Maternity Ward: Behind the Scenes at a Big City Hospital [Hardcover]

Susan Stanley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1992

A revealing ward's-eye view of life in a metropolitan obstetrics ward presents stories of the doctors, nurses, hospital staff, and patients who labor in, and pass through, a big-city maternity ward. 35,000 first printing. $22,500 ad/promo.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This behind-the-scenes tour of an Oregon Hospital's obstetrics department was a Literary Guild/Doubleday Book Club selection in cloth.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Written by a journalist who followed the action on a busy university hospital maternity ward for three weeks, this book chronicles the true stories of doctors, nurses, students, and patients. Each month about 250 babies are born to low-income women, many of whom have had no prenatal care. Some are drug addicted or abused, while others are middle-class women who have had in vitro fertilization at the clinic. In an episodic but engrossing format, Stanley paints a vivid picture of the ward's various traumas and triumphs, and she details, almost too vividly, the medical procedures. She also brings in the human drama of personnel and patients. Recommended for collections where medical stories are popular.
- Barbara Kormelink, Bay Medical Ctr. Lib., Bay City, Mich.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 303 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow & Co; 1st edition (April 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557100225
• ISBN-13: 978-1557100221
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,495,295 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The joy and sorrow of birth in the 1990's, May 25, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Maternity Ward: Behind the Scenes at a Big City Hospital (Hardcover)

Susan Stanley's Maternity Ward is certainly a labor of love for Ms. Stanley. She was able to become intimately familiar with many patients, doctors and interns throughout her study of the hospital (Pill Hill). My own experiences with births that were less than perfect led me to read her book, perhaps looking for a similar story, a common thread. This book hits home hard. There are no real pretty pictures in these stories. There are women who face many obstacles, be it poverty, genetic problems, obesity, drug problems, that all come to Pill Hill to have their babies. Some are there because this is their only option, others are there because they need to be. None really are there because they want to be. Not only is this an expose on the frantic emotional pace of a maternity ward, but a commentary of our social and economic status. Certainly those who are pregnant currently, I would suggest waiting until after you have delivered to read this book. It would only serve to stress and distress you. A great concentration on poverty and drug abuse is assessed in Maternity Ward. It is a gritty, true life look into a place we have all been (most of us, anyway!), either to deliver, be delivered or to watch a loved one deliver. The stories behind the women are honest, deep and moving. If you like a serious read, and have the stomach for bitter reality, pick this one up. You will not be disappointed

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars good book, July 22, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Maternity Ward: Behind the Scenes at a Big City Hospital (Paperback)

this was a good book, but I really wanted to hear the storys about the women and their babies and it had a lot of her own personal life story in it. Alot of profanity too. Pretty good book overall.