HW 38 - Insights from pregnancy & birth book - part 1

The book is organized in more of a historical and statistical manor. The book does not give any sort of personal accounts from women who have gone through birth except for the occasional opinion of the author. the book is also organized efficiently, it seems as though the author is almost trying to cram information on each page. I think the main question the book is trying to answer is how birth and the activities surrounding it progressed throughout history. I feel that birth has become more of an industrial process instead of a natural one. It seems to me that birth has become less of a simple process because of the few occasions where birth can go wrong, instead of treating birth as a gift society views it as a disease and therefore treating it like one by using drugs and surgeries. The major insight the book attempts to communicate is that birth is a physical process originating from you and that it is important to be educated as to how birth and the birthing process has changed for the worse so that you can change it for the better. I feel as if the author is telling you about all the things that birth was before in a sort of angelic light not revealing the pain that may have also been present, for example on page 44 of the book Tina Cassidy discusses her opinion on the idea of hospitals and births while disguising it as a historical fact. She states that "There was a good reason for the medical establishment to accept nurse-midwives: as baby boomers began to reproduce, the birthrate outstripped the number of obstetricians- Meanwhile, women, empowered by the liberation movement, were looking for a kinder, gentler birth experience, one that did not invovle obstetricians or even hospitals." Tine Cassidy stated that hospitals and obstetricians were so-called "unkind and not gentle" which reflected her opinion on the topic very well. The 5 aspects that both the author and i agree on are

1. Education about the birthing process, we both agree that this is not well known and should be exposed so that women know the choice they are making.
2. Historical research regarding the topic, we both agree that to know what birth is truly like you need to know how it was before your own time.
3. More exposure to mid-wives as an alternative way to give birth, we both feel that this is Proxy-Connection: keep-alive
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   alternative option that some women should be able to choose and you can't choose it if you don't know about it.
4. Truth regarding "Hospital/Unnatural birth", we both feel that people should be informed about what hospital birth is really like and both the pros and the cons of it.
5. Truth regarding "Home/Natural birth", we both feel that people should be informed about what home birth is really like and both the pros and the cons of it as well. 

Tina Cassidy used almost exclusively historical evidence to support her insights and arguments. the sources of her evidence are unknown to me since she never quotes anyone in paticular. the evidence got communicated through her witty comments and insights. Honestly i feel that the author Tina Cassidy in her book Birth: The Surprising History of How we Are Born was being slightly one sided and kept mentioning how home and birth by mid-wives are the better option which im not saying is wrong but also i am not saying is right. I feel that if home/ birth by midwife was the better option with no cons then everyone would be doing that, i feel it would have been beneficial if she had explored the cons of home birthing further and exposed her readers to that so that they are able to make their own decisions instead of doing what Tina Cassidy tells them to do.