..". extremely valuable. This book] addresses exactly the right questions in a balanced, nuanced way." Journal of the American Medical Association

"Cohen s book is a major contribution to the literature of the inevitable." Medical Humanities Review

"This book provides readers with an insightful overview of the practice of oocyte donation, the broader issues raised by this innovative yet problematic technology and, given the recommendations of NABER, how these issues mights be resolved.... Well written, structured, researched, and thought-provoking, this book makes a timely, important, and worthwhile contribution to the growing body of reproductive technology scholarship." Doody s Health Sciences Book Review Home Page

"Detailed notes; extensive references; comprehensive research... Recommended..." Choice

Leading scholars investigate the difficult ethical, legal, and policy issues that surround egg donation and the new reproductive technologies as a whole. In addition, the book describes procedures at four egg-donation centers and presents a new set of guidelines from the National Advisory Board on Ethics in Reproduction."

Controversies about abortion and women's reproductive technologies often seem to reflect personal experience, religious commitment, or emotional response. Laura M. Purdy believes, however, that coherent ethical principles are implicit in these controversies and that feminist bioethics can help clarify the conflicts of interest which often figure in human reproduction. As she defines the underlying issues, Purdy emphasizes the importance of taking women's interests fully into account. Reproducing Persons first explores the rights and duties connected with conception and pregnancy. Purdy asks whether conceiving a child or taking a pregnancy to term can ever be morally wrong. She challenges the thinking of those who feel the prospect of disability or serious genetic disease should not constrain conception or justify abortion. The essays next look at abortion from a variety of angles. One contends that killing fetuses is not murder; others emphasize the moral importance of access to abortion. Purdy considers the conflicting interests of women and men regarding abortion, and argues against requiring a husband's consent. The book concludes with a consideration of new reproductive technologies and arrangements, including the controversial issue of surrogacy, or contract pregnancy. Throughout, Purdy combines traditional utilitarianism with some of the most powerful insights of contemporary feminist ethics. Her provocative essays create guidelines for approaching new topics and inspire fresh thinking about old ones.

Get Your Body Ready for the Marathon of Labor!

If you're newly pregnant, you're probably watching your diet carefully, getting plenty of rest, and preparing for the arrival of your new baby. You're also thinking about the big day itself and what the experience of labor will be like. Even if you're following a regular fitness program, you'll want to do everything you can to strengthen and prepare your body for the rigors of labor.

Maternal Fitness features clearly illustrated exercises that focus specifically on the muscle groups you'll use throughout labor, especially the transverse abdominals -- the stomach muscles that play a critical role during delivery. A powerful set of transverse abs can speed labor and delivery and make for a quick recovery. By learning how to strengthen your abdominals and relax your pelvic floor muscles, you'll be able to push more effectively.

While the Maternal Fitness program is designed specifically for the big moment, it also has other benefits, from minimizing backache and fatigue to giving you a welcome head start on getting back into shape after childbirth. Developed by a professional trainer who is also a registered nurse and childbirth educator, the Maternal Fitness program is safe for you and your baby and easy to do. Once learned, it can be incorporated into any workout.

A Guide for Women and Those Who Love Them
Revised Edition

The most up-to-date and authoritative guide for women on the change of life. Includes the latest information on hormone replacement therapy; cancer and heart disease; sexuality in the menopausal years; nutrition; exercise; and much more.

Here is a comprehensive guide to the changes, in lifestyle as well as in body, that menopause brings. When the first edition of the book was published in 1983, reviewers hailed it as the most authoritative and accessible bolume ever written on menopause and the general health and well-being of menopausal women.

Now in paperback for the first time, the completely updated Revised Edition includes several new chapters exploring such crucial women's health topics as the importance of good nutrition and exercise, overcoming smoking and obesity, and improving cardiovascular health. Information on the pros and cons of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), as well as advice for women who cannot take hormones, is included, as is advice on osteoporosis and on when surgery such as hysterectomy is and is not warranted. Throughout the book, in their own candid words, menopausal women relate their experiences going through this transition. Menopause is a guide to living a long, health life and understanding the natural course of the female body.

"Extraordinary depth of information that is beautifully easy to read. A necessity for every health care provider or woman who is approaching menopause."—Isaac Schiff, M.D., professor of obstetrics and gynecology, Harvard Medical School

"Provides readable information and anticipates many of the questions that a woman might ask or should ask . . . Practical and useful, it is a wonderful book."—Florence P. Haseltine, M.D., National Institutes of Health

There is a forgotten history to our current debates over reproductive technology - one interweaving literature and science, profoundly gendered, filled with choices and struggles. We pay a price when we accept modern reproductive technology as a scientific breakthrough without a past. Babies in Bottles retrieves some of that history by analyzing the literary and popular science writings of Julian Huxley, J.B.S. Haldane, Charlotte Haldane, Aldous Huxley, and Naomi Mitchison - writings that include representations of reproductive technology from babies in bottles to surrogate mothers. It is to these images, fantasies, practices, and narratives of scientific intervention in reproduction that we must look if we want to understand what acts of ideological construction have been carried out, and are currently being performed, in the name of reproductive technology. Susan Merrill Squier shows how the imaginative construction of reproductive technology helps to shape our contemporary practices. Susan Merrill Squier is Julia Gregg Brill Professor in Women's Studies and English at the Pennsylvania State University, University Park. She is the author of Virginia Woolf and London: The Sexual Politics of the City, editor of Women Writers and the City: Essays in Feminist Literary Criticism, and co-editor of Arms and the Woman: War, Gender, and Literary Representation.

This book describes the principles and skills of counselling. It provides practical guidelines which show, by example, how to communicate effectively, how to offer counselling and support, and how to face and deal with difficult situations. Detailed attention is given to issues such as preparing women for surgery, breaking bad news, and providing information and support before, during and after childbirth. The book aims to increase the awareness of health workers by describing a broad range on women's experiences and reactions to their particular problems and health concerns, as well as the ways in which these are treated.

This book will be of importance in breast cancer diagnosis where cytology has become a mandatory procedure in the large number of cases where doubt remains. The book aims to provide the reader with up-to-date information on the techniques of breast cytologic sampling and interpretation. The text is accompanied by colour and black and white illustrations and includes practical procedures and pathological findings.

For counselor Nancy Wainer Cohen, this book is the sibling to "Silent Knife: Cesarean Prevention and Vaginal Birth after Cesarean "(Bergin & Garvey, 1983) her critically-acclaimed expose on America's growing reliance on cesarean sections. "Open Season "provides fresh insights and new information on the subject, offering guidance to childbearing couples, educators, health professionals, and scholars who value the natural path of childbirth.

Readers will find this book timely, informative, shocking, irreverent, and extremely readable. Cohen's intimate writing style presents a compendium of knowledge on childbirth in the fashion of a personal letter. Her aim is to lower America's alarming reliance on cesarean section, which is currently at 25 percent of all births, and to return the responsibility for childbirth to women by encouraging them to choose the kind of birthing experience they wish to have. In addition to cesarean section, Cohen discusses many other generally unnecessary interventions performed on women during pregnancy and childbirth--such as fetal monitoring and routinized hospital procedures.

..". glimpses of intriguing changes in social arrangements and cultural understandings in relation to surrogacy. Disturbing motherhood indeed." New Scientist

"Larry Gostin has put together the definitive collection of essays on one of the most perplexing and titillating topics in contemporary medical ethics. This book includes contributions from some of the leading scholars on the legal, ethical, and social aspects of surrogacy, as well as several critical perspectives on the famous Baby M case must reading for understanding the surrogate motherhood controversy." Robert M. Veatch

"Highly recommended... " Choice

..". a valuable resource for those concerned with an exceedingly difficult ethical, legal, and political problem." Ethics

"There is a wealth of information here on the current status questionis in the United States, and anyone involved in the surrogacy debate, in the U.S. or otherwise, will find working through this material very worthwhile." Canadian Philosophical Review

..". an excellent sample of some of the best and most varied thinking so far on the numerous conceptual, moral, social, and policy questions raised by contract motherhood." The Journal of Clinical Ethics"

The creation of 'test--tube babiesa acted as a spur to public debate about the implications of research on embryos, in vitro fertilization, surrogate motherhood, and the whole range of technologies concerned with human reproduction. The scope of reproductive technologies examined in this volume -- from techniques for the medical 'managementa of childbirth, to genetic engineering -- is such that few women in the western world, and smaller and smaller numbers in the third world, escape their influence. What then is their impact: on the process of reproduction, on family life and particularly on women? 'Reproductive Technologiesa is a remarkable collection of original essays which attempts to place the current controversy over reproductive technologies in a political, legal and economic context. Contributors -- including Lesley Doyal, Ann Oakley, Ros Petchesky, Carol Smart, Hilary Rose, and Naomi Pfeffer -- examine systematically the technologies that have sparked off these debates. They explore the problem of infertility which is used to validate reproductive technologies; the way assumptions about the family and about biological parenthood continue to structure the arguments for and against; the impact of the medicalization of childbirth; the way debates are embedded in changing conceptions of paternal rights, maternal rights and embryo rights; the problems of providing adequate health care for women; and, above all, the urgency with which these issues raise problems about the accountability of science.

Are assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) a medical issue or a matter of public policy, subject to restrictions? Francesca Scala employs the concept of boundary work to explain the protracted debates that ensued when Canada appointed a royal commission in 1989 to settle the issue. She reveals that both sides of the debate attempted to secure their position as authorities by challenging, defending, or blurring the boundaries between science and politics. This compelling account contributes to our understanding of the interaction between science and politics, the exercise of social control over science and technology, and the politics of expertise in policy making.

Die Sexualgeschichte ist keine eigenstandige Disziplin, sondern Teilaspekt natur-, geistes- und sozialwissenschaftlicher Facher sowie haufiges Thema gesellschaftspolitischer Diskussionen. Florian G. Mildenberger zeigt historische Entwicklungen, gesellschaftliche Diskurse und Problemfelder von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart auf, beschreibt sie uberblicksartig und stellt weitere Literatur fur eigene Studien bereit. Der Autor: Dr. Florian G. Mildenberger ist Professor am Institut fur Geschichte der Medizin der Robert Bosch Stiftung in Stuttgart und forscht vorrangig zu Geschichte, Entstehung und Bedeutung heilkundlicher, sozialer und sexueller Subkulturen im 19./20. Jahrhundert.

'This book is totally brilliant - informative, sensitive, funny and wise. Reading it is like talking to a fairy godmother who also happens to be a gynaecologist and expert on all things fertility' Sophia Money-Coutts Big Fat Negative (BFN) - a term commonly used on internet forums to refer to a negative pregnancy test. Infertility can be a lonely journey. One in every six couples will struggle to conceive but, despite this, many don't feel comfortable talking openly about their experiences and sharing what they are going through. As a result, they feel isolated and alone. It doesn't have to be this way. By talking, laughing and shouting about our experiences we can start to lift the cloak of shame that so often engulfs those going through it. Big Fat Negative does just that. This no-nonsense, honest guide to infertility from the hosts of the Big Fat Negative podcast smashes the taboo around this isolating and heartbreaking illness, offering first-hand experience, an understanding voice when friends don't get it, expert advice, reassurance for when you feel alone and - most importantly - humour when it you need it the most. Using first-hand accounts of the various hurdles of infertility, from work to diagnoses and IVF, coupled with advice from leading experts, Big Fat Negative will hold your hand on the not-so simple journey to motherhood - helping you to face and defeat the trials of trying for a baby.

The development of the placenta was a pivotal event in evolution. Without it, we would still be laying eggs instead of giving birth to live offspring. It represents the critical link between the foetus and the mother, but its character is extraordinary - it is, in effect, a foreign tissue that invades the mother's body. Compared to many other animals, the human placenta represents a particularly aggressive body. But how is it managed and controlled? How did such an organ evolve in the first place? And why is it tolerated by the mother? Y.W. Loke explores the nature of the placenta and what it can tell us about evolution, development, and genetics.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER, now with an extra chapter. 'All I ever wanted was to be a mum - I couldn't wait and it felt as though my time was so close. But the months started to tick by, with each one ending in disappointment and frustration. And then the inevitable panic started to set in ...' Having been told by doctors that, due to Izzy's polycystic ovarian syndrome, they would have difficulty conceiving - and after two years of trying - Izzy and her husband, Harry, turned to IVF. Izzy's aim is to break through some of the taboos surrounding miscarriage, IVF and fertility issues. This brutally honest and deeply personal account acknowledges the struggles that many couples go through but will ultimately focus on the positive, life-changing results that IVF can yield. Izzy hopes that this book will be a companion to those going through similar challenges to those she has experienced. As she herself says, 'No couple should have to go through it alone and in silence.'

Take control of your hormones and feel happier and healthier, with this practical guide to re-balancing your body and getting your life back on track ____________ Hormones play a crucial role in our health and well-being, yet few of us understand the toll they take on our bodies when we don't achieve a balance. Whether you're riding the roller coasters of puberty, pregnancy or the menopause, we're all a slave to our hormones at some point in our lives, and they can leave you feeling tired, low and irritable. In It Must Be My Hormones, leading specialists in women's health Dr Marion Gluck and nutritionist Vicki Edgson, show you the role that each of our major hormones plays, how a deficiency can affect our well-being, and what we can do to restore the balance. In this book you'll discover: * How to keep the weight off with thyroid boosting mega-foods * Vitamins which work wonders for your skin * How herbs and spices can give you a caffeine-free energy kick * Which aromatherapy herbs are actually beneficial * Ways to improve cognitive function through mineral supplements From boosting fertility to easing symptoms of PMS, this practical, easy-to-implement guidance will restore mental and physical well-being. Filled with inspiring personal stories, nutritional suggestions and advice on bio-identical hormone therapy, this book will help you regain control of your hormones and your life.

This book is a practical guide to the detection, diagnosis and treatment of infertility. Beginning with an overview of human reproduction, the importance of accurate history taking and examination, and general preconception evaluation, the following chapters discuss the different investigational methods in the assessment of female infertility. The final sections examine male infertility and the role of semen analysis in understanding the potential of fertility. Genetic, environmental and behavioural risk factors are also covered. This comprehensive text is enhanced by clinical images, diagrams and tables. Key Points Practical guide to detection, diagnosis and treatment of infertility Covers assessment of both female and male infertility Covers genetic, environmental and behavioural risk factors Enhanced by clinical images, diagrams and tables

Intrauterine insemination (IUI), also known as artificial insemination, is a fertility treatment that uses a catheter to place washed sperm directly into the uterus. Its aim is to increase the number of sperm reaching the fallopian tubes and subsequently increase the chances of fertilisation (American Pregnancy Association). This book is the first in a new series, Handbook on Infertility. Beginning with an overview of Intrauterine Insemination, the following chapters guide readers step by step through the process, from basic science to clinical application. Ethical, psychosocial and medicolegal aspects are also covered. Written by an internationally recognised author and editor team, this useful manual serves as a quick reference guide and includes photographs, illustrations and tables to enhance learning. Key points First title in new series Handbook on Infertility Presents complete overview of intrauterine insemination Includes chapters on ethical, psychosocial and medicolegal aspects Internationally recognised author and editor team

Intimate and medicalized, natural and technological, reproduction poses some of the most challenging ethical dilemmas of our time. Reproduction presses the boundaries of humanity and ethical respect, the permissible limits of technology, conscientious objection by health care professionals, and social justice. This volume brings together scholars from multiple perspectives to address both traditional and novel questions about the rights and responsibilities of human reproducers, their caregivers, and the societies in which they live. Among issues treated in the volume are what it is to be a parent, the responsibilities of parents, and the role of society in facilitating or discouraging parenting. May gamete donors be anonymous? Is surrogacy in which a woman gestates a child for others ethically permissible when efforts are made to prevent coercion or exploitation? Should it be mandatory to screen newborns for potentially serious conditions, or permissible to sequence their genomes? Are both parties to a reproductive act equally responsible to support the child, even if one deceived the other? Are there ethical asymmetries between male and female parents, and is the lack of available contraceptives for men unjust? Should the costs of infertility treatment be socially shared, as they are for other forms of health care? Do parents have a duty to try to conceive children under the best circumstances they can-or to avoid conception if the child will suffer? What is the status of the fetus and what ethical limits constrain the use of fetal tissue? Reproduction is a rapidly changing medical field, with novel developments such as mitochondrial transfer or uterine transplantation occurring regularly. And there are emerging natural challenges, too, with Zika virus just the latest. The volume gives readers tools not only to address the problems we now know, but ones that may emerge in the future as well.

This practical book focuses on the most recent advances in natural cycle and minimal stimulation in vitro fertilization (IVF). The volume presents the steps that need to be followed to successfully perform these techniques and covers all aspects and competences involved. The book provides information on physiology of folliculogenesis, ovulation, oocytes and luteal phase and based on this information on clinical practice of stimulation, ovulation induction and inhibition, follicle aspiration and luteal phase support in natural cycle and minimal stimulation IVF. In addition costs, risks, success rates and several treatment protocols are provided. An overview of large European, Japanese and American programs and the discussion of clinical cases will complete the coverage of the topic. This practical and easy-to-use guide is a valuable resource for all clinicians performing any kind of IVF techniques.

Fetal and Maternal Bodies brings together the voices of abortion providers, abortion counselors, clinic owners, neonatologists, bioethicists, and historians to discuss how and why providing abortion care is moral work. The collection offers voices not usually heard as clinicians talk about their work and their thoughts about life and death. In four subsections--Providers, Clinics, Conscience, and The Fetus--the contributions in this anthology explore the historical context and present-day challenges to the delivery of abortion care. Contributing authors address the motivations that lead abortion providers to offer abortion care, discuss the ways in which anti-abortion regulations have made it increasingly difficult to offer feminist-inspired services, and ponder the status of the fetus and the ethical frameworks supporting abortion care and fetal research. Together these essays provide a feminist moral foundation to reassert that abortion care is moral work.

From its crude and uneasy beginnings thirty years ago, Chinese sperm banking has become a routine part of China's pervasive and restrictive reproductive complex. Today, there are sperm banks in each of China's twenty-two provinces, the biggest of which screen some three thousand to four thousand potential donors each year. Given the estimated one to two million azoospermic men--those who are unable to produce their own sperm--the demand remains insatiable. China's twenty-two sperm banks cannot keep up, spurring sperm bank directors to publicly lament chronic shortages and even warn of a national 'sperm crisis' (jingzi weiji). Good Quality explores the issues behind the crisis, including declining sperm quality in the country due to environmental pollution, as well as a chronic national shortage of donors. In doing so, Wahlberg outlines the specific style of Chinese sperm banking that has emerged, shaped by the particular cultural, juridical, economic and social configurations that make up China's restrictive reproductive complex. Good Quality shows how this high-throughput style shapes the ways in which men experience donation and how sperm is made available to couples who can afford it.

This open access book addresses self-care on sexual and reproductive health and rights and HIV prevention and treatment in the most marginalized and vulnerable communities. Case studies and personal narratives are used to share their perspectives and experiences, sources of information for self-care products, motivations for self-care, and challenges and outcomes. Self-care provides the way to reach the last mile in achieving universal health coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals. Issues related to stigma, discrimination and violence among these communities are highlighted. Changes in policies and programs to improve their sexual and reproductive health, education and employment are discussed. The last chapter in the book examines how the agenda on self-care can be advanced in the years ahead. The audience for this publication includes health professionals, researchers, those managing health institutions and service providers.