Review
From the Back Cover
This book charts the emergence of smoking during pregnancy as a public health concern and social problem. Oaks looks at the emphasis public health educators place on individual responsibility, current legal and social assertion of fetal personhood, changing expectations of pregnant and prepregnant women, and the advent of antismoking campaigns. She explores how public health educators discuss "the problem" among themselves, how they communicate with pregnant smokers, and how these women in turn understand the "risk" of fetal harm. Finally, Oaks argues that "objective" statistics on the effects of smoking on the fetus must be assessed within a cultural context. Rather than bombarding pregnant women with statistics, health educators should consider the daily lives of these women and their socioeconomic status to understand why some women choose to smoke during pregnancy. Without downplaying the seriousness of the health risks that smoking poses to women and their babies, this book supports new efforts that challenge the moral policing of pregnant smokers.
