening and accessible portrait of maternal healthcare in America Publishers Weekly starred Birth is an inspiring look at one of lifes most profound rites of passage