Provides essential advice for adjusting to the many challenges facing women during the first year after giving birth.

First published in 2001. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

The editor of this volume takes on the challenging task of presenting an encompassing view of childbirth in America from an anthropological perspective. The book is indeed comprehensive. . . . Collectively the chapters in Childbirth in America lay out a representative sketch of research problems of interest to sociocultural anthropologists and other social scientists working in the area of reproductive health. A distinct accomplishment is the acknowledgement in some of the chapters that not all American women want the same kind of childbirth care or have the same values and attitudes about pregnancy, birth, and parenting, and that this variation needs addressing in both childbirth policy and practice. American Journal of Physical Anthropology

A comprehensive and critical examination of the experience of childbirth in America today, from pregnancy to early postpartum. This book covers many controversial issues in the context of diverse cultural, social, and economic backgrounds, which have arisen as a result of the new technologies and ideologies surrounding pregnancy and birth. Most useful as a text for courses in childbirth education, anthropology of women's health, and anthropology of medicine.

The need to improve maternal and child health care may be the most important global health need of the remaining years of the twentieth century. It is central to the World Health Organization's (WHO) goal of Health for All by the Year 2000. The vast majority of births occur in developing countries, where maternity care is often rudimentary. The rates of maternal and infant morbidity and death for these countries are extremely high but much of the morbidity and death is preventable, even with the limited resources available for health care in many parts of the world. The resources devoted to maternal and child care should be greatly expanded, but even the most hopeful projections will leave a wide gap between human needs and available services. WHO estimates that two billion deliveries in the remaining two decades of this century will not be attended by a trained person. At a minimum, it is probable that two million of these women will die in childbirth. There were approximately 130 million births in the world in 1980.

A dramatic and carefully detailed account of one family's journey through the maze of genetic counseling, medical technology, and disability rights; destined to become required reading for anyone touched by any of these issues.

First published in 1996. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Because of its wide scope (infertility, miscarriage, sudden infant death, abortion, release to adoption; emotional disappointments including handicapped babies, cesareans, premature or traumatic birth; and help for grieving children), this book will help parents and care-givers understand the great burden of all loss experience. American Baby's Childbirth Educator

In this revised edition with a new preface from the editor, leading scientists explain the nature and goals of test tube' reproduction and genetic engineering, and their eugenic implications. In contrast to the Warnock report, the extended commentary considers the issues in the context of a social ethic rather than the individualist viewpoint.

In this controversial volume, Dr. Strong dispels widespread misconceptions about the effectiveness of prenatal care in its current form and explains how mothers themselves may influence the course and outcome of their pregnancies to a greater degree than do their obstetricians. He provides specific questions that parents should be asking their health care providers to ensure that they and their babies receive the best care possible.

With an increased capacity to analyze fetal cells in the laboratory and the present possibility of monitoring human embryonic development using advanced diagnostic technique, prenatal diagnosis (PND) has become widely diffused in medical practice. The Fetus as Medical Patient emphasizes, however, that PND results are not unambiguous: they may either lead to a continuation of the pregnancy, or to an abortion. Cioffi engages the reader in a comprehensive examination of the state of the question regarding diagnosis and possible treatment of human illness in utero. The book deals with biomedical consideration in prenatal human life, presents a survey of the literature of ten North American Catholic theologians who have written on the topic of moral dilemmas in PND over the past twenty years, and critically analyzes the writings of these ten authors.