It should be called Culture of Fear: Pregnancy Edition, and if you ask me, it's very much responsible for keeping health-care costs in our country skyrocketing.
I've been writing for Fit Pregnancy magazine for nearly 10 years, including book reviews, and I'm a trained labor doula. I've also had two children born with the help of midwives. But I think it's a shame this book has more than 13 million copies in print. What to Expect is guaranteed to give any pregnant woman reason to worry unnecessarily.
Worrying and anxiety lead to increased adrenaline; adrenaline is capable of preventing or stopping labor, as it interferes with labor hormones including oxytocin. Penny Simkin, a physical therapist, author, longtime childbirth educator, and international lecturer on labor an birth--voted a "living legend" by Seattle magazine--recommends to the couples in her class that they avoid the book. One of my midwives implicated it in our country's asininely high c-section rate, which is over 31% and up to 40% in some communities. (The World Health Organization says it shouldn't be any higher than 15%.)
I give the book props for redesigning its cover for the 10th anniversary edition; no longer does a contemplative mom-to-be sit in a rocking chair, daydreaming in a schlumpy outfit. But the book's contents are downright frightening. Even its web site lists 67 potential symptoms or concerns of pregnancy. Sixty-seven!! For crying out loud. And the book's index is even more of a fright. Pregnancy is work enough; women don't need to be haunted by the names of rare genetic diseases with a 0.02% chance of occurrence.
A better option for pregnancy advice? The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth, by Henci Goer. The Thinking Woman's Guide focuses on evidence-based obstetrics and midwifery care. Evidence-based medicine is something President Obama keeps mentioning in his health-care reform talks. What to Expect reinforces our culture's distrust of the female body, assuming that the baby and mom are not healthy until proven otherwise, which encourages women to take every (expensive) prenatal test available "just in case." Midwifery--and just about every other pregnancy title out there--takes a more optimistic approach, recommending tests only if symptoms warrant.
A cesarean section--which fearful women can request without medical reason--costs up to $20,000. My kids' homebirths cost about $3,000 each--and included house calls for a week afterwards to check on the babies' growth.
Here are some dizzying stats, according to childbirth.org: "The Public Health Citizen's Research Group estimates that over one-half the cesareans performed in 1987 were unnecessary and resulted in 25,000 serious infections, 1.1 million extra hospital days and a cost of over $1 billion."
Seems to me that's a billion dollars that could be better spent on preventive care, or put toward caring for the under- or uninsured.
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