Cesarean Voices

Krista Cornish Scott, Laureen Hudson, Jill MacCorkle, Pamela Udy, eds.

[2007, Redondo Beach, California: International Cesarean Awareness Network, 68 pages, paperback.]

[Review first published in Midwifery Today Issue 83, Autumn 2007, © 2007, Midwifery Today, Inc. Review by Cheryl K. Smith.]

Imagine upon birthing your daughter that the first words spoken by the doctor are, "It's a boy! Just kidding." This is just one of the cesarean-related stories contained in this slim volume.

In 2003, a woman on the International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN) e-mail list asked, "Why shouldn't I have a cesarean?" Four years later, ICAN has published this book of responses to that question from women who had had cesareans and were not happy with the experience or with the outcome.

Disrespect, bullying, ineffective epidurals, threats, postpartum pain. These personal stories reflect how medicalized childbirth in the 21st century has become (1/3 of pregnancies end in cesarean) and how along with that medicalization comes a devaluing, and even meanness, regarding the process. Women who think that having a c-section will make things easier should read this book before making a decision.

Reviewer Cheryl K. Smith is managing editor for Midwifery Today and publisher of Ruminations, the Nigerian Dwarf and Mini Dairy Goat Magazine, as well as raising a small herd of mini dairy goats in the coast range of Oregon.

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