Tina Cassidy

The basics: Birth: The Surprising History of How We Are Born is a historical and anthropological look at childbirth.

My thoughts: Since I got pregnant (the nomadbaby is due August 9th), I've become more interested in books about pregnancy and birthing. As with many things in life, part of me is drawn to the natural way of doing things, while part of me is drawn to modern convenience. For example, I eat as much local and organic produce, meat, eggs and cheese as possible. But I have no desire show more to actually have my own garden, grow my own food, or kill the animals I eat. So I rely on local farmers and belong to a two CSAs, one for meat.With pregnancy and birth, these choices between natural and modern seem to have impossibly high stakes. For the first time in my life, my biology dictates many of my choices. As the one carrying this baby, I have responsibilities Mr. Nomadreader doesn't. How far those extend after birth is something I think about often, particularly as we tend to divide tasks more evenly in life than pregnancy allows (I have started opining how lovely pregnancy would be if we could only alternate weeks being pregnant.)

When it comes to birth, I've spent a lot of time thinking about options. Two options I never really considered were having a midwife instead of my obstetrician and having a home birth. Even with the choice to deliver in a hospital with an obstetrician, I soon learned the choices keep coming. So often in casual conversations about epidurals, c-sections, etc., someone will say "well women have been having babies without pain relief and without c-sections for years." And inevitably the response will come, "yes, and women have been dying in childbirth for hundreds of years." I wanted to know where the truth lies. Admittedly, I didn't seek out justification for my choices, or even start this book looking for a reason to change my mind. I'm fine with my choice to have an epidural and would welcome an elective c-section if it were offered. But I wanted to know more about what options I would have had in other times in history, in other countries, in other cultures or financial circumstances. I wanted to know how common or rare my choices are, and how my experience as a pregnant woman in 2014 fits into the history of humanity.

The first chapter of Birth is perhaps my favorite. Entitled "Evolution and the Human Body," it's an anthropological exploration of birth and the pelvis. It looks at what separates human pregnancy, birth, and babies from other mammals. If you only read part of this book, read that chapter. It's absolutely fascinating (and again made me want to have a c-section, which is probably not its intention.) From there, Cassidy takes a thematic approach to birth, exploring midwives, birthing places, pain relief, c-sections, doctors, tools and fads, and the role of fathers.

Birth is a fascinating book in its own right, and I learned a lot from it. What impacted me most personally is how little I really care about the birth experience. It's not a secret I haven't enjoyed pregnancy much (despite being very excited to finally, actually be pregnant!), and birth is just the last stepping stone to actually having the nomadbaby. I'm happy for that experience to be as quick and painless as possible (the anesthetized births of the 1960's sounded like a great idea to me--wake up with a baby!) I don't need that experience to connect me to humanity the way so many women throughout history have. I don't need it as a life experience. While I live at a time where I can't opt out of it, I am incredibly grateful to live at the time I do when I do have choices. And from a cultural anthropological point of view, I can't wait to see how the current birthing trends are viewed in fifty years.

The verdict: Whether you're pregnant or not, Birth is a fascinating cultural history of a process we're all a part of in one way or another. show less

This was a fascinating and horrifying look at how childbirth has been treated throughout history. The writing style makes the book easy to read, though many of the stories will definitely make you uncomfortable, horrified, and angry! I'd recommend this book to any woman considering having a child or just interested in how the medical profession has "handled" women through history. The author's conclusion seems to be that childbirth practices will continue changing from generation to show more generation, always reflecting the current cultural trends. Definitely makes sense. Oh, and I'll also be passing this book along to my husband and expect to hear many horrified groans! show less

A history of women's suffrage through the lens of Alice Paul and Woodrow Wilson. Paul was a determined suffragette, and spent several years planning and carrying out pickets of the White House during the Wilson presidency. She was arrested a number of times, both in her early years in London and then in Washington D.C. She led one of the more assertive (many say aggressive, but it really wasn't aggressive; her pickets were silent sentinels who stood at the White House gate holding signs; the show more aggression was committed toward them) leaders of the suffrage movement, often annoying or angering those in the movement, and yet, reading this, it is hard to see that they would have won if they hadn't had her and her women. It seems likely we would still be politely asking for the vote if we kept on that track. It is a valuable history, only slightly marred by some odd syntax and occasional grammar oddities. Highly recommended. show less

Mary Roach on birth. Page for page more enjoyable and horrifying anecdotal tidbits than any other book I've read all year. The best book on birth to be the worst thing to read while you're pregnant.