conception and contraception calendar

(512 pages)

Taking Charge of Your Fertility, 10th Anniversary Edition: The Definitive Guide to Natural Birth Control, Pregnancy Achievement, and Reproductive Health by: Toni Weschler publisher: Collins released: 2006-10-31 ISBN: 0060881909 $16.47

I have found this book very helpful in getting started with the FAM method to avoid conception as an alternative to hormonal birth control methods. The author very clearly describes the fertility process and the steps to observing and charting a woman's cycle. I especially enjoyed the tone of the book, which is gently humorous and devoid of religious ideology. It really convinced me that FAM is a good method of birth control as well as an aid to conception.

The downside is a few "over the top" moments in the book. After using this method I will agree that the process of taking a temperature every day and charting fertility signs is not as inconvenient as I had originally thought, but I will not go so far as to say that "charting is a privilidge".

Overall, this book is a good start. I recommend it.

My husband and I had been trying to conceive for 4 months without any luck so I decided to buy this book - we got pregnant the 1st month that I started charting. I am assuming that most people reading this review are trying to conceive so I will add that I also was taking an herb called Vitex which I would highly recommend as well. I believe that the combination of this book and Vitex helped me get pregnant.

Wow! A friend told me about this book, and I ordered it right away. I am so relieved and amazed to finally find a method of keeping track of my cycle, and avoiding pregnancy! Every gal should have this book!!

I learned how to read my body for signs to let me know when to "try". I knew exactly when we conceived, because I knew my body was ready. It took one month to chart and understand, and the second month we got pregnant. Good information, easy to read.

This was a wonderful and informative book. My husband and I were set on using natural birth control when we got married, and weren't quite sure of the specifics. Originally, we got a book on NFP (very similar to the FAM method described in this book). The information was very similar, but this book was so much easier to read and understand. We thought the charting and temperature taking would be too much, but we got used to it pretty quickly. The book also came with a computer program that I love, because it calculates everything for you, and even predicts your cycle (very accurately for me!). I would highly recommend this book to any couple who wants to avoid or achieve pregnancy. I have read many books and internet articles that have their information all wrong about your temperature and your fertile and infertile phases. Written by doctors none the less! Even more reason to READ THIS BOOK!

(352 pages)

Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison by: Michel Foucault publisher: Vintage released: 1995-04-25 ISBN: 0679752552 $10.17

In this brilliant work, the most influential philosopher since Sartre suggests that such vaunted reforms as the abolition of torture and the emergence of the modern penitentiary have merely shifted the focus of punishment from the prisoner's body to his soul.

Other reviews have done a nice job of explaining the textual benefits of the book, so let me explain its practical benefit. I'll keep this short and sweet. This is an excellent text to trot out during a sociology or other social science class when you want to egomanically dominate the conversation for a bit. It provides such food for thought that you can really wax poetic on the power of punishment over the body and soul of the individual. I say this with all seriousness. So few people read philosophical texts that, if you enjoy doing so, it almost feels like an obligation to introduce these discussions in the classroom. This is not a light summer read by any stretch of the imagination, but if you enjoy the challenge of unpacking complex concepts, you'll enjoy this read.

By examining the rise of prison systems in Western culture, Foucault demonstrates the ways modern nation-states exert their power to dominate their citizens. This is a great book for anyone interested in power formations as well as continental theory.

This is one of Michel Foucault's most accessible books (though still pretty heavy going). If in Madness and Civilization, Foucault analyzed the birth of insane asylums and in The Birth of the Clinic the birth of the hospital, in Discipline and Punish, it's the turn of the prisons. The book starts with a gruesome description of the public drawing and quartering of failed regicide Damiens in 1757. Then he goes on to quote a benign prison system of the 1830s. What changed between the two dates? While other authors would consider the birth of modern imprisonment as a triumph of progressive ideals (in comparison with what went on before), Foucault saw this instead as one aspect of increasing social and political control. While greatly researched, one immediately asks itself what Foucault wanted? Did he care about any improvement in the social conditions of prisoners? Or did he believed we should do with prisons altogether? And in which case, what about dangerous criminals? I think Foucault never wanted to answer these questions. I think it's telling that towards the end of his life (after this book was written) Foucault was a fan of the repressive and theocratic regime of Khomeini in Iran. In this, he was similar to those communist intellectuals in the West who criticized failings in their own countries but overlook much worse abuses (and crimes) in the Soviet Union. Another quibble is that the book is so French-centric (with some analysis of developments in England): he takes the evolution of imprisonment in France as an indication of the whole world.

What is whispered in secret may be shouted from the rooftops, but what is done in secret will be watched.

In Discipline and Punish Michel Foucault develops the idea of the transition of God's omniscience into the state's omniscience, and points to interesting nodes along the way: the invention of the table and the Panopticon being the most compelling and far-reaching.

Foucault's thesis of The Panopticon being a physical result of the Protestant conception of the community replacing the All-Seeing-Eye of God is itself the child of the thinking of Max Weber, Jeremy Bentham, Cardinal Richelieu and Jean Calvin. The results of the protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism, searching for signs of grace in this life as signs of salvation in the next, brought focus to human efforts as primarily economic. The result of such an ethos was that everyone was watching everybody all the time, and this creates anxiety, and the ultimate result of anxiety is release and rebellion. Enter the Panopticon to isolate the rebellious and a method thought to encourage good behaviour: constant watching.

Combine this with Terry Guillam's film "Brazil" and you'll be permanently fearful. Smile like you mean it.

This book is life changing if you can get past the first 40 pages. Its a bit different and if you can handle the reading even though you may not agree you'll find it amazing. I am so glad I had to use this book for a course or I don't think I would of been able to get past it. However with enough coffee the concepts are profound. I would like to read other works by the same author.

p.s. if you talk about the concepts with others not reading the book with you or who have never read the book. They might find these topics way far out from the norm. They are neither left/right nor radical. Its comes together. The book is also a great history book.

(854 pages)

Guide To Getting It On! by: Paul Joannides publisher: Goofy Foot Press released: 2006-07-25 ISBN: 1885535694 $18.68

The Guide To Getting It On! has won five awards and has been translated into 12 foreign languages. It has sold hundreds of thousands of copies from the dorms of UC San Diego to the bedrooms of Tripoli. Some people say The Guide is the best how-to book on sex ever written--we say it's the most fun to read. It is smart enough to be used in sex education courses, but is also a favorite at stores that sell the kind of sex toys that will land you in the slammer in Mississippi, Alabama and Texas. Schools even use it to train doctors. The Guide covers a full range of topics from romance, necking and losing your virginity, to things we can't even mention here.

Sorry, but I'm the author of this book, and they wouldn't print this note unless I gave the book a star rating.

We've been wrestling with Amazon for the past year to have the current 5th edition of the GUIDE TO GETTING IT ON come up first when shoppers do a search. It still doesn't. Instead, the 3rd edition from 2001 comes up. Heck, the German edition comes up before the current 5th edition!

I pride myself on making sure that you get the absolute latest information, and I put more work into each new edition than a lot of authors put into an entire new book. You are selling yourself short if you read anything other than the current 5th edition, which is light years better than the 4th edition.

You might ask, what's changed about sex? There's a tremendous amount of new information about human sexuality that is coming out all of the time. We are constantly finding out that we've been wrong about certain things, plus there's new research findings to analyze and integrate. At any given time, I've got a "must read" stack of new publications about sexuality that is at least three feet high--from the latest in the Journal of Sexual Medicine to learning about new sex slang.

If you are reading The Guide, I hope you'll make sure it is the latest edition--which for now is the 5th with a publication date of 2006. We did an updated 2nd printing of this edition in June of 2007.

This book is one of the best guides you can find for overall, general information about the sex act. It is very ambitious, and runs the gamut from top to bottom, left to right and every other direction. It's fun to read, and is a must for any sexually active couple. Couples may also like a more specific book about oral sex. The Sensuous Couple's (Flip Over) Guide to Seismic Oral Sex is highly recommended because it is a flip over book. One side is dedicated to cunnilingus; flip it over, and the other side is dedicated to fellatio. Both acts get equal treatment, and it is not necessarily heterosexually biased. Highly recommended.

I have been using this book since 1998 and I have been giving it as a gift to anyone interested in sex. This is well written, well researched book, and the authors know when to poke fun and when to be serious making it a balanced read.
The best part about this book is you can read it cover to cover and gain insight into all aspects of sex including the social history or you can grab the index and read only the sections that apply to you and you won't feel like you're missing something.

I purchased this book for myself at the age of 41. I am greatly impressed by it and I have only read Chapters 1-6 so far (out of 71). It presents the material in a casual and sometimes humorous manner. By doing that it makes you feel comfortable reading about things that are most often not talked about in our society. It is written so that it can appeal to and inform any age reader.

I happened upon this book mixed in with the cookbooks on the shelf at my boyfriend's bed & breakfast and flipped through it in a few free minutes this weekend. I found it very helpful and informative and am torn between asking to borrow his copy or just buying one & reading it privately. But I can't wait to read it again. As far as I could tell it was a nonjudgemental book for normal people.

(544 pages)

Fatal Misconception: The Struggle to Control World Population by: Matthew Connelly publisher: Belknap Press released: 2008-03-25 ISBN: 0674024230 $23.10

Fatal Misconception is the disturbing story of our quest to remake humanity by policing national borders and breeding better people. As the population of the world doubled once, and then again, well-meaning people concluded that only population control could preserve the "quality of life." This movement eventually spanned the globe and carried out a series of astonishing experiments, from banning Asian immigration to paying poor people to be sterilized.

Supported by affluent countries, foundations, and non-governmental organizations, the population control movement experimented with ways to limit population growth. But it had to contend with the Catholic Church's ban on contraception and nationalist leaders who warned of "race suicide." The ensuing struggle caused untold suffering for those caught in the middle--particularly women and children. It culminated in the horrors of sterilization camps in India and the one-child policy in China.

Matthew Connelly offers the first global history of a movement that changed how people regard their children and ultimately the face of humankind. It was the most ambitious social engineering project of the twentieth century, one that continues to alarm the global community. Though promoted as a way to lift people out of poverty--perhaps even to save the earth--family planning became a means to plan other people's families.

With its transnational scope and exhaustive research into such archives as Planned Parenthood and the newly opened Vatican Secret Archives, Connelly's withering critique uncovers the cost inflicted by a humanitarian movement gone terribly awry and urges renewed commitment to the reproductive rights of all people.

Connelly manages to write a massive volume without substantively addressing several key issues:

1) the finite availability of natural resources and the limits to growth it imposes
2) the role of religious & cultural superstitions in fighting voluntary population control
3) the unlikelihood of people accepting a reduced standard of living
4) the relative value of informed versus uninformed decision making

Connelly analysis is essentially cornucopian. He shows no understanding of such concepts as ecological carrying capacity or the fact that critical fertiliser resources like phosphorus or potash (potassium) have a very limited supply relative to feasibly extractable resources. His 'development' solution for population control ignores the inability to provide anything more than a poverty-ridden, subsistence existence for the bulk of humanity at past let alone future population levels.

Connelly grossly privileges religion by avoiding any critique of how dogma plays into opposition to voluntary population control. That is intellectual cowardice at its most rank. The author can look forward to his book being used by Abrahamic fundamentalists who view population growth as an assertion of religious supremacy. Again his unwillingness to address these people, who are the opponents of the women's rights he claims to revere, is typical of academics of this blame-the-West mindset.

For all his smug posturing against `racism' he shows ironically little practical concern with the survival of our or other species as a whole. His own `fatal misconception' is that because some population control efforts have been motivated by racism or eugenic views that their overall goal is automatically invalid.

His moralising about `imperialism,' further ignores the fact that all modes of decision making are not equal. Is an illiterate peasant who sees fathering as many sons as possible for the sake of machismo and/or religious duty really as well placed to make decisions about population control as a scientists or politician with access to quality information and educated to consider longterm consequences of human actions?

Writing from a position of privilege and comfort in the West, Connelly can chastise those who dare to question the decision making ability of people engaged in a hand-to-mouth existence. Without some `elitist' intervention a great many positive social policies (e.g. women's rights, gay marriage) would never have come about. Ignoring that uncomfortable truth is the only way Connelly could justify his tired anti-imperialism rhetoric.

This is a beautifully written book about an incendiary topic.

Starting with Malthus many argued that population would overwhelm our resources. Life expectancy kept growing, swelling the levels of humans alive.

A vast population control movement swung into motion, bent on stamping out population growth everywhere, but especially in poor countries.

Many of the early members of the movement seemed inspired by racism.
Margaret Sanger and the eugenics theories of the 1930's wanted to see more breeding by white intellectuals, and fewer babies born by the poor. Some others stressed concern for food resources. Even in the 1960's Ravenholt, head of USAID, said that "abortion was especially appropriate for poor people, since they lacked the foresight to use birth control" (p 244).

It is fascinating reading about the unending divisions sent out by the United Nations to reduce population. There were incentives for those in poor countries who agreed to sterilization. Trained women marched through villages, passing out condoms, pills, and lots of advice. In many areas some degree of force or deception was used to reduce population. Notoriously, China introduced a one child policy and many women were given abortions under force.

Those against the population movement fought a rearguard movement with little success. Pope John Paul wrote "a new encyclical, Evangelium Vitae, (the Gospel of Life)...and pounded home his arguments in virtually every public appearance" (p 386).

It is too bad that Connelly didn't provide more information on the results of the population movement. He does point out that "the number of children per women fell between 1950 and 2000 in cuontries with strong population control programs. But it also dropped dramatically during the same period in countries that made little effort to stop population grown or even encouraged it (p 374). Connelly doesn't point out that even the UN agrees that world population will peak around 2050 due to rising life expectancy. From that time, population will start to drop like a stone.

Anyone interested in the topic will want to pick up "Disappearing Daughters" which documents the 100 million missing women in China and India. Abortion, infanticide, and poison being among the many methods used to dispose of unwanted females, leaving these countries awash in men. Another book on this topic is "Bare Branches".

I find it problematic that Mr. Connelly concludes that because reproductive rates are decreasing overpopulation is no longer a problem. While reproductive rates are decreasing the human population is still growing. Also, nowhere in this book is the rest of life mentioned. One of the problems of our massive population is the effects that humans are creating with the current loss of biodiversity. While Mr. Connelly laments the travesties committed against humanity his failure to provide any reference to the rest of life makes the rest of life seem irrelevant. I would find his moralistic outrage easier to swallow if he would show some concern for other living creatures. I'm also left wondering if some of the conclusions he reaches in this book are based on his religious beliefs. When he refers to "reproductive rights" it comes across as an indirect reference to "pro-life", much in the same way as intelligent design masks a creationist worldview. While he boasts of his credentials as a historian does he have any background in natural history or ecology?

Though science is a progressive activity, social policies defended as "scientific," when examined in hindsight, often reveal themselves to be based on little more than ephemeral cultural beliefs. Historical analyses of social policies 50 years on almost always uncover strong, sometimes fatal, nationalist, class, race, or gender-biases. Yet, our faith in progress drives us to believe that the mistakes of the past were due simply to inadequate data or poor modeling, not a general and unavoidable gulf between what is knowable scientifically and what is necessary to function communally and politically.

Nicolas D. Kristof, in his review of Matthew Connelly's "Fatal Misconception," (NYT: March 23, 2008) expresses this faith (and error) when he asserts, "The family planning movement has corrected itself, and today it saves the lives of women in poor countries and is central to efforts to reduce poverty worldwide."

Connelly does not dispute that the ability to control fertility is a welcome and empowering development. However, he makes a strong case that it has been "the emancipation of women, not population control, that has remade humanity." Connelly ably defends his central thesis - "the great tragedy of population control, the fatal misconception, was to think one could know people's interests better than they knew it themselves" - and alerts us to the continued universality and threat of this misconception. International population control efforts of the 1960s and 70s are often characterized today, particularly by feminist scholars, as extensions of imperialist policies. But Connelly's warning that "the spirit of empire lives on when people are unaccountable to those they claim to serve" is something I think we would all do well to contemplate.

Connelly's book is thoroughly researched and extremely well written. Highly recommended.

I was a public health activist in the 60s and supported population control as appropriate public health policy. Mr. Connelly's extremely well documented book about population contral has contributed to my rethinking population control and public health policy in general. The well written book raises important questions about health policy today. The book is must reading for health policy makers and students of public health.

Should be a required text in Schools of Public Health

(328 pages)

Sex and the Soul: Juggling Sexuality, Spirituality, Romance, and Religion on America's College Campuses by: Donna Freitas publisher: Oxford University Press, USA released: 2008-04-11 ISBN: 0195311655 $16.47

Today's college students are fascinated by religion but they are also more sexually active than previous generations. How do these young people reconcile their spiritual longings with sexual freedom on campus?
Based on dozens of face-to-face interviews, Sex and the Soul explores the sexual and spiritual lives of today's college students. Donna Freitas crisscrossed the country, visiting a range of America's colleges and universities--from public to private, Catholic to evangelical--to find out what students had to say about these highly personal subjects. Their stories will not only engage readers, but, in many cases, move them with the painful struggles these candid young women and men face. Indeed, the book uncovers aspects of college life that may unsettle some readers, especially parents. Many campuses, for instance, are dominated by the hook-up culture of casual sex. Moreover, a surprising number of students see little connection between sex and religion. Indeed, these observations hold true even at Catholic schools. Only at evangelical colleges is religion an important factor when deciding whether or not to engage in sex. But Freitas's research also reveals that, even at secular schools, students are not comfortable with the prevalence of casual sex, and that they do want religion to speak about what they should do and who they should try to be--not just what they should avoid doing.
Sex and the Soul will offer readers the chance to hear college students speaking honestly about extremely sensitive topics, in a book that will be of great interest to students, parents, clergy, teachers, and anyone who wants to know what's happening on today's college campuses.

This is an excellent ( at times appalling - at times hopeful) book. I don't usually find sociology books that I can't put down, but I read through this one in short order. What the author does quite brilliantly is weave her study of college students and how they integrate faith/religion and sex, around the personal stories of the students that she interviews. If you are a parent (like me) it is disheartening to see the influences that kids come under when they go away to college, and the soul-destroying nature of casual "hook-ups" with people one may or may not know well.

The book is hopeful (to my way of thinking) in that it is almost exclusively the evangelicals (I am one) who believe that there is a connection between spirituality and sex, and that it is important. While it is no surprise that virtually everyone struggles with how far to go physically before marriage, it is nice to see that evangelicals are generally trying to follow what they believe God desires in regards to dating and marriage.

This is a carefully researched and elegantly written book on the relationship between sexuality and spirituality on US college campuses. It is pretty well known among scholars that high school kids are quite religious in the US. When they go to college they start turning away from the religions of their parents, often toward more generic spirituality. Why does this happen? Freitas thinks sexual experience might hold the key. In other words, as college students start experimenting sexually they push away from religion, since religion is in their view "anti-sex." That's the argument, or part of it. But at the heart of the book lie stories about these students. Kids at evangelical, Catholic, and secular schools struggling with faith and sexuality. It's brilliantly done. It's sad in many ways to see the binds that "hookup culture" put young people in. It's balanced in that there are things in here that will infuriate (and delight) conservatives and liberals alike. And it's timely. Makes me wonder what the next generation is in for heading off to college.

(320 pages)

The Labor Progress Handbook: Early Interventions to Prevent and Treat Dystocia by: Penny Simkin, Ruth Ancheta publisher: Wiley-Blackwell released: 2005-10-21 ISBN: 140512217X $28.82

I own the last edition and find it invaluable in my practice. Can't wait to see what's new and exciting here

The Labor Progress Handbook, though a bit pricey, is an excellent book. It contains a tons of labor information and is complete with many illustrations. It's a nice compact size, which makes it easy to carry with you (great for doulas, midwives, etc.). I love it!

This book is wonderfully full of information, however, as it is called a "handbook", I expected it to be more concise, and so more quickly usable in a labor setting - more of a quick reference book. It is more of a textbook than a handbook. I think I've read everything that Penny Simkin has had published. I am a fan of her writings, just disappointed that this was not more concise.

It's clear that the book is writen for professionals because of the jargon, and in my opinion every professional should read it! I am on my way to become a doula and unfortunately this book is not on the required reading list, I think it should be. It is an important tool for when labor doesn't progress 'as it should', and offers options and ideas to try before the drugs and machines are introduced to speed up labor are introduced.

Having labored with three babies who presented posterior and caused long hard labors, I have looked for information after each one. After the second baby delivered posterior, and I became pregnant with my third, I came across this book. Reading it two or three times before my delivery, I had it almost memorized and used a lot of the suggestions from it. The third delivery (thanks to help from this book and my doctor) we were able to turn the baby. I can't credit the book entirely since my doctor had to manually turn the baby's head, but I do think the positioning and activities the book suggested were half the victory. I wish all birth professionals would read and reread the book.

(272 pages)

This Common Secret: My Journey as an Abortion Doctor by: Susan Wicklund, Sue Wicklund, Alan Kesselheim publisher: PublicAffairs released: 2007-12-31 ISBN: 158648480X $16.47

This is a wonderful, well written, book about a heroic figure who has endured much intimidation by anti-choice thugs who want to control women's bodies. It's a book I would recommend especially to young woman as they have a 50% chance of finding themselves in need of a save and legal abortion sometime in their life and if things keep going the way they are, they may be unable to obtain one. The stories Dr. Wicklund relates about herself and her patients would be unheard of in other developed Western nations so you get an indication of how out of step the U.S. is with respect to women's health. The book contained interesting medical facts about abortion procedures so you'll get factual information about an issue that has been clouded by a great deal of misinformation courtesy of the anti-choice folks. I was surprised not to see more endorsements on the book jacket from well known feminists other than Barbara Erenreich but that may be an indication of their own fear of being targeted. This is an inspiring story of a courageous woman who followed her passion and sacrificed much to serve women in need.

This book is simply excellent. No matter your feelings on the subject matter, the memoir is well-written, with a compelling story. Dr. Wicklund makes an excellent heroine for the 21st century--we see her plodding on with resolve, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. But we also see moments of doubt, of reflection, that let us know that she is human. This is a very good book.

Dr. Wicklund focuses her memoir on herself, but also on her patients. The many, many women that she has served over the years play a huge role in this book. However, what was most interesting and eye-opening to me was her recounting of various tactics used by anti-choice protesters, and what she had to do to keep herself safe and to keep working. I had heard of doctors being killed, but I truly had no clue about the everyday lengths to which the "antis" would go in their self-righteousness.


Dr. Wicklund, I don't know if you read your book reviews on Amazon.com, but thank you. Thank you for writing this book, and for doing what you have done and what you do. Thank you for never giving up. You are an inspiration, as is your daughter, and everyone who supported you.

I was engrossed with reading this book. It is well written and the story is powerful. Also, the details match the details of my life when I worked at an abortion clinic; it is accurate.

Many thanks to Susan Wicklund for telling the world how her life was effected by her work.

This is a brave book by a courageous woman. As an Australian, I am not surprised by what she describes as I have become aware of the shameless and gutless tactics used by anti-abortion activists in the US. If it is their faith which drives them to make Susan's life hell, then they are certainly not Christians. The very encouraging thing about this book is Susan's determination not to be cowed by them and the little ways in which she discovers the latent support for her around her eg the man on the plane. As a man I find the over the top zealousness by the male anti-abortion activists almost laughable as they can have no concept of the pressures that may make a woman undertake an abortion.

I have always opposed abortion. In the 1970's, I stopped going to public protest functions. At that time, one of my fellows brought a side-by-side shotgun with him to the protests. At first, I thought it was just a sort of symbolic zeal. Later, I found that at least one barrel was loaded. This did not bother me, in itself. What bothered me was that the "organizers" were not willing to suppress or control that kind of misplaced zeal. So, I quit going to the protests. I didn't stop opposing abortion. I just stopped supporting bad organization. I don't support uncontrolled crazies, and they were already in evidence then.

Dr. Wicklund has a right to produce a book, especially after decades of work in the area. However, the book is poorly planned. It is a sequence of personal recollections, a number of anecdotes put together, end to end. If the anecdotes were connected better by a common theme, it could be more revealing. As it is, it recounts the personal emotional excursions of a number of different people. There is no doubt that the emotions are real. They are relevant to an extent, but they aren't some sort of telling argument. Neither side of this particular debate has ever been plagued or inconvenienced by any excessive exercise of sanity.

I have tried over many years to understand the views of the opposition, those who are pro-abortion and prefer to spin it as "pro-choice." To me, it has always seemed that the core argument of their position is convenience. It is convenient to be very sexually active and even to be sexually promiscuous, and abortion is a somewhat unpleasant but very practical version of birth control. So, it has seemed to me---perhaps incorrectly---that abortion is needed mainly as a practical convenience. Even Dr. Wicklund's own original experience was caused basically because she found it convenient or useful to live together with a man who was not her husband at a time of their lives when they had not established a reasonable economic basis. Was it necessary? They thought so. Maybe it was...maybe not.

Is my view wrong? Undoubtedly it is simplistic. Undoubtedly the world itself has shades of gray that I am overlooking or too blind to see. The fact is that this book is written sufficiently badly that it gives me no more clue of the opposite view than I had before. I read the book because I was clueless, and I remain clueless afterward.

People do have a choice, and it is often good to exercise the choice by using a zipper.

Sic transit gloria mundi.

(240 pages)

The Essential C-Section Guide: Pain Control, Healing at Home, Getting Your Body Back, and Everything Else You Need to Know About a Cesarean Birth by: Maureen Connolly, Dana Sullivan publisher: Broadway released: 2004-06-08 ISBN: 0767916077 $11.20

Childbirth is a life-altering experience for any woman, but a Cesarean delivery can be overwhelming, whether it’s unexpected or planned. Despite the fact that roughly one in four babies in the United States is delivered by c-section, very little information about the experience is included in typical pregnancy books and physicians and childbirth educators often gloss over the details.

The Essential C-Section Guide is written not only for women to read in preparation for a scheduled c-section and for those considered “high risk” who know that a c-section may become necessary but also for women recovering from an unexpected surgical delivery. This book provides answers to important questions about what the surgery entails, what a woman can expect as she recovers, and what considerations should be made for future pregnancies and deliveries.

With frank discussions about the physical and emotional aspects surrounding a c-section, the authors share comforting wisdom about early bonding, pain control, breastfeeding, infant care, healing from surgery, postpartum exercise, partner involvement, and much more, in detail not available anywhere else.

Written by authors who have firsthand knowledge of birth by c-section, The Essential C-Section Guide is well-researched and addresses its unique concerns with intelligence and compassion.


www.broadwaybooks.com

This book had many helpful tips for being prepared for my c-section and claimed to be unbiased on the subject of elective c-sections. However the more that I read, the more that I got heated because the author repeatedly kept saying "in efforts to avoid labor pain" when referring to an elective c-section. Avoiding labor pain had nothing to do with my decision to have a c-section so I felt a little insulted by this book at times. That being said, I do think I took away many good tips to help with a speedier recovery time.

I had an unplanned c-section for my first child. This book gave me the information I needed to understand what happened the first time and why my doctor reccommended a planned c-section for my second child. This book gave me the information to ask the right questions and make an informed decision about my body and the welfare of my child. I think natural child birth classes gloss over this information and if a c-section becomes necessary, many women are ill informed to make the necessary decisions.

This book has great information for anyone who has had a c-section or is going to have one. I would even recommend any pregnant woman to check this book out just in case she ends up having a c-section. I just had my first baby, my pregnancy was healthy and I had no problems yet I had to have a c-section done at the last minute. Having the information in this book days after my c-section instead of weeks would have been much better. It's informative and lets you realize your not alone. This is a very good book.

I will be having a planned Cesarean in 6 wks b/c of placenta previa. I've been anxious & wanted to know as much as I could about this upcoming c-section. I've read several books on the topic & this book really stands out from the rest! It covers the surgery, recovery, breastfeeding & many other issues all in great detail, which is great for me, being this is my first baby & first cesarean. I'm looking forward to getting back into shape using this book as a reference as well. I'm even bringing it to the hospital with me. I highly recommend it for anyone faced with a Cesarean!

I tend to be a person who is not satisfied with just one source of information and do extensive research on every subject that I am educating myself on. After looking at many different books and resources, I can honestly say that this is the only book that you need to prepare you for your c-section. This comprehensive reference provides thorough information while maintaining a humanistic approach to the subject matter. This book contains a whole chapter on the emotional aspects of having a cesarean which I found to be very helpful, since it is something that is not usually addressed. On top of the information included to aid you in your physical recovery there is another chapter with workout information when you are ready for that. I would have paid twice the price I did for this truly "essential" resource

(312 pages)

Defending Life: A Moral and Legal Case Against Abortion Choice by: Francis J. Beckwith publisher: Cambridge University Press released: 2007-08-13 ISBN: 0521691354 $22.99

We live in an age of paradox. On the one hand, scientific concepts are confidently and systematically understood, and our control of the physical world continues to expand through our employ of thorough, rigorous scientific method. On the other hand, the poverty of moral discourse is such that, in the words of J. Budziszewski, "it is...like a great smoke which fills our houses and dulls our minds and makes it difficult to complete any thoughts." Trying to discuss moral issues such as abortion in my experience does not lead to reasoned discussion; instead it is waved off as uninteresting or intractable, or the "right to choose" mantra is immediately invoked.

Francis Beckwith, however, notes that the climate has changed a bit in recent years. People are not so sure of moral relativism in the post-9/11 West. As stem cell research and the spectre of cloning bring to light alarming technological possibilities, we are forced to confront issues of what it means to be human. The thrust of Beckwith's argument, then, is to at the same time clarify the abortion debate and also advance the prolife position, by blowing away the smoke of confusion and appealing to our basic moral intuitions.

On January 22, 1973, Roe v. Wade was issued, and with its companion decision, Doe v. Bolton, it effectively legalized abortion on demand for all nine months of pregnancy. However, the reasoning used by Justice Harry Blackmun, who authored Roe, was flawed. To build his case, he had to overcome two legal impediments. The first was regarding the purpose of the anti-abortion laws that many states had enacted beginning in the nineteenth century. The reason, he said, these laws existed was not to protect prenatal life but rather to protect women from dangerous medical procedures. Since abortion was now a relatively safe procedure, there was no longer a need to prohibit it. Going back into common law prior to the nineteenth century Blackmun claimed that abortion was "a fundamental liberty, found in our nation's traditions and history." Therefore, given the right to privacy which the Supreme Court manufactured in the 1965 Griswold v. Connecticut decision (but which Blackmun said was older than the Bill of Rights), abortion was declared a constitutional right. Beckwith points out that "since 1973 the overwhelming consensus of scholarship has shown that the court's history...is almost entirely mistaken." It is clear that the primary purpose of the state laws was in fact to protect the unborn from harm.

The second flaw in the court's reasoning in Roe involves the Fourteenth Amendment which protects U.S. citizens from having their rights violated by the government, and whether the unborn are persons protected by it. Blackmun argued that since the court cannot resolve the difficult question about when life begins, the state ought to remain neutral and not prefer one theory of life over another, and therefore not rule against abortion. But in practice he really is taking a position: by legalizing abortion the state is saying that the unborn is the kind of thing that should not be protected by the state and is thus outside of membership in the human community. His argument actually provides a compelling reason to prohibit abortion, since it admits that abortion may result in the death of a human entity who has a full right to life (but we just don't know for sure).

Under scrutiny, these pillars no longer seem to be able to support Roe, so one would think that when the opportunity arose it would be reversed. Such an opportunity was the 1992 case, Planned Parenthood v. Casey which unfortunately upheld Roe in a narrow 5-4 decision. What is interesting is that since the original discredited reasoning could not be sustained, all the court could do was to base its decision on stare decisis, the principle that the court respect precedent. Chief Justice Rehnquist, in his dissent in Casey said that "Roe continues to exist, but only in the way a storefront on a western movie set exists: a mere facade to give the illusion of reality." The language of Casey indicated that the court had shifted the basis of abortion from the right to privacy to a new right that they found in the Fourteenth Amendment: the right to personal autonomy. It would seem that the right to abortion was derived not so much from sound legal reasoning as from the sheer force of judicial will.

It is claimed that the prochoice position should enjoy a privileged standing in our legal framework because the prolife position is religious. Beckwith argues that this is false: both positions presuppose some metaphysical point of view. If one is a materialist (believing that the physical world is all there is) one will reject the idea of a unifying human nature. A human being, then, is not a substance ontologically, but is something that comes into being only when sufficient parts or attributes are in place, whether these are brain waves or self-awareness or whatever criteria one chooses. In this view the whole is equal to the sum of its parts, much like an automobile or a table. Many prolifers, on the other hand, argue, as does Beckwith, that the human being is ontologically prior to its parts. From conception it has a human nature that defines and maintains its identity as long as it exists. Personhood is not achieved after a minimum number of attributes are evident, but exists immediately as an integral part of our human nature. The point is that both the prolife and the prochoice positions are in a sense religious; there is no metaphysical neutral ground.

Beckwith deals extensively with popular arguments for abortion choice, and the common denominator seems to be that they all beg the question as to the humanity of the fetus. That is to say, the arguments only work if one assumes from the outset that the unborn is not a human person, but this is the very point in dispute. For example, the argument that abortion on demand would reduce the number of unwanted children and child abuse begs the question, and this can be shown by extending the principle of the argument to post natal persons: would the killing of three-year-olds be acceptable if it would eliminate the abuse of five-year-olds? Obviously not. So the primary issue is whether or not the unborn are human persons or not. Furthermore, making wantedness a criteria for the relationship between a parent and a child is destructive for family life; it gives the parents far too much power if the value of the child is defined by the parent's feelings. Surely wantedness has bearing on value only with things, not people.

There are academic abortion choice advocates, such as Eileen McDonagh, who will grant that the unborn is a human person, but that we should be able to kill it anyway because of what it does to a woman's body. The fetus is regarded as an intruder who actually is causing the pregnancy, doing violence to the woman's body without her consent, comparable to the actions of a rapist. The woman may have consented to sex, but she did not at the same time consent to pregnancy, so she should have the right to expell this unwelcome intruder from her person. But this seems to be grossly counter-intuitive on a number of levels. The nature of the sexual organs, of sperm and ova, as being intrinsically directed toward procreation, suggests that the purpose of sex is pregnancy and for many people a radical separation of the two goes against the grain of their moral intuitions. Second, to assume moral volunteerism is to distort what we know instinctively about parental obligations. And if we applied this standard to the father there would be no moral reason to demand child support from him, for he could just say that he had consented to sex but not to fatherhood.

The arguments for abortion choice may make great slogans, but upon analysis they all fail, whether they are the crude coat-hanger arguments or ones from academic philosophers. Beckwith helps us to see more clearly just what the unborn are, where they belong, and what our duties are toward them. If we are truly an honest and compassionate society, we will not suppress this knowledge because it is inconvenient. We will practice generosity and virtue toward the weakest and most vulnerable in the human community, and we ourselves will be enriched in the process.

This book is simply incredible. Beckwith answers all the typical abortion-choice arguments, and builds an undeniable case for the personhood of the unborn. In particular, Beckwith spends a chapter answering the human being vs. human person objection, and a chapter answering the common bodily autonomy argument, the only two abortion-choice arguments that actually don't beg the question. This is, of course, after Beckwith builds the case for the humanity of the unborn. The book is extremely well researched, and each chapter contains extensive footnotes. Along with Life Giving Love by Kimberly Hahn, this is now my favorite book. A MUST for all pro-lifers, as well as those that support abortion who wish to know how the other side argues.

Dr. Francis J. Beckwith's Defending Life is simply the best, most comprehensive, most logically sound examination of abortion & the meaning of personhood available in print today. Excellent summaries of the book are available elsewhere, so let me focus on some unique features.

First, Dr. Beckwith argues for a definition & moral value to humanity that provides a defense for innocent humans in a wide variety of circumstances, not just those who are tiny & preborn. The general philosophical arguments used here are helpful for evaluating human value among those in undeveloped, famine plagued regions of the world; among populations of hardened, committed career criminals; among those yet to be conceived several generations after our pollution-promoting public policies; & those who are physically and/or mentally disabled, etc.

Second, Dr. Beckwith treats abortion rights advocates with respect & honesty, not merely fairly representing their views & arguments, but even improving their arguments when he can & yet showing that even the best abortion rights arguments fatally undermine basic human rights based on the nature of humanity. A number of years ago, I role-played an abortion rights advocate in a public debate with Dr. Beckwith. He was concerned that his opponent be formidable & insightful, but he couldn't find an available true advocate he thought would do a credible enough job. I gave it my best shot (& Dr. Beckwith kindly said I was his toughest opponent to date), but Dr. Beckwith's arguments remained compelling & invincible. That generous respect & yet actual superiority is reflected in this book.

Third, Dr. Beckwith's sharp wit makes this book a serendipitous pleasure to read as well. Without demeaning his opponents or trivializing the issues, he is able to broach illustrations packed with humor & allude to cultural comedy to make telling points. As Dr. Beckwith's students will attest, he is nothing like the typical boring philosophy professor.

Fourth, this book provides such a wide spectrum of issues, arguments, & approaches that if you only have one book on the subject in your library, you should have this one -- even (or especially) if you are an abortion rights advocate.

Regardless of your familiarity with the subject or other volumes you might possess, you can't afford to miss getting & studying your own copy of Defending Life.

This is certainly the newest pro-life work to appear, and arguably among the best. It not only lays out the legal, rational, moral and philosophical case against abortion choice, but it more broadly makes the case for human equality and the sanctity of life.

Beckwith is an American professor of law and philosophy who has written extensively on these issues previously. This volume brings together years of thinking and debating on this contentious issue. It is an invaluable resource for all those wishing to stand up for human life at all stages of development, and to counter the arguments of the pro-choice brigade.

The first third of the book paints with broad brush strokes, examining moral reasoning, legal considerations, and political dimensions of the abortion debate.

The second third of the book looks more closely at the abortion debate per se, looking at the science, the morality and the arguments involved in the debate about abortion.

The final third of the book extends these considerations to recent developments in bioethics, including cloning and stem cell research.

The second and longest section of this book does many things, including carefully dismantling the various arguments put forward by the pro-abortion camp. All the leading pro-abortion thinkers, such as Thompson, Boonin, Stretton, and Dworkin are taken on, with their positions carefully assessed and interacted with.

On the broader issue of human equality, Beckwith argues for the substance view which states that a human being "is intrinsically valuable because of the sort of thing it is and the human being remains that sort of thing as long as it exists". That is, an individual "maintains absolute identity through time while it grows, develops, and undergoes numerous changes".

Various functions and capacities, whether fully realised or utilised do not constitute a person. Thus a human being is never a potential person, but is always a person at different stages of development, whether potential properties and capacities are actualised or not.

This view stand in stark contrast to the utilitarian and functionalist views held by most pro-abortionists. They argue that personhood is not inherent or intrinsic, but based on certain capacities and functions, be it consciousness, sentience, self-awareness, the ability to reason, and so on.

As to the specifics of the abortion debate, Beckwith responds to the numerous objections raised by pro-abortionists over the years. For example, consider the argument often heard, involving the hard cases of rape and incest. These are certainly tragic events, but in no way can they be used to justify an abortion.

First, such cases are extremely rare, making up just a tiny fraction of all abortions. Second, to argue for the legalisation of abortion because of these extreme cases would be similar to arguing that we eliminate traffic laws because in some rare cases they need to be violated, as in rushing a loved one to hospital.

Third, it simply begs the question by assuming the unborn child is not fully human. Fifth, to justify abortion in these circumstances is to argue that it is acceptable to forfeit a life for the alleged benefit of another. But a basic ethical intuition argues that we may not kill one person to possibly save another. John may desperately need a vital organ of Mary to stay alive, but he has no right to demand it, especially if it entails killing her in the process.

The more recent, and difficult, cases of embryo research, human cloning and stem cell therapies are also examined, looking at the various justifications given for them, and their pro-life responses. Similar issues arise here concerning the nature of personhood and the inviolability of life.

Beckwith closes by laying out his case as it has been argued throughout: the unborn are full members of the human community; it is wrong to kill members of that community; abortion kills the unborn entity; therefore abortion is morally wrong.

The three hundred pages of tightly-knit argumentation and logical-constructed reasoning take on nearly all the major justifications for abortion. All are found wanting - morally, legally, and philosophically. Beckwith is to be praised for assembling in one volume some of the best pro-life argumentation around.

Beckwith's primary purpose is to provide a thorough defense of the pro-life position and its grounding in the "substance view" of human persons--a view he claims best explains human equality. He writes: "This book is, in a sense, then, not really a book about abortion, but rather, a book about human equality." Frank contends that the larger metaphysical question--who are we?--should be answered by enlarging our definition of the human family to include the unborn. His secondary purpose is to examine the relationship between abortion and law, politics, and public discourse.

The pro-life argument Frank defends can be outlined as follows:

1. The unborn entity, from the moment of conception, is a full-fledged member of the human community.
2. It is prima facie morally wrong to kill any member of that community.
3. Every successful abortion kills an unborn entity, a full-fledged member of the human community.
4. Therefore, every successful abortion is prima facie morally wrong.

The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 deals with moral reasoning, the law, and politics. Part 2 is the core of Frank's case for the pro-life view, which includes both the scientific and philosophic considerations. Part 3 takes on cloning and embryonic stem-cell research.

The thrust of the text is philosophical and jurisprudential rather than religious. In each case, the arguments presented pass the test of public reason. That's not because he thinks theology doesn't count as real knowledge (indeed, he argues elsewhere it does). Rather, he's cutting-off secular critics who unjustly dismiss pro-life arguments with the wand of "faith"--which they define as non-rational and subjective.

Frank sums up the current controversy this way: "At the end of the day, the abortion debate is about who and what we are and whether we can know it."

(159 pages)

Your Fertility Signals: Using Them to Achieve or Avoid Pregnancy Naturally by: Merryl Winstein publisher: Smooth Stone Press released: 1989-03 ISBN: 0961940107 $14.95

This book is easy to understand, easy to put into practice. I was trying to get pregnant in my late 30's and was able to do so within 3 months. After the birth of my first child I waited a couple of years before trying again. By now I was 41. Again I got pregnant within 3 months. All my friends around my age were going crazy taking hormone shots and doing in vitro. Of course, it could be that I am a very fertile person. However, even at that, at the age I was, I did not have any time to waste! So I do credit this book for giving me the right information so I could be get pregnant naturally within the shortest possible time frame. If you have had trouble conceiving, I strongly recommend you try this natural method first before getting any expensive treatments.

This is by far one of the easiest books on knowing your body and tracking your fertility signs. this book is a must own by every woman it truly takes the guess work out of trying to figure out your fertile and non fertile days. I'm a former nurse and I found this to be the most concise and reader friendly book on this subject. everyone from the novice to the expert can learn from this book. kudo's to the author on demystifying the ovulation cycles of womens bodies.

This is an extraordinary book. Every woman should own a copy. I still don't understand why we are not taught about our own bodies since childhood. If this was the case there wouldn't be so many unplanned pregnancies. Not only that but we wouldn't have to put harsh chemicals into our bodies to avoid pregnancy.

I was searching for holistic methods of contraception and thankfully discovered this book.
The author's tone was inviting and engaging: the words and images were clear, accessible and deeply informed. The text was constantly accompanied by illustrations that varied from relevant technical descriptions, to decorative or humourous images, making it an pleasurable read as well as an informative one. The book is aimed at both avoiding and attaining pregnancy so that even if like myself, the reader has an exclusive emphasis on avoiding pregnancy, she will be better informed if she does decide to have children in future. The book also offers useful ways of relating to your partner should any challenges come up in your sex life which I found practical and necessary given how much misunderstanding can happen in sexual matters between men and women.

I found this book before I even meet my hubby of almost a year now. Back in 1997, I was in collage and knew from a experience with the pill for health reasons that when I became active in this area I would not be able to rely on chemicals to control fertility, I tend to become sick after a short time of take a pill. Plus I did not like the idea of being on pills or what ever to limit how many kids I might have. This was the only information I could find on a natural fertility method of birth control and I found it in a used book store. When I read this book it cleared up many Questions I had and help me feel more confadent that I would be fine with out pills. All though I did end up using the NuvaRing for a few years before I married my guy(he is allergic to latex), that was do to miss placing the book through a cuple of moves. As soon as we were married I tracked bown this book again and fond Cyclebeads as well, I have been off chemicals for almost 6 months using both methods to learn and understand my body. I know when we are ready to have kids we will be well informed and have no problems. I wish this information was standard class tought in high school. Peace & Blessings, Cloe