Our Bodies, Ourselves

March 3, 2008
In this third spin-off of Our Bodies, Ourselves, the self-described women's health "bible" first published in the 1970s, the Boston Women's Health Book Collective focuses on pregnancy, birth and recovery. This book will help women make confident and informed choices about the birth process as they negotiate the healthcare system and balance their options. The chapters are arranged chronologically along the journey into motherhood, with useful sections on the physical and emotional changes of each trimester, fetal development and prenatal testing. Other topics include choosing a healthcare provider, prenatal testing, labor, pain management, recovery, breastfeeding, emotional ups and downs and many other issues. The text is interspersed with pertinent personal narratives, as well as with more than 70 black and white photos and illustrations; the emphasis is on up-to-date information, probing the use-and overuse-of various practices and medical interventions. "Informing yourself about these practices and their alternatives," the editors write, "is an essential step toward creating a better birth experience for yourself and your baby." This comprehensive guide is sure to take its rightful place among its sister titles, empowering a new generation of expectant mothers.

Starred review from January 15, 2008
The Boston Women's Health Book Collective, producer of "Our Bodies, Ourselves", has created a separate, superlative guide focusing on pregnancy and birth. It includes current information on making health-care decisions (e.g., choosing a provider and a birth setting), nutrition, labor and delivery, Cesarean birth, recovery, feeding an infant, and life as a new mother. It also addresses special situations such as prenatal testing and pregnancy loss. As with all of the books in this series, a group of contributors made up of health-care providers, academics, and mothers prepared the articles. The information goes beyond the usual pregnancy self-help material by placing childbearing and parenting within a psychosocial and political context. Quotations from women documenting their experiences add depth, and final chapters on advocating for better maternity care and for mothers and families provide both resources and a call for action. A resource guide offers information about books, web sites, and organizations for mothers. This is an excellent book for public and consumer health library collections; highly recommended. [See the collection development article on pregnancy on p. 54.Ed.]Barbara M. Bibel, Oakland P.L.

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 28, 2005
The original edition of 1970's now-classic Our Bodies, Ourselves
has sold more than three million copies, and the revised and expanded edition will likely prove equally popular among women of all ages. According to the authors, some of them among the original contributors, knowledge is power, but women will make little change in the medical and health-care industries unless they join forces with other women at home and around the world. Like its predecessor, this volume is wide in scope (but lacking in depth), and has a profoundly feminist perspective as it emphasizes sexual health, reproductive rights, community-based organization and the political, economic and social conditions that limit women's access to quality health care. Much of the new information details recent health research on women's needs and inequities in medical care for men and women, and reflects the experiences of different ethnicities, sexual preferences and economic backgrounds. Women are the primary consumers of health care in the U.S., but, the authors say, they are grossly underserved. In addition, the medical community has viewed many life-stage conditions—pregnancy, premenstrual syndrome, menopause—as illnesses rather than natural processes that require teams of supportive practitioners. The book's rousing political orientation may motivate readers to access the numerous resources listed or the companion OBOS
Web site. More than a book, OBOS
is a health movement and deserves a place on every woman's bookshelf.

August 21, 2006
Readers familiar with Our Bodies, Ourselves
, first published in 1970, will find the same comprehensive, balanced and empowering approach in this volume. The authors consider menopause within the totality of women's health and as a natural process, not a medical problem. They detail typical menopausal symptoms, mainstream and alternative treatments, and risk factors for such conditions as osteoporosis, heart disease, cancer and diabetes as women age. They explain the biology of menopause; provide up-to-date perspectives on hormone replacement therapy (HRT); discuss sudden and early menopause due to surgery, medical treatments or genetic risk factors; and offer personal reflections by individual women. The sections on how to evaluate research findings; make wise health-care decisions; understand the social, cultural, economic and political frameworks in which women's health care is viewed and formulated; and nurture the self—mind, body and spirit—during years of change on all levels will prove most useful. As a general reference on menopause, this volume will be embraced by a wide female audience.