This item is not eligible for Amazon Prime, but millions of other items are. Join Amazon Prime today. Already a member? Sign in.

229 used & new from $0.01
See All Buying Options

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Tell a Friend
The American Way of Birth
  
Are You an Author or Publisher?
Find out how to publish your own Kindle Books
 
  

The American Way of Birth (Hardcover)

by Jessica Mitford (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  (5 customer reviews)


Available from these sellers.


229 used & new available from $0.01
Also Available in: List Price: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover 7 used & new from $24.99
Paperback 21 used & new from $0.14
Audio Cassette (Audiobook) 16 used & new from $0.79
 
   

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Immaculate Deception II: Myth, Magic & Birth

Immaculate Deception II: Myth, Magic & Birth by Suzanne Arms

4.0 out of 5 stars (25)  $17.21
Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care

Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care by Jennifer Block

4.8 out of 5 stars (43) 
Ina May's Guide to Childbirth

Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin

4.8 out of 5 stars (207)  $11.56
Birthing from Within: An Extra-Ordinary Guide to Childbirth Preparation

Birthing from Within: An Extra-Ordinary Guide to Childbirth Preparation by CNM, MA, Pam England

4.5 out of 5 stars (123)  $13.57
Spiritual Midwifery

Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Gaskin

4.7 out of 5 stars (86)  $13.57
Explore similar items : Books (27) Movies & TV (1)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Mitford ( The American Way of Death ) interviewed obstetricians, midwives and antenatal and postnatal mothers for this journalistic probe of how Americans are born. In graceful prose she relates our appalling infant mortality rate to the obstacles poor women face in finding prenatal care and decent hospital treatment. After reviewing the potential hazards of obstetrical forceps, electronic fetal monitoring and diagnostic ultrasound, Mitford discusses the complications mothers often face after having a cesarean section and examines the financial and legal motives behind doctors' widespread performance of these largely unnecessary procedures. She takes readers on a grand tour of the midwifery scene, from a Bronx center for low-risk women to a Californian context in which the medical establishment harasses home-birth midwives with police break-ins. In an epilogue Mitford documents hospital routines and deceptive overbilling, criticizes the American Medical Association's powerful lobby, which squelches healthcare reform, and reviews efforts to pass a Canadian-style national health insurance bill that would eliminate the profiteering of U.S. hospitals and doctors. First serial to Good Housekeeping.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Mitford's probe into American obstetrics as well as the hospitals, clinics, and welfare agencies that supervise the prenatal care and births of American babies results in an indictment of the medical practices surrounding something that should not make us sick--giving birth. She also broaches the broader subject of the healthcare system or lack thereof, which governs much of American behavior surrounding the individual's own healthcare practices or failure to seek it out. Although her book is mostly anecdotal and meant to be read as if she were speaking to us directly, her attempt to be witty is annoying. Furthermore, much of the content lacks focus and will have difficulty holding the reader's attention from beginning to end. For a more engaging analysis of American birth practices, see Robbie E. Davis-Floyd's Birth as an American Rite of Passage ( LJ 8/92). For public libraries only. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 7/92.
- Patricia Sarles, Mt. Sinai Medical Ctr. Lib., New York
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Dutton Adult (November 1, 1992)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0525935231
  • ISBN-13: 978-0525935230
  • Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,144,826 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
    (Publishers and authors: Improve Your Sales)
  • Also Available in: Hardcover  |  Paperback  |  Audio Cassette (Audiobook) |  All Editions