Ask Me About My Uterus

Author: Abby Norman
Publisher: Bold Type Books
ISBN: 1568585829
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 312

Book Description
For any woman who has experienced illness, chronic pain, or endometriosis comes an inspiring memoir advocating for recognition of women's health issues In the fall of 2010, Abby Norman's strong dancer's body dropped forty pounds and gray hairs began to sprout from her temples. She was repeatedly hospitalized in excruciating pain, but the doctors insisted it was a urinary tract infection and sent her home with antibiotics. Unable to get out of bed, much less attend class, Norman dropped out of college and embarked on what would become a years-long journey to discover what was wrong with her. It wasn't until she took matters into her own hands -- securing a job in a hospital and educating herself over lunchtime reading in the medical library -- that she found an accurate diagnosis of endometriosis. In Ask Me About My Uterus, Norman describes what it was like to have her pain dismissed, to be told it was all in her head, only to be taken seriously when she was accompanied by a boyfriend who confirmed that her sexual performance was, indeed, compromised. Putting her own trials into a broader historical, sociocultural, and political context, Norman shows that women's bodies have long been the battleground of a never-ending war for power, control, medical knowledge, and truth. It's time to refute the belief that being a woman is a preexisting condition.

Doing Harm

Author: Maya Dusenbery
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062470817
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 463

Book Description
Editor of the award-winning site Feministing.com, Maya Dusenbery brings together scientific and sociological research, interviews with doctors and researchers, and personal stories from women across the country to provide the first comprehensive, accessible look at how sexism in medicine harms women today. In Doing Harm, Dusenbery explores the deep, systemic problems that underlie women’s experiences of feeling dismissed by the medical system. Women have been discharged from the emergency room mid-heart attack with a prescription for anti-anxiety meds, while others with autoimmune diseases have been labeled “chronic complainers” for years before being properly diagnosed. Women with endometriosis have been told they are just overreacting to “normal” menstrual cramps, while still others have “contested” illnesses like chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia that, dogged by psychosomatic suspicions, have yet to be fully accepted as “real” diseases by the whole of the profession. An eye-opening read for patients and health care providers alike, Doing Harm shows how women suffer because the medical community knows relatively less about their diseases and bodies and too often doesn’t trust their reports of their symptoms. The research community has neglected conditions that disproportionately affect women and paid little attention to biological differences between the sexes in everything from drug metabolism to the disease factors—even the symptoms of a heart attack. Meanwhile, a long history of viewing women as especially prone to “hysteria” reverberates to the present day, leaving women battling against a stereotype that they’re hypochondriacs whose ailments are likely to be “all in their heads.” Offering a clear-eyed explanation of the root causes of this insidious and entrenched bias and laying out its sometimes catastrophic consequences, Doing Harm is a rallying wake-up call that will change the way we look at health care for women.

When You Were Inside Mommy

Author: Joanna Cole
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 9780688170431
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 40

Book Description
Isn't it amazing that you were once inside Mommy? With clear inviting text and lively illustrations, Joanna Cole and Maxie Chambliss introduce young children to the concepts of pregnancy and childbirth--from the time they begin as one tiny cell to the joyful moment when their parents welcome them into the world.

What Makes a Baby

Author: Cory Silverberg
Publisher: Seven Stories Press
ISBN: 9781609804862
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 36

Book Description
Geared to readers from preschool to age eight, What Makes a Baby is a book for every kind of family and every kind of kid. It is a twenty-first century children’s picture book about conception, gestation, and birth, which reflects the reality of our modern time by being inclusive of all kinds of kids, adults, and families, regardless of how many people were involved, their orientation, gender and other identity, or family composition. Just as important, the story doesn’t gender people or body parts, so most parents and families will find that it leaves room for them to educate their child without having to erase their own experience. Written by a certified sexuality educator, Cory Silverberg, and illustrated by award-winning Canadian artist Fiona Smyth, What Makes a Baby is as fun to look at as it is useful to read.

Appetite for Profit

Author: Michele Simon
Publisher: Nation Books
ISBN: 9781560259329
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 416

Book Description
The United States is currently embroiled in a national debate over the growing public health crisis caused by poor diet. People are starting to ask who is to blame and how can we fix the problem, especially among children. Major food companies are responding with a massive public relations campaign. These companies, including McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Kraft, and General Mills, are increasingly on the defensive. In response, they pretend to sell healthier food and otherwise position themselves as "part of the solution." Yet they continue to lobby against commonsense nutrition policies. Appetite for Profit exposes this hypocrisy and explains how to fight back by offering reliable resources. Readers will learn how to spot the PR and how to organize to improve food in schools and elsewhere. For the first time, author Michele Simon explains why we cannot trust food corporations to "do the right thing." She describes the local battles of going up against the powerful food lobbies and offers a comprehensive guide to the public relations, front groups, and lobbying tactics that food companies employ to trick the American public. Simon also provides an entertaining glossary that explains corporate rhetoric, including phrases like "better-for-you foods" and "frivolous lawsuit."

When I Bleed: Poems about Endometriosis

Author: Maggie Bowyer
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780578867878
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 118

Book Description
Over 176 million people have Endometriosis, one of the most painful conditions one can experience. These poems exemplify how painful Endometriosis is while shining a light on the Endo community.

Amazing You!

Author: Gail Saltz
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 0142410586
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
"Mom, where do babies come from?" Many parents live in fear of the day their child asks this question—which inevitably happens, often as early as the preschool years. Here is a picture book designed especially for young children who are becoming aware of their bodies, but aren't ready to learn about sexual intercourse. Written with warmth and honesty, Amazing You! presents clear and age-appropriate information about reproduction, birth, and the difference between girls' and boys' bodies. Lynne Cravath's lighthearted illustrations enliven the text, making this a book that parents will gladly share with their young ones.

Ask Me About My Divorce

Author: Candace Walsh
Publisher: Seal Press
ISBN: 0786744812
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 279

Book Description
It’s time to get past the idea that divorce equals failure. Sure, it may not be what you had in mind when you walked down the aisle, but if it’s the escape hatch into a better life, it should be filled with more promise. It can be celebrated. Ask Me About My Divorce is a spicy, fun, riveting collection of essays by women from all walks of life. With the unifying thread "I got divorced, and the world came into view," the words within will make readers laugh, cry, nod their heads, and feel inspired to do what they need to for themselves. These aren't stories from women tiptoeing around a difficult subject—they're about the ways divorce can be, in fact, a new lease on life.

Innovative Approaches to Chronic Pain

Author: Peter Wemyss-Gorman
Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
ISBN: 1787751880
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 242

Book Description
This book sets out to restore the concept of healing to its place within and beyond pain medicine, in chapters authored by keynote speakers to the British Pain Society's Philosophy and Ethics Special Interest Group. Exploring psychological, spiritual and creative approaches, contributors reflect on therapeutic avenues ranging from the deliberate use of the placebo response and the importance of a caring relationship between patient and practitioner, to the use of knitting as a therapeutic tool. Barriers to the flow of healing such as practitioners' careless use of language and cultural attitudes are identified and contrasted with the need to understand the first-person perspectives of people who are suffering. This book will provide hope and inspiration both to people who have become disillusioned with conventional medical approaches to the relief of their pain, and to health professionals sadly aware of the frequent inadequacy of their efforts to help them.

And Then My Uterus Fell Out

Author: P.R. Newton
Publisher: PRN Publishing
ISBN: 0992023254
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 217

Book Description
A brutally honest, and at times pee your pants funny, tale about one woman’s journey through motherhood with a condition that affects approximately half of all females, pelvic organ prolapse. This moving memoir is one woman’s inspirational story about the traumatic birth of her first child and subsequent diagnosis of the chronic condition, pelvic organ prolapse. Wrapped within an engaging account of living with prolapse is an insightful glimpse into what it means to be a mother battling chronic pain, embarrassing side effects, and depression in a society that often idealizes motherhood as a time of bliss and joy, and dismisses this embarrassing, and often debilitating, condition. Inspiration for her healing comes from the most unlikely of places, the heart-wrenching struggles of women in the developing world. A startlingly honest, elegant, and often humorous depiction of life with pelvic organ prolapse, And Then My Uterus Fell Out, calls out to all women around the world who suffer in silence with a life-affirming message of dignity, hope, and sisterhood. Keywords: pelvic organ prolapse, running with prolapse, uterine prolapse, bladder prolapse, incontinence, childbirth, birth trauma, special needs parenting, adoption REVIEWS: This is an honest and detailed account of living with a wearing, relentless condition which pervades every aspect of the lives of millions of women. It will be helpful for anyone who has prolapse, or lives with someone who has prolapse, or professionals who care for people with these conditions. It is rare to get such insight into the impact pelvic organ prolapse has into a patient's life - so, this book will be valuable for many people. Well worth a read. Piper's book is utterly relatable to those of us with POP and an eye opener for those who find themselves wondering "what all the fuss is about." From the dismissal of doctors to the struggle of caring for your brand new baby when you have just been hit by an emotional and physical trick to how each and everyone chooses to deal with this one it arrives - it is all within these pages. I found myself wishing for some magical, happy, all fixed ending for her. I read this book so that I would be able to better understand pelvic organ prolapse. It wasn't until halfway through the book that I discovered that I suffer from prolapse myself and that health problems that I've suffered with for years are as a result of it. I now have a sense of hope about the future of those issues. I didn't realize when I sat down to read this book that it would literally change the course of my life! Piper's highly personal story is heartbreaking and yet told with humour and threaded with hope. I admire her determination and her willingness to share her experience in order to help others. My hope is that many other women will read it and begin a dialogue about this hushed topic. Heart breaking, honest and a worthy read for any woman. A well written informative must read for all women and their partners about a life altering condition that up to now women have suffered in silence-kudos to the author for sharing her story