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Women are told they have pregnancy and birth care choices, but their only real choice is which side to take in the birth wars. Each day, battles are waged in hospitals and clinics around Australia— between those who view birth as medical and those who view birth as natural. Both sides care deeply about women and babies and feel they should manage birth for women. They are the doctors and the midwives, or 'mechanics' and 'organics', vying for power in The Birth Wars. Based on extensive interviews, national research, and moving personal stories, The Birth Wars exposes the cold reality of what happens to women and families when these two sides clash. Writer, journalist, and mother Mary-Rose MacColl delves into the history of birth in Australia, and shows why organics and mechanics must work together to put families' needs at the centre of birth.  

More and more women are having babies after the age of thirty-five and experiencing the joy of motherhood. But mothers-to-be in this age group sometimes face unique medical, emotional, and social challenges. Conception may be difficult and the risk of miscarriage during early pregnancy is higher, as is the potential for complications such as hypertension and diabetes. And having a child later in life can also be surprisingly disruptive to well-established domestic routines and carefully cultivated careers. Michele Moore and Caroline de Costa-two physicians who have been down this road themselves-offer reliable medical expertise and personal reassurance to women tackling these challenges. Pregnancy and Parenting after Thirty-Five covers a broad range of issues for mothers in mid life, from the possibility of Cesarean section to the awkwardness of being the oldest mom at PTA meetings to the joy of holding your infant in your arms. Incorporating the stories of real women who have gone through mid-life pregnancy, Moore and de Costa have created a valuable resource that will help other women do so realistically and with confidence. One of the few books devoted to prospective mothers over thirty-five, this one also includes information on surrogacy, adoption, and the first few months of being a new mother.

Malke Berlant, one of three Jewish professional midwives active in Vilna in the first half of the nineteenth century who left their mark on the Jewish public life of that period, was the author of Di gliklikhe mutter (Vilna 1836), the first modern Yiddish printed guidebook for pregnant women, mothers of newborns and young children. This article explores the general historical and cultural background and context in which the guidebook was authored and published. It presents the phenomenon of academic institutions (mainly in Vilna) open to Jewish women at this early stage, with the intention of training qualified midwives. Berlant’s book includes new insights regarding pregnancy, childbirth, baby care and child-raising. Some of these rules negated widely accepted norms and traditions. The main purpose of the book was to expose the lay female reader to the advantages of modern medicine and persuade her to avoid the traditional “experts” and their healing methods.

Patients undergoing medically induced second-trimester abortions feel insufficiently informed and use the Web for supplemental information. However, it is still unclear how people who have experience with pregnancy termination appraise the quality of patient information websites about medically induced second-trimester abortions, whether they consider the websites suitable for patients, and what issues they experience with the websites. Our objective was to investigate the quality of, suitability of, and issues with patient information websites about medically induced second-trimester abortions and potential differences between websites affiliated with the health care system and private organizations. We set out to answer the objective by using 4 laypeople who had experience with pregnancy termination as quality assessors. The first 50 hits of 26 systematic searches were screened (N=1300 hits) using search terms reported by the assessors. Of these hits, 48% (628/1300) were irrelevant and 51% (667/1300) led to websites about medically induced second-trimester abortions. After correcting for duplicate hits, 42 patient information websites were included, 18 of which were affiliated with the health care system and 24 with private organizations. The 4 assessors systematically assessed the websites with the DISCERN instrument (total score range 16-80), the Ensuring Quality Information for Patients (EQIP) tool (total score range 0-100), as well as questions concerning website suitability and perceived issues. The interrater reliability was 0.8 for DISCERN and EQIP, indicating substantial agreement between the assessors. The total mean score was 36 for DISCERN and 40 for EQIP, indicating poor overall quality. Websites from the health care system had greater total EQIP (45 vs 37, P>.05) and reliability scores (22 vs 20, P>.05). Only 1 website was recommended by all assessors and 57% (24/42) were rated as very unsuitable by at least one assessor. The most reported issues with the websites involved lack of information (76%, 32/42), and poor design (36%, 15/42). The high number of irrelevant hits and poor quality of patient information websites are considerable issues that must be addressed and considered when consulting patients awaiting medically induced second-trimester abortions. In clinical encounters, health professionals should initiate discussions concerning websites about medically induced second-trimester abortions and inform patients about the issues and quality deficits associated with these websites.

Presenting the findings of a three-year study, Pregnancy and Parenthood explores the experiences of young women who become pregnant or parents while in, or soon after leaving, public care and examines the extent to which they were prepared for parenthood and supported once they became mothers.It also compares the views of a group of young people in public care who are neither pregnant or parents with those of a group living with their families.This book is essential reading for those working with young people in public care, policy makers in health promotion, social work and social policy.

Realizing the potential of young people in Latin America and the Caribbean is essential both to their well-being and to the region's long-term welfare. Young people are often seen as the source of problems that plague the area, namely rising levels of crime and violence, unemployment, and drug use. However, there is little understanding of the problems young people face, the reasons that some engage in risky behaviors, and how best to support the most vulnerable. Youth at Risk in Latin America and the Caribbean attempts to fill this knowledge gap by identifying at-risk youth and providing policy makers with evidence-based guidance that will make their countries' investments in young people more effective. The authors find that more than half the region's young people can be considered \"at risk\" of engaging in negative behaviors, which each year reduce regional economic growth by up to 2 percent. They also confirm that the causes of risky behavior in developed countries—weak relationships with schools and family, poor self esteem, household poverty, negative gender norms, and misguided laws—are also relevant in Latin America and the Caribbean. Based on this analysis, the authors describe 23 policies and programs that experts agree are the foundation of a successful youth development portfolio, ranging from early childhood development programs to parent training to cash transfers granted in exchange for positive behaviors. It also lays out strategies for implementing such a portfolio in a budget-constrained environment. This book will be of great interest to those working in the areas of social analysis and policy, social development and protection, and poverty reduction.

Prenatal Tests and Ultrasound: The Facts is an invaluable source of information for expectant parents and their friends and families, helping them to understand the how, what, and whys of prenatal testing and ultrasound.

Trusted physicians reassure mothers and mothers-to-be: It's okay to say yes. One in four babies born in the United States and Europe comes into the world via Cesarean section. Yet this procedure has been described by critics as an unnecessary and potentially dangerous medical intervention. Consequently, expectant mothers often fear this option, and women who have had C-sections can feel a sense of failure. In Cesarean Section: Understanding and Celebrating Your Baby's Birth, Drs. Michele Moore and Caroline de Costa emphasize the joy of delivering a healthy baby, however that is best achieved. They explain why Cesarean births are sometimes preferable to vaginal delivery for both mother and baby, and they help women understand the issues behind the decision to perform the procedure. From anesthesia, surgery, and recovery through at-home care of mother and child, the authors offer reassurance and practical information for all mothers and mothers-to-be. They also discuss the latest findings on postpartum depression and planning for future births, including the possibility of vaginal birth after a Cesarean section. For every woman who has a planned—or unplanned—Cesarean section, this book provides the information they need to alleviate their fears and come to value this delivery option. \"Because up to a quarter of all births are Cesarean births, prenatal preparation should include information about Cesarean sections for every woman. And that is why we have written this guide... We believe strongly that it is time to speak out and say that Cesarean section is a normal birth method and that women who have a Cesarean section should not be made to feel that they have failed... We hope you find the information in this book useful and helpful in thinking about C-section, whether you have already had a Cesarean and want to understand the experience better, you wish to plan for another C-section birth, or you are expecting a baby and want to be informed about all the possibilities ahead, including this other normal way of bringing a baby into the world.\"—from the Introduction

To determine how gender in parenting was addressed, a content analysis was conducted on the six best-selling self-help books (1997-2002) that provide general parenting advice. A feminist per-spective was used to code gendered meaning units in the six books. Findings were that 82% of the implicit gender messages across all books were stereotypical, and that \"Parenthood by Proxy\" (Schlessinger, 2000) and \"Children Are From Heaven\" (Gray, 1999) had a gendered agenda in that they contained highly prescriptive content about gender. Practitioners can use these findings in selecting parenting advice books to increase their understanding of the information about gender that parents may glean from these books, and to address these messages with families with whom they work.