Birth Control, Allison Yarrow
Birth Control, Allison Yarrow
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

Birth Control
The Insidious Power of Men Over Motherhood

Author: Allison Yarrow

Narrator: Vanessa Johansson

Unabridged: 9 hr 53 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 10/29/2024


Synopsis

Modern medicine should make pregnancy and childbirth safer for all. But in Birth Control, award-winning journalist Allison Yarrow reveals how women are controlled, traumatized, injured, and even killed because of the traditionalist practices of medical professionals and hospitals.

Ever since doctors stole control of birth from midwives in the nineteenth century, women have been steamrolled by a male-dominated medical establishment that has everyone convinced that birthing bodies are inherently flawed and that every pregnancy is a crisis that it alone can "solve." Misogyny and racism, not scientific evidence and support, shape the overwhelming majority of America's four million annual births.

Drawing on extensive reporting, expert interviews, an original survey of 1,300 mothers, and her own personal experiences, Yarrow documents how modern maternal health care is insidiously, purposefully designed to take power from women to the detriment of their physical and mental health—not just during labor, but for years after. She then shows a better way, exploring solutions both cutting-edge and ancient to—finally—return power and control to birthing people.

About Allison Yarrow

Allison Yarrow is an award-winning journalist and National Magazine Award finalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Vox, and many others. She was a 2017 TED resident and is a 2018 grantee of the International Women’s Media Foundation. She produced the Vice documentary “Misconception,” and has appeared on the Today show, MSNBC, NPR and more. Allison was raised in Macon, Georgia and lives in Brooklyn, New York.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Ashley

WOW THIS BOOK MADE ME ANGRY. I *know* the health system is flawed, I *know* it was not made with women in mind, and I *know* that the US has poorer birth outcomes than other developed countries but learning about how the MATERNAL HEALTH field was basically made by men was so infuriating. Midwives we......more

Goodreads review by Jillian

I really wanted to like this book, and there were many things that I could agree with the author on, but I can’t overlook some of the ideas that are presented as facts when they are opinions. It feel like I have a different perspective being a NICU RN, and I have seen plenty of “healthy” pregnancies......more

Goodreads review by Jen

I've never really read anything on this subject previously, but this was an incredibly compelling book. It was also horrifying. I'd recommend it to any mother or expectant mother; anyone considering becoming a mother; or anyone interested in the history of obstetrics and midwifery, its many facets,......more

Goodreads review by Amy

“Sexism socially constructs female bodies as fundamentally flawed and in need of constant improvement, through engagement with consumer culture.” This is a really important book with valuable and useful information. My biggest complaint is calling women ‘birthing people’ - I find it incredibly insult......more